Please join us Friday, December 4 at 8pm for our first concert of the season – Words and Music – featuring the winners of the Forecast Music 2009 Call for Scores.

Renee Weiler Concert Hall
at Greenwich House Music School
– only $10 at the door –
46 Barrow Street, New York, NY
Tel: 212-242-4770
Directions: 1 train to Christopher St./Sheridan Sq or the A, B, C, D, E, F and V trains to W. 4th St.

James Barry: Songs of Issa & unfulfilled
Clifton Callender: chansons innocentes (*call winner)
James Holt: Ham-Sah (**Forecast commission)
Jeff Myers: La Beaute (*call winner)
Jody Redhage: Starlings & This November
Eric Schwartz: Tra La La
Demetrius Spaneas: Moonlight of Lost Dreams

Performed by sopranos Amberleigh Aller, Jacquelyn Familant, Cameron Russell and instrumentalists Rose Bellini, William Harvey, Elaine Kwon, Isabelle O’Connell, Jody Redhage, Demetrius Spaneas.

New Traditions: music for winds and guitar

Demetrius Spaneas, saxophones
Robert Ward, guitar

Performing a variety of new and adapted works for saxophone and guitar, including: Astor Piazzolla Cafe 1930 from Histoire du Tango; Alan Hovhannes Suite for Alto Saxophone and Guitar; David Claman Aasai Neelaavey (means New Moon in Tamil); Pajdushka, a Macedonian folk dance; and the premier of my With Boundless Glory, She Transforms the World (a hymn to Usha).

Wednesday, December 2, 2009
12PM
The Fenway Center
77 St. Stephen Street
Boston, MA

On November 22, 2009 I will conduct the Northeastern University Concert Band in the premier performance of my Supplication and Exuberance for Symphonic Band. We will also perform works by Hector Berlioz, Gustav Holst, Johannes Hanssen, and James Barry. The concert will be shared with the Northeastern University Wind Ensemble, Allen Feinstein directing; the Concert Band and I will play the 2nd half of the concert.

Fenway Center
Northeastern University
Boston, MA
November 22, 2009
4PM

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I am pleased to announce that the UMASS/Lowell Chamber Singers (augmented by the Salem State Women’s Chorale and the University Choir of UMASS/Lowell on respective performances), under the direction of Murray Kidd, will present the U.S. premier of my Angels Praise Thee for women’s voices (5 parts).  The first performance was given in St. Petersburg, Russia in 2007.

Here are my notes on the piece and my text:

Angels Praise Thee layers various time periods and genres–from Byzantine chanting to the Protestant Hymnal to Barbershop–in order to bring the listener to a state of reminiscence of childhood and Holidays past, even evoking a wistfulness of bygone times. My text implies Gnostic Christianity, an early form of Christianity influenced by and influencing Hellenic philosophy and other Near Eastern religions.

Praise to Thee, Lord (3 times)

Angels praise Thee, Jesu on high
Kneeling to the Glory Divine
Guide us, sing on
Show us the way (Lord, to pray)
Show us to praise Him
All our mortal days

Beings of light, you know the True Mind
Mortals, we, are seeking to find
Guide us, take us
Lead us by hand (to the)
Road that will lead us
To Thy Promised Land

When this mortal skin we have shed (Dear Lamb)
Judge us by the life we have led
Wisdom, Dear Lamb
Our gift from Thee
To sing with Thy Angels
For Eternity

Performances:

November 19th 7:30pm at UML Durgin Hall Recital Hall
35 Wilder Avenue, Lowell, MA
Collaboration between Chamber Singers of UMASS/Lowell and Salem State Women’s Chorale
Lynn Shane and Murray Kidd, Directors
Ceremony of Carols, Britten;  U.S. Premiere of Demetrius Spaneas’ Angels Praise Thee
Emily Lewis, Harp

November 22nd, 2:00pm at St. Joseph’s Cathedral in Manchester, NH
145 Lowell St, Manchester, NH
Chambers Singers and University Choir of UMASS/Lowell, Murray Kidd, Director
Ceremony of Carols, Britten, Handel’s Messiah, part one, and Demetrius Spaneas’ Angels Praise Thee
Eric Bermani, Organ; Emily Lewis, Harp

Our China-America cultural exchange project culminates with a number of Chinese musicians and students coming to Boston and NYC to present lectures and joint concerts with American composers and performers.

The first Boston concert will be held at the Berklee College of Music on November 16 at 9PM. On this concert I will be performing saxophone works by Anthony De Ritis, Benoit Granier, and myself, including my Interlude 1 (Intension) and Interlude 2 (Reflection) for solo saxophone, and my Interlude 3 (Ascension) for saxophone and electronic drone. Also included will be electronic pieces by Boston composers John Mallia and Caroline Park, and electronic pieces by Chinese composition students.

After a brief residency in NYC at Rutgers and the Manhattan School of Music, the Chinese artists and students will return for workshops and a final large concert at Northeastern University’s Fenway Center in Boston on November 23rd. We will present works by Anthony De Ritis, Benoit Granier, Ronald Bruce Smith, and music by Chinese composition students. We will also perform the U.S. premier of a new work by John Mallia for saxophone, traditional Chinese instruments erhu and guzheng, and electronics.

This final evening concert on the 23rd will be the culmination of our international collaborations.

An article and interview in the Chinese University of Hong Kong newspaper, dated November 2, 2009. This discusses our China-America exchange and our thoughts on cultural diplomacy.

studentstandard-concert

China is awesome, and I truly mean that in the fullest extent of the word. The culture has always had for me a certain mystique that I have wished to experience; I, however, was not fully prepared for what I got, on numerous levels…

Seeing Beijing is an experience in itself. I have traveled across North America, Europe, and Asia and lived in large cities like New York City and Moscow, but I wasn’t ready for this…I have never seen a place that made NYC seem quaint…even disregarding the fact that Beijing holds some 20 million people, the size and scope of the city itself is massive. Huge, monolithic building surrounding super highways, going off in the distance in every direction as far as the eye could see…the city just doesn’t end. Beijing is about 16, 808 square km; to put that into perspective, the entire state of Connecticut is 14, 359 square km…and Beijing is all city.

And the city keeps growing so quickly that the world census can’t keep up.

Of course, a city so dense and populated has another problem. To call the air quality poor is about as vast an understatement as one could make. Picture a city covered in fog, and now make the fog brown…it makes Los Angeles feel like Zurich in comparison. From the moment I stepped off of the plane (in Beijing’s amazing new airport, made for the 2008 Olympics…absolutely massive) my eyes and throat started burning, and didn’t stop until, well, I left for Hong Kong, which has a different sort of pollution…more on that later. Playing was a problem–granted, the audience had no idea–it was a struggle to ‘find air’ to play. My first couple of performances were a challenge, but I figured it out (mostly…) by the end of the trip.

Speaking of getting off at the airport, from the time we entered the country until the time we left, we were constantly barraged by officials taking our temperatures; China has a great fear of Swine Flu, so one must have their temperature taken on entering most buildings, including the hotel. I would have my temperature taken 3 or 4 times a day, and the airport itself has special temperature sensors that go off if you pass by/through them with a slight fever. These were are electronic, so I can safely say that no one was sticking anything into me (thankfully!).

The hotel in Beijing itself was a unique experience. It was fine and clean enough, and the staff were friendly, although none spoke English–I found this funny since they deal primarily with Europeans and Americans who use English as the language of commerce. Breakfasts consisted of traditional foods like dim sum, sautéed vegetables, noodles, and really horrendous coffee (but, like the former Soviet countries, the tea was quite wonderful). The only real disturbing parts were the Karaoke bar, the massage parlors in the basement, and, worst of all, the constant playing of Kenny G in the hallways…not what I wanted to hear coming back from a concert…or from a meal, for that matter…

One of the more amusing experiences of the week was the omnipresence of CCTV, the main Chinese news and television network. They were filming a documentary on us (which was nice, mind you), and they followed us…everywhere…rehearsals, concerts, meals…from the moment I went through passport control I had a television camera on me. They followed me to the waiting car, filming my every move, which, of course, I exaggerated for the kids watching at home…including the occasional disco move to keep things interesting…

…however, there was one really annoying moment. French-Chinese composer Benoit Granier and I were working on his piece in a small studio at the Beijing Central Conservatory…this was a heated session, to put it kindly. The film crew shows up, and asks to come in and film the process at not the best of times. We allowed them to enter, but to our surprise they were followed by 19 students (mind you, this room was about big enough to hold six people standing) who were there to observe for their film class…I threw them all out, there is only so much you can take. As it turned out, both film and sound recording students followed their ‘masters’ to every event as an educational experience. Basically, this means that we had at least 25 extra people getting underfoot  constantly…we all lost it at some point…

The other major item (other than the music making) that I have to discuss is the food. My God, it was wonderful. I don’t think I ever ate so well in my life. Other than Russia (herring and mayonnaise, anyone?) the best culinary experiences I have had have been on the road. Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Greece, Bulgaria, even including the sausages and vodka in Ukraine…all fantastic and unique foods. But China…wow…fresh and spiced, not saturated in sauce and salt like in the U.S. All the meals were consumed ‘family style’, and my chop-stick skills, already mad, improved greatly. Beer was the drink of choice (a contribution of German immigrants from the 19th century), and the choices of meats and vegetables were fantastic. And dumplings…dumplings abound!

On to the music. Well, the main reason that we were there was to participate in the Musicacoustica Festival, which is an international festival of computer music and a subset of the Beijing Music Festival; this was held at the Central Beijing Conservatory. I say ‘we’ here…this alone was a different experience. Back in my Rock/Pop days, I of course was on the road with numerous people. In my mature (take this any way you will) role as an experimental artist, I have exclusively traveled alone–I’m ‘self-contained’, for lack of a better word; or, I collaborate with artists from whatever country I am visiting. This time, I traveled with colleagues from Boston and NYC: composers Anthony De Ritis, John Mallia, Caroline Park, and Ronald Bruce Smith from Boston, and from NYC composer/laptop artist Neil Rolnick and pianist Vicky Chow. For some events we were joined by other American and Canadian artists, including flutist/composer/inventor Bruce Gremo, whom I hit it off with instantly on both a personal and artistic level. All in all, it was nice to be part of a group rather than by myself. Although, other than one piece with traditional Chinese musicians and a club jam session (see below), I performed as soloist.

I have to say outright that the performances were fantastic and that the experience of meeting and working with new people made the experience a great one. There were, however, some major organizational and communicational breakdowns…’Gremlins’ they shall be known as for the rest of this blog. Here is where things are difficult: it’s one thing to travel to the unknown, but it is another thing entirely to be in the dark. Our Little Gremlins followed us from venue to venue, working their mischief and making us work extra hard to ensure that the concerts went off as planned, which, by the grace of, well, us and our ingenuity, they did…I must admit that I believe that the Gremlins’ actions actually helped to turn us into a working unit rather than individual artists doing our individual things. We became concerned with the whole, not only with ourselves. This was why we were successful in the face of adversity (or ignorance).

The most interesting events were the unexpected. On one evening, I played an impromptu show with Neil Rolnick  and Bruce Gremo at this experimental club called d22; picture a Beijing a version of CBGB’s…we went up, improvised for about 45 minutes, and realized that we had a fantastic rapport, better than any of us have experienced in a very long time. We decided to expand this relationship by recording a CD of improvisation with help of recording engineer/producer Jurgen Frenz at the Beijing Film Academy. This was a fantastic experience, and I am excited to hear the edited mix. We will then decide what to do with it and where/how to release it. Jurgen suggested the title “November Snow” in reference to the snowstorm that hit Beijing the day of our session. Now, you must understand the oddity of this: Beijing gets snow maybe 2 or 3 times a year, and never as early as November 1. As it turns out, the snowstorm was government induced…the Chinese are experimenting with weather control…I kid you not…

Another interesting point is that the Chinese seem to revel in pomp lavish production. For our concerts, we actually had special presentations beforehand and had pieces introduced (along with ’topical banter’) by a hostess (glammed-up to the max, with a perma-smile). It was like a combination of Olympic ceremonies cross-bred with a game show, and we had our very own Chinese Vanna White introducing computer music as if it were a variety show…kind of unnerving, but the audiences ate it up…this was NOT our idea, and to be honest, I think that most of us were less than comfortable with the spectacle. I sure as Hell was…

Size and spectacle seem to be the Chinese way. Looking over Beijing shows that, as does seeing many of the major modern and traditional sites. Tiananmen Square is massive…the largest public square in the world. The building are awesome to behold, and the Square, even if populated by tens of thousands, would seem empty. Behind the North entrance lies the Forbidden City, where the Emperor and his family stayed, never venturing beyond its walls. You wouldn’t have to…I was expecting a complex like the Acropolis or Palatine Hill, but this is a CITY in the truest sense. Massive (I keep using this word, but nothing else fits) buildings and temples and gates and sculpted grounds and gardens that go on for kilometers up into the hills overlooking the rest of Beijing. The Emperor would have up to 10,000 concubines, all living in the city, as well as an entire population of nobles, staff, and servants. And there was still plenty of room for everyone. Even the religious buildings outside the Forbidden City had this sense of largeness…the Lama Temple, a functioning Tibetan Buddhist monastery that we visited, houses the world’s largest Buddha sculpted from a single piece of wood (sandalwood), and stands 18 meters tall. The other palaces around the city show similar scope and size. The modern city continues this with massive store complexes and malls that dwarf anything one would see in the west…a complete consumer society keeping up with its populaces desire for goods. For them bigger is always better…

Before I get to Hong Kong, I have to make a comment about the people of Beijing. They were not what I expected. They were extremely friendly and kind, basically the opposite of what I encountered in Russia. In Russia and other former Soviet countries, one always feels prepared for the worst…you will be harassed and threatened, maybe extorted and have to bribe police unless you want to go to prison…China, not even close. I have never felt so welcome and so comfortable traveling, even in the West. From what I understand violent crime is basically unheard of, and people do actually have a great deal of personal and economic freedom, provided you do nothing against the government.  Follow the governments rules, and you’ll do well. Plus, education levels are very high, which is/was typical of Communist countries…Russia went from one of the most educated countries to considerably lower in a generation…and it’s dropping fast.

Beijingers don’t encounter Westerners very often, so we are somewhat of a treat for them. They come up and say hello on the street, and they smile, a lot. One night, a few of us went to a restaurant…the entire kitchen staff came out to look at us, for a long time…but, a smile is just a moment away…

Hong Kong is NOT China, let’s just get this out in the open. This is a Western city if there ever was one. It’s a shoppers paradise, and one of the great financial centers. The city is basically a combination of Times Square, Hollywood, and Palm Beach, and the skyline is breathtaking: at night, the buildings coordinate their lights in a great show of color. Hong Kong is small by China standards, about 7 million, and is really built upon the coasts of Kowloon Peninsula and Hong Kong Island. I didn’t feel as if I was in China anymore…there were Western stores, the latest European fashions, Citibank and Bank of America buildings, and I went to Starbucks for breakfast…a completely different vibe. On the television in the hotel, I could even get the YES Network and was able to watch some of the World Series on ESPN…obviously, this is an outward looking city.

Our hotel overlooked Hong Kong harbor, which is something amazing to wake up to every morning, and was located in the famous Tsim Sha Tsui shopping district, which is always shown in the movies…it felt like I was in NYC, it had that energy. The was a walk of stars on the water, like in Hollywood, which included a statue of Bruce Lee. The entire city is focused on commerce and tourism, and it was full of Westerners…we weren’t special anymore…

The best day in Hong Kong was when we took the ferry to Hong Kong Island, and took the tram up to the top of Victoria Peak to overlook the entire city…on the opposite side were beautiful beaches in the sunset, and the Peak itself was the location of multimillion dollar homes. It was NYC in a California climate. It was also the first time I could actually breathe again, up there on that peak. Hong Kong is also polluted, but it does have the ocean to temper it; Beijing is surrounded by mountains and borders the Gobi Desert, so not only is pollution an issue, but dust storms are common.

Our Little Gremlins did follow us to Hong Kong, but we had enough time to beat the critters back and present a good concert at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. It helped that this time we were basically expecting the SNAFU Principle that was constant these two weeks, so we were prepared, and to quote G.I. Joe, “knowing is half the battle”.

The flights were long, but direct. Hong Kong to Newark was 15 hours, by far the longest single flight I have been on. I found it amazing, and amusing, that I was looking forward to being in NEWARK so I could breathe freely again…it’s all relative…now, I need a week in Vermont to detox…

All in all, it was a tremendous experience. The camaraderie, experiences with the culture,  and connections gained far outweighed our Little Gremlin issue. I’m a better person for the experience and my artistic knowledge and sense has been enhanced and expanded by my colleagues and our interactions, both creative and personal. I thank them, and the Beijing Central Conservatory, for the experience.