Some notes about the program:
This program I am so eager to present to you details some emotions I (and perhaps many of you) experienced over the past few years. Perhaps now more than ever, we are faced with copious amounts of change, whether positive or negative, and we are often left to wonder: "where do we go from here?" Although for me, the change can be overwhelming and sometimes frustrating, but there is always hope no matter how much change one goes through, and soon again comes joy.
The program opens with Backpacker by Michael Aukofer, a sort of groovy overture in rondo form. This is then followed by Bells for New Orleans by Roscoe Mitchell, in which Mitchell invokes the church bells of the Louisiana city in a call to mourning after the devastating Hurricane Katrina. A SNARE GROWLS, AND HE FLIES by Shin-Ichiro Ikebe is a sort of emotional response, one of confusion between the endless swelling of rolls, and frustration through the short and loud rhythmic gestures. Then out of the noise emerges the quiet melody of Dave Molk's hope, which manifests a calmer more optimistic outlook before extending into Takatsugu Muramatsu's Land, with a sweet, sentimental, and songlike character as if one feels joyfully at peace again.
The second half of the program is an ode to the wonderful people who I found support and community with. This opens with my arrangement of When She Loved Me for solo marimba, a song from Toy Story 2 which bittersweetly celebrates friends of times past. This is paired with the world premiere of Clare Martin's Bubbled Daydreams, celebrating the wonderful new friendships I made at Ithaca College featuring Phil Cataldo alongside Martin's music. Today's program concludes with two movements from Steve Snowden's Long Distance, which celebrates the many people I had the honor to meet working remotely over the past few years. This commemorates our efforts to connect even while far away, and cherish that time we spent finding a new way forward to make art again. Thank you so much for attending/tuning in via the livestream, it is an honor to share this music with all of you!
Notes About the Pieces:
Backpacker (2013) Michael Aukofer (b. 1973)
Backpacker is a rondo for multi-percussion solo. The title came about through the minimal and small instrumentation required. This setup can be transported in a backpack and a few hands - one everything rack mounted on a cymbal stand can hold all of the instruments required for this work. The A section is a quick array of sixteenth and thiry-second notes the different sounds and timbres in this compact setup. The Longer B and C sections incorporate pich bending and muffling on the frame drum, a maraca used as a striking implement and a tambourine strapped to the foot. The coda expands on the A section's material and brings the piece to a challenging conclusion. (Michael Aukofer)
Bells for New Orleans (2005) Roscoe Mitchell (b. 1940)
Roscoe Mitchell (b. 1940) wrote Bells for New Orleans in 2005 in shortly after Hurricane Katrina struck the South. For Mitchell, church bells had long signified deep loss and a call to mourning. He knew people in New Orleans and was thinking about their experiences when he composed this tone poem. (Leah Bowden)
A SNARE GROWLS, AND HE FLIES (2005) Shin-ichiro Ikebe (b. 1943)
A SNARE GROWLS, AND HE FLIES by Shin-Ichiro Ikebe features a variety of unconventional techniques for making sound on the snare drum. Opening with a closed roll shaped by dynamic fluctuation, the piece extends into the middle section involving the use of timpani mallets, pitch bending, a superball mallet, as well as playing on the stand and floor.
hope (2017) Dave Molk (b. 1981)
hope was commissioned by New Works Project (formally New Works for Percussion Project). The title reflects my feelings as a soon-to-be parent for the continued health and well-being of our baby and more generally my hope that we as a society can overcome the s*** show of our current administration and get to a better place where all of us can thrive. (Dave Molk)
Land (2004) Takatsugu Muramatsu (b. 1978)
Land written by Takatsugu Muramatsu was written for Momoko Kamiya and premiered in 2004. After an introduction featuring liberal use of rubato, the piece evolves into a gentle songlike melody with accompaniment. The piece then harmonically ventures through different keys over rolling and cascading triplets, before returning to the theme in a new key as if to look wistfully yet contently back on an old memory.
Pause
When She Loved Me (1999/2021) Randy Newman (b. 1943) arr. Ethan Pinckert
When She Loved Me written or the 1999 film Toy Story 2 and was famously sung by Sarah McLachlan. The song plays over a montage of cowgirl Jessie's relationship with her previous owner Emily, and how she cherishes that friendship even Emily grew apart from her and left her behind.
Bubbled Daydreams (2022) Clare Martin (b. 2000) Phil Cataldo, vibraphone World Premiere
My piece, Bubbled Daydreams, came to fruition when my good friend Ethan Pinckert commissioned me to write a piece based on a childhood experience. Most summers as a child I spent long days at the nearby pool; as an avid swim team member (Go Westleigh Barracudas!) A typical day for me was showing up for 8 am practice and then sticking around afterwards for as long as I fancied, sometimes until they kicked me out at 9 pm. I remember on very crowded days I’d sometimes get sick of all the noise, and sit at the bottom of the pool for as long as I could hold my breath just to drown it all out for a minute and think. I’ve also had tinnitus, a ringing in my ear, since a young age; so these little moments of escape consisted of my daydreams, the sound of water, and an ever present Eb drone. The purpose of Bubbled Daydreams is to see if I can bring this moment to all of you, and I hope you enjoy it. (Clare Martin)
Long Distance (2013) Steve Snowden (b. 1981) Atlanta, GA 1972 Panorama, VA 1976
“Once upon a time, in the days before the ubiquitous and invisible internet, there was only one network. It was made of long-distance lines — actual wires — and it was ruled by an absolute monarch, Ma Bell. Most people traveled the network along conventional channels. But there were also explorers, a small group of curious misfits eager to map the darkest, most obscure corners of this evolving global net. Harvard students, blind teenagers, budding engineers — eventually they came together and formed a subculture. They became phone phreaks.” - Jesse Hicks
I first learned about phone phreaks a couple of years ago and was immediately fascinated by their tenacity and boundless curiosity. By hacking the inner workings of payphones, building small electrical devices, or even whistling repeated tones at specific frequencies, they were able to manipulate this analog technology to connect with others in far away places or simply listen in on the pops, clicks, and hums produced by the machinery of distant networks. These sonic identifiers were unique to each of the thousands of long distance networks and (luckily for me) it was quite common for phreaks to make high quality reel-to-reel recordings of what they heard. All electronic sounds used in this piece come from these recordings and each movement is based upon the unique sonic qualities of calls from payphones in various locations in the US in the 1970’s. (Steve Snowden)
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