REVIEW

Composer’s Voice: Music for all Ages

Composer's Voice looks to the future generation of music writers in its third annual Children's concert. Featuring a tantalizing array of pieces contributed by adults and children alike, the show is childlike but never childish.

Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame highlights the talents of New York's Cross Island Trio. Showcasing Elinor Abrams Zayas on piano, Suzanne Muller on cello, and Sandy Tepper on clarinet, Cross Island Trio offers richly textured interpretations that sing with brightness and throb with feeling.

Kevin Holland's Rush Hour Waltz immediately sets the tone for this concert. Bustling at a hearty tempo, it bursts with wonderment before closing with an emphatic smile. A la valse, contributed by Steven Serpa, contrasts the glassine register of the clarinet with the warm, chocolate-y tones of the cello, evoking a fabled fascination. A rollicking cross rhythm characterizes Benjamin Williams' A Jaunt in the Rain. With notes that pitter and patter, it acts as a pair of glossy red rain boots high-kicking against a sky streaked with storm. Aptly named I'm So Happy, John Spartan and Libby Moyer fashion an exultant lark; an exuberant clarinet solo transforms into a hopping romp brimming with spinning expansiveness. Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame culminates with Alan Elkins's Overclocked, arousing shot of caffeine, gurgling with frenzied activity. It crests to a brief pause before a jaunty tag signs off with a flourish.

The balance of the program is devoted to longer works, which capture the sunshine, curiosity, and wonderment of childhood.

Cl'oud, contributed byJimmy Pigott, growls and rumbles with brisk insistence. Argumentative yet sporting playful edges, it is brief, bold, and entrancing.

Vrinda Trivedi's My Garden Grows and Moaz Mneimneh's Bowl On Top of Bowl spotlight two young composers with a flowering talent. Lucid in their unclouded honesty, these compositions charm with their straightforward purity. Vocalist and pianist Alexandra Frederick underscores these unfettered virtues with a fastidiously authentic performance.

Father Douglas DaSilva and son Jason DaSilva team up on AT-26 Xavante. With Dad on clarinet, the younger DaSilva crafts a military inspired piece, sustained by a catchy melody edged in blue. Highlighting an agreeable shading of ranges, AT-26 Xavante offers a jaunty salute capped with an ending punctuation.

Seasoned composer Robert Voisey's Heavy Clouds and fledgling music maker J. P. Redmond's Three Poems to Sing demonstrate — manifested through the delightful performances of pianist Melissa Wimbish and pianist Hui-Chuan Chen — the seductive power of words girded by sweet and savory harmonies. Heavy Clouds, atmospheric with each note meaningfully pure, stirs with its ethereal panting. Three Poems to a Sing snaps and captivates with three punchy, pungent poems. While these compositions sound markedly different, their juxtaposition highlights the eternal ability of music, whether by child or adult, to move listeners.

Fifteen-Minutes-of Fame also presents lively selections from Bob Siebert, David Heuser, Steven Kreamer, Masatora Goya, Helga Beier, Adam Giese, Ruben Toledo, Scott Brickman, Tim Labor, and Dominic Dousa.

Other selections included Connor McCarthy’s enchanting Summer Melody with Suzanne Muller on cello, Barry Goldstein’s Butterfly with choreography by Gabriel Chajnik and a magical duet by dancer Jessica Black and soprano Elisa Brown, Greg Bartholomew’s trilling and thrilling The Flutist’s Field Guide to the Western Tanager with Lish Lindsey on flute, Vrinda Trivedi’s Swinging at the Park, Jesse Berman’s hopscotching Epic, Moaz Mneimneh’s The Fastest Car in the World, Jimmy Pigott’s Oud Ples and Marching Blues, Douglas DaSilva’s bold watercolor — Czysta Magia with a remarkably nuanced performance by Katarzyna Bryla, Nuha Dolby’s dynamic Piano Music and Journey with Hui-Chuan Chen on piano, and Robert Voisey’s Flowing Streams.

Erin Bomboy
http://erinbomboy.blogspot.com/

Don’t Mess with Mükremin

Mükremin Orhan Öncel was one of Turkey’s most dynamic conductors. Holding degrees from both the ITU Turkish Music State Conservatory and the Constantinople Wrestling Academy, he often employed both disciplines during a concert. Once, when the principal clarinetist squeaked the opening glissando in Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, the miffed maestro subjected the poor chap to the Öncel Head Lock. But thereafter, no member of his orchestra ever made a mistake!

David Gunn
www.DavidGunn.org

Upcoming Performances

Composer's Voice:
From the Music of Future Generations,
to Works Inspired by an Innovative Renegade

Sunday October 13, 2013 - 1:00 PM

Composer's Voice featuring Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame: Stephen Porter, piano Re-Imagining Debussy Music by Argentinian and Brazilian composers: Caio Senna; Juan Maria Solare; Marisol Gentile; Claudia Montero; and Robert Voisey. Performances by Agueda Fernández-Abad, soprano; Kenji Haba, guitar; Susan Davita Mandel, cello; and Yumi Suhiro, piano.

Fifteen Minutes of Fame:
Re-Imagining Debussy for Pianist Stephen Porter

A composer whose turbulent and scandalous life is mirrored by his dissonant and mysterious music, Debussy’s compositions sought to defy the societal expectations of his time. Vox Novus’ third concert of the season jumps from a concert about the next generation of composers to a 151 year old composer who sought to bring edge and intrigue into his work and shift the field of music composition towards new heights.

It’s no wonder that internationally acclaimed concert pianist, Stephen Porter, seeks to invigorate the music of today with works inspired by such a dramatic and innovative composer of the past. This Composer’s Voice concert features fifteen one-minute works written by composers from all over the world, including Erik Branch, Anne-Marie Turcotte, Anna Aidinian, Giuseppe Lupis, Steven H. Markowitz, Aurelio Scotto, Dustin Peters, Juan Maria Solare, Peter Reilich, Remigio Coco, Serban Nichifor, Cindi Hsu, James Soe Nyun, José Jesus de Azevedo Souza, and Darren Wirth. With influences from Canada to Europe and South America to Taiwan, this concert is bound to invigorate the senses and re-envision a renowned composer of impressionist music.

You can find more details on Stephen Porter's Fifteen Minutes of Fame at the following link:
http://www.voxnovus.com/15_Minutes_of_Fame/featuring/Stephen_Porter/

In 2012, Stephen Porter was named artist-resident of the Cité Internationale Des Arts in Paris, and invited to give recitals of the music of Claude Debussy during the composer’s 150th birthday year. His performances have been critically acclaimed as “masterful...everything is graceful and appropriate.” Mr. Porter was recently the guest on National Public Radio’s “Diane Rehm Show,” to discuss Debussy’s life and music. He has appeared as soloist at Albert Long Hall in Istanbul, the Rockefeller Foundation at Lake Como, the University of Rio de Janeiro, and LSO St. Luke’s with the Amadeus Orchestra of London.

The concert will also feature longer works by Juan Maria Solare, Robert Voisey, and Claudia Montero. Mr. Porter is joined by performers Kenji Haba (guitar), Susan Davita Mandel (cello), Agueda Fernἁndez-Abad (soprano), and Yumi Suehiro (piano)

Kenji Haba is a guitarist who is exclusively sensitive to timbres in appreciating and expressing the beauty of guitar. Recently, he has been focusing on impressionistic music, especially that of Debussy, Ravel, and Takemitsu.

Cellist, Susan Davita Mandel has performed as a finalist for the AMTL Young Musician’s concert series. She brings together multiple genres of music, collaborating with hip-hop, pop, rock, and jazz artists. Recently, Susan was the featured cellist in Jihae and John Patrick Shanley’s opera “Fire Burning Rain” at the Highline Ballroom in NYC and the Not For Sale campaign event in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Throughout her career, Agueda Fernandez-Abad has performed operas and oratorios with the leading orchestras of Argentina, the United States and Europe. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the National Fund of Performing Arts Singer of the Year.

Composer's Voice Concert Series is an opportunity for contemporary composers to express their musical aesthetic and personal "voice" created in their compositions. Started in 2001, the "Composer's Voice" concert series has presented over 100 concerts throughout the world premiering the works of thousands of living composers.

Click here to see the concert program

Composer’s Voice Concert
Sunday September 15th, 2013
Jan Hus Church
351 East 74th Street
New York, New York
FREE ADMISSION

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Opportunities

Fifteen Minutes of Fame

CALL FOR SCORES

Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame: Javier Pérez Garrido
Romances for solo clarinet

Deadline October 14, 2013

Vox Novus is calling for one-minute pieces composed for Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame: Javier Pérez Garrido, Romances for solo clarinet to be premiered February 14, 2014 at the Conservatorio Profesional de Música de Cartagena (Murcia), Spain. Submission guidelines: This call is open to all composers. All works must be 60 seconds or less. Theme: Romance - The composers can interpret this creatively. Submitted works can be written in any style and use any technique.

Javier Pérez Garrido holds an Advanced Degree in Clarinet Performance (2008) and Composition (2010) from the Conservatory of Murcia, Spain. He has been given performance and composition awards in several national and international music competitions. Javier has played as soloist with many of the most important youth wind and symphonic orchestras around Europe. Since 1998, he has composed nearly 80 works including solo, chamber, ensemble, choir, wind orchestra and orchestra pieces. His compositions have been performed in various European and American countries. www.perezgarrido.com

Click here for more details

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