Fountain of Time

The Grossman Ensemble's premiere album, Fountain of Time, was release on CCCC Records in August 2020. Lauded by the Chicago Reader as a record that "rewards repeat listenings," the album includes five works from the ensemble's first two seasons.

Available now on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube, and more.

Read the Fountain of Time essay and liner notes by Tim Munro.

Shulamit Ran’s Grand Rounds (2018) was commissioned as the first piece in the Grossman Ensemble’s inaugural concert. “For this festive occasion,” says Ran, “I wanted to create music that would be upbeat and bold, saying unabashedly and in full color—‘we are here!’” Ran also wrote a work “that would highlight the ensemble’s virtuosity, at the individual level as well as collectively.” Shulamit Ran taught at the University of Chicago Department of Music, and has been awarded most major honors given to composers in the U.S., including the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for her Symphony. Learn more at www.presser.com/shulamit-ran.

In Anthony Cheung’s Double Allegories (2019), he explores senses, elements, seasons, and affects. The music imagines heat and sparks being set off by the instruments, evokes a frigid and desolate landscape, and captures the sounds of rushing air. Anthony Cheung writes music that explores the ambiguity of sound, engages poetic imagery, natural phenomena, and is influenced by improvisatory traditions. Cheung has been commissioned by leading groups across the globe, and was a co-founder of the Talea Ensemble. Learn more at www.acheungmusic.com.

In David Dzubay’s PHO (2019), PHO stands for Potentially Hazardous Objects, natural or human-made objects with orbits close enough to be a constant danger to humans’ survival. Dzubay was inspired by Walt Whitman’s “Year of meteors,” in which forces are perceived as threats to America. Dzubay felt that Whitman’s threats remained relevant—conflicting forces and ideologies, and the increasing number of PHOs, cosmic and earthly. David Dzubay is Professor of Music, Chair of the Composition Department and Director of the New Music Ensemble at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in Bloomington. Learn more at www.pronovamusic.com.

Tonia Ko’s Simple Fuel (2018) grew out of two images. First, a snail moving slowly, with antennae responding with speed. Second, a freight train barreling at high velocity, but appearing slow from afar. While writing Simple Fuel, Ko had in mind the classical adage, festina lente (“make haste slowly”). Ko’s music is whimsical, questioning, and lyrical. The recipient of the 2018 CCCC Post Doctoral Fellowship and a 2018 Guggenheim Fellowship, she has been commissioned by leading soloists and ensembles, and performed at venues across the country. Learn more at www.Toniako.com.

David “Clay” Mettens’ stain, bloom, moon, rain (2020) is inspired by a collection of 9th and 11th century Japanese poems and when he read the English translation, felt a kinship. “The poetry aligned with the dream worlds and delicate textures of my music,” writes Mettens. “I was struck by the simplicity of these short poems, the range of emotions exploding out of modest forms.” David “Clay” Mettens reflects the experience of wonder in music that ranges from sonorous to crystalline. The Chicago Tribune has called his music “a thing of remarkable beauty,” displaying a “sensitive ear for instrumental color.” Learn more at www.mettensmusic.com.

The Grossman Ensemble is made possible thanks to generous support from the Sanford J. Grossman Charitable Trust. The CCCC is made possible thanks also to generous gifts from Carolyn (Kay) S. Bucksbaum and the Carolyn S. Bucksbaum Recording Fund; and by the support of Gay K. Stanek.