Faculty Composer Jesse Jones Featured on New 91ֱ�� Music Recording</h1> <article> <h1>Faculty Composer Jesse Jones Featured on New 91ֱ�� Music Recording</h1> <p>eburnett — Tue, 30 Nov 2021 19:19:09 +0000</p> <span>Faculty Composer Jesse Jones Featured on New 91ֱ�� Music Recording</span> <span><span>eburnett</span></span> <span><time datetime="2021-11-30T14:19:09-05:00" title="Tuesday, November 30, 2021 - 14:19">Tue, 11/30/2021 - 14:19</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p></p> <p>The music of <a href="/node/6626">Jesse Jones</a> has been described as “striking,” “elegant,” and “poised” by <em>The New York Times</em> and as “engaging” and “eerie” by <em>The Los Angeles Times.</em></p> <p>Now a new recording of five disparate works by the 91ֱ�� faculty composer could expand the roll call of superlatives.</p> <p><em>Jesse Jones: In Profile</em>, released on the <a href="https://naxosdirect.com/labels/oberlin-4456">91ֱ�� Music label</a> and available for download December 3, offers a glimpse into the composer’s wildly varied musical language, providing a six-year snapshot from his prolific two-decade career. Each of the pieces included is a recording premiere.</p> <p>Jones writes for soloists and ensembles of all sizes, and for an ever-growing list of collaborative partners. He is joined here by the 91ֱ�� Contemporary Music Ensemble and 91ֱ�� Orchestra, under the direction of <a href="/node/6651">Timothy Weiss</a> and <a href="/node/6636">Raphael Jiménez</a>, as well as a host of fellow 91ֱ�� faculty: <a href="/node/7086">Richard Hawkins</a> on clarinet, <a href="/node/7131">Alexa Still</a> on flute, <a href="/node/7136">Robert Walters</a> on English horn, and <a href="/node/46376">Drew Pattison</a> on bassoon. Also featured are guest cellist Jeffrey Zeigler, pianist David Riley, and guitarist Dieter Hennings Yeomans, and 91ֱ�� students Zheyong “Jerry” Xiong '19 (violin), Jeremy Kreutz '18 (cello), and Liam Kaplan '20 (piano).</p> <p><em>In Profile</em> opens with<em> …neither am I a bloodless angel </em> for cello and piano (2012), which borrows its title from the Chaim Potok book <em>My Name is Asher Lev</em>, about a young man torn between his family’s expectations and his personal ambitions—a situation Jones found himself in at the time of this work’s creation. “Reading Potok’s novel left an indelible impression on me,” Jones explains in the recording’s accompanying notes, “and one that inspired me to live my own life and create music as I saw fit: somewhere in the middle of all the polarizing <em>isms</em> and schools of thought.”</p> <p><em>Snippet Variations</em> for clarinet, violin, cello, and piano (2009) lightheartedly explores the link between past masters and modern-day composers, who sometimes strive to emulate the sound of their predecessors without appropriating any notes. Such efforts can result in a sort of creative pressure that Jones calls the “anxiety of influence”—a phenomenon he takes on here with good humor and no shortage of reverence for those who came before him.</p> <p><em>So Eden Sank to Grief</em> for double wind quintet (2014), named for a line in the Robert Frost poem “Nothing Gold Can Stay,” explores the notion put forth by the poet: that even the loveliest of creations eventually falls into decay. “Frost’s poem is fairly grim,” Jones notes, “but it somehow leaves me with a strange feeling of anticipation: a type of joy or thankfulness for the rejuvenation of nature’s golden hue.”</p> <p><em>…innumerable stars, scattered in clusters</em> for orchestra (2013) finds Jones pondering the life and work—and lingering inspiration—of Galileo, who scrawled the titular words upon glimpsing the cosmos through his invention, the telescope. The concept came to Jones during his studies as a fellow at the American Academy in Rome. “I would often wake up before the sunrise and walk to my studio beneath the very same sky Galileo had observed so many centuries earlier,” he recalls. “At these moments, when the city was still and the stars shone brightly, I would feel a deep connection to history, a special, timeless kinship with Galileo, and above all, an urge to be productive with my allotted time.”</p> <p>The recording closes with <em>Languido</em> for solo guitar (2015), which was written for and is performed here by Jones' friend Dieter Hennings Yeomans. “Having studied several instruments over the course of my lifetime, I have come to believe that classical guitar…is one of the most difficult to fully master,” Jones says. “I have been trying for about 25 years now, with minimal success.”</p> <p></p> <p>91ֱ�� Music is the official recording label of 91ֱ�� Conservatory. 91ֱ�� Music titles are available through online retailers everywhere.</p> <p><em>Jesse Jones: In Profile</em> is the second 91ֱ�� Music recording of 2021 to feature music by Jones. It follows the April release of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Hartke-Ogonek-Jones-Chamber-Works/dp/B08XYCXMQ3/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=hartke+ogonek+jones&qid=1638396020&sr=8-1"><em>Hartke | Ogonek | Jones</em></a>, a collection of works by 91ֱ�� Conservatory composition faculty that includes Jones’ 2015 piece <em>One Bright Morning…</em>, which once again reveals the lighter side of his artistry, through the sophisticated setting of a nonsense rhyme.</p> <p>Learn more about 91ֱ�� Music titles by visiting <a href="https://naxosdirect.com/labels/oberlin-4456">Naxos Direct</a>.</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-subhead field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">"In Profile" includes performances by 91ֱ�� students, faculty, and guests.</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="2021-12-02T12:00:00Z">Thu, 12/02/2021 - 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=2375">91ֱ�� Music Label</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=33331">Composition</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=29541">Piano</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=35116">Violin</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=35261">Cello</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="/jesse-jones" hreflang="und">Jesse Jones</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/alexa-still" hreflang="und">Alexa Still</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/richard-hawkins" hreflang="und">Richard Hawkins</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/robert-walters" hreflang="und">Robert Walters</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/timothy-weiss" hreflang="und">Timothy Weiss</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/raphael-jimenez" hreflang="und">Raphael Jiménez</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/drew-pattison" hreflang="und">Drew Pattison</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/conducting-and-ensembles" hreflang="und">Conducting and Ensembles</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/conservatory/divisions/strings" hreflang="und">Strings</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 Jesse Jones</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> </article> <article> <h1>91ֱ�� Music Label Releases "The 91ֱ�� Concertos," Featuring Pianist Xak Bjerken</h1> <p>eburnett — Tue, 10 Aug 2021 15:26:21 +0000</p> <span>91ֱ�� Music Label Releases "The 91ֱ�� Concertos," Featuring Pianist Xak Bjerken</span> <span><span>eburnett</span></span> <span><time datetime="2021-08-10T11:26:21-04:00" title="Tuesday, August 10, 2021 - 11:26">Tue, 08/10/2021 - 11:26</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>The concept that led to <em>The 91ֱ�� Concertos</em> was initially hatched in a conversation between pianist and educator Xak Bjerken and a former student, 91ֱ�� Conservatory composition professor <a href="/node/6626">Jesse Jones</a>.</p> <p></p> <p>It was Jones who suggested writing a chamber concerto to be premiered by his friend and mentor, and it was Bjerken—a former longtime member of the Los Angeles Piano Quartet and a veteran soloist with the L.A. Philharmonic and other ensembles—who was immediately hooked.</p> <p>Their plan gave rise to another commission—for the chair of 91ֱ��’s <a href="/node/75916">Composition Department</a>, Grammy Award-winner <a href="/node/6621">Stephen Hartke</a>—and then another, for fellow composition faculty member Elizabeth Ogonek. The resulting works were recorded in three sessions over a two-year span, with Bjerken joining forces with 91ֱ��’s Contemporary Music Ensemble and conductor <a href="/node/6651">Timothy Weiss</a> in the conservatory’s Clonick Hall studio, in addition to presenting the world-premiere performance of each piece on campus.</p> <p><a href="https://arkivmusic.com/products/hartke-ogonek-jones-the-oberlin-concertos-945179"><em>The 91ֱ�� Concertos</em></a>, the 91ֱ�� Music recording that resulted from their collaborations, is available on CD and digital download beginning September 17, 2021.</p> <p>“These 91ֱ�� concertos are the result of lucky and close friendships with supremely talented composers, and each of them vibrantly expresses its unique voice,” says Bjerken, a professor of music at Cornell University.</p> <p>Jones’ creation, <em>PERSONA MECHANICA</em>, Op. 57, for chamber orchestra and solo piano, envisions a piano coming to life in a workshop, gradually rising above its cold mechanical sophistication to conjure an expansive range of human emotions. “The fingertip’s ability to strike and stroke is at the core of the piano’s sound world,” Bjerken once told Jones, “so the composer and pianist must endow the machine with a soul.”</p> <figure class="captioned-image obj-right"> <figcaption>91ֱ�� students recorded Hartke's "Ship of State" on campus in March 2018. (photo by Dale Preston)</figcaption> </figure> <p>Hartke’s <em>Ship of State</em>, written for piano and 20 players, draws on the poetry of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in its comparison of a government to a storm-tossed vessel at sea. “Longfellow’s original draft ended with fears of the ship being ‘wrecked upon some treacherous rock’ or ‘rotting in some noisome dock,’" Hartke observes in the recording’s insightful liner notes. "But he thought better of it, changing the final lines to: 'Our hearts, our hopes, our prayers, our tears; Our faith triumphant o’er our fears; Are all with thee, —are all with thee!’”</p> <p>Ogonek’s <em>where are we now</em>, scored for six male voices, four percussionists, and piano, indulges her love of Medieval and Renaissance music, and includes evocative text written for the piece by British writer and librettist Paul Griffiths. “The use of six voices and percussion came, in part, from an idea to separate the sustaining elements of the piano’s sound from its more percussive qualities and to let those characteristics then take on a life of their own,” Ogonek explains.</p> <p><em>The 91ֱ�� Concertos</em> follows the April 2021 91ֱ�� Music release of another showcase of 91ֱ�� composers and musicians, <a href="/news/oberlin-music-release-showcases-faculty-composers-and-contemporary-music-ensemble"><em>Hartke | Ogonek | Jones</em></a>. That recording was released in conjunction with <a href="/news/oberlin-music-label-presents-works-andrew-norman-juan-trigos-and-benjamin-broening"><em>Norman | Trigos | Broening</em></a>, featuring works by acclaimed composers Andrew Norman, Juan Trigos, and Benjamin Broening. Both recordings highlight performances by the Contemporary Music Ensemble under the direction of Weiss.</p> <p><em>The 91ֱ�� Concertos</em> was produced by Paul Eachus, director of Conservatory Audio Services at 91ֱ��, and engineered by <a href="/node/30161">Andrew Tripp</a>, associate director of Conservatory Audio Services. 91ֱ�� Music is the official recording label of the 91ֱ�� Conservatory of Music. 91ֱ�� Music titles are available through online retailers everywhere.</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-subhead field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Recording showcases faculty composers and the Contemporary Music Ensemble.</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="2021-09-15T12:00:00Z">Wed, 09/15/2021 - 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=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=33331">Composition</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="/jesse-jones" hreflang="und">Jesse Jones</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/stephen-hartke" hreflang="und">Stephen Hartke</a></div> <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> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-caption field--type-string-long field--label-hidden field__item">Pianist Xak Bjerken (center) with collaborators Elizabeth Ogonek, Stephen Hartke, Timothy Weiss, and Jesse Jones (from left) in 91ֱ��'s Warner Concert Hall.</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">Michael Hartman</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> </article> <article> <h1>91ֱ�� Music Label Presents Works by Andrew Norman, Juan Trigos, and Benjamin Broening</h1> <p>eburnett — Thu, 05 Aug 2021 16:31:04 +0000</p> <span>91ֱ�� Music Label Presents Works by Andrew Norman, Juan Trigos, and Benjamin Broening</span> <span><span>eburnett</span></span> <span><time datetime="2021-08-05T12:31:04-04:00" title="Thursday, August 5, 2021 - 12:31">Thu, 08/05/2021 - 12:31</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>91ֱ�� Conservatory enjoys a longstanding reputation as a hub for the creation and performance of new music—and the 91ֱ�� Contemporary Music Ensemble, under the direction of <a href="/node/6651">Timothy Weiss</a>, is the primary conduit through which this surge of artistry flows.</p> <p><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Norman-Trigos-Broening-Chamber-Works/dp/B0917M9651"><em>Norman | Trigos | Broening</em></a> is the second release in a series showcasing the ensemble in collaboration with three dynamic composers of today: Andrew Norman, Juan Trigos, and Benjamin Broening. Released on the <a href="https://naxosdirect.com/labels/oberlin-4456">91ֱ�� Music label</a>, it follows the April 2021 release of <em>Hartke | Ogonek | Jones</em>, which features the Contemporary Music Ensemble premiering works by 91ֱ�� composition faculty <a href="/node/6621">Stephen Hartke</a>, Elizabeth Ogonek, and <a href="/node/6626">Jesse Jones</a>.</p> <figure class="captioned-image obj-right"> <figcaption>91ֱ��'s Contemporary Music Ensemble performed Andrew Norman's work for eight violinists in Chicago in January 2016. (photo by Yevhen Gulenko)</figcaption> </figure> <p>Written while he was a student, Norman’s <em>Gran Turismo</em> for eight violinists is the result of an unlikely convergence of the art of Italian Futurist Giacomo Balla, the virtuosity of Baroque string players, and the sight of Norman’s roommates playing the auto-racing video game Gran Turismo. Each facet is linked by its unyielding speed and over-the-top machismo—and so is the unapologetically frenetic composition that resulted, a juxataposition of the experimental and traditional that typifies much of Norman’s output. (The eight-minute work is featured in a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waLKiFHPrgo">2016 video</a>, filmed in 91ֱ��’s Clonick Hall recording studio and performed by the student musicians from this premiere recording.)</p> <p>The cultural components deftly embedded in Juan Trigos’ musical language serve as integral points of reference for the listener. His Guitar Concerto No. 1, <em>Ricercare de Cámara VI</em>, features techniques associated with the flamenco style—including distinctive hand-clapping and guitar-strumming—but steers clear of Spanish guitar clichés by incorporating such elements in abstract and structural rather than coloristic ways. It features soloist <a href="https://zohncollective.com/dieter-hennings">Dieter Hennings</a>, an acclaimed performer and winner of numerous international guitar competitions.</p> <p>Written for CME, Benjamin Broening’s <em>What the Light Was Like</em> takes as its inspiration Amy Clampitt’s poem of the same name. It establishes an evocative New England setting and vividly captures the sights and sounds experienced by a lobsterman and the stark journey into darkness that follows a stroke suffered while working his traps off the coast of Maine.</p> <p>91ֱ�� Music is the official recording label of the 91ֱ�� Conservatory of Music. 91ֱ�� Music titles are available through <a href="https://music.apple.com/us/album/norman-trigos-broening-chamber-works/1560226019">Apple Music</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/2XGg6ljQNN8wYyTjKp6ta0">Spotify</a>, and online retailers everywhere.</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-subhead field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">"Norman | Trigos | Broening" features 91ֱ��'s Contemporary Music Ensemble.</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="2021-08-02T12:00:00Z">Mon, 08/02/2021 - 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=2375">91ֱ�� Music Label</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=33331">Composition</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 class="field__item"><a href="/stephen-hartke" hreflang="und">Stephen Hartke</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/jesse-jones" hreflang="und">Jesse Jones</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> <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">Ryan Sprowl</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> </article> <article> <h1>91ֱ�� Music Release Showcases Faculty Composers and Contemporary Music Ensemble</h1> <p>eburnett — Thu, 01 Apr 2021 19:23:12 +0000</p> <span>91ֱ�� Music Release Showcases Faculty Composers and Contemporary Music Ensemble</span> <span><span>eburnett</span></span> <span><time datetime="2021-04-01T15:23:12-04:00" title="Thursday, April 1, 2021 - 15:23">Thu, 04/01/2021 - 15:23</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>For generations, 91ֱ�� Conservatory has earned its reputation as a hub for the creation and performance of new music. A pivotal source of this innovative spark is the conservatory’s own composition faculty, whose wide-ranging works are routinely premiered by 91ֱ�� student ensembles.</p> <p>On <a href="https://music.apple.com/us/album/hartke-ogonek-jones-chamber-works/1556511328"><em>Hartke | Ogonek | Jones</em></a>, available April 2 on the 91ֱ�� Music label, 91ֱ��'s Contemporary Music Ensemble presents three pieces by composition professors <a href="/node/6621">Stephen Hartke</a>, <a href="http://elizabethogonek.com/about/">Elizabeth Ogonek</a>, and <a href="/node/6626">Jesse Jones</a>. Conducting the ensemble is <a href="/node/6651">Timothy Weiss</a>, a longtime 91ֱ�� professor of conducting and a leading proponent of new music at 91ֱ��.</p> <p>All three works receive their recorded premieres on this digital release.</p> <p>Composed in 2016, Hartke’s <em>Willow Run</em> is named for the stream that flows near Detroit and the former WWII bomber factory that had the distinction for many years of being the largest enclosed space in the world. Inspired by photos of the structure taken on the eve of its demolition, Hartke’s piece revels in the factory’s vastness and in the bustle of activity that took place there, as well as the relative calm that marked its final days. Woven throughout is the sound of a saxophone, played by 1997 91ֱ�� alum <a href="https://www.noahgetz.com/">Noah Getz</a>.</p> <p><em>The Water Cantos [notes from quiet places]</em>, completed by Ogonek in 2018, recalls locales in New Mexico and Oregon that have fueled the composer’s artistry over the years. It is inspired by the ways in which water resurfaces in Ogonek’s memories of those places. (After serving on the 91ֱ�� composition faculty from 2015 to 2020, Ogonek began a professorship at Cornell University in 2021.)</p> <p>Jones’ <em>One Bright Morning...</em> (2015) is crafted around an anonymous nonsense rhyme, its fanciful text the launching pad for a sophisticated, polyrhythmic exploration that is as fun as it is unexpected. Featured is soprano soloist <a href="https://oliviaboen.com/">Olivia Boen ’17</a>, who presented the North American premiere with the Contemporary Music Ensemble in Chicago in 2016.</p> <p><em>Hartke | Ogonek | Jones</em> is the first of two digital releases on 91ֱ�� Music dedicated to showcasing the Contemporary Music Ensemble in collaboration with three dynamic composers of today. Watch for part 2,<em> Norman | Trigos | Broening</em>—featuring the work of acclaimed composers Andrew Norman, Juan Trigos, and Benjamin Broening—in early May.</p> <p><a href="https://naxosdirect.com/labels/oberlin-4456">91ֱ�� Music</a> is the official recording label of the 91ֱ�� Conservatory of Music. 91ֱ�� Music titles are available through <a href="https://music.apple.com/us/album/hartke-ogonek-jones-chamber-works/1556511328">Apple Music</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2XfLqsADUmvvD1sJPpIlbk">Spotify</a>, and online retailers everywhere.</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="2021-04-02T12:00:00Z">Fri, 04/02/2021 - 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=2375">91ֱ�� Music Label</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2370">Ensembles & Orchestras</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=33331">Composition</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 class="field__item"><a href="/stephen-hartke" hreflang="und">Stephen Hartke</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/jesse-jones" hreflang="und">Jesse Jones</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> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-caption field--type-string-long field--label-hidden field__item">91ֱ�� Music's latest recording features the work of 91ֱ�� composers Stephen Hartke, Elizabeth Ogonek, and Jesse Jones (from left).</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 (Hartke), Todd Rosenberg (Ogonek), Jennifer Manna (Jones)</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>‘‘Rands at 91ֱ��’’ Features English Horn Professor Robert Walters, 91ֱ�� Ensembles</h1> <p>eburnett — Tue, 21 Apr 2020 20:40:24 +0000</p> <span>‘‘Rands at 91ֱ��’’ Features English Horn Professor Robert Walters, 91ֱ�� Ensembles</span> <span><span>eburnett</span></span> <span><time datetime="2020-04-21T16:40:24-04:00" title="Tuesday, April 21, 2020 - 16:40">Tue, 04/21/2020 - 16:40</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Bernard Rands boasts a catalog of more than 100 published compositions, among them his vocal and instrumental work <em>Canti del Sole</em>, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1984.</p> <p></p> <p><a href="https://naxosdirect.com/items/rands-at-oberlin-535912"><em>Rands at 91ֱ��</em></a>, a new recording on the 91ֱ�� Music label, serves as the recorded premiere of the composer’s Concerto for English Horn. The piece was commissioned by 91ֱ�� Conservatory in honor of its 150th anniversary and written for English hornist <a href="/node/7136">Robert Walters</a>, a professor at 91ֱ�� and longtime member of The Cleveland Orchestra.</p> <p><em>Rands at 91ֱ��</em> will be released by Naxos via <a href="https://music.apple.com/us/album/bernard-rands-english-horn-concerto-cati-del-sole/1509333309?ls=1&app=itunes">digital download on iTunes</a> on April 24. The CD will be available on July 3 through U.S. retailers and at <a href="https://naxosdirect.com/items/rands-at-oberlin-535912">Naxos</a>.</p> <p>The Concerto for English Horn received its premiere performance in November 2015, in a concert featuring Walters and The Cleveland Orchestra at Severance Hall. The recording was created in 91ֱ��'s Warner Concert Hall in April 2017, with Walters and the 91ֱ�� Orchestra directed by Raphael Jiménez. It was engineered by <a href="/node/30161">Andrew Tripp</a> and produced by <a href="/node/29986">Paul Eachus</a>, both lecturers in 91ֱ��'s <a href="/node/184446">Recording Arts and Production program</a>.</p> <p>Though the concerto made them collaborators for the first time, Rands and Walters share a history that extends several decades back to when both worked in Philadelphia: Rands as composer in residence with the Philadelphia Orchestra, and Walters as a student at the Curtis Institute who also played as an extra in the orchestra.</p> <p>Years later, Walters performed the piece <em>Pilgrim Soul</em> by Rands’ wife, Augusta Read Thomas.</p> <p>“I heard that recording,” Rands remembers today, “and I said to my wife: ‘That is the best English horn playing I’ve ever heard in my life. And I’ve heard a lot.’”</p> <p>Soon thereafter, Rands placed a call to Walters. “I have in my ear a concerto I want to write for you,” the hornist remembers hearing. “We should talk.”</p> <p>Out of that conversation came a commission initiated by then-Dean of the Conservatory David Stull and cemented by his successor, Andrea Kalyn, who seized upon the opportunity to wed the concerto to the conservatory’s 150th anniversary in 2016.</p> <p>The concerto evokes the music of Claude Debussy—and the French impressionists who followed him—in subtle and not so subtle ways; the final movement, in fact, is titled “Hommage à C-AD.”</p> <p>“What I like about the piece is that it doesn’t typecast the instrument,” says Walters. “English horn is pretty much about slow, mournful melodies. My mother used to call it the <em>anguish</em> horn. There’s something tragic about the voice and the sonority.</p> <p>“Bernard sort of broke away from the typecast aspect of the instrument, which resulted in just a great opportunity for me as a soloist,” he adds. Most notably, that meant steering the horn at times toward uncharacteristically high registers—one of Walters’ strong suits. “He really tailored the piece to my strengths as a player, and also to my personality, which is humbling and exciting.”</p> <p>Rands, who visited campus in March 2017 for the 91ֱ�� premiere of his concerto and a composition forum with students, also was moved by the collaboration.</p> <p>“I was touched that they would make this possible for Robert and for me,” he says. “I hope we’ve done well for them celebrating such a long and distinguished institution.”</p> <p>A special sneak-preview performance of the concerto will be broadcast on the Thursday, April 23, edition of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoXiomT8z8I">91ֱ�� Stage Left</a>, the conservatory’s new online series showcasing 91ֱ�� faculty and student musicians as well as distinguished guests. The 7:30 p.m. program will begin with an interview featuring Rands and Walters, led by Associate Professor of Music Theory <a href="/node/6881">Jan Miyake</a>. It will be followed by the concerto's second movement, Aubade.</p> <p><em>Rands at 91ֱ��</em> also features the composer's Pulitzer Prize-winning <em>Canti del Sole</em>, which employs 14 different pieces of text in describing a day’s progression from dawn to dusk. It is performed here by Norwegian tenor Magnus Staveland with 91ֱ��’s Contemporary Music Ensemble, under the direction of <a href="/timothy-weiss">Timothy Weiss</a>. </p> <p>Distributed by Naxos of America, <em>Rands at 91ֱ��</em> is available through digital music channels worldwide. 91ֱ�� Music is the official record label of 91ֱ�� Conservatory.</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="2020-04-21T12:00:00Z">Tue, 04/21/2020 - 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>91ֱ�� Music release serves as premiere recording of conservatory-commissioned Concerto for English Horn.</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=37361">Oboe</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=184446">Recording Arts and Production</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="/robert-walters" hreflang="und">Robert Walters</a></div> <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/winds-brass-and-percussion" hreflang="und">Winds, Brass, and Percussion</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/conservatory/divisions/conducting-and-ensembles" hreflang="und">Conducting and Ensembles</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-caption field--type-string-long field--label-hidden field__item">Bernard Rands visited 91ֱ�� in March 2017 for a performance of his Concerto for English Horn, featuring Robert Walters and the 91ֱ�� Orchestra.</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">Larry Kasperek</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 Kendra Colton’s "Late Air," Featuring Music of John Harbison</h1> <p>eburnett — Wed, 08 Jan 2020 17:18:15 +0000</p> <span>91ֱ�� Music Releases Kendra Colton’s "Late Air," Featuring Music of John Harbison</span> <span><span>eburnett</span></span> <span><time datetime="2020-01-08T12:18:15-05:00" title="Wednesday, January 8, 2020 - 12:18">Wed, 01/08/2020 - 12:18</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Soprano Kendra Colton has sung the music of John Harbison for some 25 years, including an untold number of performances of the composer’s church and chamber music—as well as Colton’s turn as Daisy Buchanan on the workshop recording of <em>The Great Gatsby</em>, which Harbison composed for the Metropolitan Opera.</p> <p></p> <p>On <em>Late Air</em>, available in February 2020 on 91ֱ�� Music, Colton and Harbison are united once again on music representing three decades of the composer’s creative output.</p> <p><em>Late Air</em> opens with <em>Mirabai Songs</em>, the composer’s evocative 1982 work based on poetry of 16th-century India. It recounts the story of a grieving young widow who boldly defies the cruel conventions of her village.</p> <p><em>M</em><em>irabai Songs</em> is followed by three pieces from <em>After Hours</em>, a sonically diverse selection of songs Harbison describes as typical of his tendency to create work that is spontaneously “written in the margins.”</p> <p>Also included is <em>North and South</em>, a collection of six jazz-influenced songs based on the poetry of Elizabeth Bishop (one of which is titled <em>Late Air</em>, providing the inspiration for the album’s title).</p> <p>The recording concludes with the 2012 chamber music piece <em>Crossroads</em>, an 91ֱ�� Conservatory co-commission based on the poetry of Louise Gluck. It was written for Colton—a longtime voice faculty member at 91ֱ�� and a 1983 graduate of the conservatory—and oboist Peggy Pearson, who appears on this recording.</p> <p>In addition to Pearson, <em>Late Air</em> reunites Colton with a pair of her favorite piano collaborators, Kayo Iwama '83 and 91ֱ�� Conservatory emeritus professor Sanford Margolis. The 91ֱ�� Contemporary Music Ensemble, under the direction of Timothy Weiss, is featured on <em>Crossroads</em>.</p> <p>“I am thrilled to offer an entire recording devoted to the vocal music of John Harbison,” says Colton, “and I’m so pleased to help share this fantastic repertoire by one of our great living composers.”</p> <p>Distributed by Naxos of America, <em>Late Air </em>is available through digital music channels worldwide and can be preordered now via <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B082PQTR91">amazon.com</a>.</p> <p>91ֱ�� Music is the official record label of 91ֱ�� Conservatory, dedicated to celebrating the artistry of 91ֱ�� students, faculty, and alumni. Recent releases include <em>Songtree</em>, a collection of music by Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon that showcases the 91ֱ�� Contemporary Music Ensemble, soprano Toni Arnold ’90, and others; and <em>Convergent Winds: Music of Paul Hindemith</em>, which features 91ֱ�� faculty clarinetist Richard Hawkins, pianist James Howsmon, flutist Alexa Still, oboist and English hornist Robert Walters, and retired bassoonist George Sakakeeny.</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="2020-01-08T12:00:00Z">Wed, 01/08/2020 - 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>Recording showcases the longtime 91ֱ�� faculty soprano, spans three decades of the composer’s work.</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> <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> <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> <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�� Music Label Releases Debut Recording by Derek Zadinsky</h1> <p>eburnett — Fri, 30 Aug 2019 14:10:41 +0000</p> <span>91ֱ�� Music Label Releases Debut Recording by Derek Zadinsky</span> <span><span>eburnett</span></span> <span><time datetime="2019-08-30T10:10:41-04:00" title="Friday, August 30, 2019 - 10:10">Fri, 08/30/2019 - 10:10</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p></p> <p><a href="/derek-zadinsky">Derek Zadinsky</a>’s debut solo recording came about in part through a sort of unspoken challenge from one of his mentors, the legendary double bassist Edgar Meyer.</p> <p>It was Meyer who pointed out that, while he has no qualms with playing most of Bach’s third suite for cello on a double bass, there is one portion of the prelude—featuring successive open pedal notes that are closed by the left hand immediately after bowing—that prevented him from performing it.</p> <p>On <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Bach-Brahms-Works-Performed-Double/dp/B07VX7LY1F/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=zadinsky+bach%2Bbrahms&qid=1567173769&s=gateway&sr=8-1"><em>Bach + Brahms</em></a>, available now by digital download from <a href="https://naxosdirect.com/labels/oberlin-music-4456">91ֱ�� Music</a>, Zadinsky takes on that work as well as Brahms’ Sonata No. 1 in E Minor for Cello and Piano, Op. 38, using a custom-built five-string bass that includes a high C string, thus allowing the portion of Bach that so vexed Meyer to be played much as it would be played on a cello. Zadinsky himself transcribed both pieces for bass. He is accompanied on the recording by pianist Alicja Basinska.</p> <p>“As I considered what the composers might have thought about changing their instrumentation from cello to bass, a couple thoughts came to mind,” says Zadinsky, a double bassist with the Cleveland Orchestra and a teacher at 91ֱ�� Conservatory.</p> <p>“I thought about how Brahms’ father played the bass, the influence he must have played on his son, and how satisfying and great his orchestral bass parts are as a result. I also thought about the trademark richness of his music, and how naturally that translates to the voice of the bass.</p> <p>“Since I know Bach himself would transcribe some of his own works for different instruments, I would hope that he would not mind the bass being a participant in that activity,” he adds. “As I thought about how so many of his works have translated well to many different instruments, it would seem that as long as the performance maintains the purity and transparency of his original character, it would be effective and sound like it was intended to be written that way for that particular instrument.”</p> <p>Distributed by Naxos of America, <em>Bach + Brahms</em> is available through digital music channels worldwide. 91ֱ�� Music is the official record label of the 91ֱ�� Conservatory of Music.</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="2019-08-30T12:00:00Z">Fri, 08/30/2019 - 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>Concept for <em>Bach + Brahms</em> grew out of conversations with double bass teacher's legendary mentor, Edgar Meyer.</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=2414">Faculty</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=36156">Double Bass</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="/derek-zadinsky" hreflang="und">Derek Zadinsky</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/strings" hreflang="und">Strings</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">Roger Mastroianni</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>Flutist Alexa Still Releases Syzygy on 91ֱ�� Music Label</h1> <p>eburnett — Fri, 26 Jan 2018 14:28:19 +0000</p> <span>Flutist Alexa Still Releases <em>Syzygy</em> on 91ֱ�� Music Label</span> <span><span>eburnett</span></span> <span><time datetime="2018-01-26T09:28:19-05:00" title="Friday, January 26, 2018 - 09:28">Fri, 01/26/2018 - 09:28</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><a href="/alexa-still">Alexa Still </a>credits fellow flutist Jeanne Baxtresser for introducing her to the music of Venezuelan-born composer and conductor Efraín Amaya a decade ago.</p> <p>On <em>Syzygy</em>, Still’s second release on the 91ֱ�� Music label, she joins fellow 91ֱ�� Conservatory faculty members and students on six pieces written by Amaya between 1997 and 2014.</p> <p>“The very first time I encountered the music of Efraín Amaya, I fell in love with the soaring melodies, the raw energy, the emotion, and the stories,” says Still, who was teaching at the Sydney Conservatorium in Australia at the time. “But it needed my wonderful colleagues and the environs of 91ֱ�� for this project to come to life.”</p> <p><em>Syzygy</em>, which takes its name from a movement in the recording’s opening piece, means “working together toward a common goal.” On pieces for flute and piano, flute and cello, and two flutes, Still works effortlessly with her 91ֱ�� collaborators. Joining her are longtime piano professor Robert Shannon, cello professor Darrett Adkins, and two standout students in Still’s flute studio, Aram Mun (BM '17, AD '19) and Tasiaeafe Hiner '17.</p> <p>T<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:"Titillium Web",sans-serif">he CD was recorded in Clonick Hall, 91ֱ��’s superior recording studio, with </span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:"Titillium Web",sans-serif">audio engineers and editors </span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:"Titillium Web",sans-serif">Paul Eachus and Andrew Tripp. Eachus also provided post-production mastering for the release. </span>An accompanying booklet includes in-depth notes from the composer about each piece.</p> <p>“I’m just so honored and pleased that Alexa decided to do this,” says Amaya, who began his career with the El Sistema youth orchestra in his native country and has taught for many years at Carnegie Mellon and Minot State universities. “As a composer, it’s so hard to try to get somebody to get interested in your music and then go forward and do such a big project like this. She took it with such a big heart and an open willingness, and I’m grateful for what she has done to make the music her own. For a composer, in the end, that’s what needs to happen: You need the musicians to bring it to life or it doesn’t mean anything.”</p> <p></p> <p>Former principal flute of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Still joined the 91ֱ�� faculty in 2011. She remains an avid performer in recitals throughout the world, including the Australian and U.S. premieres of Matthew Hindson’s <em>House Music</em>—a piece she also premiered on a 2015 91ֱ�� Music recording. (She also appears on a third 91ֱ�� Music release, the chamber music collection <em>Ravel: Intimate Masterpieces</em>.) Across a discography that numbers some two dozen recordings, Still has consistently chosen repertoire that strays from the traditional canon.</p> <p>“All of my projects are of music that I think people don’t know well enough or don’t know at all,” she says. “I want to be making a contribution. I don’t see the point in making another Mozart concerto CD. Recordings are really a great way of making the repertoire available to a much bigger audience, and I think the chances of people listening to this and deciding to go play it are really high.”</p> <p>Released January 26, 2018, and distributed by Naxos of America, <em>Syzygy</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="2018-01-26T12:00:00Z">Fri, 01/26/2018 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">By Erich Burnett</div> <div class="text-content field field--name-field-intro-text field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Project showcases music by Venezuelan composer Efraín Amaya, features conservatory colleagues and students.</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> <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> <div class="field field--name-field-news-faculty field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/alexa-still" hreflang="und">Alexa Still</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/robert-shannon-72" hreflang="und">Robert Shannon</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/darrett-adkins" hreflang="und">Darrett Adkins</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">91ֱ�� Music</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> </article> </main></body></html>