March 1, 2013

COMPOSER’S VOICE

Program:

Fifteen Minutes of Fame - Re-Imagining Debussy
Stephen Porter, piano

Fuyuyamaji (Mountain Path in Winter)
Erik Branch

Deuxième vocalise pour l'Albatros
Anne-Marie Turcotte

Granada Forever Echoes
Anna Aidinian

Le Tombeau du Piano
Giuseppe Lupis

Wasabi
Steven H. Markowitz

Painting III: Claude
Aurelio Scotto

Divertissement
Dustin Peters

Seduce us badly
Juan Maria Solare

Les blancs de poissons
Peter Reilich

Golliwogg's Leaf Rag
Remigio Coco

Re-Imagining Syrinx
Serban Nichifor

Prelude in A-flat Major
Cindi Hsu

West
James Soe Nyun

Après une Exécution
José Jesus de Azevedo Souza

Tsukuyomi
Darren Wirth

Christmas Tree
Jason Huffman
Chia-Li Ho, violin
Zoe Kemmerling, viola
Chris Homick, cello
Leg
Chris Coughlin
Bethanne Walker, flute
Chia-Li Ho, violin
The Violist's Notebook
John Harbison
Zoe Kemmerling, viola
12 American Etudes
Marti Epstein
Mischa Salkind-Pearl, piano

Musicians

Chia-Li Ho

A native of Taiwan, Chia-Li Ho started her violin study at the age of six. After finishing her Bachelor's degree in Taiwan, she came to Boston pursuing her Master's degree at the Boston Conservatory. As an active orchestra player, she has participated in various leading international music festivals with full scholarship, including the Asian Youth Orchestra, Round Top Music Festival, and the National Repertoire Orchestra. She has been co-concertmaster at the Boston Civic Symphony Orchestra, Jamaica Plain Symphony Orchestra and other regional ensembles.

Christopher Homick

Christopher Homick is a Boston-based cellist and composer. His classical performance highlights include the Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra, Boston New Music Initiative, and Boston String Players. He has also played with pop performers such as the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Kingsbury Manx, Wesley Wolfe, and Zubris. Christopher has attended summer festivals such as the Meadowmount School of Music and Brevard Music Center, and has appeared in master classes led by Zuill Bailey, Nina Lee, and Tilmann Wick, among others. Christopher is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (B.M.) and The Boston Conservatory (M.M.) and is currently pursuing a Professional Studies Certificate in Composition from The Boston Conservatory, under the instruction of Andy Vores.

Zoe Kemmerling

A native of Davis, California, violist and writer Zoe Kemmerling has studied at the Boston Conservatory, UC Davis, Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music, and the Tanglewood Music Center, among other places. Her multiple performing hats range from baroque violinist to violist and founding member of the new music-oriented Equilibrium Concert Series. A strong supporter of spreading string education far and wide, she has worked with young string players in community programs in Chelsea, Lawrence, and Mattapan. As a freelance writer, she specializes in program notes and regularly contributes reviews and articles to the online journal The Boston Musical Intelligencer.

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 of the complete Piano Preludes of Debussy in Paris, in Sarajevo as featured soloist of the 8th Bosnia International Music Festival, and in the United States 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.

Mischa Salkind-Pearl

Mischa Salkind-Pearl is a Boston based pianist and composer of instrumental and vocal music. His works have been performed throughout the United States, Japan, Germany, and Italy, and have been featured at music festivals and concert series in Boston, San Francisco, Fairbanks, Tokyo, Freiburg, Pavia, and others. As a pianist, Mischa has performed through the East coast, Oregon, and Tokyo. He has had the privilege of performing several world premieres, including works by composers Justin Barish and Clifton Ingram, as well as his own. Mischa is cofounder and director of the Boston area concert series, Equilibrium. He currently teaches English as a Second Language at the Boston Conservatory, where he is composer-in-residence for the Ludovico Ensemble.

Bethanne Walker

Bethanne Walker is currently pursuing a Graduate Performance Diploma at the Boston Conservatory, where she is a student of Linda Toote. A native of Eugene, Oregon, she began her flute studies at the age of twelve, and studied with Dr. Nancy Andrew, who was a student of the late Marcel Moyse.

Composers

Christopher Coughlin

Composer, orchestrator, engraver, conductor, and educator, Christopher Coughlin is an active member of the contemporary music community. Having been hailed as “engaging,” “dramatic,” “epic,” and occasionally “truly odd,” his music is best characterized by an extreme attentiveness to melodic contour and emotional depth. Perhaps more importantly, Mr. Coughlin’s work in music for film and stage productions has given him a unique perspective on the importance of “art music” in modern culture – an awareness that, along with his compositional voice, has led to frequent and numerous commissions. Mr. Coughlin currently holds the positions of Orchestrator and Engraver for The Boston Ballet and maintains a private studio for teaching music theory and composition, as well as following his idealistic nature to work as an EMT.

Marti Epstein

Marti Epstein is a composer whose music has been performed by the San Francisco Symphony, The Radio Symphony Orchestra of Frankfurt, the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra of Boston, Ensemble Modern, and members of the Boston Symphony. She has completed commissions for the Foxborough Musical Association, the Fromm Foundation, The Munich Biennale, the Iowa Brass Quintet, the CORE Ensemble, Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra, Longy School of Music, the Ludovico Ensemble, Guerilla Opera, and the Callithumpian Consort. Marti has been a fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center and in residence at the MacDowell Colony. Marti is on the Steering Committee for the Boston Modern Orchestra Project Scoreboard and was Composer-in-Residence for the Radius Ensemble. Marti is Professor of Composition at Berklee College of Music and also teaches composition at Boston Conservatory. Citing his most important influences as the Bach Cantatas, Stravinsky (whom he met in Santa Fe in 1963) and jazz, John Harbison's music is distinguished by its exceptional invention and deeply expressive range. He has written for every conceivable type of concert genre, ranging from the grand opera to the most intimate; pieces that embrace jazz along with the classical forms. His prolific, personal and greatly admired music written for the voice encompasses a catalogue of over 70 works including opera, choral, voice with orchestra and chamber/solo works.

Bert Van Herck

Guest Curator: Bert Van Herck’s music has been performed in the US, and Europe among others by the Nouvel Ensemble Modern, Danish National Vokal Ensemble, Oxalys Ensemble, Garth Knox, Mario Caroli, Orchestre National de Lorraine (France), Jeremias Schwarzer, Ensemble Fa, Spectra Ensemble, White Rabbit, Talea Ensemble, Berten D’Hollander, Ian Pace, Ensemble Mosaik, Arditti String Quartet and Ensemble InterContemporain. He has been an active participant in several summer courses, such as the Acanthes summer courses in France, the Bartok Seminar in Hungary, the International Academy for Composition and Audio Art in Austria, the Wellesley Composers Conference, June in Buffalo, and Domaine Forget, all at which his music has been performed. He has also attended the Summer Course at IRCAM, the Tenso Seminar and the Darmstadt International Courses for New Music.

Jason Huffman

Jason Huffman is a Boston based composer and trumpet player whose works take much inspiration from the interplay of mathematics with the perception of time and sound. His works have been played by the Boston Conservatory Wind Ensemble and Brass Ensemble, Ludovico Ensemble, Juventas New Music, the Devil May Care Duo, Bay Colony Brass, the Equilibrium Ensemble, and Ensemble Interface. He received a Bachelor of Music in Composition and Trumpet Performance from Oberlin Conservatory and a Master of Music in Composition from Boston Conservatory. His primary teachers of composition have included Richard Hoffmann, Curtis Hughes, Dalit Warshaw and Jan Swafford, with additional studies with Andy Vores, Edward Miller, Randolph Coleman, John Luther Adams, Pauline Oliveros, John Adams, Tan Dun and Louis Lane.

15 one-minute selections Re-Imagining Debussy for Stephen Porter

  • Granada Forever Echoes

    Anna Aidinian

    Anna Aidinian studied piano and composition at the Armenia and Moscow State Conservatories where she taught after obtaining her degrees. Ms. Aidinian's performances and deeply rooted in Armenian folk music compositions generated great interest and were highly praised for their expressiveness and intellectual sophistication.

    Despite being influenced by Spanish culture Debussy never visited Spain. What if he did and attended a flamenco performance? The piece is based on a motif G-F-E (title acrostic ): a distant memory enters the mind, then becomes alive in the syncopated middle part before fading away.

  • Après une Exécution

    José Jesus de Azevedo Souza

    José Jesus de Azevedo Souza studied in England at the Purcell School with a scholarship from the Calouste Gulbenkian and later studied at the Trinity College of Music and University of Sheffield. He has since composed a considerable amount of music, some of which has been performed.

    Après une Exécution was written following a performance of Debussy’s Prelude Des Pas sur la Neige. A Minimalistic, constricted, two-bar figure of French Augmented Sixth Chords accompany the right hand playing excerpts of the same Prelude.

  • Fuyuyamaji

    Erik Branch

    Erik Branch is a native of New York City, and received a BA and MA in Music (Composition) from Hunter College. He lives near Orlando, Florida, where he is active as a pianist, musical director, composer/arranger, opera chorister, and actor on stage and screen.

    Fuyuyamaji (Mountain Path in Winter ) draws its inspiration, as Debussy often did, from traditional Japanese visual art, in this case, Sesshu’s famous ink-painting, Winter Landscape. To a lesser degree, it also draws upon the characteristic modes of traditional Japanese music and seeks to use them in a non-traditional context.

  • Golliwogg's Leaf Rag

    Remigio Coco

    Pianist and composer, Remigio Coco is born in Maenza (Italy) in 1965 and lives in Latina, near Rome. He received his Piano Diploma in 1985, and graduated in Electronic Music in 2007. His works range from chamber music to electroacoustic pieces, also with live electronics.

    The name of this piece is self-explanatory: Debussy's "Golliwogg's cake-walk" and Scott Joplin "Maple leaf rag" are blended together, with literal citations of both compositions and a little ironic touch.

  • Prelude in Ab Major

    Cindi Hsu

    Born in Taiwan, Cindi Hsu holds a bachelor’s degree in piano performance from Tung-hai University in Taiwan, and a Master of Arts degree in composition from New York University. A recipient of numerous ASCAPLUS Awards, her music has been performed in Taiwan, France, and the United States. Ms. Hsu currently resides in New York City and is on the faculty of the Music Conservatory of Westchester. www.youtube.com/HsuCindi

    ‘Prelude in Ab Major’ evokes fond childhood memories of the afternoon my Grandmother taught me ‘Momotaro-San’, a popular Japanese children’s song. I incorporate that tune into this piece, and carefully plant it within the figurations of the left-hand-only first half of the piece. The tune is then joined by the right hand in the second half to form a canon.

  • Le tombeau du piano

    Giuseppe Lupis

    Pianist and composer Giuseppe Lupis regularly appears in the United States, South America, and Europe . His piano works have been performed at the Berliner Philharmonie, the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Vancouver, in Rome, London, New York, Seoul, and across the United States, Canada, Italy, Poland, United Kingdom, and South Korea.

    Le tombeau du piano represents a journey into the ideal twenty-fifth prelude by Debussy. Its aim is to enhance piano features as Debussy would probably have, through reminiscences of his style and the style of composers who inspired or were inspired by Debussy, such as Gershwin and Chopin.

  • Wasabi

    Steven H Markowitz

    Steven H Markowitz Studied Composing and Arranging at Dick Groves (Studio City California) in the mid 80's. He enjoys improvising at the piano keyboard, often merging classical and jazz sonorities. Influences include Keith Jarrett, Eric Satie, and Sergei Prokofiev.

    Wasabi includes flavors of Japan with a dollop of French, and a teaspoon of Zes Confrey (American). It is spicy and syncopated.

  • Re-Imagining Syrinx

    Serban Nichifor

    Serban Nichifor (b. 1954, Bucharest-Romania), American Composer, Prizes and Awards: Amsterdam, Tours, Evian, Athens, Urbana-Illinois, Birmingham-Alabama, Toledo, Koln, Karlsruhe, Roma, Trento, Newtown-Wales, Bydgoszcz, Jihlava, Zagreb, a.s.o., Officer of the Order of the Belgium Crown. Over 200 compositions: Symphonic, Vocal-Symphonic, Concertant, Chamber, Vocal, Choral and Computer Music.

    Dedicated to the extraordinary piano virtuoso Stephen Porter, Re-Imagining Syrinx is a very new and special variation of a sequence from the epilogue of my opera The Martyrdom of St Claude Debussy: http://www.myspace.com/video/serbannichiforcomposer5

  • West

    James Soe Nyun

    James SOE NYUN is an artist and composer residing in San Diego, California.

    "West" weaves exoticisms wafting from the continent to the Debussy's west--syncopations from early American jazz and tone clusters from early piano experimenters--into passages more characteristic of the composer. Really, it's not that much of a stretch: Debussy's sound world is a generous and welcoming one.

  • Divertissement

    Dustin Peters

    Toronto-based Dustin Peters studied piano and was an orchestral double-bassist before turning to composition in 2001. Works ranging from string quartet, ballet, orchestral, solo and chamber music have been performed in Canada and Europe; his film scores have been heard in the Berlin, Sao Paolo, and Toronto International Film Festivals.

    This creation of “Divertissement” was a diversion from writing some film music; a chance to open up and let myself decide what was to be imparted rather than following the strictures imposed by the screen. Using something of a “Dubussian” tone palette, the music decided it’s own course!

  • Les bancs de poissons

    Peter Reilich

    Peter Reilich (b. 1957, Los Angeles) was an orphan and was adopted into the musical family of his aunts & cousins in Los Angeles where he began playing the piano at age 6. He also studied spanish dance, acting, orchestral percussion and music composition. Peter has performed as pianist, keyboardist, orchestral percussionist, arranger, composer, lyricist and music director.

    "Les bancs de poissons" (The Schools of Fish) Short work, in the style of Debussy études. Music depicts schools of small fish swimming. Fish quickly darting, to and fro, illustrated with short, fast runs. Some harmonic content reflects Debussy's interest in early American Jazz music. Three simple sections:
    1. fast runs: m. 1-4, 6-10, 12
    2. chordal jump passages: m. 5, 12
    3. four-part Bachian chorale(-ish) passages: m. 11, 14

  • Seduce us badly

    Juan Maria Solare

    Juan Maria Solare, born 1966 in Argentina, works currently in Germany as composer, pianist (contemporary & tango) and teaching at the University of Bremen and at the Hochschule fuer Kuenste Bremen. His music has been performed in five continents. Eleven CDs of different performers include at least one piece of him.

    "Seduce us badly" is an anagram of "Claude Debussy". Stephen Porter's project "Re-Imagining Debussy" required the work to "interact in some way with the music or compositional spirit of Debussy". I answered by using some of his technical devices: chords parallelisms, whole-tone scales, brief melodic shapes, central notes and a broad multi-layered texture.

  • Painting III: Claude

    Aurelio Scotto

    Young Italian composer, Aurelio Scotto music has been performed in Italy, Russia, Usa, Malta, Japan, Swizterland, and published by Wicky Music Editions, Taukay Music Editions, Master Symphony Editions, Universal Music Publishing Ricordi Edition. Winner of many National and International Composition Competition. www.aurelioscotto.it

    Painting III: Claude Archaic and exotic sensations are condensed in a refined and elegant tribute to Claude Debussy.

  • Deuxième vocalise pour l'Albatros

    Anne-Marie Turcotte

    Anne-Marie Turcotte, born in Milan, graduated in Piano, Composition, Choral music at the Conservatoire of Milan. Prize winner in international composition competitions. Her music has been commissioned and performed by important orchestras and festivals. Some of her works are published by Ricordi, Edipan, Edizioni Musicali Sinfonica, Bèrben.

    Deuxième vocalise pour l'Albatros is inspired by the imaginative music of the Debussy’s Préludes (especially “Voiles” and “Des pas sur la neige”).

  • Tsukuyomi

    Darren Wirth

    Darren Wirth is the accompanist at Smoky Hill High School in Aurora, Colorado. As a pianist, he was a prizewinner in the International Duo Piano Competition in Colorado Springs, and semi-finalist in the International Keyboard Odyssiad. Darren’s compositions have been featured at the Pike’s Peak Young Composer’s Competition, and at the Lamont School of Music’s Student Concert Series.

    Tsukuyomi is the moon god in the Japanese Shinto. Shinto is a collection of folklore and mythology that spiritually connects present-day Japanese with their ancient past. This piece imagines visiting the shrine to Tsukuyomi, located in Kyoto, Japan, in the misty moonlight. This piece is also pays homage to “Pagodes”, from Debussy’s Estampes.

Dudley House Harvard University

EQ

[equilibrium] concert series

Equilibrium Concert Series, fueled by the energy of a group of composers, performers, and listeners devoted to the limitless possibilities of new music, aims to present a wide array of inspiring concerts to the greater Boston music-loving community. We took shape in 2011, growing out of a desire to provide a forum for the music of emerging local artists as well as for the discussions and connections that the experience of live performance fosters. We seek to enrich Boston’s music scene by presenting new local works and recent masterpieces to collaborators and audience members who are interested in expanding their musical world and their network of like-minded people.

Remarkable Theater Brigade

Remarkable Theater Brigade founded by Christian McLeer, Dan Jeselsohn and Monica Harte, creates and produces new operas and musicals and takes children's versions out to special-needs and at-risk children free of charge. Remarkable Theater Brigade creates and produces new works including operas, orchestral pieces, ballets, musicals, and electro-acoustic works and co-produces the Composer's Voice Concert Series concerts. Remarkable Theater Brigade was founded in 2002 by Christian McLeer, Monica Harte, and Dan Jeselsohn.

Vox Novus

Vox Novus promotes contemporary music and its creators through concerts, recordings, publications, broadcasts, and online publicity. Vox Novus believes strongly in the intrinsic value of contemporary music, recognizing it as a force in the advancement of culture and art. Our goal is to keep music alive by strengthening the connection between composer and audience, providing greater exposure to new music.
www.VoxNovus.com