91ֱ�� Ensembles Perform for United Nations at Carnegie Hall</h1> <article> <h1>91ֱ�� Ensembles Perform for United Nations at Carnegie Hall</h1> <p>eburnett — Thu, 10 Nov 2022 21:47:39 +0000</p> <span>91ֱ�� Ensembles Perform for United Nations at Carnegie Hall</span> <span><span>eburnett</span></span> <span><time datetime="2022-11-10T16:47:39-05:00" title="Thursday, November 10, 2022 - 16:47">Thu, 11/10/2022 - 16:47</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>91ֱ�� student musicians will take to the stage of New York City’s Carnegie Hall in December for a closed concert before the General Assembly of the United Nations.</p> <p>The performance is part of a wide-ranging new partnership between 91ֱ��, the United Nations Institute for Training and Research New York Office (UNITAR NYO), and the Global Foundation for the Performing Arts (GFPA). <a href="/news/united-nations-institute-training-and-research-oberlin-college-conservatory-global-foundation">Announced in September</a>, the relationship is intended to promote improved access to education for students around the world and to enhance quality of life through higher education and arts training.</p> <figure class="captioned-image obj-right"> <figcaption>Carnegie Hall in New York City<br> (photo by Ajay Suresh)</figcaption> </figure> <p>The 91ֱ�� Orchestra and 91ֱ�� College Choir, joined by performers representing the conservatory ensembles Musical Union and 91ֱ�� Gospel Choir, as well as musicians of the United Nations, will share the stage of Carnegie’s Stern Auditorium. The concert, held in conjunction with the U.N.’s 77th General Assembly, bears the title “A Watershed Moment: Transformative Solutions to Interlocking Challenges.” It features works spanning the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries: Adolphus Hailstork’s vivacious curtain-raiser Fanfare on "Amazing Grace;" Sergei Rachmaninoff’s peerlessly popular Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 18; and Ludwig van Beethoven’s groundbreaking Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Op. 125, commonly known as the “Choral Symphony.”</p> <p>The December 2 concert is a private event presented for the U.N. A <a href="https://calendar.oberlin.edu/event/musical_union_and_oberlin_college_choir_with_oberlin_orchestra_8604">public performance</a> of the Carnegie Hall program is scheduled for 91ֱ��’s Finney Chapel on Tuesday evening, November 29.</p> <p>“At 91ֱ��, we believe deeply in the power of music, and the arts more broadly, to foster connections between individuals and facilitate expansive new opportunities and access,” says <a href="/node/49511">William Quillen</a>, dean of 91ֱ�� Conservatory. "We are deeply honored to join in the global conversation with our partners at UNITAR and the GFPA, and we are so very proud to share our belief in the transformative power of music through this remarkable concert experience for our students.”</p> <p>Annual concerts are a U.N. tradition, though previous performances have typically featured only professional musicians. This year’s event is made possible through the support of the U.N.’s presenting partners: the Member States of Costa Rica, Ecuador, Hungary, Monaco, Oman, Rwanda, and Singapore.</p> <p>Created in 1963, UNITAR is dedicated to developing high-quality learning opportunities for United Nations delegates. The organization believes that a sustainable world is one where people can escape poverty and enjoy decent work without harming the earth's essential ecosystems and resources. UNITAR’s partnership with 91ֱ�� represents the group’s first major foray into undergraduate cultural arts education. A longtime partner with UNITAR, the GFPA promotes education in the arts and support to individuals engaged in the performing arts through cross-cultural exchange.</p> <p>91ֱ�� is one of a small number of U.S. institutions of higher education invited to take part in the initiative—and the only higher ed partner focused on undergraduate study.</p> <p>The partnership will create new opportunities for students worldwide to know and discover 91ֱ��. The first students selected through the program may begin as early as fall 2023. The agreement may also extend to the implementation of joint programs based on performance, research, conferences, and other experiences. A separate facet of the partnership, focusing on teaching English for speakers of other languages, is also being developed and would be hosted at 91ֱ��.</p> <p>The December 2 concert at Carnegie Hall will be led by 91ֱ�� Professor of Conducting <a href="/node/6636">Raphael Jiménez</a>. It features artist Byron Wei-Xin Zhou as piano soloist for the Rachmaninoff, as well as four accomplished international vocal soloists: 91ֱ�� Conservatory alumni mezzo-soprano Kathryn Leemhuis ’05 and tenor Joshua Blue ’16, and a pair of world-renowned artists invited by UNITAR, baritone Marco Chingari and soprano Sarah Tisba of Italy.</p> <p>“We could not be more excited by the invitation to participate in such a special event,” says Jiménez, who also led the 91ֱ�� Orchestra in Carnegie Hall performances in 2019 and 2013. “Every aspect of it makes it a unique experience for our students: the occasion, the venue, the audience, and the repertoire, which includes the awe-inspiring Beethoven Symphony No. 9. I cannot think of a more appropriate occasion and place to play this universal hymn of brotherhood.”</p> <p>“Music is a universal language and a powerful tool for cultural exchange. Its many positive spirits are the elements required for transformative solutions, and it will help to lead us through this watershed moment,” says pianist Zhou, who performed a solo recital for the 2021 U.N. Gala at Carnegie Hall. “As a musician, I firmly believe that utilizing music could promote the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals and eventually lead us to a better future.”</p> <p>For 91ֱ��’s student musicians, the December U.N. concert marks the first of two engagements at Carnegie Hall in a span of less than two months: The orchestra and choral ensembles return for a public performance in Stern Auditorium on January 20.</p> <p>Learn more on the <a href="/united-nations-partnership">United Nations Partnership page at 91ֱ��.edu</a>.</p> <hr style="margin: 1.25rem 0;"> <p><em>The <strong>United Nations Institute for Training and Research</strong> (UNITAR) was established in 1963 pursuant to a United Nations General Assembly resolution. UNITAR is governed by a Board of Trustees with the mission to develop the individual, institutional, and organizational capacities of countries and other United Nations stakeholders through high-quality learning resources. Rooted in the goal of enhancing global decision-making and supporting country-level political and social action, UNITAR provides innovative learning resources to individuals, organizations, and institutions, with established programs offering advanced degrees in international leadership, diplomacy, law, and policy, as well as science and business. The partnership marks UNITAR’s first major program in arts and cultural education.</em></p> <p><em><strong> 91ֱ�� </strong>uniquely combines a world-class conservatory of music with a top-ranking liberal arts college. An independent institution in Ohio, 91ֱ�� was the first college to grant undergraduate degrees to women in a coeducational program and, historically, has been a leader in the education of African American students. The 91ֱ�� community is known for its commitment to social and global engagement and diversity. The Conservatory of Music provides flexible programs to prepare students as professional musicians and teachers of music. Deeply committed to academic excellence, 91ֱ��’s College of Arts and Sciences offers a rich and balanced curriculum in the humanities, social sciences, mathematics, and natural sciences. Recognizing that diversity broadens perspectives, 91ֱ�� is dedicated to recruiting a culturally, economically, geographically, and racially diverse group of students. 91ֱ�� aims to prepare graduates with the knowledge, skills, and perspectives essential to confront complex issues and to create change and value in the world.</em></p> <p><em>The <strong>Global Foundation for the Performing Arts </strong>(GFPA) is an international foundation with a mission to provide valuable artistic education and professional support in service of those in the performing arts while fostering a global community and enabling cross-cultural exchange. A longstanding partner of UNITAR, the foundation is dedicated to supporting the performing arts, particularly in the realms of classical music and ballet through education, mentorship, and collaboration. GFPA is centered in the belief that young artists deserve professional guidance from experienced musicians in order to remain true to their artistic practice. The foundation provides advice to artists, competitions, and institutions dedicated to rewarding the world’s future performers. It has been a long-term partner of UNITAR.</em></p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-subhead field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">December 2 concert before U.N. General Assembly celebrates new partnership;  public preview in 91ֱ�� slated for November 29.</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2022-11-10T12:00:00Z">Thu, 11/10/2022 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Office of Communications</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2356">Conservatory</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=3859">United Nations Partnership</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-programs field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=35596">Voice</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=35116">Violin</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=36206">Viola</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=35261">Cello</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=36156">Double Bass</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=37361">Oboe</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=35911">Flute</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=35881">Bassoon</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=37266">Clarinet</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=7491">Percussion</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=35266">Trumpet</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=37371">Horn</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=35836">Trombone</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=37356">Tuba</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-faculty field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/raphael-jimenez" hreflang="und">Raphael Jiménez</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-departments field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/conservatory/divisions/vocal-studies" hreflang="und">Vocal Studies</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/conservatory/divisions/strings" hreflang="und">Strings</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/conservatory/divisions/winds-brass-and-percussion" hreflang="und">Winds, Brass, and Percussion</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-caption field--type-string-long field--label-hidden field__item">The 91ֱ�� Orchestra, seen here at Carnegie Hall in 2019, returns to the famed New York City venue in December.</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Fadi Kheir</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Ross Karre Named Percussion Professor at 91ֱ�� Conservatory</h1> <p>eburnett — Wed, 19 Jan 2022 16:36:27 +0000</p> <span>Ross Karre Named Percussion Professor at 91ֱ�� Conservatory</span> <span><span>eburnett</span></span> <span><time datetime="2022-01-19T11:36:27-05:00" title="Wednesday, January 19, 2022 - 11:36">Wed, 01/19/2022 - 11:36</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><a href="/node/385001">Ross Karre</a>, a percussionist, educator, and artistic director of the International Contemporary Ensemble, has been named Associate Professor of Percussion at 91ֱ�� Conservatory. He will begin his new role in the fall 2022 semester.</p> <p>The appointment follows the retirement of Professor of Percussion Michael Rosen, a 2019 inductee into the Percussive Arts Society Hall of Fame, who concluded his 50-year 91ֱ�� teaching career in May 2021.</p> <p>“We are so pleased to welcome Ross Karre to the conservatory faculty,” says <a href="/node/7086">Richard Hawkins</a>, a professor of clarinet and chair of 91ֱ��’s <a href="/node/3276">Division of Winds, Brass, and Percussion</a>. “His wide range of experience, his emphasis on developing students who are critical thinkers with an interdisciplinary skill set, and his dedication to inclusion at every level reflect values we exalt as an institution. He will be a wonderful addition to the percussion studio and a welcome influence across numerous areas of study in the conservatory as well as the college.”</p> <p>Karre was an undergraduate percussion student in Rosen’s studio when he also fell under the spell of cinema studies in 91ֱ��’s College of Arts and Sciences. After earning his conservatory degree in 2005, he went on to graduate studies at the University of California, San Diego, where he completed a master’s degree and doctorate in percussion under the tutelage of Steven Schick, followed by a second master’s degree in visual arts with a focus on film and video.</p> <p>Since 2011, Karre has enjoyed an affiliation with the International Contemporary Ensemble, the New York-based contemporary music collective founded by 91ֱ�� flutist Claire Chase ’01 and populated throughout its existence by a host of 91ֱ�� alumni, including co-founding member and 91ֱ�� violin professor David Bowlin ’00. Karre served as a percussionist and director of the ensemble’s archives and media, eventually rising to the roles of production director and later artistic director.</p> <p>In his 11-year tenure with the ensemble, Karre performed in more than 500 concerts that included hundreds of world premieres, a major point of emphasis for the group. As artistic director, he also played a leading role in efforts toward diversity, equity, and inclusion—from programming, to commissioning new works, to creating new collaborative education spaces for emerging artists.</p> <p>Though he will relocate to 91ֱ��, Karre will maintain “emeritus” status with the ensemble and plans to take part in performances occasionally.</p> <p>Also since 2011, Karre has operated a media production collective called rKAD, which has partnered with a long list of artists and institutions. Since 2018, he has taught at the Mannes School of Music at the New School College of Performing Arts, focusing on music technology, media, chamber music, and entrepreneurship.</p> <p>“I owe my commitment to sonic curiosity and also my interpretive approach to Michael Rosen’s incredible pedagogy,” says Karre. “We share a common investment in the context in which sound is made, in which musical expressions are developed, and how percussive sound shapes and is shaped by the individual musician on their creative journey. I learned from Michael Rosen that percussion is integrated with the musical decision-making that happens in the rest of the orchestra or chamber ensemble.</p> <p>“Working for a decade with the fantastic and inventive musicians of the International Contemporary Ensemble has helped me to refine the way percussion can converse with winds, strings, piano, and electronics. 91ֱ�� Conservatory is an environment of shared sonic languages under constant evolution. I’m delighted to be coming back!</p> <p>“91ֱ�� percussion alumni also tend to be creative producers. They tend to be arts leaders and interdisciplinary collaborators,” says Karre, noting the industry’s increasing reliance on technological and production literacy in recent years—and the increasing tendency for percussionists to step into the breach. “I want to help this studio develop that kind of agency: creative agency, technological agency, and administrative agency. Because percussionists have to do that, no matter what the setting. They have to be a complete person.”</p> <p>Over the past decade, Karre has intersected with 91ֱ�� numerous times, including International Contemporary Ensemble performances on campus in 2012 and at the Cleveland Museum of Art in 2016. In recent years, he also guest-taught the students of Rosen, conducting professor and Contemporary Music Ensemble director <a href="/node/6651">Timothy Weiss</a>, and cinema studies professor <a href="/node/5276">Rian Brown-Orso</a>—all of them key influences in Karre’s own career trajectory.</p> <p>“I feel a great deal of pride and responsibility to honor the platform that Michael Rosen built for percussion—and not just 91ֱ��, but the field of classical and contemporary percussion.”</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-subhead field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Appointment begins in fall 2022, charts new course for department led for 50 years by Michael Rosen.</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2022-01-21T12:00:00Z">Fri, 01/21/2022 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Erich Burnett</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2356">Conservatory</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=3341">Conservatory Faculty</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2974">Conservatory Alumni</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-programs field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=7491">Percussion</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-faculty field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/ross-karre" hreflang="und">Ross Karre</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/timothy-weiss" hreflang="und">Timothy Weiss</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/rian-brown-orso" hreflang="und">Rian Brown-Orso</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-departments field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/conservatory/divisions/winds-brass-and-percussion" hreflang="und">Winds, Brass, and Percussion</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">courtesy Ross Karre</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Conservatory Percussion Department Prepares for Life After a Legend</h1> <p>eburnett — Mon, 08 Mar 2021 14:18:02 +0000</p> <span>Conservatory Percussion Department Prepares for Life After a Legend</span> <span><span>eburnett</span></span> <span><time datetime="2021-03-08T09:18:02-05:00" title="Monday, March 8, 2021 - 09:18">Mon, 03/08/2021 - 09:18</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>91ֱ�� Conservatory’s <a href="/node/7491">Percussion Department</a> will undergo a generational transition in the coming year as Michael Rosen—a renowned educator and 2019 inductee into the Percussive Arts Society Hall of Fame—concludes his 50-year teaching career at the end of the spring semester in May.</p> <p>Beginning in the fall, noted teacher and performer <a href="/node/321206">Pablo Rieppi</a> will serve a one-year term as Visiting Associate Professor of Percussion. The conservatory will begin an extensive search for a permanent appointment in August.</p> <figure class="captioned-image obj-right"> <figcaption>Pablo Rieppi</figcaption> </figure> <p>Rieppi is a member of the faculty of the Juilliard School’s Pre-College Division, where he coordinates the percussion program, teaches private lessons, presents master classes, and codirects the percussion ensemble. A full-time member of the New York City Ballet Orchestra and a regular performer with the New York Philharmonic and on Broadway, Rieppi has appeared in master classes across the U.S. and around the world, and has served as a teaching artist with Carnegie Hall, the New York Philharmonic, and the American Composers Orchestra.</p> <p>“We have reached a bittersweet moment for all of us at 91ֱ�� as we prepare to bid farewell to a dear friend and true icon in the conservatory, Michael Rosen,” says Professor of Clarinet <a href="/node/7086">Richard Hawkins</a>, director of the Division of Woodwinds, Brass, and Percussion. “In the coming months, we look forward to honoring Michael’s remarkable career and wishing him all the best in retirement.</p> <p>“At the same time, we are tremendously fortunate to welcome Pablo Rieppi to campus. He is a performer and educator of the highest order, and he will be an ideal mentor to our percussion students at this time of inevitable transition.”</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-subhead field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Pablo Rieppi to teach at 91ֱ�� in 2021-22 as professor Michael Rosen concludes remarkable tenure.</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2021-03-08T12:00:00Z">Mon, 03/08/2021 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Erich Burnett</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2356">Conservatory</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2597">Faculty and Staff</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-programs field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=7491">Percussion</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-faculty field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/richard-hawkins" hreflang="und">Richard Hawkins</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-departments field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/conservatory/divisions/winds-brass-and-percussion" hreflang="und">Winds, Brass, and Percussion</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-caption field--type-string-long field--label-hidden field__item">Michael Rosen, photographed in 2015 in the percussion studio that has been his 91ֱ�� home for a half-century.</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Tanya Rosen-Jones '97</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> </article> <article> <h1>91ֱ�� Percussion Group Takes on Daunting Work by James Wood on New 91ֱ�� Music Release</h1> <p>eburnett — Tue, 11 Aug 2020 15:40:52 +0000</p> <span>91ֱ�� Percussion Group Takes on Daunting Work by James Wood on New 91ֱ�� Music Release</span> <span><span>eburnett</span></span> <span><time datetime="2020-08-11T11:40:52-04:00" title="Tuesday, August 11, 2020 - 11:40">Tue, 08/11/2020 - 11:40</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Michael Rosen calls<em> Cloud-Polyphonies</em> a benchmark piece for percussion ensemble and a landmark of 21st-century music.</p> <p>He also calls James Wood’s 2011 sextet a “project piece”—because it’s not likely to happen again, at least under Rosen’s watch. “It was such a big deal,” says Rosen, a professor of percussion at 91ֱ�� for an almost inconceivable 47 years. “It was the kind of piece you do once.”</p> <p>Fortunately, it happened three times—all in the span of one week: first in the world-premiere performance by the 91ֱ�� Percussion Group on November 4, 2011, followed five days later by a performance at the Percussive Arts Society’s 50th anniversary conference in Indianapolis.</p> <p></p> <p>On November 11 and 12 of that year, the same student ensemble, directed by Rosen, laid down the recorded premiere in the conservatory’s Clonick Hall studio. That session has been immortalized on <em>Cloud-Polyphonies</em>, a new recording on the <a href="https://naxosdirect.com/labels/oberlin-4456">91ֱ�� Music label</a> <span aria-hidden="true" class="fa fa-external-link"></span>, available as a digital download through <a href="https://music.apple.com/us/album/james-wood-cloud-polyphonies/1524839753">iTunes/Apple Music</a>, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/James-91ֱ��-Percussion-Group-Michael/dp/B08CX9R1XW/ref=sr_1_1?crid=TLXUOAKNCG23&dchild=1&keywords=cloud-polyphonies&qid=1597162338&sprefix=%22cloud-pol%2Caps%2C158&sr=8-1">Amazon</a> <span aria-hidden="true" class="fa fa-external-link"></span>, and other digital music channels beginning August 7.</p> <p>Produced by Paul Eachus and engineered by Ryan Miller,<em> Cloud-Polyphonies</em> was recorded utilizing FLAC 5.1 surround-sound technology, which places the listener at the center of the musical maelstrom. The surround-sound version is available on <a href="https://store.acousticsounds.com/index.cfm?get=results&searchtext=cloud-polyphonies">acousticsounds.com</a> <span aria-hidden="true" class="fa fa-external-link"></span>.</p> <p>Wood is a conductor, composer, performer, and instrument maker who has studied with Nadia Boulanger and who conducted the premiere performance of Stockhausen’s <em>Engel-Prozessionen</em> at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw. He writes for a wide variety of genres, routinely incorporating instruments of his own design.</p> <p><em>Cloud-Polyphonies</em> was born after Wood and Rosen met as judges at the 2009 Geneva Competition. Rosen initiated a commission on behalf of the conservatory that later grew to include more than a dozen institutions and individuals across North America, including the Yale School of Music, New England Conservatory, Eastman School of Music, and McGill University.</p> <p>The resulting work, which centers around Wood’s long-held fascination with clouds and the coordinated motion of organisms of all types, unfolds in three movements, each performed with a different set of instruments. The first movement, Starlings, employs marimbas and woodblocks to evoke the titular birds’ migratory gathering—at first a few huddled around telegraph wires, and eventually thousands of them swarming in a sort of synchronized aerial dance.</p> <p>The second movement, Clouds, recalls a hot-air balloon ride over the English countryside, through which Wood gained an appreciation of the ethereal bodies’ movement as well as their transitions from passive to active—and thus more dangerous—states. It uses numerous metal instruments and prepared piano, which is bowed with nylon string, producing an unmistakably eerie sound.</p> <p>The final movement, Buffalo, rises from a dull roar on the horizon to cascading waves of sound created by an incredible 66 drums, which together represent the pounding of hooves over constantly changing terrain. The movement also requires the use of simantras—wooden percussive instruments of Eastern Orthodox origin—and bullroarers: reproductions of ancient instruments fashioned using a thick rubber band mounted at the end of a long wooden stick, opposite a grip that resembles that of a handgun. When swung in circles, the instrument emits a sound that can be likened to the rush of winds across a prairie—and which, in some instances, can be heard from miles away.</p> <figure class="captioned-image obj-right"> <figcaption>Michael Rosen with the 91ֱ�� Percussion Group sextet that premiered and recorded <em>Cloud-Polyphonies</em>: Jake Harkins ’11 MMT ’12, Sean Dowgray ’13, Isaac Fernández-Hernández ’12, Ben Bacon ’11, Michael Rosen, Neil Ruby ’12, and Ed Atkinson ’12. Photo credit: Paul Eachus</figcaption> </figure> <p>All told, the ensemble’s six musicians each play 11 calf-skin drums, simantra, bullroarer, wooden-headed drum, and a host of other percussive instruments. Rosen and his students fashioned the six required bullroarers, simantras, and numerous other instruments themselves, with copious input from the composer. 91ֱ�� still owns every instrument required to perform the piece. Not that Rosen will ever try it again.</p> <p>“I just don’t remember how we did it,” he muses today, more than eight years later. “Maybe it’s conscious forgetting. It takes an hour and a half to set up the pieces and another hour and a half to tear them down. And where do you leave the instruments when you do that?”</p> <p>91ֱ�� Music is the official label of 91ֱ�� Conservatory. Its catalog of more than 25 titles is distributed by Naxos of America.</p> <p> </p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2020-08-07T12:00:00Z">Fri, 08/07/2020 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Erich Burnett</div> <div class="text-content field field--name-field-intro-text field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Commissioned by professor Michael Rosen, evocative <em>Cloud-Polyphonies</em> premiered at 91ֱ�� in 2011.</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2356">Conservatory</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2375">91ֱ�� Music Label</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2370">Ensembles & Orchestras</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-programs field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=7491">Percussion</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-departments field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/conservatory/divisions/winds-brass-and-percussion" hreflang="und">Winds, Brass, and Percussion</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">courtesy Michael Rosen</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Phlox Ensembles Give Underrepresented Groups a Voice</h1> <p>hhempste — Thu, 30 Jan 2020 21:40:02 +0000</p> <span>Phlox Ensembles Give Underrepresented Groups a Voice</span> <span><span>hhempste</span></span> <span><time datetime="2020-01-30T16:40:02-05:00" title="Thursday, January 30, 2020 - 16:40">Thu, 01/30/2020 - 16:40</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>The Phlox ensemble, an orchestra and choir promoting women and trans individuals in classical music, is an intensive Winter Term 2020 project that provides a space for students of traditionally underrepresented gender identities and those with a commitment to gender inclusion to engage with classical music, and celebrates repertoire by composers of these identities.</p> <p>The Phlox ensembles presented two events during the final week of winter term, featuring a program of women, trans, and non-binary composers, ranging from Fanny Mendelssohn to Rachel Gibson ’20, a percussion performance and <a href="/timara" target="_blank">TIMARA</a> major.</p> <p>The project has around 60 members who rehearsed daily for two weeks, culminating in performances on February 1 and 2. Named after the phlox flower, a symbol of harmony and partnership, the ensemble was founded by 91ֱ�� students in 2018, all of whom are now members of the 91ֱ�� Students for Gender Inclusivity in Music committee, founded to support the organization of the Phlox project.</p> <p>Student conductor and musical studies major Sophia Bass ’20 notes the importance of these activities: “We are living in a time in which there is greater awareness of the lack of diverse gender representation in the classical music scene, and strides are being made to amend that.”</p> <p>Gibson’s piece brings many of these thoughts together in her composition, which she describes as an “orchestra of mobile phones.” Gibson collected voice recordings from Phlox members for the composition, asking each individual to talk about what gender inclusivity in classical music means to them, whether it’s experiences, words, feelings, or something else.</p> <p>As another component, Gibson created a phone app that allows the recordings to be played as a longer work by phones stationed in and around the audience. Each “phone player” has control of certain sound parameters (such as adding echo to the recording, for enamel) freely as they wish to distort the voices.</p> <p>Gibson describes the listening experience saying, “Ultimately, the “lo-fi”-ness of playing the recording through the speakers of a phone, plus the sound manipulation, will force the audience to listen very closely to hear our thoughts and stories. I think this comments on how women/non-binary/trans-people are often overlooked or not listened to in today’s society.”</p> <p>Other events initiated by the Phlox ensembles include a listening party featuring an all women/trans/non-binary composer playlist and a talk by professional conductor Nan Washburn in Kulas Recital Hall. Public Services librarian Kathy Abromeit also led a Wikipedia ed-ithon, where students improved the Wikipedia pages of women/trans/non-binary artists. </p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2020-01-19T12:00:00Z">Sun, 01/19/2020 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Hannah Schoepe ’20</div> <div class="text-content field field--name-field-intro-text field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Ensembles promote women and trans individuals in classical music, and celebrates repertoire by composers of these identities.</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=3318">Music</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2402">Winter Term</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2410">Students</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=3328">Musical Opportunities for College Students</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-programs field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25281">Musical Studies</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=33031">TIMARA</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=7491">Percussion</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-departments field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/musical-studies" hreflang="und">Musical Studies</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/conservatory/divisions/contemporary-music" hreflang="und">Contemporary Music</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/conservatory/divisions/winds-brass-and-percussion" hreflang="und">Winds, Brass, and Percussion</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Dale Preston '83</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Carson Fratus Awarded Fulbright Foreign Scholarship to Study Music of South India</h1> <p>eburnett — Mon, 06 May 2019 21:11:23 +0000</p> <span>Carson Fratus Awarded Fulbright Foreign Scholarship to Study Music of South India</span> <span><span>eburnett</span></span> <span><time datetime="2019-05-06T17:11:23-04:00" title="Monday, May 6, 2019 - 17:11">Mon, 05/06/2019 - 17:11</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>In March 2019, 91ֱ�� alum—and current student—Carson Fratus BM ’17 AD ’19 was awarded a J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship to study in India.</p> <p>With a bachelor’s degree in percussion performance already under his belt, Fratus will wrap up his artist diploma this month and embark on an exploration of the traditional music of South India throughout the coming year.</p> <p>Here’s what the Knoxville, Tennessee, resident had to say about it all when we caught up with him recently.</p> <p><strong>How did music come into your life, and what was your path to studying percussion at 91ֱ��?</strong><br> <br> I started with piano and voice from a very young age and grew up playing and singing in church. I didn’t start playing percussion until middle school and didn’t start to formally study percussion until my junior year of high school. The transition between the two was very slow, but I eventually realized that drums were my calling.</p> <figure class="captioned-image obj-right"> <figcaption><br> In January 2019, Fratus (back left) performed with the 91ֱ�� Orchestra at Carnegie Hall. Photo credit: Fadi Kheir</figcaption> </figure> <p><strong>What have been some of your best experiences in 91ֱ��?</strong><br> <br> The performance opportunities I’ve had through conservatory ensembles are invaluable, but a lot of my favorite musical experiences have come from collaborations outside of my coursework too. My studies with percussionist Jamey Haddad and trombonist/composer Jay Ashby through 91ֱ��’s Performance and Improvisation program have impacted me greatly. As I began to study traditional music from around the world—as well as traditional American music—more and more performance opportunities began to appear as I branched out into new styles and avenues of playing.</p> <p><strong>How do you plan to spend your time in India?</strong></p> <p>I will be studying South Indian classical music, called Carnatic music. I will be working with revered gurus, learning to play an ancient and beautiful drum called a <em>mridangam</em>. I will also be teaching kids in public schools how to read Western notation, as well as giving lessons on a drum set and frame drum.</p> <p><strong>You’ve posted some videos of yourself performing Carnatic music, specifically <em>solkattu</em>, where you chant rhythms on syllables while tapping out the meter with your hands. How did you discover this art form?</strong><br> <br> I first began to study <em>konnakol</em> with Jamey Haddad through his internalizing rhythm class, which can be taken by any student at 91ֱ��. I recommend it for all types of musicians. Jamey Haddad received a Fulbright to India many years ago for the same study, so I am essentially following in his footsteps.</p> <p><strong>You participated in Jamey Haddad’s winter-term trip to India a few years ago. What were some of the musical highlights of that experience?</strong><br> <br> Yes, that trip to India in 2017 was life changing for me. We spent two weeks with master musicians who did their best to give us a taste of a tradition that is as deep as it is ancient. This lit the fire for me, and I jumped into everything that was presented to us, really trying to make the most out of the experience. I’d say one of the best parts of the trip was performing for an audience of almost a thousand kids on a big stage. We were playing arrangements of jazz standards as well as just grooving and playing to the crowd. The audience was so responsive and energetic, I had never felt that kind of vibe on a stage before. <em>Unreal</em>.</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2019-05-06T12:00:00Z">Mon, 05/06/2019 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Julie Gulenko ’15</div> <div class="text-content field field--name-field-intro-text field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field__item"><p>A winter-term trip gave Carson Fratus a glimpse of India. Now a Fulbright fellowship gives him a year.</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2356">Conservatory</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2865">Performance & Improvisation (PI)</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2373">Awards and Honors</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-programs field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=7491">Percussion</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-faculty field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/jay-ashby" hreflang="und">Jay Ashby</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-departments field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/conservatory/divisions/winds-brass-and-percussion" hreflang="und">Winds, Brass, and Percussion</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Julie Gulenko '15</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> </article> <article> <h1>In the Practice Room with Percussionist and Fulbrighter Carson Fratus</h1> <p>eburnett — Wed, 16 Dec 2020 19:56:26 +0000</p> <span>In the Practice Room with Percussionist and Fulbrighter Carson Fratus</span> <span><span>eburnett</span></span> <span><time datetime="2020-12-16T14:56:26-05:00" title="Wednesday, December 16, 2020 - 14:56">Wed, 12/16/2020 - 14:56</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>In March 2019, the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board awarded Carson Fratus BM ’17, AD ’19 a scholarship to India. When he wraps up his artist diploma at 91ֱ�� this semester, the musician from Knoxville, Tennessee, will embark on a year of exploring the traditional music of South India.</p> <p><strong>How did music come into your life? What was your path to studying percussion at 91ֱ��?</strong></p> <p>I started with piano and voice from a very young age and grew up playing and singing in church. I didn’t start playing percussion until middle school and didn’t start to formally study percussion until my junior year of high school. The transition between the two was very slow, but I eventually realized that drums were my calling.</p> <p><strong>What have been some of your best experiences in 91ֱ��?</strong></p> <figure class="captioned-image obj-right"> <figcaption>Carson Fratus (back left) performed with the 91ֱ�� Orchestra at Carnegie Hall in January 2019. (photo by Fadi Kheir)</figcaption> </figure> <p>The performance opportunities I’ve had through the conservatory ensembles are invaluable, but a lot of my favorite musical experiences have come from collaborations outside of my coursework. My studies with percussionist <a href="/node/7081">Jamey Haddad</a> and trombonist/composer <a href="/node/6671">Jay Ashby</a> through 91ֱ��’s Performance and Improvisation program have impacted me greatly. As I began to study traditional music from around the world—as well as traditional American music—more and more performance opportunities began to appear as I branched out into new styles and avenues of playing.</p> <p><strong>How do you plan to spend your time in India? What will your project look like?</strong></p> <p>I will be studying South Indian classical music, called Carnatic music. I will be working with revered gurus, learning to play an ancient and beautiful drum called a <em>mridangam</em>. I will also be teaching kids in public schools how to read Western notation, as well as giving lessons on drum set and frame drum.</p> <p><strong>You’ve posted some videos of yourself performing Carnatic music, specifically <em>solkattu</em>, where you chant rhythms on syllables while tapping out the meter with your hands. How did you discover this art form?</strong></p> <p>I first began to study <em>konnakol</em> with Jamey Haddad through his internalizing rhythms class, which can be taken by any student at 91ֱ��. I recommend it for all types of musicians. Jamey Haddad received a Fulbright to India many years ago for the same study, so I am essentially following in his footsteps.</p> <p><strong>You participated in Jamey Haddad’s winter term trip to India a few years ago. What were some of the musical highlights of that experience?</strong></p> <p>Yes, that trip to India in 2017 was life changing for me. We spent two weeks with master musicians who did their best to give us a taste of a tradition that is as deep as it is ancient. This lit the fire for me, and I jumped into everything that was presented to us, really trying to make the most out of the experience. I’d say one of the best parts of the trip was performing for an audience of almost a thousand kids on a big stage. We were playing arrangements of jazz standards as well as just grooving and playing to the crowd. The audience was so responsive and energetic, I had never felt that kind of vibe on a stage before. <em>Unreal</em>.</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2019-04-08T12:00:00Z">Mon, 04/08/2019 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Conservatory Communications Staff</div> <div class="text-content field field--name-field-intro-text field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field__item"><p>After earning two 91ֱ�� degrees, he will pursue his love of South Indian music.</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2356">Conservatory</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2974">Conservatory Alumni</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2373">Awards and Honors</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2865">Performance & Improvisation (PI)</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-programs field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=7491">Percussion</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-departments field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/conservatory/divisions/winds-brass-and-percussion" hreflang="und">Winds, Brass, and Percussion</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> </article> <article> <h1>91ֱ�� Music Releases Works by Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon</h1> <p>eburnett — Fri, 16 Nov 2018 19:22:51 +0000</p> <span>91ֱ�� Music Releases Works by Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon</span> <span><span>eburnett</span></span> <span><time datetime="2018-11-16T14:22:51-05:00" title="Friday, November 16, 2018 - 14:22">Fri, 11/16/2018 - 14:22</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><figure class="captioned-image obj-right"> <figcaption>(Design by Ryan Sprowl)</figcaption> </figure> <p>Literature is a frequent source of inspiration for Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon, whose extended song cycle <em>Songtree</em> is based on poetry by William Shakespeare and Mexican author Raúl Aceves.</p> <p>Zohn-Muldoon’s <a href="https://naxosdirect.com/items/songtree-473570"><em>Songtree</em> makes its recorded premiere this month on 91ֱ�� Music</a> <span aria-hidden="true" class="fa fa-external-link"></span>, the official recording label of the 91ֱ�� Conservatory of Music.</p> <p>“<em>Songtree</em> is a distillation of my most meaningful compositional ideas of the past decade,” says Zohn-Muldoon. “But more significantly, this recording reunites many of my most cherished musical collaborators, dear friends whose artistry I deeply admire and for whom I have written the majority of my music for the past two decades. I owe these wonderful musicians an unmeasurable debt of musical and personal growth."</p> <p>Indeed, Zohn-Muldoon’s compositional voice is shaped by a steady collaboration with the particular group of musicians for whom he writes, including soprano Tony Arnold, flutist Molly Barth, percussionists Stuart Gerber and Paul Vaillancourt, guitarist Dieter Hennings, violinist Hanna Hurwitz, pianist and composer Daniel Pesca, and conductor Timothy Weiss, among others. This artistic affinity brought many of these musicians together to cofound the Zohn Collective in 2017.</p> <p>On <em>Songtree</em>, members and friends of that collective join forces with the 91ֱ�� Contemporary Music Ensemble, under the direction of Weiss.</p> <figure class="captioned-image obj-right"> <figcaption>Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon<br> Photo by Hanna Hurwitz</figcaption> </figure> <p>The titular song cycle explores key connections between the worlds of Shakespeare and Aceves—most notably the link between love, nostalgia, and art. The composer likens the cycle’s 14 songs to branches on a tree, which emerged organically over a period between 2012 and 2017. Each song showcases the vocal artistry of Tony Arnold, a member of the International Contemporary Ensemble and one of numerous 91ֱ�� alumni who contributed to the recording.</p> <p><em>Songtree</em> is bookended by a pair of compositions—<em>Candelabra III</em> and <em>Candelabra IV</em>—that are part of a series of works conceived as memorials to members of Zohn-Muldoon’s family, Jews who fled Vienna in 1938 to a village near Guadalajara, Mexico. <em>Candelabra IV</em> was written for—and is performed here by—Duo Damiana, which consists of guitarist Dieter Hennings and flutist Molly Barth, an 91ֱ�� alumna and co-founder of Eighth Blackbird.</p> <p>“The opportunity for students to perform and record alongside giants in the new music world and with composers present is truly remarkable and unmatched,” says Weiss, a professor of conducting at 91ֱ��. “I am always amazed to witness the growth in students from successfully meeting the challenge. Having Tony Arnold, Molly Barth, Stuart Gerber, and Noah Getz back on campus is wonderful. They provide so much insight about the industry and great modeling for our students. Their artistry and their dedication is inspiring. My hope is to give voice to living composers and their work so that their music can be shared with the wider community at the highest level."</p> <p>Distributed by Naxos of America, <em>Songtree: Music of Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon</em> is available through digital music channels worldwide.</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2018-11-16T12:00:00Z">Fri, 11/16/2018 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Erich Burnett</div> <div class="text-content field field--name-field-intro-text field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field__item"><p><em>Songtree</em> features performances by prominent 91ֱ�� alumni and the Contemporary Music Ensemble.</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2375">91ֱ�� Music Label</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2356">Conservatory</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2370">Ensembles & Orchestras</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-programs field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=35911">Flute</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=7491">Percussion</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=35596">Voice</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=29541">Piano</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=35596">Voice</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-faculty field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/timothy-weiss" hreflang="und">Timothy Weiss</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-departments field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/conservatory/divisions/contemporary-music" hreflang="und">Contemporary Music</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/conservatory/divisions/vocal-studies" hreflang="und">Vocal Studies</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/conservatory/divisions/winds-brass-and-percussion" hreflang="und">Winds, Brass, and Percussion</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/conservatory/divisions/strings" hreflang="und">Strings</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/conservatory/divisions/keyboard-studies" hreflang="und">Keyboard Studies</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Design by Ryan Sprowl</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> </article> <article> <h1>TIMARA's Peter Swendsen Discusses Premiere with Jennifer Torrence '09</h1> <p>eburnett — Mon, 12 Jul 2021 16:35:04 +0000</p> <span>TIMARA's Peter Swendsen Discusses Premiere with Jennifer Torrence '09</span> <span><span>eburnett</span></span> <span><time datetime="2021-07-12T12:35:04-04:00" title="Monday, July 12, 2021 - 12:35">Mon, 07/12/2021 - 12:35</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Growing up with a wide range of musical interests—singing, piano, saxophone, and guitar, to name a few—as the son of an engineer, <a href="/node/7021">Peter Swendsen</a> was intrigued by the convergence of arts and technology from a young age. Later, during his college search, Swendsen found that 91ֱ��'s small-town feel and cutting-edge music technology programs available made it the perfect haven for his exploration and discovery. He is now an associate professor of computer music and digital arts at the conservatory and is about to <a href="https://calendar.oberlin.edu/event/faculty_and_guest_recital_peter_swendsen_and_jen_torrence_what_noises_remain">premiere a new collaborative project</a> with percussionist <a href="http://www.jennifertorrence.com/">Jennifer Torrence ’09</a>. Titled <em><a href="https://vimeo.com/166978048">What Noises Remain</a></em>, the work is an evening-length piece for percussion, electroacoustic sound, text, and video. As explained in the project’s notes, Swendsen and Torrence take as their starting point Shakespeare’s iconic play <em>The Tempest</em>, and create a collaborative piece that is part archeological dig, part musical narrative—an expression of confinement, control, and ultimately, wonder.</p> <p>In the week leading up to the premiere, we met up with Swendsen to discuss the project in his subterranean <a href="/node/51641">TIMARA</a> (Technology in Music and Related Arts) studio, located on the lower level of Bibbins Hall.</p> <p><strong>Let’s talk a little bit about the TIMARA Department at 91ֱ�� and that spot where music, arts, and technology intersect.</strong></p> <p>Our TIMARA program was very wisely named: “Technology in Music and Related Arts.” The first half of that has an obvious home in a conservatory: It’s music, and it involves all sorts of different kinds of technology. In the end it’s about sound. The “and related arts” part is something that is related again to all forms of music on some level, though it’s maybe not always acknowledged. I think that we have the opportunity because of the tools we use, the kinds of collaborative work that we do, and the interdisciplinary nature of the projects we undertake of making that relationship central to our mission. While we are focusing on music, we also have all these other tentacles out into other disciplines—such as dance, video, theater, text, and writing—lots of different things. It could be computer science or physics or anything like that. I think that those boundaries for me are totally fluid: What’s music, what’s art, what’s research, what’s performance. It’s an exciting field to be in because all that stuff gets thrown into the hopper and mixed up, and you get to extract little pieces.</p> <p><strong>And that leads us into <em>What Noises Remain</em>, which combines a lot of these different elements. Where did the idea for the piece come from and how did the project unfold?</strong></p> <p>My collaborator Jennifer Torrence, who graduated from 91ֱ�� in 2009 as a percussion major, and I did a couple of projects together when she was here as a student and I had just joined the faculty. We’ve stayed in contact since she left 91ֱ��—sharing professional colleagues and places in common, especially in Norway, where I lived for a year and where she has been based now for a few years. About three years ago, we got together for a week just to brainstorm ideas for a new project. We both had time coming up and we wanted to make something new together. We were exploring three ideas, one of which was <em>The Tempest</em>—Shakespeare’s last play. I had seen a production of it in Stratford by the Royal Shakespeare Company 10 years ago that had really captured my imagination and had been sitting in my brain since. That was the project that we latched onto and slowly started chipping away, because we are far apart: She’s in Norway, and I’m here. She spent one of these last three years in Australia and New Zealand, so it took a while to gestate and come into being. And we’ve had some other wonderful collaborators along the way, but Jen and I have very much developed the whole thing together—both the music and the visuals, as well as the live performance and other elements. It’s been a really fun process because we’ve been able to do it very much as a team.</p> <p><strong>How much of the piece is taken from the play and how much is original content?</strong></p> <p>It’s definitely not a telling or retelling of the play. You won’t leave this hour feeling like you’ve had a version of <em>The Tempest</em>. There is some text from the play that appears in the piece, and there are definite references to characters and actions from the play that appear in the piece. Our thought was that Jen as the performer is returning to the island where main characters from <em>The Tempest</em> have been exiled to. Later, the rest of the characters arrive to the island as part of the action of the play. Our thought was that Jen is a kind of unintentional archeologist, so she ends up in the spot where all of this took place, but she doesn’t really know <em>what</em> took place. So she’s really exploring the place and discovering fragments of this past that she didn’t know existed. And I think we’ve all been in various kinds of places and contexts where that’s the case for us. Sometimes we go in search of those things, but other times we find ourselves somewhere and we realize that that place has a past and we start to uncover it bit by bit. So she’s kind of tracing or chasing these characters and the remnants of what happened there and never has enough of them at one time to tell the story, so to speak, but there’s this little sense of all those little things transpiring over the course of the piece that I think by the end references a lot of what happens in the story without actually telling it.</p> <p><strong>Is it helpful for your audience to have knowledge of <em>The Tempest</em>?</strong></p> <p>We’ve actually gone back and forth on that. What do we put in the program? Do we make it obvious? In the end, it’s really fairly abstract and is meant as a piece that can be entered into without that kind of context. I think that if you do know the play there will be moments that catch your attention in a different way. It’s a little bit like watching the cinematic version of your favorite book, which allows you to catch little things that a general audience wouldn’t catch. I don’t think that lacking the context of <em>The Tempest</em> will undermine people’s ability to have an experience with the piece.</p> <p><strong>What is Jen’s role as the performer?</strong></p> <p>Jen plays throughout, although she’s not always “playing” in a traditional sense. She has a bass drum and some much smaller instruments. For the first third of the piece, she is playing in a way that will more or less be recognizable as percussion performance. From that point on, less so. The drum, which has been a part of this piece from the very early stages, also ends up being a representation of the island. It’s this big round object, so her interactions with the drum are sometimes about the drum as an instrument and sometimes about the drum as an object or as a landscape. As the piece goes on, it’s less and less about interacting with it as an instrument and more about what it might represent in relation to her physical presence.</p> <p><strong>Aside from the live percussion and Jen’s performance onstage, what are some of the other elements? Any pre-recorded sounds?</strong></p> <p>Lots. Lots of field recordings. We hear different places, different times of day, different seasons, and a lot of water because of the nature of the piece—the island and the sea. Some were recorded locally at Lake Erie, some right in 91ֱ��, some recorded in Norway, recordings from the Canadian Rockies, from Scotland and England, from other parts of the West Coast of the United States, most of which were recorded specifically for this project. And there’s lots of video, much of which includes dance. There is a choreographer involved who is another longtime collaborator of mine named Amy Miller, who’s based in New York City. So there’s video of these kinds of landscapes and there’s video of Jen, but there’s also video of Amy. There are lots of elements weaving in and out of each other throughout. Jen is the only live performer.</p> <p><strong>For a new listener/viewer of this performance art, what are some of the elements that may be familiar?</strong></p> <p>There is a kind of introduction to the world of the piece that happens at the beginning. Jen’s role as a performer is something that we’ve thought a lot about, as well as her relationship to her instrument, which she questions throughout the piece. At the beginning, she moves through the playing of her instrument in a more traditional fashion and then comes out the other side with this new relationship to it.</p> <p>There is a very strong sense of place. Even if someone is used to entering a sort of “concert space” and listening to more traditional music, that person also lives in a world where they engage with sound very regularly. I think if you’re used to listening in a musical, way you are also paying attention to things that are around you all the time—you hear the birds, the crickets, the rain, and all these things because you are used to using your ears. A lot of the sound world of this piece has to do with those things. So it’s not familiar maybe in a musical sense, but I think it’s familiar in a sonic reality sense, making it accessible in that manner. Where people start to hear that transition into what they think of as music might happen very quickly for some people, and for other people they might feel like they are in these environments and only occasionally getting something that is more “musical,” so to speak.</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-subhead field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Inspired by Shakespeare, "What Noises Remain" emphasizes percussion and field recordings from around the world.</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2016-09-18T12:00:00Z">Sun, 09/18/2016 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Julie Gulenko '15</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2356">Conservatory</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-programs field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=33031">TIMARA</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=7491">Percussion</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-departments field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/conservatory/divisions/contemporary-music" hreflang="und">Contemporary Music</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/conservatory/divisions/winds-brass-and-percussion" hreflang="und">Winds, Brass, and Percussion</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">courtesy Conservatory Communications</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> </article> </main></body></html>