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Benjamin Coelho, professor of bassoon, has been at the University of Iowa since 1998. He has appeared as a soloist, chamber musician, orchestral musician, teacher, and clinician in several countries including the United States, Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Panama, Portugal, France, Romania, Australia, Canada, and the Czech Republic. An avid chamber musician, he has performed with the Gramado Woodwind Quintet (Brazil), the Alaria Chamber Ensemble (New York), and the Contemporary Music Group of Minas Gerais (Brazil). As a founding member of the Manhattan Wind Quintet, Mr. Coelho performed numerous recitals and concert tours throughout the United States. The group won various chamber music competitions including Artists International, Coleman, and Monterey Peninsula Chamber Music Competition. An enthusiastic proponent of new music, Mr. Coelho has commissioned, performed, and recorded many works by European, American, and Latin American composers. His recordings include Bassoon Images from the Americas (2003), released by Albany Records; Bravura Bassoon (2005), Pas de Trois (2006) released by Crystal Records; and Explorations (2007), Dreaming in Colours (2011) and Agnus Dei (2012) all released by MSR Classics. The specialized media has continuously praised his recordings "...Ben has such a gorgeous sound, such impeccable technique, and such sensitive musicality, that it is a real pleasure to recommend this album very strongly to all of you!" (Ronald Klimko, IDRS Journal), "Coelho's program is an international affair that shows the range of colors and character that the bassoon can explore in tandem with string colleagues. His playing is unfailingly sonorous, expressive, and alert, and he champions the pieces on this recording as if he believed in them without reservation." (Donald Rosenberg, The Gramophone), "Coelho is fantastic. His sound is brilliant, resonant, and strong, and he has a warm tone that blends superbly with the strings." (Schwartz, American Record Guide). As a member of the group Wizards! A Double Reed Consort, Coelho has recorded two CDs released by Crystal and Boston Records in 2000 and 2003 respectively. Mr. Coelho has written articles on bassoon performance and literature. His work has been published in the International Double Reed Society Journal, as well as the British Double Reed Society Journal. His article "Francisco Mignone and the Sixteen Waltzes for Solo Bassoon" has been translated into German, and published in the German double-reed magazine ROHRBLATT. Before his position at the University of Iowa, Mr. Coelho was the vice dean and bassoon professor at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (Brazil). He also worked extensively as a performer in his native Brazil, including principal positions with symphony orchestras in Rio de Janeiro, Campinas, and Belo Horizonte. In the United States, Mr. Coelho has played with the Waterloo/Cedar Falls Symphony (Iowa), The Camerata Chamber Orchestra (Indiana), The Bloomington Pops Orchestra (Indiana), The Bronx Opera Company (New York), and Orchestra Iowa. Currently, he performs as the principal bassoon with the Quad City Symphony Orchestra (Iowa/Illinois). Ben attended Indiana University, Manhattan School of Music, S.U.N.Y. at Purchase, and the Tatuí Conservatory in his native Brazil. His major teachers include Clóvis Franco, Donald MacCourt, Arthur Weisberg, and Kim Walker. Ben lives in Iowa City, IA, with his wife Karen and their wonderful daughters Liliana and Julia. legendsofreed" to enjoy free shipping.
Creighton music professor, conductor, and chorus master Dr. Barron Breland talks about an epiphany with the Atlanta Boy Choir, the choral ensembles he is engaged with, the art and craft of conducting, the joys and creative challenges of music for him and for us, and a life spent in and with music.Dr. A. Barron Breland has a diverse background in many different fields of music, including the piano and saxophone, and is in demand throughout the Midwest and beyond as a conductor, chorusmaster, clinician, and adjudicator. He is Dean of the Graduate School and Vice Provost for Faculty and Academic Affairs at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska. Alongside his leadership of the Creighton University Chamber Choir, Breland is the Music Director of Résonance, a semi-professional chorus whose debut album Pilgrimage was released in July 2020 on the MSR Classics label. Breland also is the Artistic Director of the River City Mixed Chorus and in his tenure with the organization the ensemble has grown to over 160 active singing members.
Creativity through the lens of a musician and writer"Being creative is something I can't divorce from who I am."Emi is very proud to be named a 2023 Avery Fisher Career Grant awardee, and can be heard live in concerts and festivals around the world as a soloist and with groups including AMOC*, the New York New Music Ensemble, the Handel and Haydn Society, and the Manhattan Chamber Players. She has spoken and performed at several TEDX events and has been featured on media outlets including The Discovery Channel, Vox's "Explained" series on Netflix, Amazon's The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and Juilliard Digital's TouchPress apps talking about how music relates to our world today. Her debut album, Amour Cruel, an indie-pop song cycle inspired by the music of the 17th century French court was released by Arezzo Music in September 2017, spending 4 weeks on the Classical, Classical Crossover, and World Music Billboard Charts. Her 2019 album Fly the Coop: Bach Sonatas and Preludes, a collaboration with continuo band Ruckus debuted at #1 on the iTunes classical charts and #2 on the Billboard classical charts, and was called “blindingly impressive...a fizzing, daring display of personality and imagination” by The New York Times. In addition to her solo recordings, Emi has also been featured on recordings for New Focus Records, Old Focus Records, Canteloupe Music, National Sawdust Tracks, Brontosaurus Records, Coro, and MSR Classics.Iconic Composers highlights the origin and contributions of some of the world's most remarkable and gifted composers throughout history.Bold, whimsical illustrations by David Lee Csicsko along with concise, engaging bios by Nicholas Csicsko and Emi Ferguson celebrate a diverse group of composers from the past 1000 years. Iconic Composers features historical giants of music like Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven alongside 20th-century composers such as Astor Piazzolla and Meredith Monk. Showcasing the true range of classical music history not typically acknowledged – exhibiting a wide number of genders, races, and nationalities – Iconic Composers celebrates 50 composers who have influenced the field of music and collectively broadened its scope.Trope Iconic Composers: https://trope.com/collections/books/products/iconic-composersEmi Ferguson: www.emiferguson.comwww.emiferguson.com/iconiccomposersIG: @emifergusonFB: @emifergusonmusic
Interview originally aired July 5, 2021. Joel Feigin is an internationally performed composer, whose operas, chamber, orchestra, and piano works have been widely praised for their “very strong impact, as logical in musical design as they are charged with emotion and drama.” (Opera Magazine).Feigin's opera, Twelfth Night, based on Shakespeare's comedy, was produced in North Carolina, Chicago, and southern California, where it was hailed as a “glittering masterpiece” by critic Dan Kepl. Excerpts had also been featured at New York City Opera's VOX Showcase series and Opera America's New Works Sampler. Mysteries of Eleusis, Feigin's first opera, written on a Guggenheim Fellowship, was commissioned and premiered by Theatre Cornell; on the international stage it was featured at the Moscow Conservatory (Russia) and repeated at the Russian-American Operatic Festival.Instrumental commissions include a Fromm Commission for Aviv: Concerto for Piano and Chamber Orchestra, written for Yael Weiss, as well as piano commissions from Leonard Stein and Margaret Mills. Ms. Mills included two of Joel's works on her album Meditations and Overtones (Cambria Recordings). Feigin's most recent CD (released on MSR Classics) presents the large-scale chamber work Lament Amid Silence, featuring violist Helen Callus. Concerts devoted solely to Feigin's music have been given in Russia and Armenia, and in New York at Merkin Hall and Lincoln Center's Bruno Walter Auditorium. Honors include a Mellon Fellowship, a Senior Fulbright Fellowship, and the Dimitri Mitropoulos Prize in Composition at the Tanglewood Music Center.Dr. Feigin studied with Nadia Boulanger at Fontainebleau and with Roger Sessions at The Juilliard School. An accomplished pianist and accompanist, Feigin studied with Rosina Lhevine, and worked at the Metropolitan Opera in New York with Nico Castel.The Joel Feigin Collection at the New York Public Library of the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center opened in 2011. A student of Zen Buddhism, Feigin is Professor Emeritus of Composition at the University of California, Santa Barbara.Pieces, in order heard:Surging Seas, for string orchestra: 1. Allegro maestoso (excerpt)Two Songs from Twelfth Night: No. 1 O Mistress Mine (Allegretto grazioso)Surging Seas, for string orchestra: 1. Allegro maestoso (full movement)http://joelfeigin.com/
Join me for in Episode 23 for a conversation with Randall Faust about the IHS Composition Contest. Episode Highlights Brief history of the composition contest: https://www.hornsociety.org/about-the-ihs/composition-projects/composition-contest How things have changed. Structure/Divisions Reasons why composers should participate. Advice for composers, and what makes a good composition for horn. Who can participate? What are the awards? For even more details about the history of the competition, get the IHS 50th Anniversary Book: https://www.hornsociety.org/257-uncategorised/1665-the-international-horn-society-the-first-50-years Hornist, composer, author, and professor, Randall Faust has contributed to the horn community both regionally, in Western Illinois, and internationally, through the IHS and other organizations. Randy has participated in many IHS symposiums and was host of the 2009 International Horn Symposium in Macomb IL. Faust is a retired professor of music at Western Illinois University, and performed as hornist of the Camerata Woodwind Quintet and LaMoine Brass Quintet. He has hosted the annual Western Illinois Horn Festival—bringing a variety of outstanding hornists and clinicians to the WIU Campus—and in 2009, he hosted the 41st International Horn Symposium of the International Horn Society. He has participated in regional and international symposiums. His compositions, including Quartet for Four Horns in memory of Philip Farkas, are often heard on concerts and in recordings. He has produced an instructional DVD, How to Stop a Horn. He performs and records, including works of contemporary composers. Performance credits include broadcasts over Peach State Public Radio during 12 years as principal horn of the Columbus (Georgia) Symphony Orchestra and recording as a member of the Clarion Wind Symphony. Randy was born in 1947 in Vermillion, South Dakota, into a musical family. He studied at Interlochen, Eastern Michigan University (BS 1972), Minnesota State University Mankato (MM 1973), and the University of Iowa (DMA 1980). His horn teachers have included Marvin Howe, John Berg, Marvin McCoy, Don Haddad, Eugene Wade, Orrin Olson, Paul Anderson, Michael Hatfield, Arnold Jacobs, and Helen Kotas Hirsch; his composition teachers were Rolf Scheurer, Warren Benson, Anthony Iannaccone, Peter Tod Lewis, and Donald Martin Jenni. He has taught at Shenandoah University (1973-1982) and Auburn University (1982-1997), and has been on the faculty of the Interlochen Center for the Arts for over two decades. In 2006 he recorded Fantasies on American Themes, a CD of compositions by William Presser. Randy's articles and reviews have appeared in The Horn Call since 1980. He chronicled the work of his teacher, IHS Honorary Member Marvin Howe, in a 1996 Horn Call article “Marvin Howe, Singer of Smooth Melodies,” in his edition of Marvin Howe's The Singing Hornist (2001), an ongoing series of instructional videos, and in a lecture/performance involving many former Howe students at the 2016 International Horn Symposium. Randy's compositions have been performed at the International Trumpet Guild, the International Trombone Association, the National Gallery of Art, and the Weill Recital Hall of Carnegie Hall and have been the subject of several doctoral dissertations. His music has been recorded on Albany Records, MSR Classics, Crystal Records, Summit Records, and ACA Digital Recordings by artists such as The Palisades Virtuosi, Andrew Pelletier, David Griffin, Ralph Lockwood, Steven Gross, Michael Hatfield, Randy Gardner, David Krehbiel, and Douglas Hill. He and his wife, Sharon, have been publishing his compositions through Faust Music since 1974. In addition to his activities with the IHS, Randy has been president of the National Association of College Wind and Percussion Instructors (1992-1994) and has served as Interim Chair of the Western Illinois Department of Music. He has been honored by the Western Illinois University Chapter of the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi as its Outstanding Artist for 2004 and in 2006 and 2010 by the College of Fine Arts and Communication with its Creative Activity Award. He has received the ASCAP Award in annually since 1990 and the Orpheus Award from The Auburn University Chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity in 1987. Randy has served on the IHS Advisory Council (1984-1990), as Secretary-Treasurer (1986-1987), President (1987–1990), Music Review Editor for The Horn Call (1981-1990), and Composition Contest Coordinator since 2013. He received the Punto Award in 2009 and was elected an IHS Honorary Member in 2016.
This episode is part of our series in collaboration with the hosts of the Classical Gabfest Podcast - conductors Tiffany Lu, William White, and Kensho Watanabe. Please go check out their show, and their episode featuring us! William C. White is a conductor, composer, teacher, writer, and performer based in Seattle, WA where he serves as music director of Harmonia, a unique performing ensemble comprised of a chorus and orchestra that concertize as one. For four seasons (2011-15) he served as Assistant Conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. A noted pedagogue, he has led some of the nation's finest youth orchestra programs, including Portland's Metropolitan Youth Symphony and the Cincinnati Symphony Youth Orchestra. Mr. White maintains a significant career as a composer of music for the concert stage, theater, cinema, church, radio, and film. His music has been performed throughout North America as well as in Asia and Europe. His music has been recorded on the MSR Classics, Navonna, and Cedille Record labels. Recordings of his works can be heard at his web site, www.willcwhite.com, where he also maintains a blog and publishing business. Mr. White earned a masters degree in Conducting from Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music, and a BA in Music from the University of Chicago. In 2004, he began attending the Pierre Monteux School for Conductors under the tutelage of Michael Jinbo, later serving as the school's Conducting Associate, then as its Composer-in-Residence. Mr. White is producer and co-host of The Classical Gabfest, a weekly podcast about the ever-changing world of classical music. He hails from Bethesda, MD, where he began his musical training as a violist. -- We're super excited to announce that we're piloting a database of opportunities for creatives like you! The database features scholarships, grants, internships, & more. It will be updated monthly with new links, opportunities, and deadlines. All you have to do to access the database is sign up for our newsletter at creativebaggagepodcast.com --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/creative-baggage/support
On this episode I am very pleased to share my interview with one of most renowned American bassoonists, Mr. Frank Morelli. He is the first bassoonist awarded a Juilliard doctorate, and has been a Carnegie Hall soloist nine times. He performed at the last White House State Dinner for President Clinton and is Co-principal bassoon of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. Faculty positions include Juilliard, Yale, Manhattan School of Music, SUNY Stony Brook and Queens College. His over 180 recordings include MSR Classics solo CDs From the Heart, Romance and Caprice, Bassoon Brasileiro and Baroque Fireworks. Gramophone Magazine proclaimed that "Morelli's playing is a joy to behold." American Record Guide stated: "the bassoon playing...is as good as it gets." We speak about his teaching philosophy, his musical journey and being one of the first bassoonists to have a "portfolio career", his musical influences, his favourite memories playing with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, his foray into jazz with the album "The Ox-Mo Incident", his thoughts on the classical music industry and tips for the future generation of classical musicians, what he would like to be remembered for and even what the "theme song" of his life would be. Visit his website at www.morellibassoon.com
The distinguished American composer Barbara Harbach spent her career as a performer, professor, creator of symphonies, operas, string orchestra works, musicals, chamber music, silent film scores, ballets and much more. For decades she has been a trailblazing advocate for women in the arts. Her music can be found on many major labels such as MSR Classics, Naxos & Albany Records, and many more, with two upcoming album releases of chamber and orchestral music! Barbara holds degrees from Yale and Eastman. Along with her Curators Distinguished Professorship at the University of Missouri in St. Louis, she’s received the Hellenic Spirit Foundation Award, YWCA Leader of Distinction award and many more. Thank you for joining us on One Symphony and thanks to Barbara Harbach for sharing her music and performances. Thank you to all the incredible performers and record labels that made this episode possible. • Twilight Dream from Frontier Fancies was performed by the Slovak Radio Symphony, violinist Frantisek Novotny, and conducted by Kirk Trevor on MSR Classics. • In Peace and Joy I Now Depart from Barbara’s Suite Luther, Eliza and Lizzie from the Freedom Suite for String Orchestra, Together in Harmony from Symphony for Ferguson, and Midnight Tango from Night Soundings for Orchestra were performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by David Angus • Ireland Remembered from Incantata was played by the St. Louis Chamber Players, conducted by James Richards. • O Most Noble Greenness from Visions of Hildegard and Danza Flamenco from Cuatro Danzas para Flauta y Piano were played by flautist Jennifer Mazzoni, violinist Jane Price, and pianist Alla Voskoboynikova You can check out Barbara’s music online at BarbaraHarbach.com. You can always find more info at OneSymphony.org including a virtual tip jar if you’d like to support the show. Please feel free to rate, review, or share the show! Until next time, thank you for being part of the music!
Unknown Lady Yuri Falik (1936-2009) [Sung in Russian] [English translation:] The restaurants on hot spring evenings Lie under a dense and savage air. Foul drafts and hoots from drunken revelers Contaminate the thoroughfare. Above the dusty lanes of suburbia Above the tedium of bungalows A pretzel sign begilds a bakery And children screech fortissimo. And every evening beyond the barriers Gentlemen of practiced wit and charm Go strolling beside the drainage ditches— A tilted derby and a lady at the arm. The squeak of oarlocks comes over the lake water A woman's shriek assaults the ear While above, in the sky, inured to everything, The moon looks on with a mindless leer. And every evening my one companion Sits here, reflected in my glass. Like me, he has drunk of bitter mysteries. Like me, he is broken, dulled, downcast. The sleepy lackeys stand beside tables Waiting for the night to pass And tipplers with the eyes of rabbits Cry out: “In vino veritas!” And every evening (or am I imagining?) Exactly at the appointed time A girl's slim figure, clothed in silk, Glides past the window's mist and grime And slowly passing through the revelers, Unaccompanied, always alone, Exuding mists and secret fragrances, She sits at the table that is her own. Something ancient, something legendary Surrounds her presence in the room, Her narrow hand, her silk, her bracelets, Her hat, the rings, the ostrich plume. Entranced by her presence, near and enigmatic, I gaze through the dark of her lowered veil And I behold an enchanted shoreline And enchanted distances, far and pale. I am made a guardian of the higher mysteries, Someone's sun is entrusted to my control. Tart wine has pierced the last convolution of my labyrinthine soul. And now the drooping plumes of ostriches Asway in my brain droop slowly lower And two eyes, limpid, blue, and fathomless Are blooming on a distant shore. Inside my soul a treasure is buried. The key is mine and only mine. How right you are, you drunken monster! I know: the truth is in the wine. — Alexander Blok (1880-1921) Kangaroo Sergei Ekimov (b. 1974) [Sung in Russian] [English translation:] Dreams didn't keep me in bliss today: I awoke early in the morning And went out breathing in fresh air To look at my lively kangaroo. He tore down bunches of tarry needles And chewed them for no reason—silly! He began jumping toward me Making funny loud noises. His caresses are so clumsy, But I love to caress him back And see his little brown eyes Enlightening our feast in a flash. Later I sat on a bench, weary, Dreaming of someone who is far away and unknown— The one whom I love: Why is he not coming to me? My thoughts are clearly lying down Like leaves' shadows in the morning: I do want to caress someone As I was caressed by my kangaroo. — Nikolai Gumilev (1886-1921) “Unknown Lady” and “Kangaroo" were recorded by the Houston Chamber Choir in the album “Ravishingly Russian" released in MSR Classics in 2010.
Yeats (From “Messages to Myself) Christopher Theofanidis (b. 1967) When you are old and grey and full of sleep And nodding by the fire, Take down this book and slowly read and dream Of the soft look your eyes had once And of their shadows deep. How many loved your moments of glad grace, And loved your beauty with love false or true, But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you And loved the sorrows of your changing face And bending down beside the glowing bars. Murmured a little sadly how love fled And paced upon the mountains overhead And hid his face amid a crowd of star. — William Butler Yeats (1865-1939) “Yeats” was recorded by the Houston Chamber Choir in the album “Soft Blink of Amber Light” released in 2015 by MSR Classics.
Listening (From “A Dome of Many-Coloured Glass) Dominick DiOrio (b. 1984) ‘T is you that are the music, not your song. The song is but a door which, opening wide, Lets forth the pent-up melody inside, Your spirit's harmony, which clear and strong Sings but of you. Throughout your whole life long Your songs, your thoughts, your doings, each divide This perfect beauty; waves within a tide, Or single notes amid a glorious throng. The song of earth has many different chords; Ocean has many moods and many tones Yet always ocean. In the damp Spring woods The painted trillium smiles, while crisp pine cones Autumn alone can ripen. So is this One music with a thousand cadences. — Amy Lowell (1874-1925) “Listening” was recorded by the Houston Chamber Choir with Scott Simpson, marimba, in the album “Soft Blink of Amber Light” released in 2015 by MSR Classics.
The Storm Has Wrapped the Sky in Darkness Alexander Dargomyzhsky (1813-1869) [Sung in Russian] [English translation:] The storm wind covers the sky Whirling the fleecy snow drifts, Now it howls like a wolf, Now it is crying, like a lost child, Now rustling the decayed thatch On our tumbledown roof, Now, like a delayed traveler, Knocking on our window pane. Our wretched little cottage Is gloomy and dark. Why do you sit all silent Hugging the window, old gran? Has the howling of the storm Wearied you, at last, dear friend? Or are you dozing fitfully Under the spinning wheel's humming? Let us drink, dearest friend To my poor wasted youth. Let us drink from grief—where's the glass? Our hearts, at least, will be lightened. Sing me a song of how the bluetit Quietly lives across the sea. Sing me a song of how the young girl Went to fetch water in the morning. The storm wind covers the sky Whirling the fleecy snow drifts Now it howls like a wolf, Now it is crying, like a lost child. Let us drink, dearest friend To my poor wasted youth. Let us drink from grief—where's the glass? Our hearts at least will be lightened. — Alexander Pushkin (1799-1837) “The Storm Has Wrapped the Sky in Darkness” was recorded by the Houston Chamber Choir in the album "Ravishingly Russian" released in 2010 by MSR Classics.
The Blue Estuaries David Ashley White (b. 1944) I Saw Eternity O beautiful forever! (Forever!) O grandiose everlasting! Now, now, now, I break you into pieces, I feed you to the ground. O brilliant, O languishing Cycle of weeping light! The mice and birds will eat you, And you will spoil their stomachs As you have spoiled my mind. Here, mice, rats Porcupines and toads, Moles, shrews, squirrels, Weasels, turtles, and lizards, — Here's bright Everlasting! Here's a crumb of Forever! Here's a crumb of Forever! — Louise Bogan (1897-1970) To Be Sung on the Water Beautiful, my delight, Pass, as we pass the wave Pass, as the mottled night Leaves what it cannot save, Scattering dark and bright Beautiful, pass and be, Less than the guiltless shade To which our vows were said; Less than the sound of the oar To which our vows were made, — Less than the sound of its blade Dipping the stream once more. — Louise Bogan “I Saw Eternity” and “To Be Sung on the Water” were recorded by the Houston Chamber Choir in the album “Soft Blink of Amber Light” released in 2015 by MSR Classics.
James David is a composer on the faculty of Colorado State University. He’s enjoyed a great deal of recent success with his composition for band and joins the show to tell his story. Topics: Jim’s background growing up in Southern Georgia and the importance of gospel and jazz in his musical development. Advice for young composers and what we can do as band directors and music teachers to help young, aspiring composers to realize their dreams. Commissioning music and some thoughts about commercial publishing versus self-publishing. Links: James M. David, Composer Colorado State Music Messiaen: Quartet for the End of Time Hansen: Chorale and Alleluia Copland: Appalachian Spring David: Ghosts of the Old Year David: With Soul Serene Biography: Dr. James M. David (b. 1978) is an internationally recognized composer who currently serves as associate professor of composition and music theory at Colorado State University and is particularly known for his works involving winds and percussion. His symphonic works for winds have been performed by some of the nation’s most prominent professional and university ensembles including the U.S. Army and Air Force Bands, the Dallas Wind Symphony, the Des Moines Symphony, the Ohio State University Bands, Northwestern University Bands, and the University of North Texas Wind Symphony among many others. His compositions have been presented at more than fifty national and international conferences throughout North and South America, Asia, Europe, and Australia. These events include the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic, the American Bandmasters Association Convention, the College Band Directors National Association Conferences, the National Band Association Conferences, the College Music Society National Conference, the Society of Composers, Inc. National Conference, seven International Clarinet Fests, the International Horn Symposium, the World Saxophone Congress, the International Trombone Festival, and the Percussive Arts Society International Convention. Among the distinctions David has earned as a composer are an ASCAP Morton Gould Award, the National Band Association Merrill Jones Award, national first-place winner in the MTNA Young Artists Composition Competition, two Global Music Awards, and national first-place winner in the National Association of Composers (USA) Young Composers Competition. Commissions include projects for Joseph Alessi (New York Philharmonic), John Bruce Yeh (Chicago Symphony Orchestra), Zachary Shemon (Prism Quartet), the Oasis Quartet, BlueShift Percussion Quartet, Gerry Pagano (St. Louis Symphony), The International Saxophone Symposium and Competition, The Playground Ensemble, and the Atlantic Coast Conference Band Directors Association. As a native of southern Georgia, Dr. David began his musical training under his father Joe A. David, III, a renowned high school band director and professor of music education in the region. This lineage can be heard in his music through the strong influence of jazz and other Southern traditional music mixed with contemporary idioms. He graduated with honors from the University of Georgia and completed his doctorate in composition at Florida State University under Guggenheim and Pulitzer recipients Ladislav Kubik and Ellen Taaffe Zwilich. His music is available through Murphy Music Press, C. Alan Publications, Wingert Jones Publications, and Potenza Music and has been recorded for the Naxos, Mark, GIA WindWorks, Albany, Summit, Luminescence, and MSR Classics labels. ------- Are you planning to travel with your group sometime soon? If so, please consider my sponsor, Kaleidoscope Adventures, a full service tour company specializing in student group travel. With a former educator as its CEO, Kaleidoscope Adventures is dedicated to changing student lives through travel and they offer high quality service and an attention to detail that comes from more than 25 years of student travel experience. Trust Kaleidoscope’s outstanding staff to focus on your group’s one-of-a-kind adventure, so that you can focus on everything else!
This recording of Kwabena Nketia's "Volta Fantasy" is from William Chapman Nyaho's forthcoming album of music from Africa and the African Diaspora, produced through the Artist Support Program. The CD will be released in 2020 by MSR Classics.
This recording of Kwabena Nketia’s “Volta Fantasy” is from William Chapman Nyaho‘s forthcoming album of music from Africa and the African Diaspora, produced through the Artist Support Program. The CD will be released in 2020 by MSR Classics.
This recording of Kwabena Nketia's "Volta Fantasy" is from William Chapman Nyaho's forthcoming album of music from Africa and the African Diaspora, produced through the Artist Support Program. The CD will be released in 2020 by MSR Classics.
Today's guest Carson Cooman who is an American composer with a catalog of hundreds of works in many forms—from solo instrumental pieces to operas, and from orchestral works to hymn tunes. He was already a guest on our podcast in episode 84 talking about creating and promoting contemporary music. His music has been performed on all six inhabited continents in venues that range from the stage of Carnegie Hall to the basket of a hot air balloon. Cooman’s music appears on over forty recordings, including more than twenty complete CDs on the Naxos, Albany, Artek, Gothic, Divine Art, Métier, Diversions, Convivium, Altarus, MSR Classics, Raven, and Zimbel labels. Cooman’s primary composition studies were with Bernard Rands, Judith Weir, Alan Fletcher, and James Willey. As an active concert organist, Cooman specializes in the performance of contemporary music. Over 300 new compositions by more than 100 international composers have been written for him, and his organ performances can be heard on a number of CD releases and more than 2,000 recordings available online. Cooman is also a writer on musical subjects, producing articles and reviews frequently for a number of international publications. He serves as an active consultant on music business matters to composers and performing organizations, specializing particularly in the area of composer estates and archives. In this conversation, Carson shares his insights about how he has managed to create on average one composition every week for 27 years. Enjoy and share your comments below. And don't forget to help spread the word about the SOP Podcast by sharing it with your organist friends. Thanks for caring. Relevant links: http://carsoncooman.com Carson Cooman's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/CPCooman/playlists
Michael O'Connor joins me for a fascinating discussion of 19th Century band music in the United States. Topics: Mike's musical background as a euphonium player The development of te American band in the early 1800's and the types of instruments used during the 19th Century Claudio Grafullo, Thomas Coates, Patrick Gilmore and the impact of the American Civil War on band music in America The Golden Age of band music in the 1870's-1890's Links: Palm Beach Atlantic University Newberry Victorian Cornet Band Thomas Coates Brass Band Robert Hazen and Margaret Hindle Hazen - Music Men: Illustrated History of Brass Bands in America, 1800-1920 Kenneth Kreitner - Discoursing Sweet Music: Brass Bands and Community Life in Turn-of-the-Century Pennsylvania Biography: Dr. Michael O'Connor is a native of central New York but now makes his home in Jupiter, Florida. He is an Associate Professor of Music History at Palm Beach Atlantic University, but in his first career, he was the euphonium player for the Clyde Beatty-Cole Brothers Circus Band. After a short taste of public-school band directing, he turned to musicology, finishing a PhD at Florida State University. He combined his interest in historical music with a love of performing by founding two period-instrument bands. His Civil-War-era band is The Coates Brass Band, and his post-war band is Newberry's Victorian Cornet Band. Both groups have CDs released on the MSR Classics label. He also performs modern British brass band music as baritonist in the Orchid City Brass Band. Intro Music: "Cottage by the Sea Quickstep" by Thomas Coates after a tune by John Rogers Thomas (1850's). Outro Music: "Wilking Quickstep" by Thomas Coates (1880's) Recordings courtesy of Michael O'Connor and the Newberry Victorian Cornet Band
Inna Faliks presents works from Schubert, Beethoven, Carter, Birtwistle and Liszt! FROM THE PIANOFORTE WEBSITE “Adventurous and passionate” (The New Yorker) Ukrainian-born pianist Inna Faliks has established herself as one of the most exciting, committed, communicative and poetic artists of her generation. Faliks has made a name for herself through her commanding performances of standard piano repertoire, as well genre-bending, interdisciplinary projects, and inquisitive work with contemporary composers. After her acclaimed teenage debuts at the Gilmore Festival and with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, she has performed on many of the world’s great stages, with numerous orchestras, in solo appearances, and with conductors such as Leonard Slatkin and Keith Lockhart. Faliks is currently Professor of Piano and Head of Piano at UCLA. Critics call her “a concert pianist of the highest order” (Chicago WTTW), praise her “courage to take risks, expressive intensity and technical perfection” (General Anzeiger, Bonn), “remarkable insight” (Audiophile audition) “poetry and panoramic vision” (Washington Post), “riveting passion, playfulness” (Baltimore Sun) and “signature blend of lithe grace and raw power” (Lucid Culture.) Her October 2014 all-Beethoven CD release on MSR classics drew rave reviews: the disc’s preview on on WTTW called Faliks “High priestess of the piano, pianist of the highest order, as dramatic and subtle as a great stage actor.” Her previous, critically acclaimed CD on MSR Classics, Sound of Verse, was released in 2009, featuring music of Boris Pasternak, Rachmaninoff and Ravel. Her discography also includes a recital recording for the Yamaha Disklavier library. Recording projects in the works include a Brahms sonatas CD, Chopin solo and cello sonatas recording with cellist Wendy Warner, as well as “Polonaise-Fantasie, Story of a Pianist” – a recital of encores for piano combined with essays written by Faliks, to be released on the Delos label. Ms. Faliks’s distinguished career has taken her to thousands of recitals and concerti throughout the US, Asia, and Europe. Highlights of the recent seasons include a 2016 tour of China, with appearances in all the major halls such as Beijing Center for Performing Arts, Shanghai Oriental Arts Theater and Tianjin Grand Theater, as well as her acclaimed debuts at the Festival Intenacional de Piano in Mexico, in the Fazioli Series in Italy and in Israel’s Tel Aviv Museum, at Portland Piano Festival and with the Pacifica Chamber Players, a collaboration with the famed dance troupe Bodytraffic, and Jacaranda in Los Angeles. Recent return engagements include Newport Festival, Bargemusic and Le Poisson Rouge in NYC, Broad Stage Santa Monica, a tour of Canada, Salle Cortot in Paris, Beethoven 4th with Minnesota Sinfonia, and at Peninsula Festival , where she played the 1st and 3rd Prokofiev Concerti in the same half of the program with Victor Yampolsky, conductor. She is regularly engaged as a concerto soloist nation-wide; other concerti in the recent seasons include Rachmaninoff 2nd concerto with Dmitry Sitkovetsky and Greensboro Symphony, Rachmaninoff 2nd with Vallejo Symphony, Gershwin Project with Daniel Meyer and the Erie Symphony, and Clara Schumann at Wintergreen Festival, Beethoven 3rd with Evanston Symphony. She has been featured on WQXR, WNYC, WFMT and many international television broadcasts, and has performed in major venues such as Carnegie Hall’s Weill Concert Hall, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Paris’ Salle Cortot, Chicago’s Orchestra Hall, Moscow’s Tchaikovsky Hall and in many important festivals such as Verbier, Portland International, Music in the Mountains, Brevard, Taos, International Keyboard Festival at Mannes, Bargemusic, and Chautauqua.
Welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast #84! http://www.organduo.lt/podcast Today's guest is an American composer, concert organist, writer, editor and consultant Carson Cooman (b. 1982) with a catalog of hundreds of works in many forms—from solo instrumental pieces to operas, and from orchestral works to hymn tunes. Since 2006, Cooman has held the position of Composer in Residence at The Memorial Church, Harvard University. From 2008-11, he also served as Composer in Residence to the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Boston, Massachusetts. Since 2015, he has been Organ Editor for Lorenz Publishing Company. Carson's music has been performed on all six inhabited continents in venues that range from the stage of Carnegie Hall to the basket of a hot air balloon. Cooman's music appears on over forty recordings, including more than twenty complete CDs on the Naxos, Albany, Artek, Gothic, Divine Art, Métier, Diversions, Convivium, Altarus, MSR Classics, Raven, and Zimbel labels. Cooman's primary composition studies were with Bernard Rands, Judith Weir, Alan Fletcher, and James Willey. As an active concert organist, Cooman specializes in the performance of contemporary music. Over 150 new compositions by more than 100 international composers have been written for him, and his organ performances can be heard on a number of CD recordings. Cooman is also a writer on musical subjects, producing articles and reviews frequently for a number of international publications. He serves as an active consultant on music business matters to composers and performing organizations, specializing particularly in the area of composer estates and archives. In this conversation, Carson shares his insights about his love of contemporary music, about his organ compositions, about his initiative to create new works for chamber organs and many other things. This is a particularly inspiring talk. Enjoy and share your comments below. And don't forget to help spread the word about the SOP Podcast by sharing it with your organist friends. Thanks for caring. Relevant links: http://carsoncooman.com Carson Cooman's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/CPCooman/playlists
Episode 21: "Living the Dream" - This episode features Dr. Jason Bergman of the Univ. of North Texas. Jason is an internationally known performer, having played in China, South America, Europe and the UK. His first solo CD "On the Horizon" has received rave reviews and is available MSR Classics. www.jasonbergman.com
This week, we’re featuring an interview with double bassist Barry Lieberman. The former Assistant Principal Bass of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Principal Bass of the Winnipeg Symphony, Barry now serves as co-director of The American String Project, an innovative string ensemble which features arrangements of string quartets for small string ensemble with double bass. In this interview, we discuss Barry's recent TASP CD release on MSR Classics, his orchestral solo tutorials on his YouTube channel, upcoming possible future video projects, and designing a bass rosin that really works.
"Fauré has a way of exploring all kinds of harmonic possibilities," Sally Pinkas
"There's a way to impact people with the language of music, that we simply cannot do with words!"
The young conductor Marlon Daniel drops in on to discuss his upcoming performance with his orchestra, Ensemble du Monde in New York City's Merkin Hall at Kaufmann Center. Currently, Maestro Daniel is Music Director of Ensemble du Monde, chamber orchestra, and has accepted a two-year position as Resident Conductor of the Sofia Sinfonietta (2012 through 2014). His new CD “Phoenix Forever” on the MSR Classics label received rave reviews and was a contender for a 2011 GRAMMY.