NYCC | In the Loop | Nov 6 2009

Our November Salon is Sunday, November 22, from 2-5 pm in the Ellington Room at Manhattan Plaza. Address is 400 West 43 Street, on the second floor. It's been some time since I mentioned it here, but it is worth noting that our use of this room is thanks to the effort of GENE MCBRIDE. Thanks, Gene!

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The piano duo Stephanie Ho and Saar Ahuvia will perform piano four hand works by Long Island Composers Alliance composers Herbert Deutsch, Paul Hefner, Jay Anthony Gach, DANA RICHARDSON, Denise Broadhurst, Joel Mandelbaum, and Henry Martin. In addition, the duo will present the four hand version of Igor Stravinsky's ballet, Petrushka. The concert will be held this Sunday, November 8, 2009 at 2 PM at Park Ave. Methodist United Church, 106 E. 86th St. NYC, NY  Suggested Donation : $10. Reception to follow concert. For more information call 212-427-5421 or email Dana Richardson, Publicity at richardson_dana@hotmail.com

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Soprano SOFIA DIMITROVA will perform several songs by Honorary Member PAUL MORAVEC at Mannes College of Music, 150 West 85th Street, on Monday, Nov 16. The concert starts at 8pm in the second floor Concert Hall and is free. This is the fall semester version of New Music from Mannes College faculty composers: also on the bill are composers David Tcimpidis, David Loeb, and Robert Cuckson. For more information, call 212-580-0210 ext. 4817.

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JOSEPH PEHRSON shares this concert which will be of interest to listeners of new music: The Composers Concordance presents SKINS & BREATH, a concert of new music performed by soprano Melanie Mitrano and percussionist Peter Jarvis on Wednesday, November 18, 8PM at The Players Theatre, 115 MacDougal St., NYC.

The concert will be in two parts: the first with noted new music soprano Melanie Mitrano, which will explore the relationship between modern classical art song and jazz. She will showcase works by composers John Musto, Paul Bowles, Lori Laitman, Christopher Berg, William Bolcom, David Eddleman and Lee Hoiby. Ms. Mitrano will be joined by classical pianist Judith Munro deWette for that part of the program. She will then join jazz pianist Matt King for renditions of 6 of her own jazz songs. The second half of the concert will be devoted to the extraordinary percussionist Peter Jarvis, who will play 5 pieces on drum set by composers Gene Pritsker, David Saperstein, Wayne Peterson, Anthony Cornicello and Carlos Delgado. Two of these pieces are world premieres and two will include electronics.

Tickets are $10, available at the door.

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Here is a composer opportunity submitted by Lawrence Kramer; note the deadline is December 1: Fordham University, in association with the University of California Press journal 19th-Century Music and the University's acclaimed series Poets Out Loud, announces a joint song recital and poetry reading on April 24, 2010 at Fordham's Lincoln Center campus. Several New York area composers will be invited to compose settings for soprano and piano of poetry by contemporary poets, including members of the Fordham English faculty and the roster of Poets Out Loud. 

Each composer will be provided with a set of poems from which to choose and allotted 7-10 minutes of music. To be considered, please submit printed scores, whether published or prepared with music notation software, of two representative compositions for voice and piano with a combined time of no more than 10 minutes, together with a CD recording (if none is available, a MIDI realization is acceptable), a brief bio with contact information, including telephone number and e-mail address, and a SASE if you want materials returned. There is no application fee. Entries must be received at the address below between November 1 and December 1, 2009. Notifications of selection will be made no later than January 21st, 2010.  Scores of finished compositions must be received by March 21st, 2010. Composers must attend the concert (the poets will be there too, to read their work). 

Send materials to Lawrence Kramer, 791 Slate Quarry Road, Rhinebeck, NY 12572.

NYCC | In The Loop | Oct 22, 2009

Our next SUNDAY SALON will be this Sunday, Oct. 25 in the Ellington Room at Manhattan Plaza, 400 West 43 Street, second floor. We'll meet from 2-5pm.

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Your friendly In the Loop editor Richard Russell (that's me) has been behind in a number of things — and that means apologies are due to those whose events were not disseminated in a timely fashion. This includes JOSEPH PEHRSON's "Slick Clicks," a duet performed by the young ladies of the duo called Zentripetal, Jennifer DeVore, cello, and Lynn Bechtold, violin, performed last Friday.

Also, CESAR VUKSIC performed a piano solo recital at the Long Beach Library on September 27. The Program was titled: "European and Argentinean Music", and explored the links and parallels between 19th and 20th century's European great composers and 20th century's well known composers from Argentina. The Program included compositions by Chopin, Debussy, Bartok, Cobian, Salgan, Belisario Perez, Piazzolla and Ginastera. In addition, Cesar was been invited to exhibit four of his Paintings at a Group Exhibition in Town Hall, Hempstead, Long Island. Cesar writes: "All my life I had a passion for the Visual Arts as strong as my passion for Music.  When I joined NYCCe about 6 years ago, I stopped painting for lack of enough time. Since I miss it terribly, I think it is time to restart that activity. Personally, I find a strong link between these 2 different forms of artistic expression. There is in me a sort of "feedback", in the sense that my Music making influences my Paintings, and Viceversa.  Certainly there are Visual Rhythms as well as Music Rhythms, and also Structural Elements similar in both disciplines.  For instance, 20th Century music's Giants like Debussy and Bartok based many of their Compositions in the Golden Section or Golden Ratio, which is a concept derived from the Visual Arts and Architecture.  Also some great Renaissance composers based their music in the Golden Section. The  Paintings I am presenting are part of my "Water Creatures Series",  Surrealist Biomorphic fantasies." The exhibition was part of the Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration.

As I extend my personal apology for the lateness of this news, I trust the NYCC shares its collective congratulations!

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EUGENE MCBRIDE's premiere of a solo piano work, "Intermezzo," will premiere in a recital by David Holzman on Friday, October 23rd, 8 PM at Bargemusic. Moored in Brooklyn just under the Brooklyn Bridge, Bargemusic presents great music up to five days a week, every week of the year. ... for information and directions see www.bargemusic.org. Gene writes, "David is a marvelous pianist, a veritable champion of new music. It is an honor to have him perform my music…it's a major recital with Session's 2nd Sonata and Wolpe's "Passacaglia" plus other works. Premiers also by Shulamit Ran and Fred Lerdahl. Hope to see you there."

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Guitarist ROGER BLANC will perform live at Gizzi's, 8:00 - 9:00 PM, Saturday, October 24, with Billy Eric on bass. Gizzi's Coffee Bar is at 16 W 8th Street (west of 5th Ave., east of Macdougal). $3 per person table minimum. Head to the N or R to 8th Street, walk west, OR A,B,C,D,E,F,V to West 4th Street; walk north, then east on 8th Street.

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EUGENE MARLOW's "Heritage Ensemble" will be joined by multi-Grammy nominee guest artist Bobby Sanabria at Jazz Tuesdays on Tuesday, October 27  at the John Birks Gillespie Auditorium inside the New York City Bahá'í Center at 53 East 11th Street (between University Place & Broadway).  There will be 2 shows at 8:00 and 9:30 pm.

The Heritage Ensemble is a quintet devoted to the concert performance of Hebraic liturgical and folksong melodies in various jazz, Afro-Cuban, Brazilian, and neo-classical styles. For this performance the group consists of: Eugene Marlow (founder/leader/piano/arranger), Bobby Sanabria (drums), Todd Bashore (alto/soprano saxophones), Frank Wagner (acoustic bass), and Cristian Rivera (percussion). All arrangements are by founder/leader Eugene Marlow.

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On Wednesday October 28, 8PM: Leonard Lehrman and Helene Williams perform JOSEPH PEHRSON's "Lewis Carroll Songs" written under the expert guidance of American composer legend, Elie Siegmeister.  Other composers include Tom Cipullo, Stephen Albert, Herbert Deutsch, Gerald Humel, Stephen Lawrence, Leonard Lehrman, Dana Paul Perna, and Michael Shapiro. This performance is at New York University and the address is 32 Waverly on the second floor of the Silver Building, Room 220.  A student ID is *not* necessary for admission, regardless of what the signs might say!

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DEBRA KAYE writes, "I hope you can join me for the premiere of CHANGING FORMS, a new piece for tenor saxophone and a chamber orchestra of strings, commissioned by The Classical Saxophone Project. As in most of my music, CHANGING FORMS works with contrasting elements. If this was a story - loss and regeneration would be the themes. The incarnate dissolves into the ethereal, a heart-beat pizzicato becomes a time-ticking drum beat, and resolves into an easy bossa nova. My aim is to take the listener through an emotional process that is in the end, life-affirming.

WHEN:  Saturday, November 7 at 7:30 PM (Note the early starting time.)

WHERE:  Casa Italiana at Columbia University, 1161 Amsterdam Ave, just south of 118th St.

(By Subway:  Take the 1 train to 116th St./Columbia University; walk 1 block east to Amsterdam Ave.)

The Oct 18 NYCC Gala: Program Sneak Peek

Open publication

In the Loop | Oct 4, 2009

For your calendar: Our next SUNDAY SALON will be Sunday, Oct. 25 in the Ellington Room at Manhattan Plaza, 400 West 43 Street, second floor. We'll meet from 2-5pm.

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Soprano MELISSA FOGARTY will perform with Percussia in a concert featuring six new works written especially for the ensemble. Texts are by Auden, Kipling, Gertrude Stein, and others. Composers are Jamie Keesecker, Scott J. Ordway, David Roberts, Dennis Tobenski, Matthew Welch, and Alejandro Viñao. The concert is Oct. 10 at 3:30 in the Queens Public Library, Jackson Heights Branch at 35-51 81st Street. Subway is E/F/R to Roosevelt Avenue|Jackson Heights, or you can take the 7 to 82nd Street. The concert is free admission; more info at www.percussia.org.

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EUGENE MCBRIDE encourages folks to check out his website for details on his upcoming performances, which include premieres of Intermezzo on Oct. 23rd in a recital by David Holzman at Bargemusic. See www.eugenemcbride.com for more information.

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RICHARD RUSSELL's new song cycle, The Tune is In the Tree, will receive it's premiere on Sunday, November 8 at 4:30pm. The piece was commissioned by soprano Marjorie Berg, who will also be performing pieces by Hildegard of Bingen, Barber's Hermit Songs, and a new cycle by Raphael Fusco. (Mr. Fusco is the day's accompanist.) The Tune is in the Tree is a five-song cycle based on Emily Dickinson poems. The concert is free and takes place at Mannes College of Music, 150 West 85th Street, in Goldmark Hall on the third floor.

In the Loop| Sep 13, 2009

Happy Fall! The NYCC 2009-2010 SEASON starts next Sunday, Sept 20 in the Ellington Room at Manhattan Plaza, 400 West 43 Street, second floor. This Salon will feature NYCC member EUGENE MARLOW giving a presentation on how liturgical Jewish melodies can be morphed into contemporary jazz and neo-classical styles. He says, "Essentially this is what my group, The Heritage Ensemble, does in concert performance." This will be a combination talk and music presentation. He has the melodies on CD in original form and then the way his group performs them. He will also talk about the history of the texts and the melodies.

We meet from 2-5pm. If you are new to the NYCC, now's a great time to come and get involved. As always, stay tuned to the calendar and NYCC blog at www.nycomposerscircle.org.

In the meantime, the 2009-2010 season is already taking shape and looks to be another very strong year. Hold the date of October 18 and watch for details on our special fundraiser concert. As well, keep your eye on the calendar section of the website for updates, and of course, on In The Loop. See you in September! 

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NYCC Composers who would like to schedule a work for performance at next Sunday's Salon, please send RICHARD MCCANDLESS (richard.mccandless@verizon.net) the following information: 

 

(1) title,

 

(2) instrumentation,

 

(3) performers (if it's live or a recording) and

 

(4) length.

We will take the works on a "first come, first served" basis, with the understanding that we wish to leave time for unscheduled works, as well. Following presentation of any scheduled works, we're setting aside about an hour for members (or, time permitting, guests) who bring works on a non-scheduled basis, so feel free to bring something along without formally submitting it in advance.

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World premieres of two one-act chamber operas by MARTIN HALPERN will be performed at the Church of St. Gregory the Great, 144 West 90th Street, Manhattan, on Thursday, October 1, Friday, October 2, and Saturday, October 3 at 8 PM, and Sunday, October 4 at 3 PM.

 

Tickets, at $20 for adults and $10 for students, can be purchased online at www.theatermania.com or by calling Theater Mania at 212-352-3101.

 

The first opera, Purgatory, is freely based on the late play of the same name by

W. B. Yeats; the second, The Death of Oedipus, is freely based on Sophocles' last play, Oedipus at Colonus.  Each opera dramatizes the final redemption of its main character -- the guilt-ridden Old Pedlar in Purgatory and the aged and blind Oedipus in The Death of Oedipus -- after years of wandering.  Each is accompanied by one grown child – the Old Pedlar by his nameless bastard son, and Oedipus by his devoted daughter Antigone.  

 

The cast features baritone Jim Trainor as both the Old Pedlar and Oedipus; tenor Bobby Underwood as both the Young Pedlar and the Theban Officer in The Death of Oedipus; soprano Yvonne Bill as Antigone; and tenor Aram Tchobanian and baritone Joshua South as the Citizens of Colonus in The Death of Oedipus.  The pianist for both operas is Earl Buys.

 

Mr. Halpern is music director for the production. Staging is by Sonya Baehr. Costumes are by Hunter Kaczorowski and lighting by Ethan Kaplan.

 

St. Gregory the Great is between Amsterdam and Columbus Avenues, and is easily reached on the 1, 2, 3, B and C trains.

18 Oct 2009 Fundraiser: Save the Date!

The NYCC will host a fundraiser concert on Sunday, October 18. The concert will feature many audience favorites from recent NYCC concerts, and many surprises as well.

The NYCC gratefully acknowledges the support of Bechstein America, which will host the concert at its New York City showroom, 207 West 58 Street.

Stay tuned for details!

In The Loop | June 13, 2009

DON HAGAR and CESAR VUKSIC will both have pieces featured in a performance by The Brooklyn Conservatory Chorale, a group that explores and performs a rich variety of musical styles, a cappella and with orchestra, from the Renaissance to the present. There will be a performance Sunday, June 14, 3:00 p.m. at Lafayette Presbyterian Church, 85 South Oxford Street (at Lafayette), Fort Greene, Brooklyn.

This performance will feature music by Stephen Chatman, Aaron Copland, Claude Debussy, Josquin des Prez, Don Hagar, Clement Jannequin, Morten Lauridsen, Claudio Monteverdi, Randall Thompson, and Cesar Vuksic.

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Christine Moore will perform CESAR VUKSIC's Nana for Mezzo, Cello, and Piano this Thursday, June 18 at Christ and St. Stephen's Church in Manhattan, 120 West 69th Street, between Broadway and Columbus. The concert is an all-Spanish affair, with pieces by (in addition to Cesar): Federico García Lorca, Enrique Granados, Frederic Mompou, Mohammed Fairouz, Antón García Abril, and Joaquin Turina. The concert will be repeated in July in Granada, Spain. Suggested donation is $20 ($10 for students/seniors).

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The NYCC in 2008-2009 — what a terrific season! There are too many countless people to thank, including our members, performers, producers, guests, donors, and so many others, each who contribute in ways large and small. For those who didn't know, programs from our past several years are posted online at our website, www.nycomposerscircle.org. In the right-hand sidebar, click on "Prior Seasons." 

In the meantime, the 2009-2010 season is already taking shape and looks to be another very strong year. Hold the date of October 18 and watch for details on our special fundraiser concert. As well, keep your eye on the calendar section of the website for updates, and of course, on In The Loop. See you in September!