|
Michael Colgrass
RECENT COMMISSIONS AND PREMIERES
 * DREAM DANCER (2001), Fantasy of a Soul Moving Between Cultures, for alto saxophone and wind orchestra, commissioned by World-Wide Concurrent Commissions and Premieres, Inc., for 25 wind ensembles, has been having premieres by these ensembles all year. The European premiere was given by Kenneth Radnofsky with the Royal Northern College of Music Wind Orchestra in Manchester, England, 6 April 2001, Clark Rundell conducting. The U.S. premiere by Kenneth Radnofsky was with the New England Conservatory of Music Wind Ensemble at Jordan Hall in Boston, 26 April 2001, with Charles Pelze conducting.
About "Dream Dancer" Richard Dyer wrote in the Boston Globe:
"...the music felt--and you do feel Colgrass' music--gorgeous, dramatic, compelling. Dream Dancer issues a promissory note for an even more exciting century for this exciting medium. Colgrass uses tradition as a basis for creating a future." 27 April 2001, Boston Globe.
* CROSSWORLDS (2002), for flute, piano and orchestra, commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra for flutist Marina Piccinini and pianist Andreas Haefliger and premiered with conductor Hans Graf. Symphony Hall, Boston, 7-8-9-12 March 2002.
About "Crossworlds" The Boston Globe wrote:
"COLGRASS' 'CROSSWORLDS' A MASTERFUL MIX"
"Not every composer of a new work at the Boston Symphony Orchestra can expect the kind of ovation Michael Colgrass got Thursday night after the premiere of 'Crossworlds.' When the elfin 69-year-old composer appeared onstage, he was greeted with cheers. He deserved them, because 'Crossworlds' is such a warmhearted piece, the product of an unerring ear and of a well-stocked mind that embraces many kinds of music with affection.
"There's a scenario behind this double concerto for flute and piano. Loosely speaking, the piano represents the Western musical tradition, from Baroque counterpoint to beetle-browed 12-tone composition. The flute represents various Eastern traditions. The two instruments interact, playfully try to speak each other's languages, or decline to. Each can do things the other can't. The flute can't play counterpoint, the piano can't bend notes. Each learns a little something from the other, and the piece ends in a quick game of hide-and-seek.
"Colgrass wrote the work for two friends, flutist Marina Piccinini and her husband, pianist Andreas Haefliger. It suits their technical strengths and interactive musical personalities; each part is in some measure a portrait of the person playing it. What one carries away from 'Crossworlds' is the sheer glistening sound of it. The music is full of marvels."
Richard Dyer The Boston Globe, 9 March 2002
The Canadian premiere of "Crossworlds" will take place on 13-14 December with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. Again, Piccinini and Haefliger will be the soloists, with Mathias Bamert conducting.
"So often with new music you come away aware more of influences than originality. Rarely do the two exist at an equal level. And more rarely still does savvy dramatic pacing work its way into the equation.
Composer Michael Colgrass was in the spotlight at Friday night's Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra concert. His Crossworlds, Concerto for Flute and Piano, received its Canadian premiere and was brilliantly played by soloists Marina Piccinini and Andreas Haefliger, to whom the work is dedicated. Guest conductor Matthias Bamert was on the podium.
Colgrass' piece proved a mint-fresh balance sheet of all three elements, never flagging and full of interest.
As Colgrass explained from the stage, the work is about identities - the flute's Eastern oriental genesis, the piano's Western atonalism, though not always. Conflicts arise and resolve, cultures cross (a cool commingling of Rachmaninov, Ravel and even Bach), arguments emerge and retreat, all within a beautifully regulated command of colour in an approachable orchestral setting that often surprises and always engages.
Percussion is usually kingly in Colgrass' music. He's had a long career as a performer and writes with due sympathy for the variety and expressive possibilities of "the kitchen." Here was no exception, yet inside was a dramatic element ruling the many splashes of colour instead of merely serving them. That's what made it work."
--James Manishen, The Winnipeg Free Press
GHOSTS OF PANGEA (2000), A fantasy of Cultures Meeting, for orchestra, commissioned and premiered by Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, for the Music at the University's Millennium Project. It was premiered by the Miami University Symphony Orchestra, Jose-Luis Novo, conductor, on Premiere 29 October 2000. About this work the composer writes:
"Pangea was the land mass that covered one-third of the earth 250 million years ago, before the land split into continents. A new Pangea will be a cultural, not physical, process in which different cultures come together through technology and interact through the touch of a button. Ghosts of Pangea is about the coming together of musics of different cultures, mixing styles of Europe, East India, Asia, Africa and the Mideast. My intent is to show the commonalities of these seemingly disparate styles - the way Jewish folk music sometimes sounds like the blues, and East Indian music sounds Arabic. Such musical similarities, mysteriously developed independently of each other, suggest a psychological or spiritual bond between peoples at opposite sides of the globe.
"In Ghosts of Pangea I exploit these similarities, mixing Gregorian chant with the music of India, Klezmer style with a European hymn, and Asian pentatonic scales with African call-and-response. At the end all the musics play at once, creating a mosaic of cultures."
UPCOMING UNIVERSITY ACTIVITIES
· The University of California Thornton School of Music in Los Angeles is celebrating the music of Michael Colgrass in November. John Barnett will conduct As Quiet As with the USC Symphony Orchestra on (11/15). Sharon Lavery will conduct the Winds of Nagual with the USC Wind Ensemble on (11/17). Percussionist Lynn Vartan will perform Te Tuma Te Papa (11/19).
· Colgrass will also give Excellence In Performance workshops to students and faculty on 16 Novmber. In these workshops participants learn exercises for dealing with stage fright and also learn how to walk on stage.
· Colgrass gave the opening address to band directors at the University of Minnesota School of Music's summer conference in July, called the Arts of Wind Band Teaching." In his presentation, he had 65 participants create and perform a piece of music. He also gave several Excellence In Performance workshops.
RECENT MUSIC PUBLICATIONS
· WILD RIOT OF THE SHAMAN'S DREAMS, for solo flute, published by colgrass Music and distributed by Carl Fischer.
· TE TUMA TE PAPA, for solo percussionist, published by Colgrass Music and distributed by Carl Fischer.
· HAMMER & BOW, for violin and marimba by Colgrass Music, Colgrass Music/Carl Fischer.
· OLD CHURCHES for young band was published in August 2002. This work was commissioned by the American Composers Forum BandQuest project to encourage professional composers to write music for middle school band. Colgrass' extensive participation in this project, spending five months working with a middle school band on creativity and performance with graphic notation, has aroused much interest in educational circles and he is currently writing an article about the activity.
NEW RECORDINGS
DREAM DANCER
Troy Records--Troy 525
University of Miami Wind Ensemble
Alto saxophone soloist Lynn Klock
Conductor Gary Green.
WINDS OF NAGUAL
Summit Records DCD-313
Northwestern University Wind Ensemble
Mallory Thompson, conductor
HAMMER & BOW for violin and marimba
Fleur de son Classics, FDS 57941
Soloists: Jacques Israelievitch, violin, and Michael Israelievitch, marimba.
SNOW WALKER, for organ and orchestra
Organist David Schrader with conductor Carlos Kalmar and the Grant Park Orchestra on Cedille Records,
Cedille-90000-063 (CD).
About this recording David Hurwitz wrote in Classics Today.com:
"Michael Colgrass' 'Snow Walker,' written in 1990, has the most obviously "modern" sound of the program's four works, but it remains completely approachable and very enjoyable. A portrait of Inuit Indian life dedicated to author Farley Mowat (of Never Cry Wolf fame), the work begins with the desolate howling of wolves and proceeds to take the listener on a journey through five brief movements that include a vivacious scherzo ('Throat Singing with Laughter'), two mysterious, linked slower movements, and a rambunctious finale that evolves into a sort of dance fantasy. It's very entertaining, and Colgrass knows just how much weirdness a typical audience can be expected to take before it needs something recognizably consonant to hang onto.
"The Grant Park Orchestra (one of Chicago's "other" ensembles) under Carlos Kalmar plays with extraordinary confidence and panache, especially in the many exposed, technique-testing passages of the Colgrass piece. Cedille's sonics really are the last word in naturalness, but none of that would have mattered if the ensemble didn't have the strength to stand up to the full power of Schrader's exceptionally fine organ playing. Well, it certainly does have what it takes, and the result is not only a terrific demo for your hi-fi, but a completely captivating musical experience of the highest quality. Bravo!"
Recordings scheduled for spring/summer release (2003) are:
WINDS OF NAGUAL, by the New England Conservatory Wind Ensemble, Frank Battisti, conductor. The recording will be titled LIVE FROM JORDAN HALL - New England Conservatory Wind Ensemble. It will be an Albany Recording CD and should be released in late Fall/early Winter (last part of 2002).
DREAM DANCER AND DEJA VU, by the New England Conservatory Wind Ensemble, Charles Peltz, conductor.
MODE Records.
RECENT WRITINGS
"My Lessons With Kumi," a narrative/exercise book for performers, was awarded the Editor's Choice Award in the spring of last year by the Anglo American Book Company in England for best book of the month among their publications. Colgrass' book comprises psychological principles and skills applied to performance and presentation, taught through fictional narrative and lessons/exercises. It is being used by teachers at The New England Conservatory and the Universities of Arizona, Minnesota and Ottawa, among others. About to go into Russian translation, it has become a staple of NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) trainings throughout the world.
Here are some reviews of My Lessons With Kumi" sent by readers to Amazon.com.
"Michael Colgrass is a very practical and entertaining writer. This book is a joy and inspiration to read. It explains how to tap into your brain and run your life in the best possible way. By applying the concepts he has outlined and skillfully presented in real life situations, Colgrass opens new levels of learning and understanding for all.
"As one appreciates the working of the brain, one cannot help but realize in a compassionate way that, due to our own ignorance, we at times sabotage our lives. This book outlines in practical ways how to take charge and run your life in all areas to the best of your ability.
"Thanks Michael for this wonderful book which also provided an additional dimention to my holidays. I have recommended this book to a number of my patients."
--Dr. Don Fitz-Ritson, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
September 7, 2002
"I am a classical concert pianist who used to suffer from pretty unrewarding experiences performing, no matter how well I played. This book helps you deal directly with the psychological obstacles that keep your best from shining through, and keep you from being in control and enjoying a situation. It manages this through precise mental exercises which seem somewhat innocuous when you're reading about them but the moment you do them yourself you realize what has been wrong all along. This is not written as your usual self-help book, rather as a well-written and interesting novel which helps develop the ideas it holds. I recommend this to everyone. It will improve your every day life."
--Elena Hammel, Madrid and New York
6 January 2002
"This is a book to have in your bookcase for continual reference. It is so clear and has such good ideas and exercises that it is a must-have!! It is beautifully written. You will be really glad that you bought it!"
--Carito Elfortin, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
September 24, 2001
| 
Form