Houston Youth Symphony performs Ring the Bells at Break of Day
- On May 07, 2019
- By alzand@rice.edu
- In News
- 0
The award-winning Houston Youth Symphony, under the direction of Michael Webster, concluded its 2018/19 season with its Spring Concert, featuring the finest young musicians from the region performing in four ensembles. The May 5th concert concluded with the most advanced orchestra in a program that included Karim Al-Zand’s Ring the Bells at Break of Day and Ravel’s La Valse. The concert also featured presentations of 2018/19 Concerto Competition winners Kevin Chan, performing a movement from Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 2 and Johnny To, performing Rossini’s Introduction, Theme and Variations for clarinet and orchestra.
Houston Chamber Choir performs A Measure in Trance
- On April 16, 2019
- By alzand@rice.edu
- In Musiqa, News, Reviews/Press
- 0
Six Bagatelles premiered at Musiqa’s Traces of Blue
- On January 13, 2019
- By alzand@rice.edu
- In Musiqa, News
- 0
A new piano trio, Six Bagatelles, received its premiere on Musiqa’s January 12th concert “Traces of Blue,” dedicated to music and visual art. Six Bagatelles is dedicated to the memory of Ed Shoemake, former board chair for Musiqa, and is inspired by the work of American artist Robert Motherwell (1915-1991). Performers Natalie Lin (violin), Wesley Ducote (piano) and Barrett Sills (cello) presented the premiere alongside works of Hartke, Loiacano, Gosfield, and a live, on-stage painting by artist Geraldina Interiano Wise. Each short bagatelle is inspired by a single iconic print by Motherwell (below), the images projected during the performance. A preview of the concert appeared in the Houston Chronicle. 1. Mezzotint in Indigo
2. Yellow Chord
3. Gauloises Bleues
4. Orange Lyric
5. Three Forms on Red
6. Black Elegy Returning Black (Nocturne)
New CD “Studies in Nature” released on Centaur Records
- On January 03, 2019
- By alzand@rice.edu
- In News
- 0
November 2018 saw the release of a chamber and vocal music CD on Centaur Records, entitled “Studies in Nature.” The recording includes performances of Studies in Nature, Canticle and Caprice, Cinderella, Quelques Fleurs, Luctus Profugis and Orange Torches Against the Rain. Its large cast of performers include Sheldon Person, Matthew Roitstein, Stephanie Gustafson. Aidan Soder, Grant Loehnig, Natalie Lin, Ab Sengupta, Julia Cleworth, Wesley Ducote, Jakob Nierenz, Thomas Frey, Boson Mo, Ling Ling Huang, Jarita Ng, Max Geissler, Aaron Perdue, Lin Ma, Greg Hammond, Philip Hembree, Craig Hauschildt, Jerry Hou and the Kinetic Ensemble. Many of the works on the CD share a naturalistic theme: the title piece and the cover art is inspired by the captivating illustrations of biologist and naturalist Ernst Haeckel (1834—1919), seen at left; the song cycle “Orange Torches Against the Rain” sets texts of flowers and rain by American poet Amy Lowell; and the trio Quelques Fleurs is inspired by the scent of flowers. “Canticle and Caprice” is a short two-part piece for string trio. A work for string orchestra, “Luctus Profugis” is a lament, an elegy for the victims of the European migrant crisis. Finally, “Cinderella,” scored for a large mixed ensemble of nine players, was written to accompany the 1922 silent silhouette film by Lotte Reiniger (the film and music can be seen below). The CD (CENTAUR 3659) is available online at iTunes, amazon.com and ArkivMusik.
Visions Take Flight: new CD from River Oaks Chamber Orchestra
- On December 24, 2018
- By alzand@rice.edu
- In News, Reviews/Press
- 0
The River Oaks Chamber Orchestra recently released its first recording: Visions Take Flight. A double CD consisting of all newly commissioned works, the recording includes Visions from Another World, a piece commissioned by the orchestra in 2008. The recording also features compositions by Derek Bermel (Murmurations), Reena Esmail (Teen Murti), Anthony DiLorenzo (Jabberwocky) and Marcus Maroney (Concerto for Chamber Orchestra). Mei-Ann Chen conducts this debut recording, produced by Grammy-winner Blanton Alspaugh on Innova Records. The recording process, which was interrupted in Houston by the arrival of hurricane Harvey, is chronicled in a short behind the scenes video introducing the CD.
“Visions Take Flight” is available at iTunes, amazon.com and ArkivMusik. Program notes are available here. Reviews of the recording have appeared in I care if you listen, BBC Music Magazine’s December podcast, Houston Public Media, Log Journal September Playlist, MidWest Record, artsfuse and Textura.