B OOKLYN ACADEMY OF MUSIC "L" TRAIN 10ELDORADO • HENRY THREADGILL RUN SILENT, RUN DEEP, RUN LOUD, RUN HIGH BROOKLYN ACADEMY OF MUSIC Harvey Lichtenstein,· President and Executive Producer BAM Carey Playhouse December 11 & 12,1987 presents HENRY THREADGILL AND ORCHESTRA RUN SILENT, RUN DEEP, RUN LOUD, RUN HIGH Composed by HENRY THREADGILL Text by HENRY THREADGILL Conducted by HALE SMITH Scenic Design Costume Design Lighting Design TIM LINN VALBORG CHRISlOPHERD. BUCKLEY Performed by Alto Saxophone HENRY THREADGILL Violin Viola Bass Voice AKBAR ALI LORI BERKOWITZ ANTHONY COX RAYMOND BAZEMORE JOHN BLAKE KENNETH EDWARDS FRED HOPKINS ANPYBEY JASON HWANG DIERDRE LAWRENCE Percussion AVERY BROOKS LEROY JENKINS RON LAWRENCE THURMAN BARKER WILLIAM DRAKE ELEKTRA KURTIS­ Cello / BRIAN CARROTT JOSEPHINE MORRIS STEWART DIERDRE MURRAY ELI FOUNTAIN AMINA CLAUDINE MIRIAMPAPP ABDULWADUD WARREN SMITH MYERS MARC SABAT ASHAPUTLI DAVID SOLDIER MARIANNE WELLS Visual elements were made possible by: 3M Commercial Graphics Division; Cmoll Janis, Sidney Janis Gallery; and Artists Grants/Artists Space. Run Silent, Run Deep, Run Loud, Run High was commissioned by the Brooklyn Academy ofMusic 1987 NEXT WAVE Festival and the New York State Council on the Arts/Composer Commissions. The HENRY THREADGIlL program is made possible, in part, by a grant from MEET THE COMPOSER, INC. The music events ofthe NEXT WAVE Festival are made possible, in part, by a grant from the MARY FLAGLER CARY CHARITABLE TRUST BROOKLYN ACADEMY OF MUSIC I ,I IIi.------FE:;~~AL SPONSORED BY PHILIP MORRIS COMPA~IES I~C. The 1987 NEXT WAVE Festival is sJX>nsor.cd by PHIl.lPMORRIS COMPANIES INC. The NEXT WAVE Production and Touring Fund and Festival are supJX)rted by: the NATIONAI.. ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS, THE ROCKEFELl.ER FOUNDATION, THE FORD FOUNDATION, THE ELEANOR NAYLOR DANA CHARITABLE TRUST, PEW CHARITABLE TRUSTS. the BoorH FERRIS FOUNDATION. THE HENRY IXlCE FOUNDATION, INC., the AT&T FOUNDATION, THE HOWARDGILMAN FOUNDATION, THEWIl.LIAM AND FlA>RA HEWLEIf FOUNDATION, the MARY FI"A(il..ER CARY CHARITABLE·TRUST, THE HINDUJA FOUNDATION, THE EDUCATIONAl" li'OUNDATION OF AMERICA, the MORGAN GUARANTY TRUST COMPANy, ROBERT W. WILSON, THE REED FOUNDATION INC., the EMMA A. SHEAFER CHARITABI"E TRUST, SCHLUMBERGER, YVF.sSAINT LAURENT INTERNATIONAL. andthe NEW YORK STATE COUNCIL ON THE ARTS. Additional funds for the NEXT WAVE Festival are provided by: THE BEST PRODUCTS FOUNDATION, COCA-COLA ENTERTAINMENT, INC., MEET THE COMPOSER, INC., the CIGNA CORPORATION, THE WILLIAM AND MARY (;RIt:VE FOUNDATION, INC.. the SAMUEJ.. J. NEWHOUSE FOUNDATION, THE ARMAND G. ERPF FUND, the ARTHUR ROSS FOUNDATION. the HARKNF..SS BALLIt:T FOUNDATION. INC., THE WEILER-ARNOW FOUNDATION. AIR INDIA. REMY MARTIN AMERIQlJIt:. the BAM Committee for THE MAHABHARATA. and the BAM NEXT WAVE Producers Council. WNYC-FM is the official mdio station ofthe NEXT WAVE Fcstivdl. The Producers Council provides annual privdte patronage ti>T BAM's NEXT WAVE Festivdl and also organizes and sponsors seminars. exhihitions, puhlications. and special events for this program throughout the year. The Brooklyn Academy of Music wishes to express it" appreciation to Theatre Development Fund for it" sUpJX)rt ofthis season. The BAM fdcility is owned by the City ofNew )'t>rk and it" operdtion is supported. inpart. with puhlic funds provided through the NEW YORK CITY DEPARTMENTOFCUI,TURAI. AFFAIR~. The principal capital funding tilr the BAM MAJESTIC THEATER WdS provided by the City of New )'t>rk through the New York City Department ofCultuml Affairs with the special assistance of the Brooklyn Borough President's Office and the Office of the Mayor. Joseph V. Melillo, Director Michael O'Rand, General Manager Philip Bither, Associate· Director/Music Curator RUN SILENT RUN DEEP Intermission RUN LOUD RUNmGH PROGRAM NOTES Run Silent, Run Deep, Run Loud, Run High is a four-part chamber orchestra piece for 28 musicians (vocals, strings, percussion) conducted by Hale Smith. The composition combines elements ofstandard Western music along with non-Western influences. Ihave gathered many ofthe finest and most well-known musicians in con;. temporary jazz to work on this piece, my largest to date. Run Silent was created through extensive rehearsals which utilized collective improvisation. The conductor coordinates the vocal score and subtextfrom the view­ point ofritual. Playing the alto saxophone, I serve as the onstage improviser/stimulator/activator/cantor, and in this role, I improvise, blend, and conduct the music from my perspective. My interest in ritual has been the key­ stone ofthe piece's development and performance. Creation, and the natural unity and common evolution ofall life-and all music-is the piece's underlying theme. The concept ofmatter and anti-matter helped provide me with a unique perspective toward a new approach to music. Run Silent, Run Deep, Run Loud, Run High focuses particular attention ontwo instrument groups that Western concert music has neglected: the voice and percus­ sion. In this work I consider the voice as part ofthe orchestra, the first instrument in the history ofWestern music. The blending with this ensemble and the manipulation oftext, non-text, and pure sound will be the voice's roles. While percussion has not been emphasized in the Western musical tradition, it has been central in other world music. I believe that the next evolution ofacoustical music will depend heavily on percussion. Strings are appreciated in Western music but have not played a great part in improvisational music. This is why I have made extensive use ofthem in this composition. Finally, the entire piece is both written and collectively improvised from a ritualistic viewpoint. Henry Threadgill November 1987 HENRY THREADGILL (Composer, Soloist), born ment for the Arts and has sat on the Board ofDirec­ and raised in Chicago, was for many years an active tors ofthe American Music Center, Composers member ofthe acclaimed jazz collective, the Asso­ Recordings Inc., and the Board ofGovernors ofthe ciation for the Advancement ofCreative Music American Composers.Alliance. He is also a Professor .(AACM). He worked closely in the AACM with Emeritus ofMusic at the University ofConnecticut. Muhal Richard Abrams in the late '60s. Since 1971 he Mr. Smith's works have been performed by the ttas led the highly influential jazz trio Air. He moved National Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, the to New York in 1978 and formed his Sextett, which New Orleans Symphony, the New York Philhar­ has attracted international acclaim for its recordings monic, the American Symphony Orchestra, the and live performances. Mr. Threadgill also leads his Symphony ofthe New World and the Cincinnati Wmd-String Ensemble and an 18-piece dance band. Symphony, among others. Recordings ofhis works In February 1987, he premiered his Piecefor Cham­ include Contoursfor Orchestra by the Louisville ber Orchestra #1 at the CalArts New Music Festival. Orchestra, Ritual and Incantations by the Detroit In addition, Mr. Threadgill has actively composed Symphony. Numerous additional recordings feature music for a range oftheater, dance and performance Mr. Smith as conductor. He has written for such jazz projects. His most recent recording with the Sextett, lumin~es as Eric Dolphy, Chico Hamilton, Billy You Know the Number, is on RCA Novus. In 1988, Mitchell, Dizzy Gillespie, Abby Lincoln, Frank RCA Novus will release the Sextett's Easily Slip Into Foster and Amhad Jamal. Another World: AKBAR ALI (Violin) is a noted composer and HALE SMITH (Conductor) was born in Cleveland improvisationalist. He is the founder and leader ofthe in 1925. He holds a BA (1950) and an MA in compo­ Black Swan Quartet. Mr. Ali performs and records sition (1952), both from the Cleveland Institute of with Df;lVid Murray, Alice Coltrane, Reggie Workman Music and has studied composition with Marcel Dick. and Ronald Shannon Jackson. He holds a math degree He has served as a music panelist for the New York from Carnegie Mellon and a music degree from State Council on the Arts and the National Endow- Cleveland Music School Settlement. THURMAN BARKER (Percussion) is an original FRED HOPKINS (Bass) Performs many kinds of member ofChicago's AACM and recently released music. In Chicago he studied with Walter Dyett and his debut album as leader entitled Voyage on Up Tee Joseph Gastafeste ofthe Chicago Symphony. Mr. records. He presently Performs and records on drums Hopkins holds, among several music awards, the and marimba with the Cecil Taylor Unit. Downbeat Critics Poll Award and Record ofthe Year RAYMOND BAZEMORE (Bass) is known in music Award for his Performance with the group Air. He from mllsical comedy to oPera. As a member ofthe has been co-leader ofAir since its founding in 1971. New York City Opera, Mr. Bazemore made his·debut He has Performed with groups including Mercer with Anthony Davis' oPera X in 1986. He has Per­ Ellington, James Moody and Muhal Richard Abrams. formed with the Houston Grand OPera, Washington He has Performed on over 65 records for labels as Opera, Virginia OPera, ArtPark Festival, the Little Columbia, Arista, and RCA. Mr. Hopkins is the orig­ Orchestra Society ofNew York and on Broadway. inal bass player with The Henry Threadgill Sextett, LORI BERKOWITZ (Viola) is.on the faculty of and has toured to such countries as India and Japan. Manhattan School ofMusic. She is formerly first JASON HWANG (Violin) has Performed on the vio­ chair viola with the American Symphony and cur­ lin and viola at numerous Kool Jazz Festivals and rently plays in the Symphony ofthe New World. throughout Europe. He has recorded with Jerome ANDY BEY (Tenor) has Performed and recorded Cooper and Billy Bang and Performed with Reggie with Max Roach and Thad Jones and Mel Louis' Jazz Workman, Sirone, Butch Morris, Borah Bergman, Orchestra, Performed with Duke Pearson, Horace David Murray and many others. Silver, Andy and the Bay Sisters, and Gary Bartz, LEROY JENKINS (Violin) in a composer/Performer and has recorded with Stanley Clark.