Suzanne Mueller

Suzanne Mueller -cello & Thomas Piercy-clarinet

Suzanne Mueller

Cellist Suzanne Mueller has been Summer Concert Artist-in-Residence at Old Westbury Gardens in New York since 2003, presenting an eclectic series of concerts with various partners. She is a graduate of both the Pre-College and College of The Juilliard School. Her teachers have included Marion Feldman, Alexander Kouguell, Lorne Munroe, Leslie Parnas, Channing Robbins, and Harvey Shapiro, and she has coached with artists including Joseph Fuchs, Margot Garrett, William Lincer, and, for non-classical cello and perspective, Eugene Friesen. She made her New York recital debut under the auspices of Artists International, as a member of the piano/cello Elysian Duo, and went on to perform as half of its successor, Elysian II, for ten years, before forming CROSS ISLAND with pianist Elinor Abrams Zayas. She also performs with clarinetist Thomas Piercy as CROSS ISLAND~Cello & Reed and with flutist Pamela Sklar as Cambiata Flute & Cello Duo. Another combination she enjoys is guitar and cello, and she was half of the guitar/cello duo, McCarron and Mueller, with Mark McCarron, for a decade. She enjoys collaboration with composers, which has led to her being a frequent performer on the Composer’s Voice concert series, presenting new music by living composers. Suzanne is a member of the New Directions Cello Association, the International Alliance for Women in Music and Mu Phi Epsilon music fraternity. She performs and records with the folk duo Hungrytown, and has also appeared and recorded with singer/songwriter Terry Winchell, and in the jazz-inflected pop ensemble of Dave Rave & Mark McCarron. She can be heard on CDs by CROSS ISLAND, HUNGRYTOWN, Robin Eve Terry Winchell, Dave Rave and Mark McCarron, Alli Collis, Lauren Agnelli, and the Cave Dogs. For more information about Suzanne, please see her website, http://suzannemuellercellist.com.

Thomas Piercy

Thomas Piercy is a critically acclaimed musician with appearances throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. His performances have been described by critics as "passionate," "pulling out all the stops," by the New York Times as "brilliant," "playing with refinement and flair" and "devoking a panache in the contemporary works." A versatile artist - the clarinetist on the Emmy Award-winning Juno Baby CDs and DVDs; performing Mozart with mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade; playing Broadway songs with Raoul Julia; working with the composer Leonard Bernstein; appearing in a KRS-ONE rap music video; performing concert improvisations with pianist Donal Fox; recording with members of Maroon 5 - he has performed and recorded for Broadway and Off-Broadway, commercial

The theme of this call is the painting "Giverny Revisited" by Raisy Derzie

15 one-minute selections for Suzanne Mueller & Thomas Piercy-

Concert program

Sunday, April 28, 2013 - Jan Hus Church, New York City

Sunday, July 22nd, 2012 - Old Westbury Gardens, New York

Return to Giverny

Greg Bartholomew

Greg Bartholomew’s music is frequently performed throughout the United States and in Europe, Canada and Australia. It is available on CDs recorded by the Czech Philharmonic, Kiev Philharmonic, Connecticut Choral Artists (Concora), Ars Brunensis Chorus and Langroise Trio, as well as Vox Novus. For further information visit www.gregbartholomew.com.

"Return to Giverny" was inspired by the painting "Giverny Revisited" as a reflection on revisiting memories of a familiar place. Composed in May 2012 for Suzanne Mueller and Thomas Piercy.
Revisting Giverny

Gordon Francis Blaney Jr.

Gordon Francis Blaney Jr. (b. 29 November 1982) is an American writer, performer, educator, and theorist with an extensive background in classical and jazz. He studied at Berklee College of Music where he received a BM in Composition. He studies composition with Berklee College of Music composition department professor Dennis LeClaire.

Giverny is a small French village 80 km to the west of the capital city Paris, within the valley of the river Seine and the northern region of Upper Normandy. Giverny inspires people in the visual and performing arts to create. Revisting Giverny by Gordon Francis Blaney Jr. (b. 29 November 1982) is inspired by the painting Giverny Revisited by Raisy Derzie.
Giverny Revisited

Oliver Cameron

Australian composer Oliver Cameron is a violist and pianist currently studying at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. Drawing influence from Impressionist and Symbolist composers, Oliver's style has been described as a post-post modern reinterpretation of century old stylistic ideas.

Upon studying Derzie's work I was instantly drawn to her fauve-ish use of colour and impressionistic brush-work. My piece encapsulates the impressionistic idea of capturing a place in real time, replacing realism with interpretation, hence we join the clarinet and cello mid-conversation, and what is heard, although lyrical, is obscured by metre changes.
You Say Giverny? I Say Gevalt!

Steve Cohen
Steve Cohen received his training at the Manhattan, Eastman and Juilliard Schools of Music, and has composed a largecatalog of symphonic, chamber, liturgical and musical-theater pieces. His choral music is published by Transcontinental/URJ Press, and his chamber works have been recorded on the Centaur and Eclectra record labels.

Met Suzanne Mueller at concert. We became Facebook friends. She told me about contest, and said “Send music.” Wrote a piece in 90 minutes, checked rules, learned music must be about Giverny. Invented clever title and submitted music. If you’re reading this, it worked. Next time, will read rules first.
Garden Piece

Dagmar Feyen

Dagmar Feyen holds Masters Degrees in piano performance and composition, and currently performs and teaches piano and music theory in Belgium. He has received various international awards for his music, which is performed all over the world. As an active performer, he plays both classical recitals and jazz gigs. (http://www.dagmarfeyen.com)

"Garden Piece" for Clarinet and Cello is conceived with tone material that is derived from the title of the painting “Giverny Revisited”. It has three movements (fast – slow – fast) and requires a tight sense of synchronisation between the two players.
Clémentel’s Stereoscope

Jim Fox

In Clémentel’s Stereoscope, given the project’s theme of Derzie’s Giverny Revisited, which depicts weeping willows (among other plants) in Monet’s garden, I supply the clarinet with “weeping” (descending) 2nds. The cello’s many parallel double-stops make the title’s acknowledgment of Monet’s friend Etienne Clémentel, an amateur photographer who also depicted Giverny—with his stereoscopic camera—particularly fitting.

Los Angeles-based composer Jim Fox’s music—usually quiet, slow, unassuming, and often described by critics as "austere" and "sensuous"—has been commissioned and performed by ensembles and soloists throughout the U.S. and recorded on the Cold Blue, CRI, Advance, Grenadilla, Raptoria Caam, and Citadel labels.
Giverny Revisited

Masatora Goya

Masatora Goya, originally from Japan, is a composer writing extensively in the areas of chamber music and theater. Trained as a vocal performer first, he explores the musical landscape of drama, space, and emotion.

Staring at the "Giverny Revisited" by Raisy Derzie, I was interested in the gray stream of water, assumingly a pond in the garden. It is calm and still, but seems never dormant. My piece "Ripples in the Pond" is the effort of capturing the subtle movement of water.
Waltz of the Dragonflies

Joel R. Hobbs

Composer and mandolinist Joel R. Hobbs (b. 1963) writes and performs joyous music in wide range of styles including jazz, folk and chamber. The founder and director of the Austin Mandolin Orchestra, Joel resides in Austin Texas with his wife and a couple of border collies. www.joelhobbs.com

Waltz of the Dragonflies – In Monet’s Garden at Giverny or somewhere near you, dragonflies nimbly flit across the water’s surface in search of sunlit perch. In this place, it is a tranquil summer afternoon. Let’s go there now.
Afterimages

James SOE NYUN

James SOE NYUN did graduate composition studies at the University of California, San Diego. For two decades after leaving school he moved towards working in the visual arts. Recent explorations in video have seen him moving towards time-based work, and a re-exploration of his musical roots.

Using gentle distortions of harmony and more assertive transformations of rhythm, Afterimages riffs on the opening of Debussy's Reflets dans l'eau, the first piece from the first set of Images for piano.
Giverny Revisited - Pastorale/h3>
Sean O’Boyle

Australian composer, Sean O’Boyle's compositions have been performed and or recorded by all the major Australian orchestras; European Orchestras include - Berlin Philharmonic, Orchestre Symphonique Divertimento, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra and North American Orchestras include the Dallas Symphony, Fort Worth Symphony, Concord Chamber Orchestra and the Cincinnati Pops.

The painting “Giverny Revisited” provided me with all the imagery I needed. Clingingly impressionistic, playful and wistful. An idea was created in mirror image. The clarinet playfully imitates the cello until the 1st theme is revisited.
Stone Dance

Brian Schober

Brian Schober maintains a dual career as composer and organist. He studied both at the Eastman School of Music and Paris Conservatory with the likes of Samuel Adler, Joseph Schwanter, Olivier Messiaen, Jean Guillou and André Isoir. He has composed extensively for piano, organ, voice, chorus, percussion and chamber music.

Stone Dance is based on a segment of the third scene of my opera Dance of the Stones during which the two protagonists, Thom and Abby, have an argument. The idea of the cello pizzicato ostinato and free-wheeling clarinet melody is maintained and developed in different directions.
Riffin’

Bob Siebert

I received my BM and MM Music Degrees from Manhattan School of Music, and have been a performer/composer/teacher in the New York area for the past thirty five years. My music runs the gambit from pop influenced electronic realism through reinvented jazz standards to experimental electronic pieces and improvisations for the African thumb piano. My work can be found on iTunes, YouTube, and cdbaby.com/bobsiebert Upcoming performances include Experimental music festivals in the metropolitan area and cafe’ venues in Brooklyn and New Jersey Premier performances at the Composer’s Voice Concert Series: “Shared Sadness” and “Sleeping Women - A Jazz Essence” for renowned NY clarinetist Dorothy Duncan - solo Clarinet 1/8/12 “In a Minor Groove” for noted NY performer/composer Alyssa Reit, solo Harp -5/29/11 “March in Jazz Time” for the violin and cello duo Zentripetal - 4/24/11 “Liebestraum, Baby!” for the internationally known pianist Shiau-Uen Ding - 3/27/11

This minimalist jazz work kicks in with a quiet beat. It’s a riff made up of a repeated melodic fragment that swirls in the time the way Raisy Derzie painting swirls with shapes in color!
micro-fantasy

Daniel J. Thompson

Daniel J. Thompson (b. 1988) has a strong background as a pianist in jazz and rock music, but assimilated the classical idiom in his late teens and early twenties. His eclectic compositional output is influenced by Alfred Schnittke, Olivier Messiaen, Alban Berg, Jack/Meg White, Radiohead, Neil Young, and Thelonious Monk.

micro-fantasy is a duet for clarinet and cello inspired by the picturesque landscapes depicted in Raisy Derzie’s Giverny Revisited. The piece can be thought of as a daydream from the lush sanctuary that Claude Monet called home.
Prelude

Douglas Townsend

A student of Copland, Wolpe, Luening, Serly and Greissle, 90-year-old Manhattan native Douglas Townsend has composed and premiered over 100 works: symphonies, concertos, chamber and ballet music, film scores and incidental music; operas, operettas and choral music; and he has written extensively for wind ensembles and concert bands.

A held note on the clarinet and cello light-heartedly signals a whistleblower announcing a country art exhibition. The mood changes and a 30-second slow section follows in an impressionistic style, representing a free-flowing improvisation of the rippling, reflecting pond at Giverny. Two final chords lead into the next work.
A Moment's Impression

Rain Worthington

Rain Worthington‘s music “…take(s) ideas of American musical style to a new place – like a walk in a familiar, yet very different park." Rain’s emotionally evocative compositional style is nuanced, delicate, powerful and transporting. She has been influenced by world music, minimalism and romanticism.

An impression of light in sound.