Now that the season is winding down for many of the series which feature new music, it’s time to start thinking about some of those wonderful new works which will be featured by the St. Louis Symphony in ‘09-’10, and take a look into their upcoming programs: http://www.slso.org/

If it’s not too contradictory to employ the term “familiar modern works”, then certainly a few of my absolute favorites should be mentioned as highlights of the new symphony season: Bela Bartok’s “The Miraculous Mandarin Suite” comes with a fascinating narrative and colorful, wildly percussive climaxes; Samuel Barber’s “Violin Concerto” is rich in beautiful melodies but solid in tight construction, with one of the most exciting and virtuosic final movements you’ll ever hear! Other classic works are so enduring that they deserve to be restated every so often, i.e.: Barber’s “Adagio”, Copland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man”.

Slightly less familiar composers to be highlighted in the new season will be Osvaldo Golijov (”Azul”, a cello concerto, performed by the Symphony’s own Daniel Lee); Tan Dun (Remember his opera, “The First Emperor”, shown last season at the Art Museum in video simulcast from the Met? In fact, “Water Concerto” is entirely different, but it happens to be featured in one of the more intriguing programs of the new season, called Powerful Percussion); Christopher Rouse (Actually, quite familiar to St. Louis audiences, his new work, “Rapture”, is a bright piece filled with rhythmic energy.); Others in this general category might be Roy Harris, Gustav Holst, Györgi Ligeti (”Violin Concerto” is one of his late works but one of his finest.) and John Adams (”Doctor Atomic - symphony” - If you missed the opera version, recently simulcast “live” from the Met, an interesting video has just been released which documents the production of the opera and its main theme, the Manhattan Project.)

In the category of “composers that even Fred has barely heard of” would be: Magnus Lindberg (a Finnish composer - I know and love his “Clarinet Concerto”, so if  “Parade” is half as good, we’re in for treat.); Luca Francesconi; Connesson and Bernd Alois Zimmermann.

So, if you’re like me and you get excited when you see unfamiliar names that you have a hard time spelling, and equally excited by more familiar names like Janacek (but obviously have no idea how to make the accents on the keyboard) or the standard repertory, there will be plenty to savor in the St. Louis Symphony’s 2009-2010 season!

  NEW MUSIC Circle 50th Anniversary SEASON  

Chris Brown and Guillermo Galindo River of Voices Sunday, May 31, 2009 – 5 p.m. Co-sponsored by Laumeier Sculpture Park Laumeier Sculpture Park 12580 Rott Rd.Admission: Free with a portable radio, or purchase radio at door.

I hope some of you will be able to attend our annual New Music Circle benefit this year: It will be held at Laumeier Sculpture Park on Sunday, May 31st. Sparing you too much detail here, the event will be divided into two parts: A) An interesting and stimulating,  performance art - audience participation project by Chris Brown and Guillermo Galindo which will start at 5:00pm and be FREE of charge. It will, however, require that you bring your own portable radio or buy one there for $20.00 (For more details on this, click on our website http://newmusiccircle.org/)

B) The performance will be followed by our traditionally fabulous dinner for which the ticket price is $50.00 (It’s our 50th Anniversary Season!) or, since we are in the depths of a recession, I’ll quote the original invitation for possible variations: “If you’re a starving artist, divide by 5; If you’re a little short, subtract $5.00; If you have some to spare, add $5.00; If you love new music, mulitply by 5,4,3, or 2″.

The dinner will be held on the tented deck behind the Education Center.

In any case, if you haven’t already received an invitation for the benefit, you can still phone in your reservations, (314)567-5384, or reserve by e-mail (alumrod@gmail.com), before May 22, if possible and then pay at the dinner.

See you there!

Let me tell you about one really terrific concert I attended last Tuesday, 5/5, presented by The St. Louis Low Brass Collective (http://www.stllbc.org/). It featured a working group called The Trombones of The St. Louis Symphony, led by principal trombonist, Timothy Myers and had to be one of the most well balanced, varied, yet musically challenging programs I’ve enjoyed in some time. Music by Claude Debussy and Jacques Charpentier was answered by modern composers (St. Louis’s own) Robert Wykes and brass specialist, Anthony Plog.

You may know something about Anthony Plog, because his full album of brass music, “Colors For Brass”, features the St. Louis Brass Quintet on one piece, and overall, an amazingly broad range of  brass techniques and color effects. (Just go buy it!).

I loved Robert Wykes’s piece, also. It was short enough to be played at the beginning and at the end of the concert (also a clever programming device), yet it was more than just a fanfare. It ended with an exciting flare, yet developed through a wide range of melodies and harmonic colors in the process of getting there.

So…… keep an eye out for their next event, and I’ll do the same.

Hi All, I have just picked up a notice about an amazing art project (right here in our town), called Wander Full, produced by the Chautauqua Art Lab,
focusing this week on a wildly eclectic festival of events from May 3 - 7. I’ll say no more, because I’m just learning about it as we go along, except to say…..CLICK ON THIS LINK, ASAP, http://artwanderlust.blogspot.com/ and then scroll down to the “calendar of events”.
If you can come out on one or more of the evenings, GREAT, but in any case, be sure to click on all the links from that site to individual artists and arts organizations. You’ll be amazed, as I was, at the range of creativity we have here in St. Louis, from music to painting to theatre to film making to architecture.

  CAMA Event!
Tom Hamilton
Fifty (or More)
Saturday, May 2, 2009 – 7:30 p.m.
Kranzberg Arts Center (Big Brothers, Big Sisters Building)
501 N. Grand Blvd.
Unless otherwise noted, tickets to all shows are $15 regular admission, $7 for students with a valid ID.

Descriptive terms like “multi-media”, “eclectic” and “experimental” come to mind when I think about the work of electronic composer and longtime NMC performer, Tom Hamilton. Aside from his own solo compositions and improvisations,  his collaborations have enhanced the work of opera composer, Robert Ashley, the paintings of Bill Kohn, the videos of Van McElwee; and he has enjoyed a close musical rapport with instrumentalists as diverse as classical flutist, Jacqueline Martelle, new music improviser, J.D. Parran, and experimental percussionist, Rich O’Donnell.

Saturday’s performance (5/2) will be sure to follow right in line with any expectations you might have that music should always contain the unexpected. In a very brief description: Pre-recorded musical excerpts will be processed and manipulated spontaneously by Tom Hamilton in a collaborative interaction with a widely diverse group of “live” performers (Tom Brady - performance artist; Robert Fishbone - tape & voice; Rich O’Donnell - percussion; Dave Stone - saxophones; Scott Bryan - percussion & guitar; Zimbabwe Nkenya - bass & kalimba; Tony Renner - guitar.)

Don’t miss this one!

There are some people we try to avoid (sometimes unsuccesfully) and other people we are very happy NOT to avoid,  who keep catching up with us wherever we happen to be. Thankfully,  this is the case with my old buddy, Glen Velez, who’s group, Trio Globo will be performing and giving workshops this Thursday & Friday at Meramec College, and in collaboration with the Meramec Orchestra and Choir are sure to produce two really amazing days of music. (See info. below)

To make a very long story not too long, in the early ‘70s, Glen and I both happened to be assigned to the same Army band, touring various beer festivals in Germany. (Here’s where you DON’T need all the details) – only to know that it was usually Glen, myself, and sometimes a few other guys who would leave the group to visit the Cathedral at Ulm or the Kunst Museum in Munich while the others stayed back and had that second or third really thick, German beer.
Before that, we were both at Ft Hood, Texas, he in the 1st AD, I in the 2nd, and one thing does stand out in my memory: Since there were not a whole lot of cathedrals and museums around, Glen could usually be found hanging back in the bus, before and after the gig,  practicing alone with sticks or a frame drum, not to waste a minute of valuable time, and when we were stuck on the post in Germany, Glen could usually be heard off in the corner of the band hall practicing arpeggios incessantly on a marimba or vibraphone. In other words, if you can project this image of his work habits and enthusiasm from way back then to the present, you do NOT want to miss the workshops and concerts coming up at Meramec College!

So to continue (I’ll be quick),  just a few years after our stint in Germany we both wound up together in New York (That’s not quite as coincidental. You know how the saying goes,  “If you just stand on the corner of Broadway & 48th St., you’ll run into everybody you’ve ever known”). I was recording my pieces with Elvin Jones, Rick Cutler and Billy Mintz (and occassionally borrowing one of Glen’s very special cymbals), and Glen was just starting out with Steve Reich and Musicians. What a thrill it was to hear that group premiering all those early minimalist works in lower Manhattan lofts! The spaces may have seated only 50 – 75 people, but many more would be crouched tightly on the floor and pressed up against the walls, Steve Reich playing Djembé (or some other drum); Glen, fronting a row of mallet players; Jay Clayton blending in with a trio of singers; and after a while you just thought you might float away to a very special place….. and maybe even forget about that cramp in your right knee!

So be sure to come out (There’ll be seats, I promise.) and hear this latest incarnation of his long and varied musical career. Here’s a link to his website to keep you entertained until Thursday:  http://www.glenvelez.com/ It has a great video of Glen playing a frame drum; also, Google in his other videos with longtime duo percussionist, Layne Redmond.

Thursday, April 23
Noon    Trio Globo Opening Concert in the Meramec Theatre
1:30      Choir rehearsal, Eugene Friesen, HW102
2:30      Overtone singing, Glen Velez, HW102
3:30      Harmonica Workshop, Howard Levy, HW102
3:30      Improvisation/spoken word- Eugene Friesen, Theatre
7:30      Dress Rehearsal, Trio Globo with the Meramec Orchestra and
Choir, Theatre

Friday, April 24
10 a.m.-noon     String Workshop, Eugene Friesen, HW102
10 a.m.- noon    Improv and Movement, Glen Velez and Howard Levy HE131
1:30 p.m.             History of Harmonica, Howard Levy, HW102
2:30 p.m.             Percussion workshop, Glen Velez, HW102
3:30 p.m.             The New Cello, Eugene Friesen, HW102
7:30p.m.              Trio Globo Concert with Meramec Orchestra, Concert
Choir, Arts students, Theatre

Trio Globo
Residency at Meramec Community College next week
For information on the following workshops and concerts please call the
Community Relations Office at 314.984.7529 or the Meramec Music
Department at 314.984.7639.

Just a quick follow up to our NMC concert (see previous entry). The concert was great!, and the next day I took a flute lesson with Robert Dick. That was great, too, so I’d like to pass on a word of advice here: Great performers are great performers for a reason, and if you ever have the opportunity to study with one or even just talk to one, never pass it up! Without going into detail….. I learned things during that lesson that have altered my whole approach to playing, and I picked up tips on practicing that I am applying now every day to my work.

Leave a comment and let me know about your experiences, too.

As a flutist, having studied some of the extended techniques in Robert Dick’s groundbreaking reference book, “The Other Flute”, I have a very special appreciation for his personal accomplishments on the instrument. He has cultivated the language of these techniques way beyond their notion as “effects”, into his own vernacular that flows from his horn just as if you or I were playing the simplest melody in C Major.

That fluency allows him the freedom to exploit, spontaneously, all the creative opportunities which will be likely to emerge in such a collaborative context as you will enjoy on Saturday night, 1/31, here in St. Louis at the Kranzberg Arts Ctr. Both dancer, Ashley Tate and highly innovative, multi-percussionist, Rich O’Donnell will be sure to bring to the table their own resourceful battery of inventions to make this event one of the most electrifying of the season. - See below for more info. on the concert, and if you’re not from this area, I hope you will still visit the artists’ websites and explore some of their recordings.

NEW MUSIC Circle 50th Anniversary SEASON  

New Music Circle
2008-2009 50th Anniversary Season

I hope you’ve been enjoying my music on Amie St. and all the free downloads. It’s a great way to get to know and support new artists.

For example…… I realize that Cindy Blackman and Cecil McBee have been around for a while, but their new albums on Amie St. sound young and fresh! Cindy has a fired up drumming style that exudes creativity in every measure, and almost all the compositions on Music for the New Millennium are by her  -  advanced, yet very free-flowing.

Talk about a small world, Cecil McBee’s son went to pre-school with my daughter years ago in NY, so of course we remember his wife, Lucia, quite well. He named a piece on his CD, “Unspoken” after her, and it happens to be one of my favorites. All the other pieces are strong, too, with lots of variety and imagination in the horn playing.

Here’s the link to the jazz genre at Amie St. Then you can search in their names. ENJOY!     http://amiestreet.com/browse/jazz-blues/

Remember when I was telling you about all the Olivier Messiaen we heard at the Aspen Music Festival last summer?……..specifically the full performance of Vingt Regards Sur L’Enfant-Jésus (20 contemplations on the infant Jesus)? Well, it’s coming right here to St. Louis this Wednesday, 12/17,  7:30pm at the Pulitzer Foundation, http://www.pulitzerarts.org/events/concerts/idealdisplacements-messiaen/, when Molly Morkoski will perform the 2 hour solo piano work!

If you have never heard this piece performed “live”, let me tell you that it’s quite an experience for both performer and audience: immensely dramatic contrast of dynamics and emotion between movements, with relentless demands of technique and endurance imposed upon the pianist. And most importantly…. Vingt Regards is considered (by me, too) to be one of the greatest compositional achievements of piano writing in the entire repertory.

I hope all St. Louisans will come out to this hear this concert (and people in other towns can just be jealous), but in the meantime, have some fun at this video site of various performers playing movements from the piece http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Qt_ZcdwAXo&feature=related One pianist featured here, Roger Muraro, the New Music Circle brought to St. Louis about 10 years ago to perform the work.