Solo Work/Commissioning
My work as a soloist is defined largely by my interest in and dedication to the world of new/contemporary classical music. My relationship to the interpretation of notated/composed music is borne of my classical training, and my interest in creating new repertoire for the double bass, collaborating with composers, and addressing issues of gender and racial representation in the field of classical music.
-
Douglas Osmun: IMPEND
A live performance of Douglas Osmun's IMPEND from the University of Iowa's Center for New Music in April 2022. Douglas' program note reads: IMPEND is the faltering machine, the system decay in which the system does not know the tools to repair itself. Its only designated logic is to continue churning regardless of any impeding entropy. What becomes of an unsustainable system, its limits now clearly articulated but which only knows its linear continuity? -
Sivan Cohen Elias: RESET
This recording was the premiere of Sivan Cohen Elias' RESET, a piece for double bass and live electronics (performed here by the composer). Sivan's program note reads: RESET is structured as a continuous loop of beginning and ending of the same material, which keeps morphing into new reflections of itself as a dented mirror would do to its reflection. In the center of Reset the main material is by itself a cut-up shifts between sonic memories of nature, classical music, and noise, repeatedly coming to an end and starting over. -
Elliott Lupp - a warp along the length of the face
Elliott's program note reads: This piece was written for and in collaboration with double bassist and friend Will Yager over a two year period. The work uses a series of cue like notational ‘guides’ (provided in real time via laptop) to instruct the performer through a series of physical, semi-improvisatory performative instructions. -
Davide Ianni: Beneath the Music From a Further Room
Davide Ianni: Beneath the Music From a Further Room (2016-17) for double bass and two singing bass drums Will Yager, double bass Davide Ianni, composition & live electronics University of Iowa Center for New Music April 25, 2021 -
Jean-François Charles: Petrified
Will Yager, double bass Jean-François Charles, live electronics This work is part of a large-scale commissioning effort that comprised the bulk of my doctoral dissertation at the University of Iowa. -
Benjamin Patterson - Variations for Double Bass
This performance was recorded as part of the 2020 Nief-Norf Virtual Marathon Concert. -
Rebecca Saunders: Fury II
Will Yager, solo double bass University of Iowa Center for New Music: Mauricio Silva, bass clarinet Simone Baron, accordion Nicha Pimthong, piano Peter Naughton, percussion Travis Newman, percussion Hui-Hsuan Su, cello David Gompper, conductor April 14, 2019 Saunders' program note reads: Fury means rage. An explosion of rage. Endeavouring to release an extreme energy. -
James May: glances full of muted colors
live from Omaha Under the Radar 2022