American Composers Alliance Presents Saturday, June 23, 6:00 – 10:00 p.m. A New Music Marathon Thalia Theater at Symphony Space 6:00 – 7:00 p.m. CHARLES IVES The Unanswered Question The Second Instrumental Unit Marc Dana Williams, conductor DARLEEN MITCHELL Dakota † Valerie Cisler, piano Anne Foradori, soprano BURTON BEERMAN Conversations * Shiau-uen Ding, piano GREGORY HALL Clayton Run-Around * Minghuan Xu, violin MICHAEL S. ROTHKOPF Songs of Light * Patricia Sonego, soprano JAN GILBERT Lady of the Broom * Nancy Ogle, soprano Barry Crawford, flute Eric Nowlin, viola Loren Dempster, cello 7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. RICHARD BROOKS Rhapsody for Violin and Piano Minghuan Xu, violin Winston Choi, piano FREDERICK TILLIS A Latin American Suite * Second Instrumental Unit String Quartet: David Fulmer, violin Nathan Schmidt, violin Eric Nowlin, viola Victoria Bass, cello BETH WIEMANN A Change in the Weather * Marilyn Nonken, piano HAROLD SELETSKY Apathy † Patricia Sonego, soprano David Fulmer, violin Loren Dempster, cello Christopher Oldfather, piano 8:00 – 9:00 p.m. HUBERT HOWE Symphony No. 3, 1st movement * The Second Instrumental Unit Marc Dana Williams, conductor (co-director) Violin I David Fulmer (co-director) Violin II Nathan Schmidt Viola Eric Nowlin Cello Victoria Bass Bass Kristoffer Saebo Flute David Buck Oboe Arthur Sato Clarinet Carol McGonnell Bassoon Adrian Morejon French Horn Danielle Kuhlmann Trumpet Peter Evans Trombone Matt Wright Tuba Dan Peck Piano Molly Morkoski Percussion Alex Lipowski ROBERT CEELY Extensions † Shen Wen, piano ELIAS TANENBAUM Bring ‘Em On * Second Instrumental Unit String Quartet: David Fulmer, violin Nathan Schmidt, violin Eric Nowlin, viola Victoria Bass, cello JAMES BEALE Woodwind Quintet † Second Instrumental Unit David Buck, flute Arthur Sato, oboe Carol McGonnell, clarinet Adrian Morejon, bassoon Danielle Kuhlmann, french horn 9:00 – 10:00 p.m. MILTON BABBITT Little Goes a Long Way and An Encore † Christopher Oldfather, piano David Fulmer, violin JOEL GRESSEL ShortStops * computer JOHN MELBY Concerto No.2 for Piano and Computer* Winston Choi, piano * world premiere † New York premiere Program Notes 6:00 – 7:00 p.m. The Unanswered Question and Central Park in the Dark, both composed in 1906, were paired together by Ives as: I. “A Contemplation of a Serious Matter” or “The Unanswered Perennial Question”; II. “A Contemplation of Nothing Serious” or “Central Park in the Dark in ‘The Good Old Summer Time’.” Although the composer’s description would seem to link them by opposition, both works actually employ the same compositional process – Ives’ most celebrated innovation – in which different musical textures, moving at different rates of time, are juxtaposed. In The Unanswered Question there are three spatially separated disjunct elements; a slow-moving, virtually pulseless diatonic string background, over which a trumpet statement is sounded seven times, alternating with a series of contrapuntal, chromatic woodwind phrases that become progressively faster, louder, and more dissonant. Sometime between 1930 and 1935, Ives made a second, revised version, adding numerous details and altering the woodwind and trumpet phrases, and, in a note appended to the score, he provided a visionary program for the work: “The strings play ppp throughout with no change in tempo. They are to represent ‘The Silences of the Druids – who Know, See and Hear Nothing’. The trumpet intones ‘The Perennial Question of Existence,’ and states it in the same tone of voice each time. But the hunt for ‘The Invisible Answerers,’ as the time goes on and on, and after a ‘secret conference,’ seem to realize a futility, and begin to mock ‘The Question’ – the strife is over for the moment. After they disappear, ‘The Question’ is asked for the last time, and the ‘Silences’ are heard beyond as ‘Undisturbed Solitude’.” The text for Dakota, A Song Cycle for Soprano and Piano is from Kathleen Norris’ Dakota, subtitled “A Spiritual Geography.” Norris weaves spiritual ideas from various sources, including her own religious background, Catholic monasticism, feminine spirituality, and her personal experiences, using images and metaphor, to create meaning in ordinary events and places. The four songs in the cycle are “The Words of Psalms,” “But What Is There To See?” “A Person is Forced Inward,” and The Stillness Under Stars.” In “A Person is Forced Inward” Norris compares the “flow of the land, with its odd twists and buttes” to the “flow of Gregorian chant.” Musical imagery is frequently used throughout her books. In “The Stillness Under Stars” she reflects on her grandmother’s alone-ness, while reflecting the stillness or quietness of the landscape. The song ends with the line, “This is the side of the moon that no one sees.” Mitchell says of Dakota, “In using Norris’ text for music, I’ve chosen to use her prose rather than her poetry, for its rhythmic freedom as well as its intimate story-telling quality. The starting point for my music is a tone series, but I’ve drawn from it both harmonies and melodic gestures that border on tonal to create a subtle sense of tone painting.” Darleen Cowles Mitchell has written over 100 compositions for various instrumental and vocal combinations, from solo flute to full orchestra and chorus. Her compositions have been performed throughout the United States and in Europe. Her works are published by American Composers Editions in New York and Tap Music Sales in Iowa. Translucent Unreality No. 1 for flute and piano was recorded by American Woman Composers. Images, for violin and guitar, was recorded on Guitar Plus Records, 'Untaming the Fury: Vol. 2', by Duo 46 in 2001. Dr. Mitchell has been the recipient of many awards, including the Distinguished Artist Award from the Nebraska Arts Council and the National League of American Pen Women Composition Competition, for her work Visions, a concerto for tuba and concert band. She received a Ph.D. in Music Composition from the University of Chicago where her teachers included Ralph Shapey and Shulamit Ran. Dr. Mitchell founded and performed with the improvisational ensemble The Marcel Duchamp Memorial Players in the Chicago area for over 10 years. She is currently an Associate Professor at the University of Nebraska at Kearney where she coordinates the music theory and composition programs, directs the New Music Ensemble, and oversees the Music Instruction Computer Lab. Conversations is not framed within a linear structure so often expected of more traditional forms but better reflects a multifaceted arrangement similar to speech between two people; its pace, shifting of characters and energy quickly changing. One listens to this music not by standing back and observing the larger form, but one hears this music with an aural microscope. The nuance of the small gesture is so important. The source material for the computer is the sound of the live piano, processed with such complicated real-time interactive modifications of the live piano as cross synthesis and pitch shifts; sometimes recorded, delayed and modified at a different point in time within the piece. This creates the dialogue between the live piano and the processing of the piano. The Los Angeles Times describes Burton Beerman as “A prolific composer of imaginative compositions with a wealth of exotic sounds and lush textures,… a tireless champion of new works.” His works have been featured on CNN and CNN International, FutureWatch, The World Today, LIVE with Regis & Kelly!, The Eastern European Talk Show “ RTL-Klub Reggeli”, HEAR Radio; PBS broadcast Beerman’s Virtual Video Opera, showcasing the music, video and technology utilized in the opera. The opera was chosen as a Video Installation ArtWork exhibited in Switzerland, Italy and New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, endorsed by UNESCO-CIRET and sponsored by the United Nations. The Village Voice writes- “ There is a remarkable clarity in the way Burton Beerman carries out the logic of his materials and he has an excellent ear for sound color.” Recordings of Beerman’s music can be found on the Advance, Access, Orion, and Capstone labels, distributed by Albany Records. A new CD release of BEERMAN UNPLUGGED…almost, is now available from Albany Records on the Capstone label. Beerman was awarded the 2005 Barlow Endowment Commission for Music Composition.Beerman is the founder of the internationally renowned New Music & Art Festival at Bowling Green State University, and director of the MidAmerican Center for Contemporary Music. “Clayton Run-Around (2004-2006) came about as a result of my first trip to Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. I have written for solo violin on several occasions, and my interest has usually focused on the Norwegian "Hardanger" style of playing. Not knowing much about Cape Breton fiddling, however, I stumbled into my first Céilidh (fiddle party), and was a goner. That night I started the "Clayton Run- Around", and did a considerable amount of work on it during our week-long vacation there. On our way home we stopped at the Celtic Music Centre, where a fiddler added some of the island's distinctive ornaments to the work-in-progress. The resultant piece, finished in 2006, still retains the feeling of the Hardanger style, but the ornaments are Celtic. It is, in essence, a "classical" piece of Island music.” ”The title was my reaction to seeing eight kittens running around outside the farm we stayed at while on Cape Breton--Clayton Farm. The music attempts to echo their efforts: building up to a crescendo, and then madly dispersing.” Gregory Hall (b. 1959) holds a B.A. degree in Music from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a Diploma degree from the Curtis Institute of Music, Philadelphia PA, where he studied with Ned Rorem. Mr. Hall's Quartet for saxophones will be released on an upcoming (2008) Capstone Records release of new quartets for saxophone, also featuring Richard Brooks' Four-Play.