Mason Bates / Masonic

Bates performing with The San Francisco Symphony in The B-Sides

"Be it mixing trip-hop and funk at a club or writing a symphonic or chamber work, composer Mason Bates is getting noticed for his straddling of classical music and electronica. ... Young, Juilliard-trained and already celebrated, he's become a fixture not only in concert halls but in the world of electronica as well. ... At a time when symphony orchestras nationwide are trolling for audience magnets - the type of new material that can lure members of generations X and Y along with older subscribers - Bates just might have that bait. "

-Concerto for Two Universes, Donna Perlmutter

"Mason Bates, 30 years old...knows how to command an orchestra just as well as he does his touchpad. Bates's Liquid Interface, a National Symphony commission that received its world premiere last night, surpassed in sheer sonic beauty even the works by Mendelssohn and Tchaikovsky that rounded out the program." -From NSO, Electronic Beauty, Andrew Lindemann

Rehearsing at Cabrillo under Marin Alsop (Photo: Ron Jones)

"Take Mason Bates's Digital Loom for organ and electronics, a centennial commission. Definitely a voice from the younger generation, Bates reimagines the king of instruments as a surreal creature inventing its own space, the illuminated stops flashing like an enormous pinball machine and presided over by the organist as D.J. who programs wild sequences of hip-hop, funk, and ambient electronica" -Peter Davis

"Mason Bates's Digital Loom, for organ and electronics...transformed the hall into something between a decaying cathedral and an East Berlin club." -Alex Ross

With Maestra Marin Alsop at Cabrillo (Photo: Ron Jones)

"Contemporary composers can integrate high-definition recordings of sounds they want to evoke, as Mason Bates does in his cleverly constructed Liquid Interface. The first movement, "Glaciers Calving," begins with an ominous recording of glaciers crashing into the Antarctic Ocean, soon followed by dense, haunting swirls from the strings and electronic beats that accelerate to lively drum and bass rhythms. Mr. Bates's colorful four-movement tone poem, which uses a vast orchestra and electronics to evoke water in both soothing and menacing forms, received its New York premiere at Carnegie Hall ... Mr. Bates, who is also a D.J. (working under the name Masonic), has written other works blending classical and electronica. ... For the listener it was like wandering down a road with a string quartet playing on one side and a D.J. spinning on the other.-Vivian Schweitzer

"And never has a Beethoven's Ninth Symphony been so colored by the music that preceded it on the program. Mason Bates' Ode, commissioned by the Phoenix Symphony, takes the argument of the Beethoven and turns it backward ... So that when the Beethoven begins, and plays the music in the proper order, we have a different take on it."

With Robert Moody at the premiere of Rusty Air in Carolina

"If Mason Bates' Rusty Air in Carolina is any indication, this 30-year-old composer (who is based in the East Bay and has a parallel career as a DJ) also has a voice...A Virginia native who summered as a teenager in South Carolina, his new work recalls sticky Southern nights, filled with the chatter and buzz of katydids and cicadas. ...You could feel the humidity, while luxuriating in Bates' exquisite, almost Impressionistic, atmospherics." -Richard Scheinin

The music of Mason Bates fuses innovative orchestral writing, the rhythms of electronica and techno, and imaginative narrative forms brought to life by cutting edge sound design. An advocate for bringing new music to new spaces, he has become known as an artist who moves fluidly between them - performing on electronic drumpad and laptop, for example, with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under John Adams at Disney Hall, or integrating members of the San Francisco Symphony into an evening of DJing at the SF club Mezzanine. Currently serving as a composer-in-residence with the Chicago Symphony, he is on the roster of Opus 3 Artists.

Highlights of the coming season include Riccardo Muti leading the Chicago Symphony in The B-Sides - a dance suite that drops into five surreal landscapes - and John Adams conducting the Toronto Symphony in Liquid Interface, a 'water symphony' that moves from glaciers to evaporation. While Bates often performs the electronica onstage with orchestras, dozens of repeat performances of his symphonic music happen without him - demonstrating how electronics can act as a new section in the orchestra with little logistical effort. (Click here for information about obtaining his music for performance.)

ACOUSTIC WORKS. Many purely acoustic works complement his diverse catalogue, such as Desert Transport - a new work about a desert helicopter ride for the Arizona Music Festival - and Observer in the Magellanic Cloud, touring this season with the superstar chorus Chanticleer. (Portions of Sirens, which explores hypnotic and alluring siren poetry from various cultures, can be found on the upcoming Chanticleer release.) The Richmond Symphony opens their season with a new fanfare and Ode, an orchestral prelude to Beethoven 9. The solo piano work White Lies for Lomax, commissioned by Tanglewood Music Center, won the Van Cliburn Composers Invitational and is heard regularly on recitals around the country. A great deal of his music has been performed by the musicians of Young Concert Artists, the acclaimed New York organization where he served as composer-in-residence, as well as the California Symphony under Barry Jekowsky.

SPECIAL PROJECTS. Bringing classical music to new audiences is a central part of Bates' activities as a curator, be it through residencies with institutions such as the Chicago Symphony's MusicNOW series, or in alternative spaces with Mercury Soul. This hybrid musical event, a collaboration with set designer Anne Patterson and Maestro Benjamin Shwartz, embeds sets of classical music into an evening of DJing and beautiful, surreal visuals. Over a thousand people attended its premiere at the famed San Francisco club Mezzanine, and it comes to the new Frank Gehry-designed home of the New World Symphony in Miami (and elsewhere - click here). Other collaborations include a new ballet unveiled by the Chicago Symphony and Hubbard Street Dance, and works toured by Levy Dance. As a DJ, he often appears with upright bassist David Arend in a spaces from San Francisco to Berlin, including Mezzanine, Temple, Volksbuehne, John Colins, and SFMOMA.

STUDIES. Raised in Virginia where he studied piano with Hope Armstrong Erb and composition with Dika Newlin, Mason Bates enrolled in the Columbia-Juilliard program in New York City. Earning degrees in music composition and English literature, he studied primarily with John Corigliano, and he also worked under David Del Tredici and Samuel Adler. He worked with Edmund Campion at UC Berkeley, where the Center For New Music and Audio Technologies became an important influence on his approach to electro-acoustic composition. Awards include the Rome and Berlin Prizes, a Charles Ives scholarship and fellowship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Jacob Druckman Memorial Prize from Aspen Music Festival, ASCAP and BMI awards, and fellowships from Tanglewood, Creative Capital, and the Guggenheim Foundation.

Masonic performs live electronica as Benjamin Shwartz conducts at Mercury Soul in San Francisco

May 12-14, 2011
April 30, 2011
April 18, 2011
May 25, 2011
May 21, 2011
May 20, 2011
March 5, 2011
February 26, 2011
February 22, 2011
January 31, 2011
December 13, 2010
December 2, 2010
October 21-22, 2010
October 19, 2010
October 17, 2010
October 4, 2010
September 25-26, 2010
April 3, 2010
March 27, 2010
March 19, 2010
: The Chicago Symphony performs The B-Sides under Riccardo Muti : White Lies for Lomax , for orchestra, is performed at Ithaca College : Classical/club show Mercury Soul comes to Miami to unveil New World Symphony's new Frank Gehry-designed hall (2nd of 2 shows) : Gary Green conducts a new work for wind ensemble at the Concert Band Directors National Association in Seattle : The Chicago Symphony's MusicNOW series closes with the premiere of new chamber works by Mason Bates and Anna Clyne : Michael Tilson Thomas and the YouTube Symphony give the world premiere of Mothership at the Sydney Opera House in Australia : John Adams conducts the Toronto Symphony in the Canadian premiere of Liquid Interface as part of the New Creations Festival : Classical/club show Mercury Soul comes to Miami to unveil New World Symphony's new Frank Gehry-designed hall (1st of 2 shows) : Arizona Music Festival premieres Desert Transport under Robert Moody : The Chicago Symphony's MusicNOW series, curated by Mason Bates and Anna Clyne, presents German electronica duo Mouse on Mars : The Chicago Symphony's MusicNOW series, curated by Mason Bates and Anna Clyne, continues at the Harris Theater : Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center presents Mercury Soul, for clarinet and piano : The Grand Rapids Symphony performs Rusty Air in Carolina : Gary Green and the Frost Ensemble premiere a new work for wind ensemble at the Festival Miami : Stan Baker premieres a new organ toccata at the 200th anniversary of United Centenary Church in Richmond, VA : The Chicago Symphony's MusicNOW series, curated by Mason Bates and Anna Clyne, opens with a program that includes Digital Loom, for organ and electronica : The Richmond Symphony opens their season with a new fanfare and Ode, a prequel to Beethoven's 9th : Pianist Tania Stavreva performs White Lies for Lomax at Roulette in NY : Milwauhee's Present Music performas Omnivorous Furniture under music director Kevin Stalheim : The Albany Symphony performs "Warehouse Medicine" from The B-Sides

Appearing on the cover of the UK's MUSO Magazine

March 13, 2010 : The Cornell Symphonic Winds perform Rusty Air in Carolina
March 5, 2010 : The Meridian Symphony performs "Warehouse Medicine" from The B-Sides
February 28, 2010 : Robert Moody brings The B-Sides to the Arizona Musicfest
February 26, 2010 : The water symphony Liquid Interface comes to the desert at Arizona Musicfest
February 5, 2010 : The Claremont Trio performs String Band on the Dallas Chamber series
February 23, 2010 : Robert Moody conducts Rusty Air in Carolina at the Arizona Musicfest
February 19-20, 2010 : Leonard Slatkin conducts the Pittsburgh Symphony in Liquid Interface
February 17, 2010 : The Omaha Symphony gives six performances of "Warehouse Medicine" from The B-Sides
February 11-13, 2010 : Gary Hill conducts the Texas All-State Band in Rusty Air in Carolina
December 9, 2009 : Pianist Tania Stavreva performs White Lies for Lomax at the American Musical Heritage series
December 3&4, 2009 : John Adams conducts the Los Angeles Philharmonic in performs Liquid Interface
October 25, 2009 : Jerry Junkin conducts the premiere of the symphonic wind version of Rusty Air in Carolina
October 8, 2009 : The Ringling Arts Festival gives the world premiere of a new horn trio
October 7, 2009 : Pianist Haochen Zhang performs White Lies for Lomax at the Philip Lorenz Memorial Keyboard Concerts
October 7, 2009 : Pianist Haochen Zhang performs White Lies for Lomax at the Philip Lorenz Memorial Keyboard Concerts
October 6, 2009 : Chanticleer performs Sirens on on the Tuesday Music series in Akron, OH
October 4, 2009 : Pianist Haochen Zhang performs White Lies for Lomax at Portland Piano International
October 4, 2009 : Pianist Haochen Zhang performs White Lies for Lomax at Portland Piano International
October 3, 2009 : The Santa Rosa Symphony performs Rusty Air in Carolina
October 1, 2009 : Pianist Haochen Zhang performs White Lies for Lomax at Cal State (Chico, CA)
September 17, 2009 : Mason Bates performs live electronica on the San Francisco Electronic Music Festival, with David Arend on upright bass
September 10 & 13, 2009 : In Chicago, pianist Kuang-Hao Huang performs White Lies for Lomax at Roosevelt University (9/11) and Concordia University (9/13)
July 12, 2009 : Pianist Yeol Eum Son performs White Lies for Lomax at the Portland Piano Festival
July 12, 2009 : West Wave Dance Festival presents The Life of Birds, with choreography by Amy Seiwert
Mason Bates performing on drumpad/laptop in the percussion section of The Winston-Salem Symphony

Mason Bates / Masonic

Mason Bates / Masonic : electronica and classical composer in San Francisco, Mason Bates is a member of Young Concert Artists. Official site of Mason Bates / Masonic (DJ and electronica / techno artist). ©2003 by Mason Bates / Masonic.