Download faculty recital - Interlochen Center for the Arts

Interlochen, Michigan
24th Program of the 55th Year
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FACULTY RECITAL
Keith Aleo, percussion
Friday, September 30, 2016
7:30pm, Dendrinos Chapel/Recital Hall
PROGRAM
Temazcal .......................................................................................... Javier Alvarez (b. 1956)
Butterfly Effect ................................................................................. John Murphree (b. 1976)
A Stillness that Better Suits this Machine .................................................... Casey Cangelosi
The Elephant Looks Back ................................................................................. Ben Wahlund
Warning: This piece contains strong language and vivid descriptions of war discretion is advised. If anyone is uncomfortable, feel free to leave for the duration
of the piece or during the piece.
~ PAUSE ~
Tambourines .................................................................................. Rupert Kettle (1940-2005)
Lament for Paper and Pen ................................................................... Brian Nozny (b. 1977)
Premiere Performance
Gong Tormented ....................................................................................... Eric Moe (b. 1954)
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PROGRAM NOTES
by Keith Aleo
Florida Philharmonic
Since my high school years at Interlochen Arts Camp and Academy, I have been in love
with orchestral percussion playing and it was my goal to play percussion in a symphony
orchestra. I spent my college years working toward this goal, practicing all the orchestral
percussion instruments and short orchestral excerpts. I was fortunate enough to win a
position with the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra when I graduated college. I spent the next
20 years living my dream. For about 10 of those years I also enjoyed teaching part time at
the University of Miami. However, in 2003, the Florida Philharmonic filed for bankruptcy
and I lost my job.
Zildjian
Only months after the loss, I was fortunate enough to be hired by the Zildjian Company as
their Director of Education and Orchestral Activities. The company wanted a musician and
teacher in this position and I fit right into what they were looking for. I learned from my
Zildjian peers and superiors in the world of marketing and the music business industry.
After nearly 10 wonderful years with the Zildjian Company, I felt a calling to do more
teaching, to share my experience and knowledge as an orchestral performer and music
industry person.
Teaching and Performing
I once again struck by good fortune and was hired by the Boston Conservatory and the
University of Connecticut as a percussion faculty member. I was also able to keep some of
my duties at Zildjian as a part time employee. As the summer of 2015 arrived, I had the
honor to take over for teacher, John Alfieri, at Interlochen Arts Academy and make the
move to Michigan to begin year round teaching at the Interlochen Center for the Arts.
Looking back, during my time in the Florida Philharmonic and, of course at Zildjian, I
developed a reputation as the orchestral “percussion accessory guy” - specializing in the
small percussion instruments; tambourine, bass drum, cymbals, triangle, etc. I have always
enjoyed these instruments and have found that students lack knowledge or experience on
these instruments, as they usually focus on more of the mainstream percussion
instruments like snare drum, marimba, etc. I teach the small percussion instruments quite a
bit and present classes on these instruments at multiple schools and conventions on behalf
of Zildjian. I even went so far as to write a book of exercises, etudes and short duos
specifically for the tambourine, triangle, cymbals, and bass drum. I called the book
Complimentary Percussion (2012) to emphasize the importance of these instruments and
to diminish the use of the term “accessory instruments.”
Solo Pieces
Soon after I wrote Complimentary Percussion, I started to think further about the solo
possibilities of these instruments. Could one of more of these instruments actually be
featured in a solo recital? Are there any solo pieces for these instruments? Could they be
combined to form an entire recital of complimentary percussion instruments? The thought
initially seemed silly. However, as I began my research, to my surprise, I found that there
were many outstanding pieces for most of these instruments! I found multiple pieces for
tambourines, triangles, and bass drums. As I broadened and deepened my search, I also
found a multitude of excellent pieces for other small percussion instruments such as solo
glockenspiel, solo maracas, solo gongs, and even a bass drum concerto by Gabriel
Prokofiev, Sergei Prokofiev’s grandson! Solo pieces existed for almost every
complimentary percussion instrument I knew except, to my astonishment, cymbals.
Commissioning
In the fall of 2013, I began a commissioning project to increase the number of pieces for
solo percussionists, using cymbals as the predominant instrument. There are currently
eight composers from the United States, Sweden, and France committed to the project. A
collection of six out of the eight works will be released at the Percussive Arts Society’s
International Convention in the fall of 2016, published by Bachovich Publishing. The other
two pieces will be published independently by the composers. I want to acknowledge the
generous support of the University of Connecticut School of Fine Arts Dean’s Grant and the
Office of the Vice President for Research in helping to make this project possible.
Solo Recital
This evening you will hear a solo percussion recital completely comprised of complimentary
percussion instruments. This recital is a culmination of a four year project and tonight’s
performance will include three of the newly created works for cymbals, one of which will
receive their world premiere.
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Temazcal
Javier Alvarez
In the words of the composer:
Temazcal was written in 1984 and is scored for solo maraca player and electronic sounds.
The word temazcal stems from the Nahuatl (ancient Aztec) word literally meaning “water
that burns.” The maraca material is drawn from traditional rhythmic patterns found in most
Latin American music. In this music, the maracas are used in a purely accompanimental
manner as a part of small instrumental ensembles. The only exception is, perhaps, that of
the Venezuelan flatlands, where the role of the maracas surpasses that of mere cadence
and accent punctuation to become a more soloistic instrument in its own right. It was from
this instance that I imagined a piece where the player would have to master short patterns
and combine them with great virtuosity to construct larger and complex rhythmic structures
which could then be juxtaposed, superimposed and set against similar passages on tape,
thus creating a dense polyrhythmic web. This would eventually disintegrate clearing the
way for a traditional accompanimental style of playing in a sound world reminiscent of the
maracas’ more usual environment. The sound sources on tape include harp, a folk guitar,
and double bass pizzicatti for the tape’s attacks, the transformation of bamboo rods being
struck together for the rhythmic passages and rattling sounds created with the maracas
themselves for other gestures. The piece is dedicated to Luis Julio Toro who first
performed it at the East Mountain Artist Series in London in January 1984. ~ Javier Alvarez
Born in Mexico City in 1956, Álvarez studied clarinet and composition with Mario Lavista
before moving to the United States in the early 1980s and subsequently to Great Britain,
where he attended the Royal College of Music and the City University in London. A number
of Alvarez’s works incorporate elements from Latin American dance genres and his works
have been performed throughout the world. He was a founding member of Sonic Arts
Network and served as the Artistic Director of the Society for the Promotion of New Music
in 1993. He now lives in Mérida, in the Yucatan, combining activities as a freelance
composer and project animator.
Butterfly Effect
John Murphree
In the words of the composer:
Collaborative exchange is the theme of Butterfly Effect. One of my close colleagues at The
Boston Conservatory, former percussion faculty member Keith Aleo, asked for a piece
featuring the cymbal family. So this work is scored for two, amplified, suspended cymbals,
and three bell plates and was completed in the fall of 2014.
Keith also works for Zildjian, the world’s oldest manufacturer of cymbals. He invited me to
spend time at their factory where he and I picked the specific cymbals that were used at the
premier. Keith also introduced me to volume control pedals. I use them here to change the
cymbals’ microphone levels. This allows the performer’s hands to make and exchange
ideas over the grooves made by the volume pedals at his feet. There are no effects added
to the sound of the cymbals, just amplification.
Composer, instrument maker, and sound installation artist John Murphree was born in
Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1976. He holds a B.M. in Composition from Berklee College and a
M.M. in Composition from The Boston Conservatory. During graduate study, John also took
welding classes at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts.
Murphree’s concert works have been performed in Europe and the United States. His
installations have been staged at the Mobius Gallery, the School of the Museum of Fine
Arts, and he was commissioned to install a work at the Boston Conservatory in 2012
entitled Doppler Piano. John was a Fellow in the Arts at the St. Botolph Club from 20092012. In 2011 he was selected to collaborate in the Juddertone Choreography Concert. He
also led a team that built a xylophone made of ice and aluminum for Boston’s annual
“Chisels and Chainsaws” ice sculpture competition.
He is on the composition faculty at the Boston Conservatory, where he has taught since
2009.
A Stillness that Better Suits this Machine
Casey Cangelosi
A Stillness that Better Suits this Machine was commissioned by the Grover Pro Percussion
Company in 2013 and is written for three triangles, two wood blocks, a desk bell and a
Billotti Trinome. The Billotti Trinome, built in the early 1960’s, is one of the most unusual
metronomes ever created. It has the ability to produce three different and totally
independent rhythms at the same time at a multitude of tempos. The performer’s rhythms
interact with the 50 year old vintage metronome and the performer even uses the
metronome as a percussion instrument.
Casey Cangelosi is a versatile percussionist, composer and educator who has gathered
many honors for his work. He is the Director of Percussion at James Madison University in
Harrisonburg, Virginia. He has earned degrees in percussion performance from Rice
University, The Boston Conservatory and Utah State University. Since 2011, he has been
commissioned to write over 20 compositions by many performing institutions, universities,
companies, ensembles, and individual soloists.
The Elephant Looks Back
Ben Wahlund
Scored for solo cymbal and spoken voice, The Elephant Looks Back was completed in
November 2014 for Keith Aleo. The piece is inspired by a March 2013 article in GQ
magazine by Matthew Power entitled “Confessions of a Drone Warrior.” The article is
based on conversations with Airman First Class Brandon Bryant, a veteran of the U.S. Air
Force Predator Drone Program diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. In the
article, Bryant describes in detail what he saw, did, and his feelings regarding this new and
experimental kind of warfare. Bryant was one of the first recruits for the Predator Drone
Program.
Ben Wahlund is the Director of Percussion at the College of DuPage (Glen Ellyn, Illinois)
and music education faculty at North Central College (Naperville, Illinois). Ben also
conducts the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra’s Percussion Ensemble and is program
director for the Birch Creek Music Center Percussion Session, in Egg Harbor, Wisconsin.
Wahlund is an international, award-winning music composer, educator, and performer of
percussion. His works have been performed in the United States, Canada, Germany,
Spain, Poland, Japan, Australia, France, Taiwan, China, and most recently, Jordan.
Additionally, his compositions have placed twice in the Percussive Arts Society
International Composition Contest, first place for the Quey Percussion Duo Annual
Composition Contest, first place in the international Methanex "Symphony and Steel
Composition Contest" for a concerto for steel pan and orchestra, and second place in the
Keystone Composition Contest.
Tambourines
Rupert Kettle
Tambourines is a solo percussion work for three tambourines, played with the performers
hands, fingers, feet, and fists. The piece explores a wide variety of sound colors and
requires nearly virtuosic tambourine playing. The main rhythmic theme is repeated using a
multitude of techniques giving the piece a playful and almost comical character.
Rupert Kettle was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 1940 and passed away in 2005. He
studied both percussion and composition with numerous teachers including John Cage. He
taught percussion at Aquinas College in Grand Rapids from 1972-2005, where he founded
the Aquinas College Percussion Group in 1979 and served as its director from 1979-2005.
He received a D.F.A. honoris causa from Aquinas College in 2000.
As a percussionist, he often performed his own works and jazz pieces, as well as music by
John Cage, Joseph Celli, Philip Corner, Malcolm Goldstein and Lou Harrison. He served as
lead percussionist of the First Army Band on Governors Island in New York, New York from
1960-62.
Lament for Paper and Pen
Brian Nozny
In the words of the composer:
Handwriting has always fascinated me. There’s something visceral and quite personal
about it. I’ve always felt like I know a person better when I see something they’ve
handwritten. Perhaps this comes from my parents, both of whom have beautiful
handwriting, or maybe because my penmanship (as my grandmother used to call it) is
absolutely awful.
The use of handwriting has become somewhat of a lost art in our digital age. If you think
about what we actually write by hand now, the list is growing quite short. Even our
signature is starting to get replaced with “digital signatures” on documents. While I rarely
write anything to another person by hand (because of my previously mentioned
penmanship deficiency), receiving a handwritten item from another person is something I
always appreciate.
When Keith Aleo contacted me about writing a solo piece for only cymbals, a few thoughts
came to mind. The first was how individual each cymbal is. Even cymbals that are
manufactured to be identical tend to be different, sometimes quite significantly. The
second was how rarely we listen to just a cymbal. To let a cymbal sound alone and just
enjoy that sound for what it is seldom occurs in music today.
These connections of individuality and rarity between handwriting and cymbals were the
genesis for Lament for Paper and Pen. Many thanks to Keith Aleo for his dedication and
passion to this project, as well as his patience throughout the slow creation and
development of my piece.
Brian Nozny (b. 1977) leads a diversified career as a percussionist, composer, and
educator spanning a wide array of musical styles, including classical, jazz, world, and
popular genres. As a composer, his original works and arrangements have been performed
at respected academic institutions such as Indiana University, Northwestern University, and
the University of Texas at Austin. Notable ensembles that have premiered Nozny’s
compositions include the Caixa Trio, the Florida State University Percussion Ensemble,
and NEXUS. Currently Brian is on the music faculty at Troy University in Troy, Alabama.
Gong Tormented
Eric Moe
In the words of the composer:
The title comes from the ending of Yeats’ Byzantium: “That dolphin-torn, that gongtormented sea.” I have been fascinated by gongs for as long as I can remember, and for
over twenty years have kept at least one in my studio to whack for inspiration. Gong
Tormented was commissioned by the extraordinary Dominic Donato, who is even more
obsessed with gongs than I am. It was a pleasure to write this work for him, and it is thus to
him that I gratefully dedicate the piece.
~ E.M.
Astraddle on the dolphin’s mire and blood,
Spirit after spirit! The smithies break the flood,
The golden smithies of the emperor!
Marbles of the dancing floor
Break bitter furies of complexity,
Those images that yet
Fresh images beget,
That dolphin-torn, that gong-tormented sea.
~ W. B. Yeats, Byzantium
Eric Moe (b. 1954), composer of what the NY Times has called “music of winning
exuberance,” has received numerous grants and awards for his work. A founding member
of the San Francisco-based EARPLAY ensemble, he currently co-directs the Music on the
Edge new music concert series in Pittsburgh. Moe studied composition at Princeton
University (A.B.) and at the University of California at Berkeley (M.A., Ph.D.). He is
currently the Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Composition and Theory at the University of
Pittsburgh and has held visiting professorships at Princeton University and the University of
Pennsylvania.
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KEITH ALEO has a multifaceted career as a performer, educator and administrator.
Beginning in the fall of 2015 he was appointed the Director of Percussion at Interlochen
Center for the Arts, encompassing Interlochen Arts Camp, Percussion Institute, Adult Band
Camp and the Academy. He is also an Education and Orchestral Consultant for the Zildjian
Company in Norwell, Mass. His playing credits include the Chicago Symphony Orchestra,
Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra and, in 2004, the Boston
Symphony Orchestra. He was a member of the percussion section of the Florida
Philharmonic Orchestra from 1989-2003, and a member of the percussion faculty at the
University of Miami from 1994-2003. His teaching credits also include The Boston
Conservatory, The University of Rhode Island and University of Connecticut. Aleo has
given master classes and workshops on percussion instruments at numerous universities
conventions. Highlights have included the Percussive Arts Society State and International
Conventions, Paris France, the Paris Conservatory, the PAS Italian Percussion Festival
and multiple Music Educator Conferences. He is published by Bachovich Publishing.
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