New notes for Juho Myllylä

Are you a composer between 10 and 35 years old? Do you live or study in the Netherlands? Would you like your music to be performed during the Grachtenfestival, Gaudeamus and November Music? Send us your sketch for a new piece for recorder player Juho Myllylä!

Juho Myllylä is a recorder player, guitarist, singer and songwriter. He studied recorders at the Conservatory of Amsterdam with Jorge Isaac, and graduated with a master’s degree in 2020. Juho strives for open-minded musicianship across styles and versatility regardless of imposed genre classifications. He feels passionate about earlier repertoire – medieval and renaissance music – yet is especially interested in the recorders’ countless possibilities in contemporary and new music and working with composers, with a steadily growing number of new works written for and premiered by him. Jazz, fusion, rock, prog, experimental, electro-acoustic, live electronic, soundtrack and film music are an integral part of his musical landscape.

Instruments available comprise over 30 professional concert recorders, including:

• Baroque and neo-baroque recorders (garklein to great bass) in A:440 Hz
• Paetzold square bass recorders (great bass, contrabass, sub great bass) in A:440 Hz
• Modern Dragon Flute recorders (alto and soprano) with built-in pickup in A:440 Hz
• Cylindrical (medieval) recorders (sopranino to tenor) in A:440 and A:466 Hz
• Renaissance (Ganassi) recorders (soprano and alto) in A:440, A.466 and A:415 Hz
• Baroque recorders (sopranino to bass) in A:415 Hz

For a detailed list of instruments per model, more information about individual instruments, characteristics and specifications, please don’t hesitate to get in touch via juho [at] juhomyllyla [dot] com.

For a good overview and impression on the recorder family and how to write for it, check out the comprehensive “how to write for…” online resource by Jorge Isaac (Ensemble Black Pencil), and watch the excellent demonstration video on the different instruments and techniques.

Electronics
We encourage and warmly welcome the use of electronics in the new compositions. All forms and combinations of electronics, both fixed media and live processing, as well as (live) visuals are welcome. Composers may program the electronics themselves and provide a patch along with performance instructions, or Juho can work together to fine-tune your ideas using Logic/Mainstage and MaxMSP. If the composer wishes to perform/operate the electronics part live during the premiere performance(s), this is of course possible but ideally shouldn’t be required – i.e. the work should eventually also be possible to be performed as a a stand-alone version where all live electronics are automated and/or controlled by the solo performer (in order to enable further performances in the future).

Interested?
Submit a composition sketch with a maximum length of one minute. We’d like to receive a score/pdf and a midi-file (MP3). On the basis of the sketch 6 composers will be invited for a Reading Session with Juho Myllylä to further explore ideas and possibilities. After the Reading Session for composers will be selected that can work out their sketch to a piece of 5-7 minutes. The piece will be performed at least three times and will be premiered during Grachtenfestival. Furthermore it will sound at Gaudeamus and November Music. For the selected composers there’s a fee available of €750.