NYCC | In The Loop | Feb 26, 2011

Our February SUNDAY SALON is tomorrow, February 27 and GENE McBRIDE is once again graciously hosting the event. (Thanks, Gene!) We get started at 2pm at Manhattan Plaza, 484 W. 43 Street, Apartment 14M. This Salon promises to be a special event as we'll be discussing the life and times of the recently passed Milton Babbitt. We'll share personal insights, listen to a few pieces, and discuss his lasting influence.

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RICHARD BROOKS's "Lux aeterna" for SATB chorus, Tenor or soprano solo and organ will be premiered by the Gregg Smith Singers, March 19, 2011, 8 pm at Saint Peter's Church, Citcorp Center.

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Here's some great news to share about the New York Composers Circle: The NYCC was recently awarded a financial grant by the ALICE M. DITSON FUND of Columbia University, money that will be used to support the NYCC's concert presentations. Yay NYCC! Congrats to all the behind-the-scenes people who made this happen.

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We pass along the following opportunity for composers:

Musical Chairs Chamber Ensemble, Inc (MCCE) is excited to be launching our first Composer Search. MCCE is a not-for-profit chamber music ensemble located in Staten Island, NY which strives to bring high-quality chamber music to Staten Island with a focus on contemporary music. Composer Search 2011, MCCE seeks classically trained, post-collegiate composers, age 35 and below, to submit their original compositions and be eligible to receive a commission for a new work.

For a copy of the application send an email to Anna Kivela, Program Coordinator, at mccecomposersearch@gmail.com or Tamara Keshecki, Artistic Director, at info@mcensemble.org. Applications must be postmarked by Wednesday, March 16, 2011. Visit: www.mcensemble.org

In the Loop | Jan 5, 2011

HAPPY NEW YEAR from all of us at the NYCC. It's time to prepare for our busy winter and spring half of the season, and we start with our next SUNDAY SALON, to be held Sunday, January 23, at 2:00 pm, at Eugene McBride's apartment, 484 West 43rd St., Apt. 14M.

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PERI MAUER's AFTERWORDS, for clarinet, cello, and piano, will be performed by CROSS ISLAND on January 23rd at 2:00 pm at Bayport-Blue Point Library, 203 Blue Point Avenue, Blue Point, NY.

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To the broader NYCC community, specifically composers who have expressed interest but not yet joined the NYCC: you might like to know we are already in the planning stages for the 2011-2012 concert season. This includes a Call for Scores deadline of February 15. If you would like to be considered for concert programming purposes in the next season, you must be a member in good standing, and should contact us about joining.

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RICHARD BROOKS received an email in late December from Candice Beckmann at Carnegie Hall regarding opportunities for composers, and would like to share. Ms. Beckmann writes:

"I am writing to you today about new music commissions and premieres happening at Carnegie Hall. Up and coming composers often look to Carnegie Hall for support by having their music commissioned, premiering a piece of music, or hosting events such as the professional training workshops. My role in this process is to share information about all of these possibilities with people such as the New York Composers Circle.

Two other items of note are our New Music Commissions and our Professional Training Workshops. The commissions webpage will be updated again soon, but you can read and listen to works going back to 2006 (www.carnegiehall.org/newmusic). The Weill Music Institute at Carnegie Hall hosts 2-3 workshops each season and they are open to the general public. The workshop that NYCC will find most interesting is Dawn Upshaw with Donnacha Dennehy "Creating and Collaborating on New Vocal Works" in April, 2011. You can check out www.carnegiehall.org/professionaltrainingworkshops to read more details about the performances. Once January comes around there will be information about next season's application process as well."

NYCC | In The Loop | Nov 20, 2010

Reminder: Our next SUNDAY SALON is tomorrow Sunday, November 21, at 2:00 pm, at Eugene McBride's apartment, 484 West 43rd St., Apt. 14M. We will be hearing pieces by HUBERT HOWE, CESAR VUKSIC, and guest composer MATTHEW WEBER.

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TAMARA CASHOUR writes in about the inaugural concert of Operavant, her new opera company, which will launch this Sunday, November 21st at 5pm in Long Island. "We are the invited guests to a concert series entitled The Robinson Hour, held each month at the Gloria Dei Church in New Hyde Park. This is a concert-style performance but will feature some selections from operas which we will perform in modern staged versions later on. Many of you will be at the salon, but hope to see some of you L-Islanders if you happen to be home on the island." The address is 600 New Hyde Park Road,  New Hyde Park, Long Island  11040. Suggested donation $10. More info at 516-354-6956.

NYCC | In the Loop | Nov 7, 2010

Our next SUNDAY SALON is Sunday, November 21, at 2:00 pm, at Eugene McBride's apartment, 484 West 43rd St., Apt. 14M. If you would like to schedule a work for the members to hear, please send Richard McCandless (richard.mccandless@verizon.net) that information. (We will also have time for people to bring works on a non-scheduled basis, so feel free to bring something along without formally submitting it.) If you choose to submit a work, please send the following: (1) title, (2) instrumentation, (3) performers, (4) if it's live, a recording, or MIDI, and (5) length.

Please send submissions no later than Nov. 12 to Richard McCandless at: richard.mccandless@verizon.net

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Congratulations to CESAR VUKSIC, who in addition to being a fine pianist and composer, also paints. His "Water Creatures Series" was exhibited in Freeport, Long Island in the Art Alcove of the Recreation Center, presented by the Long  Island Arts Council.  His works were exhibited for three weeks in late October/early November.

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PERI MAUER has been selected to be one of  the participant composers in the MUSIC WITH A VIEW series at the Flea Theater during the upcoming 2010-2011 season, Kathy Supove, curator. She will present her composition BLOGARHYTHM. 

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PETER DIZOZZA wrote the script and score for A Question of Solitude, inspired by and dedicated to The James Bond Legacy. It's currently in a two-week engagement running concurrent with the Tri-Fold Book-Art Exhibition with remaining dates on November 12 & 13. It's at the WAH Theater for the Performing Arts, at the corner of Broadway and Bedford (135 Broadway, 3rd floor, Brooklyn 11211). Tickets on sale at wahcenter.net and through http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/134979

A challenging exploration of mind, memory, poetry and music. Investors colonize beneath the earth's surface. Uncle James and Senior Bond infiltrate as James Bond confronts his solitude.  Running time: 90 minutes with intermission. Performed live by Peter Dizozza, Mike Hill, Flemming Laursen, Annie Levey, Sam Moree,  Zach Pethoud, Kat Yew and Lydia Woods.  Featuring art by Sam Moree and Orin Buck.

Friday, November 12^th and Saturday November 13 at 7:30 pm. Tickets are $18.00 and $10.00 with student ID/senior. For reservations, please visit www.wahcenter.net, or call 718-486-7372. Tickets may also be purchased in person half-hour prior to the performance at The WAH Theater for the Performing Arts (135 Broadway, 3rd floor). TDF accepted.

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DANA DIMITRI RICHARDSON and RICHARD BROOKS  will be featured composers in a concert presented by the (Just) Music Duo, a flute and percussion ensemble. To be held Tuesday, November 16 at 7 PM at the Tank, 354 West 45th St, (between 8th and 9th Avenues) NYC, NY 10036. Admission $10. For more information call 212-563-6269. Advance tickets available at Brown Paper Tickets, 1-800-838-3006 or on the internet

https://www.brownpapertickets.com/getcode.html?e_id=134462

(Just) music is a flute and percussion duo that was formed by two graduates of SUNY Purchase in a Brooklyn basement in 2009. Alice Jones (flute) and Cesare Papetti (percussion) have performed in New York City at Symphony Space, the Look and Listen Festival, the Composers Now! Festival, and the Tank as well as across Europe and China. 

In "Bachatelles," Richard uses some of Bach's favorite contrapuntal techniques to develop a theme based on Bach's name in a modern style, while Dana's "Reverie and Dance" is in two parts that express the contrasting moods of the title, dreamy contemplation followed by a call to action whose irregular meters owe a debt to Balkan folksong.

Other composers on the bill are Leo Kraft, Eleanor Cory, Paul Hefner, Herbert Deutsch, George Cork Maul. The concert is produced by the Long Island Composers Alliance.

 

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From JOSEPH PEHRSON, we hear word of the next Composers Concordance concert, "Bow vs. Blow." Composers Concordance begins its 27th season with a continuation of a "Contrast" theme, pitting different groups of instruments and instrumental colors against one another. The concert is at 8pm on Friday, December 3rd. Austrian Cultural Forum 11 E. 52^nd Street. (212) 319-5300. This is a free concert.

This year, the two "competing" groups consist of the string duo of Zentripetal - Jennifer DeVore, cello and Lynn Bechtold, violin-the "Bow"- against  the Brass Trio B3+ of Franz Hackl, trumpet, John Clark, horn, and David Taylor, bass trombone-the "Blow" of the brass colors.

 

Zentripetal duo will be performing the following pieces: Away/Home for violin, cello, and electronics by Lynn Bechtold; Beara for solo cello by Sean Hickey; a duo for both instruments by Lei Liang entitled Gobi Canticle; and Al' Airi Lepo Sviri, a solo piece for violin and electronics by Milica Paranosic. Contrasting brass solos and duos from B3+ include Blues & Variations for Monk for solo horn by David Amram, performed by John Clark; Fur Elise for trumpet and bass trombone by Arvo Part; Franz Hackl's work for trumpet and horn "Dahier" Brass for 2; and David Taylor's extravagant Bach Pedal Excercitium, emphasizing the low end of the bass trombone.

For the finale, four individuals closely associated with Composers Concordance will be writing movements for the five instruments combined. The 5 Suite will be written by composers Joseph Pehrson, Gene Pritsker, Dan Cooper, and Luis Andrei Cobo. Video will be provided by the talented videographers Astrid Steiner and Carmen Kordas.

NYCC | In The Loop | Oct 18, 2010

This season's first NYCC concert is tomorrow, Tuesday Tuesday, October 19, 2010 @ 8pm 

Saint Peters Church at Citigroup Center

Lexington & 54th Street

$20 suggested donation, payable at the door

Please join us as we enjoy these compositions!

Richard Brooks Impressions, Two Songs on poems of Oscar Wilde, for high voice and piano

Don Hagar Four Songs Old and New, for tenor and piano

Martin Halpern The Testament of Koheleth, for baritone and piano

Debra Kaye Finding Accord, for piano trio

Eugene McBride Chancy, for violin and cello

Christopher Montgomery Grasping the Present, for cello

Frank Retzel Three Songs of Seamus Heaney, for soprano and piano

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Our next SUNDAY SALON is Sunday, October 24, at 2:00 pm, at Eugene McBride's apartment in the Manhattan Plaza, 484 W. 43rd St., apt. 14M. (Thanks to Gene for hosting the event!)

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RICHARD D. RUSSELL will have three pieces performed on October 24, 2010 at the Bell and Barter Theater in Rockaway, NJ: A Poe Fantasia (which has been presented by the NYCC in the past) and two premieres: Eldorado and Annabel Lee for voice and piano trio. Details are at inmidairproductions.wordpress.com. All of the day's pieces will have a theme tied in with Edgar Allan Poe, including the premiere of a mini-opera, The Tell Tale Heart by Robert W. Butts. The concert starts at 3pm, and tickets are available for $15 by emailing your total tickets desired to: seasonal.sunday.salons@gmail.com. Tickets at the door are $25, so save $10 by registering early! A wine and cheese reception is included in the ticket's cost.

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Two new chamber operas by MARTIN HALPERN, The Sacrificed and The Sacrificer, will have world premiere productions at the New York New Church, 114 East 35th Street, Manhattan, on October 28, 29 and 30, 2010.  All performances start at 8 PM.

 

Freely based on Euripides' plays Alcestis and Iphigenia in Tauris, the operas explore the theme of human sacrifice in contrasting ways.  In the first, it is presented as a virtuous and noble act for the common good; in the second, as an expression of religious fanaticism resembling present-day terrorist practices. 

 

Featured in the cast of The Sacrificed are soprano Nancy Loesch as Alcestis, tenor Aram Tchobanian as her husband Admetus, and baritone Jim Trainor as Charon, ferryman of the dead to Hades.  In The Sacrificer, soprano Judith Barnes is featured as Iphigenia, baritone Jim Trainor as King Thoas, tenor Blake Friedman as Orestes, and mezzo-soprano Shirley Perkins as the goddess Artemis.  The pianist for both operas is Earl Buys.

 

Stage direction  is by Sonya Baehr, and music direction by the composer.

 

Tickets, at $20, can be reserved online at www.theatermania.com or by calling Theater Mania at 212-352-3101.

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The New York Composers Circle is proud to announce the winner of its fourth annual Composers' Competition: SCOTT D. MILLER, for his composition "Polychrome Stride," for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, and piano.  The work will be performed at the NYCC's fourth and final concert of the season, at 7:30 P.M. on Saturday, June 4th, 2011, at the Symphony Space Thalia, Broadway and 95th St.

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TAMARA CASHOUR's previously announced engagement of November 14 has been canceled, but she writes that she will participate as a reader in Truman State University's upcoming:  Composing Women: Truman State University's 16th Annual Womens and Gender Studies Conference, held in Kirksville, MO from October 27-30. Tamara's paper is entitled: A Feminist Aesthetic Platform for Opera:  Deconstructing Poulenc-Cocteau's THE HUMAN VOICE.  The paper will detail Tamara's deconstructionist production of the sung monodrama LA VOIX HUMAINE, which she produced at NYC's Wings Theatre in conjunction with her M.A. studies at NYU in opera production/feminist avant-garde theatre techniques. Scenes from the production will also be shown in conjunction with the reading. Tamara's work in deconstructionist staging techniques will form the basis for her new opera company: OperAVANT, Inc.; an inaugural concert is scheduled for November 21st @ 5 p.m. as part of the Gloria Dei Lutheran Church's THE ROBINSON HOUR (New Hyde Park, Long Island); more info in a later IN THE LOOP.

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EUGENE MARLOW, NYCC Membership Director, is pleased to announce the release of "Celebrations: The Heritage Ensemble Interprets Festive Melodies from the Hebraic Songbook" (© 2010 MEII Enterprises; RT 48 minutes), the latest contemporary world music album from his Heritage Ensemble.

 

The Heritage Ensemble is dedicated to the concert performance of liturgical and folksong Hebraic melodies in various jazz, Afro-Cuban, and Brazilian styles, with a touch of classicism for good measure. There are nine tracks: four from the Chanukah festival, two from Purim. An original composition, "Yotvata"--a mixture of classical and jazz--celebrates the creation of the leading dairy kibbutz in Israel. An eighth track, "Halleluyah," from the liturgy, is a solo piano arrangement. A unique feature of "Celebrations" is a ninth track narrated by Dr. Marlow that describes The Heritage Ensemble's history, repertoire, and philosophy. Musical clips from the current album and a forthcoming CD (to be released in Spring 2011) underscore Marlow's comments. The musicians: multi-Grammy nominee drummer Bobby Sanabria, who also serves as album co-producer, along with Dr. Eugene Marlow, the Ensemble's founder, arranger, leader, and keyboardist. Other performers include Nuyorican percussionist Cristian Rivera, NEA performance grantee saxophonist Michael Hashim, and acoustic/electric bassist Frank Wagner. This is the second album from The Heritage Ensemble--the sixth from composer/arranger Eugene Marlow. The group's first album was "Making the Music Our Own" (© 2006 MEII Enterprises). Of this CD, Isaiah Sheffer, Artistic Director Emeritus, Symphony Space (New York City), said: "Gene Marlow's 'Making the Music Our Own' is a remarkable musical achievement--traditional liturgical melodies meet up with a contemporary jazz sensibility, and are rediscovered in a new musical and spiritual light!" All of Marlow's albums are available at cdbaby.com.

NYCC | In The Loop | Sep 18, 2010

A reminder that this year's first SUNDAY SALON will be held Sunday, September 19, at 1:00pm. We'll be meeting in Jacob Goodman's apartment, 310 West 72 Street (#16A) at 1pm. We will precede the event with a Steering Committee meeting at noon for those who are interested.

 

As our main event on Sunday JOHN EATON will present the DVD of his opera "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" — a fantastic way to kick off our new season! See below for the rest of the afternoon's agenda.

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In October, JOHN DE CLEF PINEIRO's "Rhapsody in Blues" will be premiered in Buenos Aires and Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina. The performers are Guido Arbonelli, clarinet, and Michele Fabrizzi, piano, the same duo who performed the piece at Symphony Space last season. As John dryly notes: "With that, my Rhapsody will have now been performed repeatedly on three continents. Next . . . Asia and Africa?  :))" 

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In addition to John Eaton's DVD presentation of his opera, the following lineup has been arranged for Sunday's Salon:

2. Audition of Guest Composer's Work

Paul Pinto -- "Three Miniatures" for trombone and trumpet; soprano clarinet and 'cello; voice and electronics presented on a CD recording. (Approx. 7 min.)

3. Audition of Members' Works

Dana Richardson -- "Violin Sonata No. 4, 1st movement." Andrea Shultze, violin, Chris Oldfather, piano, on a CD recording. (Approx. 10 min.)

Richard Brooks -- "Four Play" the New Hudson Saxophone Quartet on CD. (Approx. 7 min.)

Jacob Goodman -- "Beneath the Trees" a cycle of three songs. Derrick Ballard, bass-baritone and Edmond Schonberg, piano, on CD. (Approx. 9 min.)

The remaining time will be devoted to presenting other works by members or guests in attendance.

NYCC | In The Loop | Sep 1, 2010

From all of us at the New York Composers Circle, hope you had a great and productive summer! It's time for us to begin gearing up for the next season of the NYCC. As many of you know, we welcome RICHARD BROOKS as our new Executive Director, joined by DON HAGAR in a new role of Associate Executive Director. And of course we thank JOHN DE CLEF PIÑEIRO for his untiring years of service heading our collective.

This year's first meeting will be our SEPTEMBER SALON, to be held Sunday, September 19, at 1:00pm. We'll be meeting in Jacob Goodman's apartment, 310 West 72 Street (#16A) at 1pm. (We had previously published another day and meeting place, so be sure to update your calendar.) We will precede the event with a Steering Committee meeting at noon for those who are interested.

It's a time for new beginnings in a new season; we very much hope to see you at our Salon!