NOTES

Noon Concert The rhythmic idea from the beginning of is based on a segment of an idiomatic rhythm from my own culture. Through various processes it permeates the texture at the beginning of the piece. A sense of unity is maintained in the harmonic structure through the vertical and linear display of the selected tetrachords in both contrasting sections. —H.A. Dance Suite for Brass Quintet was written for my senior project and research grant through the MURALS program here at UC Davis. I wanted to write a piece that showcased the members of the brass quintet, which is a genre I fell in love with. Each Meridian Arts Ensemble movement has a solo for each player. —P.N. In Riscaldi il taglio, I wanted to expand my use of dissonance without abandoning the «tonal but not really tonal» harmonic language I’ve developed over the years. I did this via bitonality; the melody is almost always in a different key than the four supporting Student Composers Concert instruments. I believe that the complex overtones of the brass family accentuate, not obscure, this compositional device. —G.S. Jon Nelson and Brian McWhorter, Daniel Grabois, horn In One-Way Ticket, I deliberately avoid the paradigm of returning overtly to Benjamin Herrington, previously heard material. Although transformations of previously heard material are used throughout the piece, they are intended to be perceived subconsciously, but Raymond Stewart, not necessarily consciously. The listener’s focus is directed, instead, to frequent and John Ferrari, percussion abrupt shifts in musical perspective, and to the continuity and coherence of musical flow across such transitions. This creates a kind of unanchored development that does PROGRAM not lead full circle, but instead travels to a new destination, new, in part, because it is unknowable at the start of the journey (the title notwithstanding). —B.I. Brass Quintet Hendel Almétus (b. 1974) Brazen Overtures begins with a syncopated pattern in the horn, trombone, and tuba, followed by a spacious, drifting counterpoint played by the trumpets. These Dance Suite for Brass Quintet (2006) Portia Njoku gestures are «imperfect»—the trombone is not rhythmically unified with the horn I. (b. 1984) and tuba, while the second is tuned down by a quarter-tone. Different II. juxtapositions of these textures comprise the piece. The title is a pun, referencing the III. material the instruments are made of, as well as the shameless audacity with which the IV. instruments interrupt each other. —P.W. V.

Riscaldi il taglio (2009) Garrett Shatzer ABOUT MERIDIAN ARTS ENSEMBLE (b. 1980) For 20 years, the Meridian Arts Ensemble has been one of the leading brass and One-Way Ticket Ben Irwin percussion ensembles in the world. Now as faculty members at Manhattan School of (b. 1982) Music’s Contemporary Performance Program, the members of the band have brought this same aggressive and ambitious musical approach to the conservatory setting. Performing a living room concert for Frank Zappa and getting his approval for its renditions of his Brazen Overtures Paul Watkins music was only the beginning of Meridian’s continuous journey into broadening the scope (b. 1988) of music for brass. The musicians have gone on to commission new works by Milton Babbitt, Mark Applebaum, Elliott Sharp, Tania León, Hermeto Pascoal, Nick Didkovsky, David Sanford, the Common Sense Composers’ Collective, Stephen Barber, Ira Taxin, 12:05 pm, Tuesday, 10 November 2009 Kirk Nurock, John Halle, and many others. Room 115, Music Building This concert is being recorded professionally for the university archive. Please remain seated during the music, The Meridian Arts Ensemble has performed on four continents, in 49 states, on radio and remembering that distractions will be audible on the recording. Please deactivate cell phones, pagers, and television, in concert halls, and in jazz and rock clubs. The group blazes its own trail and wristwatches. Flash photography and audio and video recording are prohibited during the performance. eclecticism is a key element of its performances, which feature a wide variety of music, mixing classical and contemporary works, jazz and rock compositions, world music, and This performance is made possible in part by the generous support from the original works by ensemble members. The Meridian Arts Ensemble records for Channel Joy S. Shinkoskey Series of Noon Concerts endowment. Classics (the Netherlands) and 8bells () exclusively.