2nd ANNUAL NEW MUSIC CONCERT - SAN FRANCISCO
FRIDAY AUGUST 19, 2011 - 7:00pm
Community Music Center
544 Capp St.
(between 20th & 21st)
San Francisco, CA www.sfcmc.org (View Larger Map) Duration: Approx. 2 hours
Tickets: $15 General / $10 Seniors & Students
We would like to invite you to the Second Annual New Music Concert presented by Melos Music,
a collective of contemporary concert music composers from across the United States. The concert will
take place in San Francisco, California on Friday, August 19th at 7 p.m. at the Community Music
Center, 544 Capp Street, and will feature ten new works performed by members of San Francisco
Bay-area new music group Nonsemble 6, as well as performers from San Francisco Conservatory,
the Yale School of Music, the Curtis Institute of Music, and other outstanding institutions.
We hope you will be interested in attending this annual concert series through which
Melos brings contemporary music to audiences across the United States!
Melos Music group biography available on our About page here.
______________________________
A note regarding Support and Sponsorship:
In addition to producing this concert of works by our composers, we are recording a CD
of all 10 works with professional performers preceding the concert. We have received a
grant from the American Composers Forum and funding from several other institutions,
but would like to ask for your help and generosity to raise the remaining funds we need
for our performers and recording project. Anything you can give, whether sharing this
information and our website with your own family, friends, and colleagues, or a donation
of any size, even your coffee/cigarette/ice cream money, is greatly appreciated!!! Gifts
of audio and video from the concert will be given for all donations at different tiers, and
all supporters will be listed in the concert program.
You can also view our Kickstarter fundraising page/video about the organization here: http://kck.st/nxPDnl.
If you would like to support our concert and organization, a donation of any level would be greatly
appreciated, and donors will receive audio and video recordings from the concert based the level of
donation. Please visit www.melosmusic.com/sfconcert2011.php to view more information and help us
to fund this event and recording! We hope you will share this event, invitation, and our website with
others via email or social networking. You can also view our kickstarter video about the organization below.
I look forward to seeing you there, and THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING NEW MUSIC!
Very Sincerely,
Jason Thorpe Buchanan
Director, Melos Music
______________________________
Featuring New Works by Young American Composers:
Proudly sponsored by:
THE AMERICAN COMPOSERS FORUM
MidAmerican Center for Contemporary Music at BGSU
San José State University School of Music & Dance
Boyer College of Music and Dance at Temple University
New England Conservatory of Music
(click each work for more information, program notes, performers & audio samples)
Butterflies and Dragons by Daniel Temkin (b. 1986; M.M. NEC; A.D. candidate Curtis)
*World Premiere*
Written in the spring of 2011, Butterflies and Dragons was composed for the Melos Music second annual concert in San Francisco, California. In writing this sextet, I was eager to establish and maintain a kinetic dialogue between the instruments. Meanwhile, I also sought to explore various textures and colors that would sparkle and shimmer. The first section involves pointillistic scalar flourishes, which build successively to a final climax; at this point gentle triangles ring and a softer chorale ensues. The second section begins with gentle piano "chimes" that play in a high register. This section is fast, with a steady pulse throughout, and it is driven by linear melodic lines that are traded in duets (first by flute and clarinet; and then by violin and cello). The third section is light, fast, and deliberately complex in rhythmic structure. The fourth section is a bold, flourishing, conclusion. Contrasting earlier portions of the piece, this final section is characterized by homophonic scoring and pulsing grooves. In the final moments, the chorale from the first section returns, but this gentle music gives way to a final scalar flourish which ripples upwards to end the piece.
Justin Lee, flute
clarinet
Cassandra Bequary, violin
Annie Suda, cello
Preben Antonsen, piano
Daniel Temkin, percussion
Jason Thorpe Buchanan, conductor
7
" duration
Listen to Dan Temkin's Brass Quintet (2009-10) - III. Tolling Bells Back Bay Brass Quintet (Boston, MA)
Magis by Ryan Olivier (b. 1985; M.M. Temple University; DMA candidate Temple University)
Magis is a setting of poems by the English Jesuit Gerard Manley Hopkins. The title is a Latin term meaning "the more," which was used by Ignatius to remind himself and those around him to always contemplate what more they could do for God and consequently for others. The first song, "As Kingfisher's Catch Fire," deals with the idea of inscape, a term Hopkins coined to describe each things individuality and distinctiveness. Hopkins contemplates the beauty of individuality found in nature and the joy of Christ dwelling in each unique creature. The second song, "Bright Wings," is a setting of Hopkins's poem "God's Grandeur." This was the first Hopkins poem I read, and it was the impetus for the entire work. It speaks of God's presence in the world around us and reminds us that if we get lost in our own man-made world, nature is always there to bring us back. While I had contemplated setting "Heaven-Haven" as part of the Magis collection, it wasn't until after my grandfather passed in April that I was inspired to close the cycle with this poem. Upon reflecting on the life of my grandparents from southern Louisiana, I was inspired by the selfless decisions they made in their lives for the good of their family and those around them. "Heaven-Haven" is a simple poem of discernment in which the author chooses a life that he hopes will ultimately lead him to heaven.
Amy Foote, soprano
Justin Lee, flute
clarinet
Cassandra Bequary, violin
Annie Suda, cello
Preben Antonsen, piano
Daniel Temkin, percussion
Jason Thorpe Buchanan, conductor
15'" duration
Listen to Ryan Olivier's As Kingfishers Catch Fire, From Magis: Songs on Poems by Gerard Manley Hopkins (2010) Brevard Music Center Orchestra - Ken Lam; Sydney Mancasola, soprano
Acoustic Field by Chin Ting Chan (b. 1986; M.M. Bowling Green; DMA candidate UMKC)
*World Premiere*
The harmonic language of Acoustic Field is derived from, but not limited to, Olivier Messiaen's modes of limited transposition. The chord structures are usually dense and complex--they explore the upper partials of the harmonic series. By stretching the harmony through time, it allows the acoustic space to develop and resonate, thus creating a colorful acoustic field. The piece is divided into three major sections. The first section explores the timbral variety of individual instruments. Thematic materials are often presented by solo or duet combinations with accompaniments. The middle section is marked with a metrically active rhythm, and is thematically developmental. The last section derives the harmony from the first section, but almost completely dissolves the other elements such as rhythm, texture and themes. The thematic materials are presented in fragments; the texture becomes denser and resembles that of the middle section; the stretching of the harmony is maximized, therefore creating a static acoustic field that serves to dissolve the complex harmony.
Justin Lee, flute
clarinet
Cassandra Bequary, violin
Annie Suda, cello
Preben Antonsen, piano
Daniel Temkin, percussion
Jason Thorpe Buchanan, conductor
7" duration
Listen to Chin Ting Chan's Five Songs of the Von Seggerns (2010) I. Immortality; Amanda Deboer, soprano; Alejandro Acierto, clarinet; Karl Larson, piano - Plainsong Festival at Nebraska
Wanderer Moon by Tonia Ko (b. 1988; B.M. Eastman; M.M candidate Indiana University)
"Summer Song," a short and relatively early poem by William Carlos Williams, reassured me in the anxious days leading up to the start of my graduate studies. The image of a "detached" moon with its "sleepily indifferent smile" helped me cope with what I felt was uncertainty and loneliness in a new town. When I began to look for companion texts for "Summer Song," I came across "Winter Trees" and noticed Williams's unconventional way of dealing with the seasons. Summer mornings, traditionally joyful times, are viewed with skepticism. Cold winter nights are no longer bitter and dreary, but somehow a comfort. This odd pairing is paralleled in "A Prelude" where the image of an expansive sea is juxtaposed with its tiny brittle creatures. After identifying so strongly with the "Wanderer Moon", it is interesting that I would end my exploration of Williams' poetry back at the sea, where my island homes lie. The instrumental music of Wanderer Moon depicts much of the poetic meaning I found in the texts. In "A Prelude," swelling gestures of the ocean waves contrast with the pointed music of the sea creatures. "Summer Song" features the whimsical attitude of the text with its constantly syncopated melodic lines. "Winter Trees" consists entirely of a descending harmonic progression that portrays the constancy and contentedness of the winter night. The vocal line soars above the instrumental texture but is strongly integrated with the music beneath it. The singer emerges imperceptibly from the instruments and at other times, generates future musical ideas.
Amy Foote, soprano
Justin Lee, flute
clarinet
Cassandra Bequary, violin
Annie Suda, cello
Preben Antonsen, piano
Daniel Temkin, percussion
Jason Thorpe Buchanan, conductor
13'" duration
Listen to Tonia Ko's Wanderer Moon (2010) - II. Summer Song Elliot Bark, conductor; Chia-Ying Chiang, flute; Wei-Ling Chuang, clarinet; James Cromer, percussion; Alana Murphy, piano; Shannon Love, soprano; Jir Shin Boey, violin; Warren Hagerty, cello; Indiana University Auer Hall
Berlin Songs by Jason Thorpe Buchanan (b. 1986; M.M. UNLV; Fulbright Germany; Ph.D. candidiate Eastman)
**American Premiere**
This collaborative project was initiated when composer Jason Thorpe Buchanan, conductor Thomas Heuser, and poet Kate Thorpe first met as Fulbright fellows in Marburg, Germany, August of 2010. The potential subject matter for Kate's soon to be written poetry was discussed at length, exploring themes such as distance, time, memory, culture, and the creative process, as well as the role of art in modern society.
In later correspondence she described her interest in "making connections and erasing distinctions (new growth, life, oddness, distortion, re-seeing of the everyday world)" and "having a central strand that remains constant", for other ideas to "grow or be juxtaposed against.... I think of a spiral often-that you're in roughly the same place but further out/in-also different." In composing these songs, my intention was to retain Kate's idea of a spiral, where one remains at a fixed point spatially and observes their surroundings change, thus shifting perspectives while physically remaining in stasis. This principle is applied harmonically and thematically through polytonality and the superimposition of germinal pitch and rhythmic materials, while simultaneously retaining a strong sense of centricity.
I have found that the opportunity to write these songs has come at a stage in my life where, as an American composer living in Germany, my mind is constantly filled with thoughts, questions, and doubts regarding my own aesthetic values and national identity. How can the familiar and unknown be reconciled-- the comfortable and the unsettling, the romantic and the avant-garde, the old and the new? These are questions that I have asked myself over and over again throughout the process of composing these works. My hope is that these issues are reflected in the musical atmosphere within which these songs exist, alongside the tension, fragmentation, decay, roughness, expression and space alluded to in Kate's poetry.
Amy Foote, soprano
Jeff Goble, baritone
Justin Lee, flute
clarinet
Jeannie Psomas, bass clarinet
Cassandra Bequary, violin I
Matthias McIntire, violn II
Annie Suda, cello I
Sung Bin Choi, cello II
Preben Antonsen, piano
Daniel Temkin, percussion
Jason Thorpe Buchanan, conductor
18'" duration
Listen to Jason Thorpe Buchanan's Berlin Songs (2011) for soprano, baritone, flute, oboe, violin, cello, percussion & piano
II. Graffiti Ode - Fulbright European Conference, Berlin 2011
Blood on the Curb by Greg Simon (b. 1985; Lecturer, University of Colorado, Boulder; Affiliate Instructor, Metropolitan State College of Denver; M.M. University of Colorado, Boulder)
*World Premiere*
I have long had a fascination with our mass media and the ways in which it affects our society. In particular, I'm intrigued by the perverse relationship America and its denizens have with violence and carnage. We deplore it, we denounce it--yet in our media and in our culture we celebrate it with a zealous, almost pornographic fervor. I challenged myself to write a piece for soloist that pays a sort of ironic tribute to our fetish for gore. The result was Blood on the Curb , a work that is aggressive and primal almost to the threshold of artlessness. As inspiration for the title, I chose the angriest, most violent image I could conjure: a "curb stomp," the infamous, oft-fictionalized act of making an unconscious victim "bite" a street curb and stomping on their head. I imagine the act of a curb stomp, the vicious, brutal dance beforehand, and an aftermath where the reaction is not one of horror, but a manic, possessed glee.
solo piano
5" duration
Listen to Greg Simon's Foolish Fire (2009); University of Colorado Wind Ensemble, Allan McMurray; February 2010, Boulder, CO
Shooting Snowburst Spectacular Silhouette by Brian Penkrot (b. 1978; M.M. UNLV; DMA candidate Iowa)
*World Premiere*
This work is part of a series of poems by Thea Brown, each poem named after a type of wholesale Christmas light style. I was drawn to Ms. Brown's work because it is at once both direct and abstract: through conversational writing reminiscent of dialogue, sensations akin to color and scent become apparent. This particular poem deals with winter imagery, especially the sensation of watching the reflection of fireworks in a frozen lake. Since the poem has a complex structure of its own, my goal in setting the text was to facilitate the steadily changing imagery through the crisp and sparse atmosphere laid out at the beginning. Ms. Brown is one of the founders of Monsters of Poetry and holds an MFA from the Writer's Workshop.
Amy Foote, soprano
Jeannie Psomas, clarinet
Sung Bin Choi, cello
piano
Daniel Temkin, percussion
Greg Simon, conductor
7" duration
Listen to Brian Penkrot's String Quartet No. 1 (2010); Jack Quartet; University of Iowa November, 2010
Home Suite by Nick DiBerardino (b. 1989; B.M. Princeton; M.Phil candidate Oxford/Rhodes)
At the Brevard Music Center in the summer of 2010, in the solitude of the Blue Ridge Mountains, I started writing the first movement of this piece, "27 Morningside," with purely musical ideas in mind: the gradual evolution of a rhythm of African derivation; the sustained integration of extended techniques; a shifting of context around a common motivic thread. But as the narrative arc of the piece developed, I realized I'd been expressing more emotion than I'd first intended: as my family was separating and the last wisps of childhood were fluttering through my fingers, became for me a sort of ode to home, a testament to wonderful moments passed. To some extent, you can hear the sounds of our house in the movement: an unrelenting bustle, some unexpected interruptions, and various people knocking on the door. But the piece is only loosely programmatic. It's meant to convey, above all else, the spirit of home and that feeling, both wistful and heartening, that comes with the remembrance of the many things home has offered over the years. The following movements continue the meditation on those themes, each depicting a hometown setting that's captivated me: "Compo Moonrise" recalls the haunted feeling of an evening on Compo Beach, with its creaking docks and the slowly changing colors of the sand under a rising moon; "Sasco Creek" then tries to capture the energy of a run down Sasco Creek Road, which leads ultimately towards the ocean, and to follow a train of tumultuous thoughts as they shift and change along the way. But like "27 Morningside," these movements are only loosely programmatic. It's my ultimate hope that their soundscapes can stir in you the same kind of inspiration the places have offered me.
Matthias McIntire, violin
Sung Bin Choi, cello
piano
20" duration
A Moment Revealed by Corey Keating (b. 1981; B.A. San José State University; M.M. candidate Bowling Green)
*World Premiere*
When I originally set out to write this music, I had envisioned a much more simple and direct piece for clarinet, with piano accompaniment. However, as I delved more deeply into the timbral qualities of the instrument, I felt that the addition of strings would be complementary to its original pairing with piano. With this slightly augmented palette, I ultimately decided to work with sounds, textures, intervals, and meters that I normally shy away from, making this work much more experimental in nature. The title of the piece refers to my personal fascination with the idea that music has the potential to magnify some aspect or element of its creator--at times, something extremely vague and minute in its conception--in such a way that the resulting product becomes much more substantial and diverse than its initial impetus.
clarinet
Matthias McIntire, violin
Sung Bin Choi, cello
piano
17" duration
Listen to Corey Keating's Horn Sonata - III. On Through the Darkness, a Point of Light Emerges; Mike Walker, horn; Qing Jiang, piano; June 2010 Melos New Music Concert, Chicago
Trio by David Carpenter (b. 1972; M.M. Peabody; DMA Temple University)
*World Premiere*
I've always held rhythm to be one of the most important factors in my music--it's what propels a piece forward, and gives life to other musical elements, such as melody and harmony. In my Trio, I've employed rhythm in this manner, beginning with a slow introduction with a free sense of movement, and then moving into a faster section, with asymmetrical groupings of five (1-2- 3- 4-5) and seven (1-2- 3- 4-5- 6- 7) notes. These quirky rhythms complement the harmonies of the piece, which never quite seem to achieve stability, always going after an elusive goal. For me, these musical devices connote a certain restless emotional content to the music; a longing for something that is just out reach. The piece ends in the same wandering manner it began, with a final chord that has no definite sense of resolution, suggesting that the restless spirit of the piece lives on after the music dies away.
Jeannie Psomas, clarinet
Sung Bin Choi, cello
piano
7" duration
Listen to David Carpenter's Sextet (2010) for oboe, clarinet, bassoon, violin, viola & cello; Argento Chamber Ensemble (New York); April 2010, Philadelphia
FEATURING:
Amy Foote, soprano
Jeff Goble, baritone
Justin Lee, flute
Jeannie Psomas, clarinets
Jonathan Szin, clarinets
Cassandra Bequary, violin
Matthias McIntire, violin
Annie Suda, cello
Sung Bin Choi, cello
Daniel Temkin, percussion
Preben Antonsen, piano
Stepan Rudenko, piano
Greg Simon, conductor
Jason Thorpe Buchanan, conductor
