NYCC - In the Loop - Oct 28, 2007

There is an update to announce for the NOVEMBER SALON. We will not meet Nov. 11 as previously published; we'll be meeting instead on NOVEMBER 25, 2-5 pm, at the Ellington Room, 400 W 43 St, 2nd floor.

Also, we'll have our first meeting of 2008 on January 20th in the same location. Thanks as always to GENE MCBRIDE for his help in coordinating this.

For the December salon, our traditional Holiday Party is being plotted and planned, so stay tuned!

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Speaking of December, don't forget OUR FIRST CONCERT of the season will be December 13 at the Baruch Performing Arts Center, 55 Lexington & 25th Street at 8pm. Those of us who were there last year all agreed it is a terrific venue for music, so be sure to check it out. (And It's not too early for you to start encouraging your friends and colleagues to attend!)

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From CESAR VUKSIC, we hear there are still two more performances of the Americas Vocal Ensemble, both this week ahead. The concert is billed as "Crossing Cultures in the Americas", and will feature several guests and premieres. Here is the link to the information: http://www.americasvocalensemble.org/oct07.htm

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JOSEPH PEHRSON and the Composers Concordance are getting the new season underway with a concert featuring unusual winds, song and flower pots. The concert will take place Friday November 9, 2007, 8PM at the Greenwich House Music School, 46 Barrow Street, NYC.

Joe tells us, "Esther Lamneck will be performing two works for the national instrument of Hungary, the tárogató - an untamed serpent-like woodwind related to the clarinet. She will be performing Through a Glass by Dary John Mizelle and a special tribute to our beloved colleague Ron Mazurek, who died this last Spring. We are dedicating our November 9th concert to the memory of Ron and will feature his Shadows, a work for tárogató and electronic sound which shows his uncanny mastery of the electronic medium.

New music flutists Erin Lesser and Roberta Michel will perform 3 Duets for 2 Flutes by our honored mentor Otto Luening, who shepherded our group into existence during the final years of his 96-year life. New music violist Beth Meyers will navigate a work by young composer, Ed Rosenberg, "hot off the press" which showcases the extremes and expressive possibilities of Rosenberg's unique post-minimal/maximal musical aesthetic. JOSEPH PEHRSON's Windjammer for woodwind quintet will be performed, and JOELLE WALLACH takes us on a journey of songs about love and relationships:  platonic, funny, funky and spiritual, with soprano Janice Hall. A flower pot conspiracy is in the works with our concluding piece by famed piano virtuoso and instigator Frederic Rzewski, To the Earth.  This piece abandons traditional instruments for the more ecologically correct sound-producting medium: the flower pot. Percussionist Peter Jarvis will tap and rap and chant over several of these talismanic objects, concluding the concert and leading us into what should be a joyous and earthy reception.

Tickets are $12, $10 students/seniors.  TDF accepted.  Tickets can now be purchased in advance online:  www.composersconcordance.org.  Looking forward to seeing you there!

NYCC - In The Loop - Oct, 15, 2007

Our next Salon is scheduled for November 18, 2007 @ 2pm at The Ellington Room at Manhattan Plaza, 400 W 43 St, 2nd floor.

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Editor's note: Due to the lead time of getting news out via In The Loop, let me take this opportunity to remind you that theIn The Loop archives are available at nycomposerscircle.blogspot.com. RICHARD BROOKS, DEBRA KAYE, RICHARD RUSSELL, SOFIA DIMITROVA,NATALIYA MEDVEDOVSKAYA, STEPHEN SOLOOK, TIFFANY DUMOUCHELLE, and VICTOR FROST are just some of the composers and performers who have activity coming up this week or next. As I've recently added some new names to the In The Loop list, I want to make sure everyone is aware! -- Rich Russell

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EUGENE MARLOWhas several CD retail display holders available for no charge. They're black, bi-level, professionally made, can hold up to 10 CDs on each level, and are in very good shape. Gene asks, "Would anyone like a couple for their own personal use? I'd like to dispose of the extras I have as soon as possible to make room for other personal artifacts. Please contact me if there's interest as soon as you can." You can reach Gene at NYComposers@aol.com 

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PETER DIZOZZA performs a piano reduction of his "TentagatneT Themes" during the fully staged production of this New York Magazine Critic's Pick event: http://nymag.com/listings/theater/tentagatnet/ at the La Mama E.T.C. mainstage, 7:30PM, October 21st, 27th, 31st and November 1st.

Also from Peter: the Ninth Annual Benefit Concert for the New York Society of Ethical Culture:  Sunday, October 21, 4:00 - 7:00 PM, Ceremonial Hall - 4th floor. Featured artists: Sadia Carone, Peter DiZozza, Diane Howard, Jon Liechty, Neel Murgai, and Krishna Shan. Students and senior citizens: $10. Suggested donation: $15, refreshments with donation. Call 212-860-4096; In support of its Landmark Building's Stained Glass Window Fund.;http://www.nysec.org/2007/10/21/

NYCC - In The Loop - Sep 28, 2007

Don't forget our next Sunday Salon is on Sunday, October 14 at 2pm in the Ellington Room, Manhattan Plaza 400 W 43. The Ellington Room is on the second floor.

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RICHARD BROOKS writes: "My Four-Play for saxophone quartet was performed by the New Hudson Quartet at Rowan University, Wednesday September 25. On November 16, my My Soul's Satisfaction for SATB and piano will be performed during the LICA SCI Festival at Queens College, Lefrak Recital Hall at 8 pm. In December my American Elegy for string orchestra will be done at Nassau Community Concert.  I don't have the exact date yet but will post it as soon as I know."

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Here's a concert featuring several NYCC folks. Called "Vier Hande, Zwei Herzen" (Four Hands, Two Hearts) the concert features pieces composed by DEBRA KAYE and RICHARD BROOKS. Our own NATALIYA MEDVEDOVSKAYA is one of the pianists. In addition to Debra and Richard, there will be pieces by Mozart, Schubert, and a world premiere by Olga Novakovic, one of Schoenberg's pupils.

The concert will be presented twice:
Friday, October 19, 8pm
Austrian Cultural Forum
11 East 52nd Street
Admission - FREE

Friday, October 26, 8pm
St. John's Lutheran Church
81 Christopher Street
Admission by contribution

Call or email for reservations: NancyRBogen@cs.com or 212-741-2417.

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Those of you at the June NYCC concert will remember hearing the Three Songs of Carl Sandburg by RICHARD RUSSELL (your friendly In the Loop editor). He has (that is, "I have") since arranged this piece for soprano and marimba. Aurora Borealis, comprised of NYCC members TIFFANY DUMOUCHELLE and STEPHEN SOLOOK will perform this piece twice in October. 

The second performance, for you Manhattanites, is in the Mannes College of Music concert hall, October 22, at 8pm. Mannes is at 150 West 85th Street in New York City. Free admission! Other composers on this concert are Weber, Villa-Lobos, Loeb, and Beall. 

The first performance will be convenient for you Long Islanders. It's on Sunday October 21, at 3pm, at the Garden City Chamber Music Society, where Bruce Adolphe & Marija Stroke are the artistic directors. Location: Unitarian-Universalist Congregation of Central Nassau, Long Island, NY. 223 Stewart Avenue, Garden City, New York 11530. (516) 248-8855. On the corner of Stewart Avenue and Nassau Blvd. It is reachable by the Long Island Rail Road (the stop is Nassau Boulevard on the Hempstead Line).

Announcing 2007-08 Season

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 26, 2007

Contact: Eugene Marlow, Director, Media Relations
New York Composers Circle
646-312-3924
nycomposers@aol.com
www.nycomposerscircle.org

NEW YORK COMPOSERS CIRCLE
ANNOUNCES FOUR-CONCERT SEASON;
WINNER OF 1ST ANNUAL NYCC COMPOSITION COMPETITION

(New York, NY, September 26, 2007) The New York Composers Circle (NYCC) is pleased to announce it will host four concerts during its 2007-2008 season, including several juried premieres of new works.

The four concerts will take place on: December 13, 2007 (Baruch College Performing Arts Center); February 23, 2008 (Leonard Nimoy Thalia, Symphony Space); May 20, 2008 (Frederick Loewe Music Theater, New York University); and June 7, 2008 (Saint Peter’s Church, Citigroup Center).

The NYCC is also pleased to announce the winner of its inaugural annual composition competition: Dana Dimitri Richardson (www.danarichardson.org) for his solo piano piece “Ballade.” This work will be performed at the NYCC’s May 20th concert at New York University’s Frederick Loewe Music Theater.

With this competition announcement, the NYCC also acknowledged three honorable mentions: Steve Cohen’s “Serenade for String Quartet”; Marc-Antonio Consoli’s “Tre per Due” for flute, clarinet and piano; and Alex Temple’s “Her Name Was Renée” for clarinet, percussion, double bass and piano.

According to John de Clef Piñeiro, NYCC Executive Director, “This is the first time in its six year history that the NYCC will mount four concerts and present a record number of new chamber music works to New York audiences in a single season. We’re also delighted each concert will take place in an established concert venue located in diverse parts of Manhattan as a way of bringing the new music experience to various communities.”

About the New York Composers Circle:
The mission of the New York Composers Circle--now in its 6th season--is to provide a platform and forum for composers of new concert music of all genres, for the development and performance of composer-member works, and for the development and education of new audiences for new music.
For more information, go to: www.nycomposerscircle.org.
The NYCC is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit New York State corporation.
# # #

Composition Competition Winner Announced

Congratulations to Dana Dimitri Richardson, whose piano solo Ballade has won the inaugural NYCC Composers Competition. Mr. Richardson's piece will be performed at the NYCC's concert of May 20, 2008, at the Frederick Loewe Theater, New York University, 35 West 4th Street NYU. Curtain time is 8pm.

There are three honorable mentions: Steve Cohen's Serenade for String Quartet, Marc-Antonio Consoli's Tre per Due, for flute, clarinet, and piano, and Alex Temple's Her Name Was Renée, for clarinet, percussion, double bass, and piano.

Congratulations to all!

In The Loop - Sep 21, 2007

I've been out of the loop for a while, so lots and lots of announcements this time around! Let's get right to it:

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EUGENE MARLOW has been asked to participate on a panel discussion as part of the Conference on "Jazz in the Global Imagination: Music, Journalism, and Culture," an international conference of jazz journalists presented by Columbia University's Center for Jazz Studies. The Jazz Journalists Association (of which Gene is a long time member) is a prime participant in this first of its kind conference.

 

The main conference will take place on September 29, 2007 from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the Lecture Hall of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, 2950 Broadway (at 116th Street) in New York City. The main event is free and open to the public.

 

Thirty-two jazz journalists from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, Sweden, and Turkey, in addition to journalists from the United States, will speak in several moderated 90-minute sessions.

 

Gene writes: "The session I have been asked to participate in is "How The Other Half Lives: Music in Local Scenes." I will be talking about my research on jazz in China. As you know, I traveled to China last year to specifically interview indigenous jazz musicians. As you also know, I have begun to draft a book entitled "Jazz in the Land of the Dragon: A Work in Progress" on this very subject. This panel will take place at 11 a.m.-12:15 p.m. on September 29. I have previously talked on this subject before members of the International Association for Jazz Education, the Jazz Journalists Association, the New York Composers Circle, and the Aspen Composers Conference."

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Trombonist HAIM AVITSUR is presenting a concert of music for trombone and organ on October 2, 8pm. The venue is Second Presbyterian Church at 6 West 96th. Suggested donation $10. Haim is playing music both old and new, including Vivaldi and Guilmant, with contemporary pieces by Frigyes Hidas, David Loeb (a world premiere) and Eitan Avitsur (also a world premiere). The organist is Paul Sanner.

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World premieres of two one-act chamber operas by MARTIN HALPERN will be presented at the Brooklyn Music School Playhouse at 8 P.M on Friday, October 12 and Saturday, October 13. The first opera, Resurrection Day, is freely based on Henrik Ibsen's last play, When We Dead Awaken.  The second, Constancy, is freely based on Anton Chekhov's play The Bear.

 

Resurrection Day will be performed by Samuel Smith, baritone, as the aging sculptor Rubek, and Jacqueline Thompson, soprano, as his former model Irene, who appears to him in a dream after twelve years of estrangement. 

 

Soprano Judith Barnes, artistic director of Brooklyn's Vertical Players Repertory Opera Company, will perform the leading role of the young widow Varya in Constancy.  Tenor Aram Tchobanian, a frequent performer with the Vertical Players, will play her servant Looka; and Samuel Smith will play Grigory, the landowner who comes to collect a debt owed by Varya's late husband and ends up wooing her successfully. 

 

The orchestra for both operas will include Aaron Boyd, violin, Cyrus Beroukhim, viola, and Katherine Cherbas, cello.

 

The Brooklyn Music School is located at 126 Saint Felix Street, just around the corner from the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) and the Atlantic Avenue stops of the 2, 3, 4, 5, D, M, N, R, B and Q trains and the Long Island Railroad.  There is also ample parking space at the lot across from the Brooklyn Academy.

 

Ticket prices are $15 for adults, $10 for seniors and students. For further information, and to order tickets online, go to www.Brooklynmusicschool.org.   

You may also reserve tickets by calling 718-638-5660.

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Several NYCC names will be involved at a concert billed "Invisible Landscapes" on October 16, at Saint Peters at Citigroup Center. Soprano SOFIA DIMITROVA is performing pieces by last year's Honorary Composer, PAUL MORAVEC, members RICHARD RUSSELL and KEVIN McCARTER, Marilyn Bliss, David Tcimpidis, and Raphael Fusco. On Rich Russell's piece, Sofia will be joined by her sister, violinist STANI DIMITROVA. The accompanist is Catherine Miller. Concert starts at 8pm with small reception to follow. The concert is free!

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VICTOR FROST would like to invite everyone to a concert whose main attraction will be a performance of his Eight Poems of Amy Clampitt, for baritone and string quartet.  The venue is

Jan Hus Presbyterian Church 351 East 74th Street (between 1st and 2nd Avenues) 

Sunday, October 28th, 12:30 P.M.

Victor writes:  That's on the north side of 74th, practically at 1st Avenue.  (There is another big church in the middle of the block on the same side of the street....)  I hope a lot of NYCC can be in attendance at this free event.  First, because I have always considered this my finest composition.  Second, because this is a composer-driven recital series, and I hope other composer members will want to take advantage of this outlet.  So it's also a chance to check out the location, its fine acoustics, and its loyal audience.

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HUBERT HOWE, RICHARD BROOKS, MARTIN HALPERN, and FRANK RETZEL are each slated to have pieces performed at the Festival and Conference of New Music for the Society of Composers, Region 2, and the Long Island Composers Alliance. This will take place from November 15-17. In all, there are 9 concerts with many new pieces, so this is definitely of interest to us new music types! Most of the concerts are at the LeFrak Concert Hall at Queens College. Have a look at the full schedule at  http://qcpages.qc.cuny.edu/music/index.php?L=1&M=10 for all the information.

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PETER DIZOZZA's new musical, Hermaphroditism Through the Ages, received an 8 performance prodeuction at Manhattan Theatre Source over the summer. Visit this page for a photo synopsis with the great cast and look for a recording of the songs soon. http://www.cinemavii.com/images/2.2.2/4thPerf/index.htm 

And look for a production at La Mama of his experimental musical play TentagatneT in the Fall.  

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CESAR VUKSIC is going on a Concert Tour of Argentina, both as a Composer and Pianist. His composition "Dialogues" for Wind Quintet and Piano will be performed in an International Festival in Rosario City that will also includes Chamber Compositions and Piano solo pieces by New Jersey Composer Jerome David Goodman, with Vuksic performing all the Piano parts. He will also perform his new Composition "Two Preludes" in his Piano Solo Recital in Buenos Aires, which will include music by Brahms, Debussy, Luis Mucillo, Carlos Rausch, Jerome Goodman and Belisario Perez. His activities will also include a joint Lecture with Jerome Goodman at the Rosario Festival on the subject of Contemporary Composition.

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And finally, congratulations to NOAH HAVERKAMP and JILL FRERE who are now married, as of August! Some of you know that Noah is working as a piano tuner/technician; learn more at http://knowapiano.com/ Congrats, Noah and Jill!

In The Loop - September 3, 2007

Welcome to the NYCC 2007-08 season! This will be our biggest year yet, as we plot and plan for four (count 'em - four!) concerts! 

Don't forget scores for this season's programming consideration are due to JACOB GOODMAN on September 10.

And while we're talking deadlines: those of you submitting a score to our first NYCC competition, the deadline is September 17. Details about that can be found here.

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Some of you may wish to submit your score to Jacob directly at next week's Sunday Salon. The Salon is at The Ellington Room at Manhattan Plaza, 400 W 43 St, 2nd floor. We get started at 2pm, and RICHARD McCANDLESS will be talking with us about scoring for percussion. However, those of you who have expressed interest in producing or assisting in concert production are asked to come at 12 noon, when STEPHEN LEIBHOLZ will head a discussion about successfully managing our events this year. (Note: showing up doesn't commit you to producing this year; even if you've just considered it or might want to do it in a future year, come have a listen. Should be interesting!)

Although the season has hardly begun, we already have many concert events to share! Read on.

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Don't forget JOHN EATON's opera, Pumped Fiction, is being repeated this Thursday, September 6 at the Symphony Space Thalia at 8pm. The librettist is Estela Eaton, John Eaton's daughter, and is all about the inventor-maker of Penis Pumps. The New York Times declared it a "considerable achievement"! The Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theatre at Symphony Space, Broadway and W. 95 St. New York City, (1, 2, or 3 subway to 96th St. and Broadway, or C subway to 96th St. and Central Park West). Tickets $25; $20 for students, members, and seniors. For tickets, call (212) 864-5400, or go to www.symphonyspace.com. For further information, or to read reviews of previous operas by the creative pair or the libretto, go to www.pocketoperaplayers.org

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Mezzo ANNA TONNA reports that she is a Fulbright Scholar this upcoming year, with a residency in Spain. Congrats, Anna!

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Composer and tenor STEVEN EBEL is back in New York City after his 2nd place win at the Concours de Montreal International and singing Peter Quint with Opera Cleveland this summer. He has a number of impressive concerts lined up this season; visit him at http://www.novoartists.com/ebel.html

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DONALD HAGAR is the featured composer in an upcoming concert. Pianist Geoffrey Burleson and soprano Maria Tegzes will present a recital of works by Don at the Tenri Cultural Institute of New York, 43A West 13th Street at Sixth Avenue, Sunday, September 16, 2007 at 7:00 PM. Admission: $15 ($10 for students and seniors).

The program features the New York premieres of Don's "Little Suite"for solo piano and several songs with texts by various authors such as William Blake, W. H. Auden, e.e. cummings, and a Latin translation of Shakespeare by Gerard Manley Hopkins. Also included will be Mr. Burleson's realizations of Hagar's jazz tunes "Pat's Tap," "My Song" and "It's So Bad," as well as "Piano Sonata No. 7" by Vincent Persichetti, and "Parisian Thoroughfare" by Bud Powell. In addition, flutist Patrick Dillery will perform Hagar's "Reminiscence."

Sunday, September 16, 2007 – 7:00 pm, Tenri Cultural Institute of New York, 43A West 13th Street (at Sixth Avenue)

Complete program: Donald Hagar "Little Suite" for Solo Piano (New York Premiere); Hagar "Reminiscence" for Flute and Piano; Hagar "Four Songs"; Vincent Persichetti "Piano Sonata No. 7"; Hagar "Three Jazz Songs" for piano; Bud Powell "Parisian Thoroughfare"

General admission is $15 ($10 students/seniors), although there will be a discount to for NYCC members; $10 for members, $5 for senior members