Composers
Submitted by Jim Hirsch on Fri, 07/18/2008 - 12:10pm.
This morning my Google alert for Chicago classical music included a link to a blog with the title, Baroque jams: you’re new iPod playlist. This caught my eye for a number of reasons. First, my wife and son spent seven hours in line
last week waiting to buy the new Apple iPhone that incorporates all of the iPod functions with too many other things to list. I confess that I am interested in just about all things Apple-related.
But when posts combine my interest in technology and classical music, I tend to really pay attention.
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Today's guest blogger is Brett Batterson, Executive Director of the Auditorium Theatre. This is the first in a series of postings about their November 2008 production of the opera, Margaret Garner.
"NEW AMERICAN OPERA BY TONI MORRISON AND RICHARD DANIELPOUR STARRING DENYCE GRAVES MAKES CHICAGO DEBUT!"
"AUDITORIUM THEATRE CONTINUES TO FIND NEW, EXCITING WORKS THAT RESONATE WITH CHICAGO!"
The headlines to this, the first entry in a series of blog posts about the Auditorium Theatre’s upcoming production of Margaret Garner that ChicagoClassicalMusic.org is graciously hosting, could go on forever. There is just too much to be excited about with the Chicago premiere of this great American work this November: the story, the music, the performers, the collaborators, the educational programs... like I said, the list goes on and on.
How, you might ask, did this come to be? Why is the Auditorium the location for Margaret Garner’s Chicago debut? The answer actually goes back to when Toni Morrison and Richard Danielpour were writing the opera for Denyce Graves. They were also looking for an opera company to commission and produce it.
How, you might ask, did this come to be?
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I've been mulling over, for months now, writing a piece of music to this fantastic sonnet I came across last fall.
It's finally taking shape. I mostly composed it this evening after I got home from work. I am much relieved that it's finally here.
The composing process isn't particularly magic or mysterious, or at least it doesn't seem that way to me now. It used to -- that was before I started composing!
(Slight digression: I first wrote "composting" just now, which is funny because composing is almost like composting... when I write choral music, I have to chew and chew and work my way around a text, almost like digesting it the way worms do newspaper -- and only after the words have lived inside me for a while does the musical part take shape. My wife and I gave my mom one of those worm-composting bins for Christmas last year, and it does work.)
The poem in question is by Mark Jarman, a fabulous poet who lives and works in Nashville at Vanderbilt. About ten years ago he published a poetry collection called "Questions for Ecclesiastes," and in that book is a collection of 20 "Unholy Sonnets." The one that really struck me has the first line as follows: "Half asleep in prayer I said the right thing" -- and because of copyright law you'll have to buy the poetry book to see the whole piece, until you come to the Chicago a cappella "Abundance" concert in February 2009 and hear it, by which time the poem will be in the program notes!
What I love about the poem is the way it evokes the almost accidental nature of grace. I say "almost accidental" because I do believe that you can cultivate your soul to a place where grace is more possible -- or at least more palpable -- than when your soul is anxious or angry or out of whack, in which case grace is difficult to come by. So at some point there is not so much of an accident involved, but those special moments do come as a very pleasant surprise, which is what this poem seems to be attempting to describe.
The music itself is mostly chordal, declamatory, getting all the words out at the same time. However, I did put in some imitative passages when that seemed called for. This piece has more key changes than most of my works; this time I composed at the piano, which I don't usually do. I decided it was worth a try, since the one other time I composed at the piano I got the piece published!
Once the rhythm of the words starts to take hold, the rest follows. I don't think I'm the world's greatest tunesmith -- my pieces are known for their "whole package" nature, and I do think I write lines that fit the voice well -- but you won't hear people humming my songs very often. That's okay with me.
I don't have formal degrees in composing, but that's not stopping me, fortunately. Watch this space for more when the piece is done.
Have a good week.
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Submitted by Jim Hirsch on Tue, 03/18/2008 - 4:10pm.
I was driving to work one morning a few weeks ago and NPR ran a story about violinist Tasmin Little. The story was about a 
series of recordings she has made that feature solo, or naked violin, if you will, that she is offering as free downloads on her website. Check out the NPR broadcast and then hit Tasmin’s site for some wonderful music – at no charge!
Speaking of wonderful music made by talented women, the Sinfonietta’s March 30-31 concerts are dedicated to music made, conducted, and composed by women. Chicagoclassicalmusic.org has a “hot deal” listed for this concert that you can access if you are a registered user of this site.
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Submitted by Jim Hirsch on Thu, 03/06/2008 - 11:10am.
I have a favor to ask of you. In November 2008 The Chicago Sinfonietta will partner with the Chicago Humanities Festival in musically exploring the year’s Festival theme, “THINK BIG”. We invite you to help us realize our 'big idea" for a concert by joining us in selecting the most transformative classical music compositions ever written -- works from various eras that truly changed the rules and affected everything that came after. We will perform two of the selections at Chicago's Symphony Center on Monday, November 10th at 7:30 p.m. And to "change the game" even more, we hope to either present a live streaming broadcast that evening (so you can hear the winning selections regardless of where you are) or post the performance as a downloadable video file on our website.
Let your voice be heard! A panel of experts has shared its ideas for “game-changing” nominees and you can vote right now at the
Chicago Sinfonietta’s website. Make your selection from the experts' list, or if you disagree, feel free to write in your own.
Thanks for voting – and please pass this link on to others!
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This week, the CSO is performing
Osvaldo Golijov’s Ainadamar for the first time. It was such a mind-blowing experience that it motivated me to begin blogging about “Classical” music in Chicago here at CCM.
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At the National Gallery in Washington DC last week, an unusual piece of music had its premiere. Called "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird," the work takes its title from the Wallace Stevens poem of the same name. Several things make it unusual: (1) the piece has thirteen movements; (2) it is composed for high school men's chorus and piano, not unique in itself but because each is stylistically an entity unto itself; (3) the movements can be arranged aleatorically, a la John Cage, by the throw of a die (and was in this case by one of the female singers present, who threw a pair of fuzzy dice).
Most unique of all -- I don't think I've ever seen this anywhere else -- each of the thirteen movements was written by a DIFFERENT composer. In this case, the roster of composers includes some of the giants working in the field today: Stephen Paulus, Libby Larsen, David Conte, Jaakko Mäntyjärvi (of "El Hambo" and "Four Shakespeare Songs" fame, for those longtime CAC fans reading this), Daniel Gawthrop, Rollo Dilworth, Matthew Harris, Daniel Gawthrop, Tarik O'Regan, Stephen Hatfield, Ola Gjielo, and Christopher Delp.
That is twelve, and I am the thirteenth. Woo hoo! What an honor. I got stanza # 2 to compose:
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Thanks to everyone who logged in to ChicagoClassicalMusic.org during our relaunch for the last couple of weeks. Below is the list of randomly selected winners of our free ticket and subscription giveaway. If you are a user on this list, please expect an email from me with more information on how to claim your prize. If you haven't won a prize, keep checking back on ChicagoClassicalMusic.org for future giveaways and more!
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| hautbois614 |
4 full length CDS |
Cedille Records |
| ghalsell |
4 full length CDS |
Cedille Records |
| Jeff_Turk |
4 full length CDS |
Cedille Records |
| fuerzamaya |
4 full length CDS |
Cedille Records |
| victor408 |
4 full length CDS |
Cedille Records |
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| flyingpickle |
2 tickets - Romanticism and Rock n Roll |
Chicago a cappella |
| sdixon17 |
2 tickets - Romanticism and Rock n Roll |
Chicago a cappella |
| lmissitzis |
2 tickets - Romanticism and Rock n Roll |
Chicago a cappella |
| joycemcgreevy |
2 tickets - Romanticism and Rock n Roll |
Chicago a cappella |
| hwebb82 |
2 tickets - Romanticism and Rock n Roll |
Chicago a cappella |
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| Charles R Mattenson |
A Level Subscription for 2008 season |
Chicago Opera Theater |
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| Mary Prindiville |
Front Balcony Subscriptions (3 concerts) |
Chicago Philharmonic |
| heidilevin |
Front Balcony Subscriptions (3 concerts) |
Chicago Philharmonic |
| Frank Lee |
Front Balcony Subscriptions (3 concerts) |
Chicago Philharmonic |
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| debrav |
Three Concert Subscription |
Chicago Sinfonietta |
| chapulin |
Three Concert Subscription |
Chicago Sinfonietta |
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| Norm Raidl |
2 tickets |
Chicago Symphony Orchestra |
| myoirene |
2 tickets |
Chicago Symphony Orchestra |
| lmaloney |
2 tickets |
Chicago Symphony Orchestra |
| Edie Fitts |
2 tickets |
Chicago Symphony Orchestra |
| Impressionist |
2 tickets |
Chicago Symphony Orchestra |
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| Jeremy Kazan |
1 season ticket |
Fulcrum Point |
| Natalie Holden |
1 season ticket |
Fulcrum Point |
| Robbie Dee |
1 season ticket |
Fulcrum Point |
| devlinm |
1 season ticket |
Fulcrum Point |
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| JimInLoganSquare |
pair of season tickets - 8 concerts |
Grant Park Music Festival |
| tgraham |
pair of season tickets - 8 concerts |
Grant Park Music Festival |
| dontrombone |
pair of season tickets - 8 concerts |
Grant Park Music Festival |
| Robert E. Zeitner |
pair of season tickets - 8 concerts |
Grant Park Music Festival |
| hrhtina |
pair of season tickets - 8 concerts |
Grant Park Music Festival |
| Chicago Girl |
pair of season tickets - 8 concerts |
Grant Park Music Festival |
| Boo Radley |
pair of season tickets - 8 concerts |
Grant Park Music Festival |
| bruno_fasat |
pair of season tickets - 8 concerts |
Grant Park Music Festival |
| Adrianm |
pair of season tickets - 8 concerts |
Grant Park Music Festival |
| lmatnip |
pair of season tickets - 8 concerts |
Grant Park Music Festival |
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| Behty Harrison |
two section a seats for GIGI |
Light Opera Works |
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| watsons |
2 tickets |
Rembrandt Chamber Players |
| Christopher.doherty@gmail.com |
2 tickets |
Rembrandt Chamber Players |
| elyse |
2 tickets |
Rembrandt Chamber Players |
| ebseifert |
2 tickets |
Rembrandt Chamber Players |
| Carole29a |
2 tickets |
Rembrandt Chamber Players |
| internalmethods |
2 tickets |
Rembrandt Chamber Players |
| dennyg309 |
2 tickets |
Rembrandt Chamber Players |
| tom cusick |
2 tickets |
Rembrandt Chamber Players |
| Linda Rosencranz |
2 tickets |
Rembrandt Chamber Players |
| KatyK |
2 tickets |
Rembrandt Chamber Players |
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John Adams was in the office for 90 minutes this morning - primarily to see (above) the set and costume designs for A Flowering Tree, but also to look at all the other things we are putting together around the performances of the very beautiful new opera next May. It was a happy session all round and John was clearly very pleased with everything. Thats a good start! Below you see him with three of our key staff, Colleen Flanigan, Marla Krupman, and Kara Kane, respectively directors of marketing, development and education. Between them they manage to provide huge additional animation to our whole enterprise of opera production. John is an enthusiastic contributor to and supporter of all their efforts.
This afternoon we had our annual staff Christmas party complete with Secret Santa gift exchanges. I will not publish to photos of this exciting event here......! Regrettably as a result of this event I had to miss a meeting of the Executive Committee of the Chicago Classical Music website. That was bad of me but my staff come first. I had hoped to slip away at 4 but one thing led to another including the excellent round of carol singing where our excellent pianist director of finance Dave Wise displayed his exceptional talent at the keyboard. But please look at the splendidly relaunched CCM site. It is doing very well and making a valuable contribution to musical life in this city.
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This week's guest blogger is the renowned composer Stacy Garrop, whom we have had the pleasure and privilege of commissioning to write two pieces for Chicago a cappella this season. Her very brief bio is that she's an Associate Professor in Composition at the Chicago College of Performing Arts of Roosevelt University. Her more substantial bio is at her website, www.garrop.com. She writes below about being commissioned to write new choral music. Enjoy her eloquence! -- Jonathan Miller, Artistic Director, Chicago a cappella
Getting Back to My Roots: Adventures in Writing Jewish Music for Chicago a cappella
An Offer I Couldn't Refuse
Last spring, Jonathan Miller asked me if I'd accept a commission to write two new religious-themed works for Chicago a cappella's 2007-08 season. Busy as my composing schedule is these days, I have a distinct weakness for writing choral works and will find a way to squeeze more time out of a day to write them. And who can refuse an opportunity to work with the singers of Chicago a cappella?!
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