Festival 21 Boston

Festival 21 2012 - April 21!

Sun, 08 Apr 2012 15:00:00 -0400

Festival 21 2012 - April 21!

David Leisner Interview - by Will Riley

Sat, 07 Apr 2012 09:27:25 -0400

David Leisner Interview

Questions by Will Riley

1. Hello David - thank you for speaking with us. We are all very excited that you are headlining Festival 21 this year! Your program has several works that will be new to much of the Boston audience, including the world premiere of Mariluna by Carlos Carillo, and the Boston premiere of David del Tredici’s Facts of Life (both works commissioned and dedicated to you). Could you describe what the process of working with these composers was like? Were scores sent back and forth with changes made by you, or did you get a finished piece that needed no change?

I met Carlos Carillo quite a few years ago as a preliminary judge of the BMI Student Composer Awards, when Carlos won one of these prestigious prizes. I was very impressed with the sophistication of his technique and musicianship, as well as the emotional power of his work. Nothing has changed, except that he has matured and deepened with the intervening years. Back then I said to him that I hoped he’d write for the guitar someday. We kept in touch ever since, and Carlos never forgot my interest, and has been wanting to write for the guitar for a long time. So, when this program presented itself, and as I assembled the program, I saw this as an opportunity to ask Carlos to write a short, easy piece with which I could open this otherwise demanding program. He responded with these two beautiful short lullabies. Though of course not a guitarist himself, Carlos delivered a near-perfect piece of guitar writing. We got together one afternoon in New York, I played him the piece and made a number of suggestions for minor revisions, and voila, it was done!

David Del Tredici was the only person with whom I ever studied orchestration. I audited some of his orchestration classes at the City College of New York and then took private lessons when I wrote my two early works for orchestra. David is, in my view, not only one of the world’s great orchestrators, but one of the world’s best living composers. He is generally recognized as the father of Neo-Romantic music, and early in his career, Aaron Copland was a major supporter, saying, “I know of no other composer of his generation who composes music of freshness and daring, or with more personality”. Del Tredici was most prominent in the 1970’s and 80’s, when he was writing huge works, in both length and instrumental forces, for voice and orchestra that were based on Alice in Wonderland. They were startlingly tonal and Romantic during a time when serialism and intellectual rigor held sway in the contemporary music world. His reputation has somewhat waned in recent years, really for no good reason, and I feel absolutely certain that history will regard him as one of the essential composers of our era.

When I asked him to write a solo work for the guitar, David was frightened and delighted at the same time. While he’d included the electric guitar, mandolin and banjo in some of his orchestral works and had a former student arrange the “Acrostic Song” from Final Alice for guitar, he’d never actually written for it and, as a pianist, felt quite distant from it. But he likes me and always likes a challenge, so he accepted the commission, which I funded with the help of many people. I asked for a 10-15 minute work, and he wrote one that’s about 30 minutes long! It’s in 4 movements, and most of it is counterpoint. These aspects already establish its uniqueness in the guitar repertoire. When we discussed the commission in the beginning, I told him that I would be there for him whenever he wanted my help. Well, little did I know what I was getting into! For three months, we got together about twice a week, sometimes more, to go over in great detail passages he’d written. I would make a great deal of changes, sometimes even being naughty about making essential changes in the composition itself. David was a good sport about it, sometimes taking my advice and sometimes rejecting it, but always the prodding and the tossing-back-and-forth of ideas was stimulating for us both. Neither of us had ever experienced such an intensive process in the composition of a piece. It’s a good thing that we like each other since we saw each other so much! In fact, the experience was extraordinary on every level, and David could not have been happier with the process and with the result. He told me after the premiere that it was one of the most exciting collaborations of his life. Can you imagine how good that made me feel? And I can tell you that the opportunity to watch the process of this genius composer at work close at hand was an extraordinary, irreplaceable, immensely inspiring lesson for me in composition. The commissioning of this masterpiece and bringing it to life in performance and recording has been one of the most important accomplishments of my musical life.

2. For this recital you are also programming the Boston premiere of one of your own works, Labyrinths, which has wonderfully alliterative movement titles. Many of your compositions have very evocative titles - does a working title come to you as you compose, after the work is completed, or does it inspire the composition in the first place? Can you elaborate on this piece in particular?

The titles just happened, after the fact. As they occurred to me, one by one, I realized an alliterative pattern was emerging, which suited the music, and then I realized that something that happens in the final movement related to it as well. It was just a lucky coincidence, or perhaps part of an unconscious plan from the beginning - I’ll never know…

My composition style took a dramatic turn in the early part of the last decade, toward a more reductive (or dare I say, Minimalist?) approach. As life in general got faster and more complex, I found myself wanting to go slower and pay closer attention to the nuanced details of things. This began with observations in art and nature and soon worked its way into my music. Labyrinths for guitar (there’s also been one for solo piano) was one of the earliest of these works. Each movement obsesses on a small amount of musical material, exploring and inspecting and expanding its nature and its possibilities in slowly shifting detail. I look forward to sharing this piece with the Boston audience.

3. Do you have any new compositions in the works? Is there a medium you haven’t written for before that intrigues you (a guitar concerto, perhaps)?

I recently completed two vocal commissions, one for famous baritone Wolfgang Holzmair for baritone and solo cello, with German translations of Lao Tzu, and a set of songs for tenor and guitar to Mary Oliver poems for tenor William Ferguson. Next up is a big work for cello and guitar, for the cellist Zuill Bailey and me to play in our upcoming recitals next season and beyond.

Otherwise, you hit the nail on the head - I’m dying to write a guitar concerto. It seems like I’m a natural for this, with my orchestral writing experience. But it requires a decent amount of money for commission, as it’s a time-consuming and costly project to undertake. So I hope that something of this nature comes along sometime. I’m also chomping at the bit to write a large-scale string quartet. I’ve written a short one, as well as a work for string quartet and guitar and another with baritone, so I’m ready to do the big piece for quartet.

Members' Concert / Aaron Larget-Caplan

Wed, 30 Mar 2011 16:52:30 -0400

Program

My Darling’s Slumber (2008) by Francine Trester
Mi Tango (2008/2010) by Hayg Boyadjian
Tracing a wheel on water (2003) by Kevin Siegfried

Aaron Larget-Caplan, guitar

Francine Trester is Associate Professor of Composition at Berklee College of Music. Trester received her BA, MA and DMA from Yale University and later was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to study composition in Cambridge, England. She has been the recipient of an ASCAP Foundation Morton Gould Young Composer Award as well as awards from the Fromm Foundation and the Massachusetts Cultural Council. Her works have been premiered at several venues worldwide including Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, recorded on Albany and Crystal Records, and published by Clear Note Publications. Commissions include works written for the Providence Mandolin Orchestra, guitar duo Mark and Beverly Davis, John Holt and mezzo-soprano Sophie Creech, the Wheeler School Handbell Choir, and the Merrimack Valley Philharmonic Orchestra. Most recently, her compositions have been featured as part of an installation at the Arnot Art Museum and performed by the Shasta Symphony Orchestra.

The melody to “My Darling’s Slumber” is loosely derived from an inversion of the melody to Stephen Foster’s folk lullaby, “Slumber My Darling.” That is the reasoning behind the inverted title as well.

The Foster melody is one that I grew up with and have always found comforting and beautiful. It was the first material that came to mind when Aaron approached me about his New Lullaby Project. As a Professor of Counterpoint, I’m often teaching inversion and other forms of motivic manipulation. So, under that influence, I began to wonder what possibilities inverting the Foster might bring…

The meter and harmony of my lullaby is independent of the Foster, and much of the melodic material is unrelated to the inversion as well. So perhaps the derivation is only somewhat relevant to the listener. But for me, the Foster provided a starting point, a comforting place of return and reimagining. – Francine Trester • www.FrancineTrester.com

Hayg Boyadjian was born in 1938 in Paris, France. At an early age he immigrated with his family to Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he started his musical studies at the Liszt Conservatory. In 1958 he immigrated to the USA, and presently lives in Lexington, Massachusetts. In the USA he continued his musical studies as a special student first at the New England Conservatory and later at Brandeis University. Among his teachers were Beatriz Balzi (student of Alberto Ginastera, with whom Boyadjian had several consulting meetings), Seymour Shifrin, Alvin Lucier, and Edward Cohen.

He has composed a large number of works from chamber to symphonic. Many of his compositions have been performed throughout the world: USA, Brazil, Argentina, Japan, Korea, Russia, France, Holland, England, Spain, Armenia and others.

A number of his scores are available through the American Music Center, New York and on the internet through Sibelius Music. Some of his chamber and symphonic compositions are recorded on the following CD labels: Living Music; Society of Composers Recordings; North/South Consonance Recordings; and Opus One Recordings. He is a member of the Composers’ Union of Armenia, ASCAP, Society of Composers, the MacDowell Colony, and others. His name is found in the Who’s Who in American Music, the International Who’s Who in Music. He has received awards from ASCAP, Meet the Composer, the Lexington Arts Council-MA, the New England Foundation-Meet the Composer, the Fiftieth Anniversary Commission Project-American Music Center, a Grammy nomination, and others. A number of his writings on music and a number of his poems have been published in various publications.

Mi Tango is written in memory of the famous creator of the new modern tango, Astor Piazzola. It was written for Robert Sullivan, former chairman of the guitar department of the New England Conservatory in Boston, Massachusetts. The music has the essential elements of the tango: its unique rhythmic structure of syncopation within a 2/4 basic rhythm. To give this tango my own distinctive imprint, I introduce some changes, such as displacing the expected accents and using different meters besides the usual 2/4. This tango would be very difficult to dance to! However, the composition retains the general aspect and feel of the tango because of its elemental rhythmic pulse. Mi Tango was recorded by Aaron Larget-Caplan for Vientos – Music of Hayg Boyadjian, and released on the Albany Records Label in October 2010.

Hailed by the British magazine Choir & Organ as writing music of “austere beauty” that exhibits the “pressure and presence of personal conviction,” Kevin Siegfried is a composer with an emerging international voice. His music is published by E. C. Schirmer, Earthsongs, and Trinitas and has been performed and recorded by leading ensembles including The Dale Warland Singers, The Tudor Choir, and Conspirare. Aaron Larget-Caplan recorded his first solo guitar work, Tracing a wheel on water, in 2006. Since 2004, he has been a faculty member at The Boston Conservatory. He currently resides in Dover, NH with his family. For more information, go to www.kevinsiegfried.com

Tracing a Wheel on Water was written in 2003, shortly after moving from Boston to the southern coast of Maine. My family and I were fortunate to rent a house directly situated on a tidal inlet, and it was only a matter of time before the cycle of tides and the play of light and water began to shape our lives. My first composition for solo guitar, Tracing is a meditation on my experience of the water’s surface. In particular, it reflects the interplay of stasis and movement, and the manner in which flowing circles on the water’s surface envelop one another in a rhythm that is always new, yet never changing. It received its premiere at Boston Conservatory in 2005 and its commercial release in 2006, both by Aaron Larget-Caplan, and has had over 60 performances across the US and in Italy since its premiere.

The Olson/De Cari Duo at MIT and Festival 21 The Olson/De Cari...

Sat, 26 Mar 2011 13:03:34 -0400

The Olson/De Cari Duo at MIT and Festival 21

The Olson/De Cari Duo will perform a featured concert as part of Festival 21 on Saturday, April 16 at 2:15 PM at the Gordon Chapel, Old South Church, 645 Boylston St., Boston, MA. Buy tickets online in advance for this concert or for the full day-long festival. This concert will premiere the Duos full program of Science/Music to date, including Men, Women and Molecules, a song cycle composed by Frank Wallace on the poetry of chemistry Nobel Laureate Roald Hoffmann. Other works include the song cycles Abyss of the Stars: A Mass for Voice and Guitar by Terry Champlin and Scientiphilicity by Thomas Donahue, and a brand-new solo guitar composition, Orbit, by J. Andrew Dickenson. All music in this program has been written expressly for the Olson/De Cari Duo as part of the Science/Music Commissioning Project. For more information, visit our web site.

“The Olson/De Cari Duo straddle science and art gloriously” — Talking Science, part of the Science Friday Initiative

Actress/singer/writer and “recovering mathematician” Gioia De Cari is the writer/performer of the hit award-winning solo show Truth Values: One Girl’s Romp Through M.I.T.’s Male Math Maze. Gioia and her husband John Olson, research scientist, classical guitarist and President of the New York City Classical Guitar Society, also perform music together as the Olson/De Cari Duo. The Duo is currently commissioning new music on scientific themes via their Science/Music Commissioning Project. Truth Values will be presented as part of M.I.T.’s 150th Anniversary celebration at a special performance venue for the show, the new Media Lab (Building E-14). The performance is March 28, 7:30 PM, and is being presented as the evening’s entertainment in conjunction with the symposium, “Leaders in Science and Engineering: The Women of M.I.T.” The performance is open to the public; however registration for the symposium is required. To register, visit the symposium web site.

Press Release

Fri, 25 Mar 2011 08:18:00 -0400

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FESTIVAL 21 RETURNS TO BOSTON
Contact: Frank Wallace, (917) 693-5603; wallacecomposer@gmail.com

SPONSOR Boston Classical Guitar Society

WHO Rafael Aguirre [Spain], Olson/De Cari Duo [NYC], Maarten Stragier [Belgium], Nathan Kolosko, Jose Lezcano, BCGS Community Guitar Orchestra, Back Bay Guitar Trio, others

WHAT Festival 21: New Music for Classical Guitar; concerts, master class and lectures

WHERE Old South Church, 645 Boylston St., and First Lutheran Church, 299 Berkeley St, Boston

WHEN Saturday April 16, 2011, 10:00am – 10:00pm

ADMISSION Festival Pass: $60 general admission; $50 seniors; $10 Discount for BCGS & Church members; Student price $35. Order at www.bostonguitar.org or call (818) 640-7047

INFO 917-693-5603; wallacecomposer@gmail.com; www.bostonguitar.org

On April 16 the Boston Classical Guitar Society (BCGS) will present Festival 21 in celebration of 21^st century music and all that is new in the world of classical guitar. This year features one of the most exciting virtuosos to come out of Spain in decades, young Rafael Aguirre. With phenomenal technique and elegant interpretive voice, Rafael will perform Joaquin Rodrigo’s newly discovered work Toccata, lost in archives for 75 years, as well as selections from Leo Brouwer’s Nuevos Estudios Sencillos, the world premier of Daniel Real’s Estalacticas y stalagmites and other Spanish works. The BCGS Community Guitar Orchestra will give a short prelude to Aguirre’s concert with the world premiere of A Journey through Eastern Villages in which composer/directorScott Borg captures the essence of three very different cultures: Japanese, Javanese and Chinese. The concert is at First Lutheran Church, 299 Berkeley St. Boston. Tickets: $15-25 at the door or online at www.bostonguitar.org. Festival Pass is $60 general admission; $50 seniors; $10 discount for church or BCGS members; $35 students. Both First Lutheran and Gordon Chapel (used for daytime events) have stunning acoustics for guitar and are easily accessible on the T.

The day begins at 10:00am at Old South Church, 645 Boylston St. with an open rehearsal of three community guitar orchestras: Timberlane High School, Keene State College and BCGS prepare for the afternoon and evening concerts. The groups will perform Frank Wallace’s New England Sextets in the Members’ Concert as well as Borg’s work in the evening. Bring your guitar for the next class - at 11:00am Nathan Kolosko will direct a workshop on “prepared guitar.” Nathan will discuss the history of “prepared guitar” techniques through a survey of the literature and players that employ them. He will demonstrate these techniques and bring materials for participants to try their hands at playing in a short score for “prepared guitar” ensemble.

At 1:15pm Belgium guitarist Maarten Stragier will play a program of 21^st century guitar works. Les Effaceurs, Harvard composer Nicholas Vines’ 5 movement-long tour de force, was commissioned by Festival 21 with the help of the New England Foundation for the Arts. The second half of the program will submerge the guitar in a bath of interactive electronics with Kogarashi, Le Premier Soupir des Fantomes by the up-and-coming French composer Jerome Combier, and a new work by Caroline Park. When the last electro-acoustic reverberations have dissipated, the Olson/De Cari duo will take stage at 2:15pm with songs from their Science/Music Commissioning Project. “Is no one inspired by our present picture of the universe? The value of science remains unsung by singers: you are reduced to hearing not a song or poem, but an evening lecture about it.” — Richard Feynman. John Olson and Gioia de Cari are creating music for voice and guitar that celebrates the insights and illuminates the human side of science through song. The Duo will perform works by Champlin and Donahue with texts by Einstein, Bohr, Curie, Donahue, Teilhard de Chardin, Richard Feynman, and give world premiers of Orbits by Andrew Dickenson and Men, Women and Molecules by Frank Wallace, poetry by Roald Hoffmann, Nobel Prize-winning chemist at Cornell University.

After a coffee hour with entertainment by the Keene State College Guitar Orchestra, members of the BCGS will share their passions and creativity over the past year with performances by the Timberlane and BCGS Orchestra, Aaron Larget-Caplan, Robert Margo with Wendy Silverberg soprano, Jose Lezcano and the popular Back Bay Guitar Trio.

Festival 21 is made possible by generous grants from the Augustine Foundation, D’Addario Musical Foundation and is funded in part by a grant from the MetLife Creative Connections program of Meet the Composer, Inc. and the New England Foundation for the Arts with additional support from the six New England state arts agencies and the National Endowment for the Arts. BCGS is a nonprofit organization that annually presents four Artist Series concerts, Festival 21, Saturday Sounds Special concerts at Hingham Library and monthly member events with essential support from sponsors, donors and members. www.bostonguitar.org.

Daytime: Gordon Chapel, Old South Church, 645 Boylston Ave., Boston

10:00am Open Rehearsal Scott Borg directing
BCGS Community, Keene State College and Timberlane High Guitar Orchestras
11:00am Lecture/demo and workshop Nathan Kolosko “prepared guitar” techniques
1:15pm Concert Maarten Stragier 21st century solo guitar, new commissions
2:15pm Concert Olson/De Cari Duo 21st century song, new commissions
3:15pm Coffee break with Keene State College Guitar Orchestra, Jose Lezcano,director
4:00pm Members’ Concert Back Bay Guitar Trio, Aaron Larget-Caplan, Jose Lezcano, Robert Margo with Wendy Silverberg and Timberlane High School Guitar Orchestra and BCGS Community Guitar Orchestra,John Zevos, conducting

Evening: First Lutheran Church, 299 Berkeley Street, Boston, MA

8:00pm Concert Rafael Aguirre works of Anton García Abril, Lorenzo Palomo, Rodrigo, Brouwer, de Falla, world premier of Estalacticas y stalagmites by Daniel Real
Concert prelude: world premier of Scott Borg’s A Journey through Eastern Villages performed by the BCGS Community Guitar Orchestra with the Keene State College and Timberlane Regional High School guitar orchestras, Scott Borg directing

The basics: http://www.bostonguitar.info/performers/11_festival21.html
The stories: http://festival21.tumblr.com/

Steve Connor just sent me this clip of Rafael Aguirre playing...

Wed, 23 Mar 2011 07:06:18 -0400

Steve Connor just sent me this clip of Rafael Aguirre playing his Connor Angel Romero model guitar on his newest CD - Transcriptions. April 16, 8pm, Festival 21, Boston.

A sample of prepared guitar from the CD enso, by Nathan Kolosko....

Sat, 19 Mar 2011 07:47:00 -0400

A sample of prepared guitar from the CD enso, by Nathan Kolosko. Many more samples at: http://www.nathankolosko.com/audio.php

Prepared Guitar Workshop with Nathan Kolosko 11:00am at Old...

Fri, 18 Mar 2011 05:25:15 -0400

Prepared Guitar Workshop with Nathan Kolosko

11:00am at Old South Church, The Guild Room, April 16
In this workshop Nathan Kolosko will discuss the history of prepared guitar techniques through a survey of the guitar literature and players that employ these techniques. Nathan will play recordings, demonstrate prepared guitar techniques, and bring materials for participants to try their hand at playing prepared guitar. At the end of the class participants will read through a short score for prepared guitar ensemble, so please bring your instruments !

Critically acclaimed classical guitarist Nathan Kolosko has performed throughout the US, Europe and Asia. Nathan’s recordings and performances have received praise from many critics. “A high-octane agenda from a guitarist with the skill, imagination, and confidence to bring it alive.”- Classical Guitar, London. As a musician, Nathan is compelled to expand the voice of the guitar through collaborations with both musicians and visual artists. He is currently collaborating with visual artist Ling-Wen Tsai on several inter-disciplinary video and performance projects, and performs regularly with flute player Carl Dimow.

Nathan has been the recipient of numerous grants and awards, including grants from the Allied Arts Foundation and D’Addario Strings, and in 2001 he was a prizewinner in the MTNA national guitar competition. Nathan’s compositions are currently published by Doberman- Yppan. In addition to being a performer and composer Nathan is a teacher dedicated to furthering the pedagogue of the guitar.

Maarten Stragier will play a program of 21st century guitar...

Thu, 17 Mar 2011 09:59:25 -0400

Maarten Stragier will play a program of 21^st century guitar works including Les Effaceurs, Nick Vines’ 5 movement-long tour de force, commissioned by Festival 21 with the help of the New England Foundation for the Arts Meet the Composer.

The works of Nicholas Vines have been performed by such interpreters as Alarm Will Sound, BMOP, the BT Scottish Ensemble and the Australian Voices. He has received commissions from numerous sources both in the US and abroad, such as Faber Music, ChamberMade Opera, Callithumpian Consort, Firebird Ensemble, the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Recognition for Vines’ work includes an Honorable Mention in the 2006 Salvatore Martirano Competition, Helpmann and Green Room Awards (2006, 2007), and a semifinals position in the 2009 Opera Vista Competition. He is currently working on a piece for pianist Zubin Kanga (London) and a full-scale opera for MLC School, Burwood (Sydney). Since graduating in 2007 with a PhD from Harvard University, Vines has taught theory and composition there and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Over the last four years, he has run the composition program for NEC’s Summer Institute for Contemporary Performance Practice, and this past summer, was a Fellow in Composition at the Tanglewood Music Center. He will take up the position of Artistic Director of Music at Sydney Grammar School in July of this year. www.nicholasvines.com

Introducing Rodrigo’s Toccata, Rafael Aguirre speaks with...

Tue, 08 Mar 2011 08:47:04 -0500

Introducing Rodrigo’s Toccata, Rafael Aguirre speaks with the composer’s daughter Cecilia. It’s all in Spanish, but if you want to hear a portion of the music, go to about 6:00 in and hear selections. See Soundborad Vol XXXVI, NO. 4, page 74 to read the translation.

Composed in 1933, Rafael will actually give the Boston Premiere of this newly discovered early work of Rodrigo’s that was not found until 2006 - lost in the archives of Regino Sainz de la Maza.

I can’t say it better: “Este guitarrista es un...

Mon, 07 Mar 2011 07:58:28 -0500

I can’t say it better: “Este guitarrista es un monstruo!! Es de lejos la mejor versión de esta obra, por técnica, musicalidad, ideas, ritmo y feeling! Bravo Rafael!” April 16, 8pm, First Lutheran, 299 Berkeley St. Boston. Be there.

Festival 21 is a presentation of the Boston Classical Guitar...

Tue, 11 May 2010 21:27:00 -0400

Festival 21 is a presentation of the Boston Classical Guitar Society, Daniel Acsadi , director. Frank Wallace conceived of the Festival in 2008 and is artistic director. Thanks to Augustine Foundation and Met Life Creative Connections Meet the Composer as well as D’Addario Music Foundation. 2010 artists included Gyan Riley, ChromaDuo, Jose Lezcano and Andrew McKenna Lee as well as members of the Society. For more information go to www.bostonguitar.org. Background music is: Progression of the Ancestors I & IV from Gyan Riley’s Melismantra; Selections from Latin Landscapes by Jose Lezcano; Refractions by Andrew McKenna Lee; The Orchestra is rehearsing “So the Poet Will be Heard” composed by Jose Lezcano for Festival 21; Mobettabutta I by Gyan Riley; Miami Merengue by Lezcano; ChromaDuo plays Adagio by Christopher William Pierce; A brief selection by Victor Jara - El Derecho de vivir en paz; ending with Uspavanka (lullaby) for Téa by Gyan Riley.

A taste of Jose’s new piece from the performance at...

Thu, 29 Apr 2010 07:18:51 -0400

A taste of Jose’s new piece from the performance at Festival 21 - more to come soon.

Impressions of Spring Music

Wed, 21 Apr 2010 10:56:52 -0400

Bill Hartner is an old friend of mine who loves guitar music and wrote these poems after Festival 21 2010. Love it!

Impressions of Spring Music

While you were playing your guitars,

I imagined the children’s voices I heard

As a part of the performance, so lucky,

Softly intermingled between the parts,

A duo made more than trio,

That conjured the outdoors on a warm spring evening

Before families of listeners who accepted all,

Their own murmurings as well,

Who applauded everyone’s contribution.

II.

Heard and felt the earth,

The city’s hubbub,

Ants’ wiggling antennae,

Laughter,

Breaking of cheap dishes,

The usual birds conversing,

Snails carrying bells on their shells,

Rocking slowly in a boat,

A leaf by wind, tossed.

Jose prepares the Keene State Orchestra.

Fri, 02 Apr 2010 11:06:09 -0400

Jose prepares the Keene State Orchestra.

Dr. Lezcano, of Keene State College, describes his thoughts as...

Fri, 02 Apr 2010 09:43:18 -0400

Dr. Lezcano, of Keene State College, describes his thoughts as he conceived the music: “Victor Jara was an immensely gifted folk-singer and songwriter, and martyr of the Pincochet-led coup d’etat in Chile during the early 1970s that led to a military “reign of terror” and human rights abuses in that country. The work incorporates aspects of South American folk-song, quotations from Jara’s most memorable tunes, and uses both traditional and extended techniques for multiple guitars: percussion golpes, strumming the strings behind the nut, harmonic node “golpes” (in the manner of the late MichaelHedges, a friend of mine at Peabody in the late 70s), and other effects, not used for their own sake but as part of the musical argument of the piece. The work also has a narrator who reads Jara’s last poem written as he was being held in a soccer stadium with thousands of others.”

The student ensemble from Keene State College in NH as well as members of the Timberlane Regional High School guitar orchestra, John Zevos, director, will join members of the Society to rehearse and perform ”Homage to Victor Jara” as part of Festival 21 on April 10, 2010. If you can’t make the evening concert, be sure to arrive early in the day and catch the open rehearsal at 10:am at Gordon Chapel.

World Première, April 10, 2010:

So the Poet will be Heard:

Homage to Victor Jara José Manuel Lezcano

(b. 1960)

I.       Recordando Luchin
II.      El Arado y la memoria
III.    Plegaria del Estadio
IV.    Chacona-Blues
V.     Postlude

* Festival 21 is made possible with a major grant from the Augustine Foundation and is funded in part by a grant from the MetLife Creative Connections program of Meet the Composer, Inc. and the New England Foundation for the Arts with additional support from the six New England state arts agencies and the National Endowment for the Arts. Special thanks to D’Addario Musical Foundation and La Bella Strings as well as Longy School of Music, Keene State College and Timberlane Regional High School.

Members’ Concert program

Wed, 31 Mar 2010 17:48:00 -0400

Members’ Concert
April 10, 2009, 2:00pm
Gordon Chapel, Old South Church, Boston

Back Bay Guitar Trio
David Newsam, Sharon Wayne, and John Mason

Procissao Fernando Brandåo

Drunken Marrionette John Mason.

George Attisano

Sunburst Andrew York (b. 1958)

Jerald Harscher

Digital Etude Jerald Harscher

Jeff Wyman

TangentsJeff Wyman

Steve Marchena

Astronomy Steve Marchena

Scott Borg

Transforming Michael Tippett

from The Blue Guitar

members of the BCGS Community Guitar Orchestra

Cuban Landscape with Rain Leo Brouwer

Latin Landscapes Trio program

Wed, 31 Mar 2010 17:33:49 -0400

Latin Landscapes Trio
April 10, 2010, 3:00pm
Gordon Chapel, Old South Church, Boston

José Manuel Lezcano guitar
Paul Schliffer flute
Matthew Shubin bassoon

from Sonatina Tropical José Manuel Lezcano (b. 1960)

for flute & guitar

Cancion de Madrugada

En Clave de Son

Cuban Sketches José Manuel Lezcano

Guaracha Nevada

Una ventana de estrellas (bolero)

Miami Merengue

from Havana to Miami José Manuel Lezcano

suite for guitar

Un habano y un mojito

Bolero Manaba

Homage to Takemitsu (2005) José Manuel Lezcano

Diarios (2007) José Manuel Lezcano

Rumba-Son: a los Rumberos de RFAG

Andean Fiestas

A tourist in Central Park

Brasilierando

ChromaDuo program for Festival 21

Wed, 31 Mar 2010 17:17:00 -0400

ChromaDuo

April 10, 2010, 4:00pm

Gordon Chapel, Old South Church, Boston

Tracy Anne Smith and Rob MacDonald, guitars

Adagio and Fugue (2007) * Christopher William Pierce (b. 1975)

Tres Homenajes Húngaros Roberto Sierra (b. 1953)

à Bartok

à Liszt

à Ligeti

Pause

Three Pieces for Two Guitars (2009)* Christopher William Pierce

No. 1 Moderate

No. 2 Allegro ritmico

No. 3 … on an arrangement of Bach’s Prelude in b minor (by Siloti)

Still the Sea Stephen Goss

(An homage to Toru Takemitsu) (2009)*

Black River

Silent Pool

Fire Water

* dedicated to ChromaDuo

Improvisation class

Wed, 31 Mar 2010 15:12:55 -0400

Gyan Riley will lead a class on improvisation at 1:00pm at Festival 21. Great for any classical guitarist who wants to get a handle on how to approach improv. Gyan says,

“My improvisation class will explore improvisation from a simple, accessible, and approachable perspective, spiraling outward into various developmental and compositional applications.”

Festival 21 Boston

Festival 21 2012 - April 21!

David Leisner Interview - by Will Riley

Members' Concert / Aaron Larget-Caplan

The Olson/De Cari Duo at MIT and Festival 21 The Olson/De Cari...

Press Release

Steve Connor just sent me this clip of Rafael Aguirre playing...

A sample of prepared guitar from the CD enso, by Nathan Kolosko....

Prepared Guitar Workshop with Nathan Kolosko 11:00am at Old...

Maarten Stragier will play a program of 21st century guitar...

Introducing Rodrigo’s Toccata, Rafael Aguirre speaks with...

I can’t say it better: “Este guitarrista﻿ es un...

I can’t say it better: “Este guitarrista﻿ es un monstruo!! Es de lejos la mejor versión de esta obra, por técnica, musicalidad, ideas, ritmo y feeling! Bravo Rafael!” April 16, 8pm, First Lutheran, 299 Berkeley St. Boston. Be there.

Festival 21 is a presentation of the Boston Classical Guitar...

A taste of Jose’s new piece from the performance at...

Impressions of Spring Music

Jose prepares the Keene State Orchestra.

Dr. Lezcano, of Keene State College, describes his thoughts as...

Members’ Concert program

Latin Landscapes Trio program

ChromaDuo program for Festival 21

Improvisation class

I can’t say it better: “Este guitarrista es un...

I can’t say it better: “Este guitarrista es un monstruo!! Es de lejos la mejor versión de esta obra, por técnica, musicalidad, ideas, ritmo y feeling! Bravo Rafael!” April 16, 8pm, First Lutheran, 299 Berkeley St. Boston. Be there.