Blog
Monthly Archive: 2008
Groanbox
Posted on Saturday, December 6, 2008
My good friends Michael and Cory from the Groanbox Boys are proof that letting your hair down and great musicianship are not mutually exclusive. (Michael's schedule, for example, flits insanely between a tour of the English pub scene, and taking the stage with Yo-Yo Ma and the Boston Symphony; he's just off to Argentina to record for Francis Ford Coppola's latest film.) Safe to say, a Groanbox gig is usually both one of the most musically inspiring, as well as one of the more riotous events in my social calender... so imagine my delight when the Metropolis Ensemble's Andrew Cyr agreed it might be a great idea to create a heady cocktail by mixing the GBBs' talents with those of the fabulous classical players in his group. That's what's on the program for the Metropolis concert this Jan 28th, at Le Poisson Rouge in downtown New York.
For those of you who haven't yet come across the Metropolis Ensemble, this is a group that is clearly doing something right. Esa-Pekka Salonen surprised everyone by turning up for their last performance, and gave them one of the best press quotes you could hope for. John Corigliano called them the "future of classical music"; to continue that prestigious tradition, we're all hoping John Adams - whose Gnarly Buttons is on the program - may show up, as he's known to be in town for a Julliard performance of Klinghoffer, and has already been in touch with Andrew about the concert.
The new piece I'm writing for this concert, named simply 'Groanbox' will mix the GBBs' folk trio of accordion, banjo and 'home-made percussion' with the classically trained players from the Metropolis Ensemble, and although I still have a terrifyingly large amount of work to do on the piece, it's already emerging as one of the most ...i don't know what, just the MOST... suffice to say it looks like it may continue where Piosenki left off, the 'jamboree' approach to classical music.
The rest of the concert will include a new piece by Michael, celebrating the instrument we both love (video of him talking more about that below), John Adams's Gnarly Buttons (with Cory playing the banjo part), and rapping up with the Groanbox Boys themselves performing selections from their brilliant new album Gran Bwa. I guarantee you one thing, it will be a night to remember.
>> Complete details of the concert here
>> Buy tickets here
Related video, mainly about the lagerphone, below:
North and South
Posted on Sunday, November 30, 2008
I'm currently working on two pieces at the same time, which happen to draw influences respectively from North and South America.
My solo harp piece for wonderful Bridget Kibbey's Carnegie Hall recital debut in April draws some inspiration from the vibrant joropo music from Venezuela. Most Joropo music that I know creates its cross-rhythms from a combination of harp, cuatro and maracas, so I'm giving Bridget a challenge to create them all by herself!
The other piece is for the Metropolis Ensemble, for a concert at NYC's funky Le Poisson Rouge this Jan 28th, it features my friends the Groanbox Boys and my piece will involve both the boys themselves, as well as elements of their North American-influenced style of playing.
More on the groan box concert shortly.
A good time to be a bird
Posted on Thursday, November 6, 2008
Only 10 days after I heard A Bird in Your Ear had been selected for the finals of the National Opera Association Chamber Opera Competition, I'm delighted that the piece has also been selected for New York City Opera's Vox 2009 season. This will be a half-hour excerpt with full orchestra, choir and soloists, and will be performed at Skirball Center for the Performing Arts at NYU, next May. Exciting times for birds.
>> More about the opera here
Update
Exciting times for birds, but perhaps somewhat hairy times to be at City Opera, after the news that Gerard Mortier has stepped down. I was relieved to read in a comment on La Cieca 's site the NYCO press release confirming VOX is still going ahead.
Shake rattle and stomp
Posted on Monday, November 3, 2008
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| Dawn Upshaw and members of Ensemble ACJW yesterday |
Some colorful reviews of yesterday's concert at Carnegie's Zankel hall, which was a riot, and a wonderful celebration of Dawn Upshaw's incredible range and versitility. The performance of Piosenki was spectacular all-round, Evan Hughes joined Dawn and ensemble ACJW, with the wonderful Steve Prutsman conducting. But the lagerphone also rightfully received plenty of the attention:
David Bruce incorporates his lagerphone into the final section of his vivacious song cycle “Piosenki” (in Polish, popular songs), which concluded the program and was its highlight.
Mr. Bruce’s lagerphone, a percussion instrument in the shape of a long stick, is covered with bottle tops (hence the “lager”) and other metal noisemakers and decorated with colorful streamers. When pounded on the floor, it produces a jingly sound akin to a tambourine’s but louder. The rest of the colorful score evokes Polish folk music and Slavic wedding bands with klezmer clarinet tunes, zesty piccolo riffs, syncopated rhythms and energetic fiddling. The audience laughed at the musical flatulence of “Smelly,” the fourth verse.
Mr. Bruce’s lagerphone, a percussion instrument in the shape of a long stick, is covered with bottle tops (hence the “lager”) and other metal noisemakers and decorated with colorful streamers. When pounded on the floor, it produces a jingly sound akin to a tambourine’s but louder. The rest of the colorful score evokes Polish folk music and Slavic wedding bands with klezmer clarinet tunes, zesty piccolo riffs, syncopated rhythms and energetic fiddling. The audience laughed at the musical flatulence of “Smelly,” the fourth verse.
Vivien Schweitzer, NY Times
In the final Polish song of this ecstatic recital ... bass-baritone Evan Hughes picked up a four-foot-long thick stick decorated with bells, and stomped it repeatedly on the floor or dangled it with the bells jingling. And as he and Dawn Upshaw sung, the untranslatable words (Trumf, Trumf! Misia Bela!!) and the entire chamber orchestra wailed and trilled and the klezmer clarinet warbled and the drums drummed, not only this scrivener but everybody in the packed Zankel Auditorium wanted to thump and jingle along with Mr. Hughes and the now foot-stamping orchestra.
Harry Rolnick, ConcertoNet.com
Dawn again
Posted on Monday, October 27, 2008
Piosenki has a further performance with Dawn Upshaw, Baritone Evan Hughes and Ensemble ACJW at Carnegie's Zankel Hall this Sunday. It's Piosenki's third performance at Carnegie in little over 18 months, which is obviously quite a treat and an honour for me. Also on the program, some gorgeous Dowland arrangements by Stephen Prutsman, Golijov's equally gorgeous Lua Descolorida, and the new piece Treny by Michael Ward-Bergeman, which I talk about here.
>>Details here
National Opera Association
Posted on Sunday, October 26, 2008
My opera A Bird in Your Ear has just been selected as one of three finalists of the National Opera Association's Chamber Opera Competition. Extracts the opera will be performed at NOA workshops in Arlington, Virginia in January, and one of the three finalists will go on to a full production the following year.
A Bird in Your Ear is a 60 minute opera with a fantastic libretto by Alasdair Middleton (whose work includes Jonathon Dove's Pinnochio, soon to have a new production at Minnesota Opera). It was commissioned at Dawn Upshaw's behest by Bard College, NY, for the inaugural production by Upshaw's students on the Graduate Vocal Arts Course at Bard. The forces used are manageable for a small opera company or university establishment (Bard draughted in a few extra instrumentalists, but the vast majority of the orchestra were undergrads, and the choir was non-music majors, so would be manageable by any amateur choir). The 8 solo parts (5 sop, mez, ten, bar) are more challenging but have a range of vocal styles and each singer is given a moment to shine in performance.
Olé!
Posted on Saturday, October 25, 2008
Todd and the St Lawrence Quartet finishing with a flourish, during the premiere of Gumboots on Thursday.
Ole
Posted on Saturday, October 25, 2008
Todd and the St Lawrence Quartet finishing with a flourish, during the premiere of Gumboots on Thursday.
It warms the cockles...
Posted on Wednesday, October 22, 2008
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Forgive the self-indulgence, but Carnegie is a concert venue in its own league, and tomorrow night is Gumboot night.
>> Concert Details.
>> More details about the piece here.
Dawn, Evan and Boot
Posted on Sunday, October 19, 2008
Pictured above with Dawn Upshaw, baritone Evan Hughes, and my friend the lagerphone, after the 2 performances of Piosenki with the St Paul Chamber Orchestra. Sadly Dawn caught a cold and had to stand out of the second concert, but Evan did an incredible job of learning the Polish tongue-twisters in a matter of hours, and earned a standing ovation for it. We're all now really looking forward to the next performance in Carnegie's Zankel Hall on November 2nd. Details here
