Ned McGowan (1970) is a American-Dutch composer, flutist, researcher and teacher living in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Known for rhythmical vitality and technical virtuosity, his music has been performed at Carnegie Hall, Concertgebouw and Purcell Room and other halls and festivals around the world. As a flutist he plays classical, contemporary and improvisation concerts internationally and he has a special love for the contrabass flute. Ned teaches composition and is Head of Artistic Research at the Utrecht Conservatory.
“An extremely clever and often amusing juxtaposition of industrial construction sounds and composed music for his instrument.”
– Scott MacClelland, Performing Arts Monterey Bay
“Once again, the range of flute writing seemed to be limitless in its imagination and technical requirements.”
– Scott MacClelland, Performing Arts Monterey Bay
“Ned McGowan, a composer and flutist, proved there’s still plenty of life in old-fashioned virtuosity with “Bantammer Swing”, a playful, athletic concerto for his unwieldy contrabass flute.”
– Steve Smith, New York Times
“A particularly impressive piece is Workshop by Ned McGowan… McGowan creates a wonderful environment of machine and construction ‘noises’, placed in timbral and rhythmic interplay with rapid, flashy recorder lines that travel into quieter sections and end exuberantly.”
– Tom Bickley, American Recorder
“The compositions of band leader Ned McGowan, very complex in many ways, are especially well put together. Live performance also allows them to breathe enough, by optimally taking advantage of theatrical aspects[…]”
– Mischa Andriessen, jazzenzo.nl
“… Ned McGowan’s new piece ‘Wood Burn’ does well and grows to the highpoint of the evening.”
– Mark van de Voort, Brabants Dagblad
“If you are having a slow day, his samples will wake you right up!”
– Alex Ross: The Rest Is Noise
“Combining acoustic instruments with machine sounds is nothing new, of course, but the composer’s treatment of mechanistic noises is like a Tinguely sculpture in its sensitivity and humor.”
– Guy Livingston, Paris Transatlantic
“The sound quality is exceptional […] Performer, improviser, and composer McGowan has assembled around himself a tribe of dedicated musicians who perform the most fiendishly difficult rhythms with flair and ease…”
– Guy Livingston, Paris Transatlantic
“Whether singing, humming, sputtering or tapping, McGowan was a veritable master class in contemporary flute tone production, including passages using the faint clicking, percussive effect of the keys.”
– Bruce Hodges
“(about Second City) Ricocheting tempi combined with sometimes acrid, piercing sonorities to conclude some of the most satisfying music of the night.”
– Bruce Hodges
“Ned McGowan, an American expatriate living in Amsterdam known as a leading contemporary composer/flutist”
– Sequenza 21
“…the seldom-heard contrabass flute, an instrument that, in the hands of Ned McGowan, is capable of everything from near breathless calm to driving bass riffs that propel the orchestra forward.”
– Brighternow – emusers.org
“(Tools is) brutal and humorous.”
– GeNeCo
“… the rhythmical quicksilver of Ned McGowan’s Urban Turban.”
– Guido van Oorschot, Volkskrant
“The final piece was a composition of Ned’s called “Chamundi Hill” where Keiko imitated the sound of the tambura by intriguingly ‘bowing’ the strings of the piano, which earned them a shout for encores and a standing ovation.”
– Marianne De Nazareth, The Hindu
“Ned McGowan, a master on the contrabass flute”
– Fluit
“Ned McGowan shows himself from an animated, versatile side, both compositional and performing”
– Opduvel
“It’s striking how free and rich the music is and how well the contrabass (flute) lends itself for this”
– FLUIT
“Fantastic album! Beautiful artistic playing with rich low Flute tones. A most unique and worthy album for sure.”
– Peter Sheridan
“His virtuosity as performer and composer were irrepressible.”
– Scott MacClelland, Performing Arts Monterey Bay
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