NACUSA Los Angeles LA CONVERSATIONS SERIES June 28, 2021 Monday 7 pm Concert

Have a Good Day! for baritone, flute, and piano Kathryn Mishell (ASCAP)

Divertissements for solo marimba (2020) Carla K. Bartlett (ASCAP)

Only Everyday for voice and piano Words and Music by Jay Asher (BMI) Performed by Jay Asher and Stephen Michael Schwartz (BMI)

Colvin House Haunts for violin and violoncello (2016) Greg A. Steinke (ASCAP)

Sharing for cello and piano David Raiklen (ASCAP)

At Ends: The Transformation performed by Curtis Macomber, violinist Coda Michelle Green Willner (ASCAP) performed by Jeffrey Steinberg Shir Chadash Concert, UCLA Lowel Milken Fund. Doni Silver Simons (Performance Direction) Nicole Powell (Choreography)

Program Notes and Biographies Kathryn Mishell was born in Los Angeles, where she received her early musical training. Her college and graduate work were done at Pomona College, The University of Kansas, and the University of Southern California. Ms. Mishell’s works include over a hundred piano pieces, ensemble and orchestral works, and music for chorus, dance and theatre. Ms. Mishell was producer and host of Into the Light, a weekly radio program devoted to the music of women composers, for ten years. Produced at KMFA, the fine arts station in Austin, Texas, it won national 2010, 2009 and 2007 Gracie Awards for outstanding portrait/biography, and three international Communicator Awards of Distinction for excellence in broadcasting. As pianist, Ms. Mishell has performed extensively in the U.S. and Mexico as soloist and in chamber music.

A teacher of many award-winning young pianists, Ms. Mishell taught at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and has acted as clinician, adjudicator, and was, as early as 1988, consultant in the use of computers in music instruction. She maintains a class of private piano students in Austin, where she has twice been awarded the Outstanding Pre-collegiate Teaching Award. In 2008 Ms. Mishell assumed the position of Artistic Director of Salon Concerts, presenting the finest chamber musicians in concerts in intimate settings. Its educational arm is CHAMPS, whose mission statement is to promote the playing and teaching of chamber music in the public schools. Now in its thirty-first season, she was a founding board member.

Divertissements (diversions or distractions), was written in the spirit of Satie, employing some of his compositional elements and aiming for a sense of play and absurdity. You will find childlike melodies, random spoken words, and a respectful nod to those inspirational Gymnopédies.

As a 13-year-old piano student, I fell in love with the music of Erik Satie through his charming, dreamy Gymnopédies. A prolific composer, Satie wrote for ensembles, piano, and ballet (Parade, outrageous and absurdist, provoked a riot in 1917 Paris.) Satie's droll, sarcastic sense of humor and verbal wordplay are evident in his compositions, with titles such as Five Grimaces, Four Preludes for a Dog. He wrote many piano pieces with text inserted between the staves: was it meant to be read aloud while played, or merely to indicate the spirit of the passage? Satie’s music poked fun at the dark, somber classical music in vogue at the time, especially that of the late Romanticist Richard Wagner. Ever a rebel, Satie was among the first to compose in a radically new contemporary style featuring brevity, wit, playfulness, and a mechanical repetition we now associate with the Minimalist style. John Cage called Satie "indispensable" in the history of contemporary music.

Special thanks to Heartland Marimba and Jenni Brandon, composer, for guidance and support during its composition, and especially Ujjal Bhattacharyya, for premiering it in a video of his own unique creation as a part of the Heartland Marimba Online Marimba Festival in December 2020.—Carla K. Bartlett

Carla K. Bartlett (ASCAP) is a composer, teacher, and pianist residing in Pasadena, California, USA. She earned a baccalaureate degree in music at California State University, Northridge, studying piano with Eleanor Russell and Carol Rosenberger, composition with Daniel Kessner, and conducting with David Whitwell. At CSUN, she wrote incidental music for theatrical productions and segued into composing soundtracks for short films and animation projects. After earning a Ph.D. in Education at Claremont Graduate University, Carla served as professor at Mount St. Mary’s College where she directed the Secondary Education Program. She taught instrumental music in middle and high school for over 20 years, primarily in the Alhambra Unified School District, where her exemplary teaching was recognized by the district’s Teacher of the Year and by the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Bravo Award. Carla is currently studying jazz piano with John Proulx and composition with Jenni Brandon. Carla composes in many genres, and her works have been performed regularly at concerts of the National Association of Composers of the United States, Los Angeles chapter. Her music is available from Truluckmusic.com.

Jay Asher has been a composer, songwriter, arranger, orchestrator, conductor, pianist, and entertainer based in Los Angeles since 1972. He was raised in the Boston area and graduated from the Boston Conservatory of Music with a BM in Music Composition. He has written music scores and songs for many television series, documentaries, and films. These include New World Television's "Zorro," NBC's "Fame," and the NBC Movie of the Week "Fugitive Nights." His songs have been recorded by Julio Iglesias, Whitney Houston, and Donna Summer, among others. Jay is also an Apple Certified Logic Pro X trainer and a private consultant for recording artists and film and TV composers.

Written for an Open House Chicago! site event for the fall of 2016 to honor, reimagine, and capture the milieu of the Colvin House in Chicago. So, sit back, relax and enjoy this “imagined milieu”— From the Mists of Time and Building, Living, Decline and Resurrection— that has occurred in the Colvin House over the years after its original construction in the early Twentieth Century. The inspiration for the piece has come from the composer imagining the house arising “From the Mists of Time” and being built in the early Twentieth Century and then being occupied for some years by residents, “Living,” then falling into decline and being resurrected into a new use: “Decline and Resurrection.” In each of sections the composer has attempted to create a musical milieu that reflects “activities” that might have taken place during the history of the house: the house is built and “arises” from the earth, people occupy the house, and it comes alive with general activity, with maybe some dancing (a tango and a waltz at a certain point); the house goes into decline and people leave—it is abandoned— but then it gets resuscitated and is alive again with activity. And so it goes . . . Greg A Steinke is retired, former Joseph Naumes Endowed Chair of Music/Art and Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies, Marylhurst University, Marylhurst, Oregon; Associate Director, Ernest Bloch Music Festival (‘93–97) and Director, Composers Symposium (‘90–97) (Newport, OR); served as the National Chairman of the Society of Composers, Inc. (1988–97). Composer of chamber and symphonic music and author with published/recorded works and performances across the U. S. and internationally; speaker on interdisciplinary arts, and oboist specializing in contemporary music. Dr. Steinke is a past national president of NACUSA (2012-19) and also currently serves on the NACUSA Cascadia Chapter Board.

Sharing is from the award-winning film LOSSED. A young woman is depressed, contemplating suicide, and a friend reaches out and they talk. The themes in the cello and piano recur and develop throughout the film. This music and other selections have been developed into a sonata- like concert piece.

David Raiklen, composer-producer-host. David was mentored by Oscar winner John Williams and Pulitzer Prize winner Mel Powel. Dr. Raiklen studied at USC and CalArts and later taught at those universities. He has worked for the major studios including Sony, Fox, Disney, Sprint, Mattel, Warner Bros and PBS, plus many independent productions. His projects have starred Elliott Gould, Doug Jones, Blythe Danner, and Martin Sheen. David made the New York Film Critics Top Ten with the documentary Heist, the short list for an Academy Award® for Worth, and Mia, A Dancer's Journey won the Emmy.

David Raiklen compositions have been performed at the Hollywood Bowl and Disney Hall. He is also host of a successful radio program, Classical Fan Club, where guests include Yo-Yo Ma and John Williams; and is host and leader of The Academy of Scoring Arts seminars. David is currently producing and composing for Space Command, a series of epic adventures set in a hopeful future and producing Virtual Reality experiences.

At Ends sets up a pair of themes that are ‘at ends’ with each other, that is, which contrast each other by their unique use of extended register, tempo, thematic and pitch materials. With an overriding tempo marked: “vigorously, with bite, as fast as possible,” you’ll hear rhythmic and virtuosic acrobatics along with the oscillation between melodic and rhythmic intensities. In The Transformation, At Ends portrays the true story of three young ladies who enter an art gallery, a little tipsy, on New Year’s eve. Without thinking that anyone is aware, they begin to vandalize a piece of artwork, transforming their behavior from elegance and sophistication to barbarism. Presented at Arena 1 Gallery as part of 2018 More Art Here in conjunction with the prestigious Art Los Angeles Contemporary.

Michelle Green Willner, DMA. As a dramatic and evocative award-winning composer, Michelle Green Willner’s works have been commissioned and performed internationally by, for example; Hot Air Music Festival, North/South Consonance, UCLA David’s Quilt,, Unsung Festival, LA Choreographers and Dancers, Australia’s Celebration of Women and Music, Australia’s A Community of Choirs Concert, NACUSA, Synergy, LA Jewish Symphony, Hollywood Master Chorale, American Cantors’ Association, Shechina, UCI Women’s Chorus, Speculum Musicae, New Millennium, New Calliope Singers, Premier, Society for New Music, CSULB New Music Ensemble, Kol Haemek Chorale, Earplay at Center for the Arts Forum, San Francisco, and Zimriya, Israel’s International Choral Festival. Her multi-disciplinary works have been performed at the Jerusalem Biennale; LA’s Museum of Tolerance; LA Made Festival; 92nd St. Y, NY; More Art Here, and other art installations. Green Willner’s awards include nine ASCAP PLUS Awards, two ASCAP Foundation Grants to Young Composers, Community Relations Council Grant, Brian M. Israel Prize (Society for New Music), SOCAN’s Serge Garant Award, Shalshelet’s 6th International Festival of New Jewish Liturgical Music, and the WORD Grant: The Bruce Geller Memorial Prize, and the following fellowships: Max Helfman Music Fellow, Creative Inquiry Fellowships, June in Buffalo, the Wellesley Composers Conference, CSULB, ASCAP/Fred Karlin Film Scoring Workshop, Mellon Foundation and the President's Fellow (Columbia University).

Dr. Green Willner has given talks at LA Made, More Art Here, Voices of LA, Cantors Assembly of America, the Nowakowsky International Jewish Choral Festival, SF's Center for the Arts Forum, CSULB, 92nd St. Y, and upcoming for Virtual Concerts at the Presidio. For more information and score, please visit www.michellegreenwillner.com

ABOUT NACUSA NACUSA was founded by Henry Hadley in New York City in 1933, as a national organization with the intent of introducing conductors to the works of American composers. The Los Angeles Chapter has been active since the late 1940s. In the early 1970s, the national headquarters moved to Los Angeles. We celebrated the 85th anniversary of NACUSA on July 21, 2017 with a day-long conference and concert at the Brand Library and Art Center in Glendale, CA. Watch this blog for posts of the rich history of the organization and its members. NACUSA-LA engages our community through the creation, performance, and promotion of contemporary musical art, while providing resources and opportunities to Southern California composers and performers. NACUSA is a 501(3)(c) non-profit organization, and we present concerts, educational programs, resources, and opportunities for composers and performers in Southern California.

We are a chapter of the National Association of Composers, U.S.A.: www:music-USA.org. You can read in detail about NACUSA LA concerts and events in the NACUSA Composer/USA newsletter available on the national website. Click on the tab Resources to find the newsletter. Our members include composers of a wide variety of musical styles, ranging in age from 16 to 95. Some have careers in academia; others are independent composers; some work in film, television, and other commercial music. We welcome student composers and composers who have been inactive but are returning to composition. We welcome everyone who wants to support the creation and presentation of new American music. To become a member, please visit the national web site and click: [insert link] https://www.music-usa.org/nacusa/ Select Activities, and select JOIN, using the on-line membership application. Be sure to join the national organization and the Los Angeles Chapter. NACUSA LOS ANGELES BOARD: Dr. Jeannie Gayle Pool, President; Dr. Richard Derby, Vice President; Dr. Carla Bartlett, Secretary; Dr. Tony Wardzinski, Treasurer. Dr. Katherine Saxon, Publicity Chair, Adrienne Albert, Communications Chair, Dr. Allen Menton, Dr. David Raiklen, and Dr. Deon Nielsen Price, Advisor. Thanks to David Raiklen for coordinating this concert! PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT NACUSALA.ORG PLEASE FRIEND US ON FACEBOOK!