It is with great pleasure that I announce that my chamber orchestra work, please…tell her, has been chosen as one of the featured pieces for Orchestra 60X60, a production of Vox Novus.

The project will contain 60 works, each 60 seconds in length, presented continuously in an hour-long orchestra performance synchronized with an analog clock. The 60×60 mission is to present an audible slice of what is happening in the contemporary music scene by representing 60 works that are diverse in aesthetic and style.

My chamber orchestra work, please…tell her, is programmatic. I had a vision of a man–a soldier, perhaps–at the end of his life; his final thoughts, his final wish, to have the woman he left know with his dying breath that he truly loves her.

I have included an mp3 file of a MIDI realization of the piece:

please…tell her

In other news, I will be promoting my upcoming Womens Work 2011 concert, as well as posting new performance videos, over the next few days.

Thank you for your continued support!

Demetrius

At this point in 2009, I hadn’t decided to release Sfumato (or anything else) and I didn’t have any international traveling planed. Needless to say, this changed rapidly and drastically.

Since I brought up Sfumato by name first, I may as well start with that. The idea to finally move forward with this project hit me in 2009 around, oh, now. It had been sitting on my desk (and desktop) for almost two years–I couldn’t think about what to do with it. Initial explorations found record companies interested in producing it, but for far more money than I wanted to spend on it. The issue was that I didn’t know what to do with it: it was a one-time recording, my collaborator was in Russia, so I couldn’t tour with it or use it for festivals; also, I really wasn’t sure what category it fit in…classical? not really; jazz? not at all; new age? maybe…I didn’t know what the audience would be.

So, I did what I considered to be the most reasonable thing: I created my own record label (DSM) and produced it myself. This was a lot of work, let me tell you…and even though it cost me literally 1/10 of what it would have to go through a record company, I paid for it in administrative work and publicity.

And, I had the release concert at the All Gallery in my home town of Lowell, MA. I wanted to do that for the city and for the arts scene there. I could have easily done it in NYC, but this felt right. Plus, I paired it with a talk to arts student at my Alma mater, Lowell High School.

But I’m glad I did it. It has been successful, and it is still selling–there will even be another publicity push early in the New Year, but that’s news for later. And, I now have a vehicle to produce other recordings, such as my single Spoken Origins that I released in October. More are coming in 2011.

Travel was a surprise, too. It was really around this time last year that I connected with the Bactria Cultural Centre in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. I was invited to be Artist-in-Residence for the 2nd Dushanbe Jazz Festival. This opportunity also coincided with my desire to promote cultural diplomacy in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, which I have been working on for the past few years.

As it turned out, the we did not get the funding needed to make this happen, so I started a Kickstarter project to help fund this. Many people seemed to think that cultural diplomacy and bringing jazz and American culture to the far reaches of the globe was a worthy cause, so we were successful.

The U.S. Embassies, who have been my collaborators in my outreach projects, were able to support me somewhat for this project. They brought me down into the countryside and up into the Pamiri mountains and along the Afghanistan border, meeting villagers and musicians and working with children. The Embassy in Baku was so interested in what I was doing that I immediately got an invitation to go directly to Azerbaijan from Tajikistan to do the same work there. A final stop and concert in Riga, Latvia by invitation and support by the Embassy there rounded out an amazing month of travel, concerts, and life experiences.

Amazingly, in Baku, I met a Polish pianist named Stanislaw Deja. We ended up playing an improvisation together–very off the cuff–of Somewhere Over The Rainbow, and he immediately invited me to Poland to perform a ‘Jazz Mozart’ concert with him at the Mozartiana Festival in Gdansk, Poland in August. I went. It was a great success!

Throughout the year, I had some great domestic solo performances, as well. I had two fantastic performances as Resident Artist for the Composers Collaborative Inc. Serial Underground Series: one for the 2009-10 Season, and one for the 2010-11 season, although both happened within the 2010 calender.

Probably the most fun concert I gave was half as a jazz soloist, and half as a classical conductor. I participated in the Best Buddies Carnegie Hall Fundraiser Concert. The first half had me playing an improvisation on–yes again–Somewhere Over The Rainbow (I like this song…), while the second half gave me the great opportunity to conduct my great friend and colleague and brilliant pianist  Elaine Kwon in the Rubinstein Piano Concerto No. 4, leading the New York Chamber Virtuosi. The fundraiser was a great success!

This was a great year for achievement in composing. For the second year in a row, I was recognized with the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers ASCAPlus Award, and I was a recipient of the American Music Center’s CAP Award. I had a number of pieces performed and recorded, and commissions for new works that came into being for upcoming seasons.

I also finally figured out youtube and twitter and all of their myriad possibilities. Come join me there!

Amongst the biggest news was my appointment as Assistant Professor of Music at Five Towns College, and my move back to NYC from Boston. My career has been centered in NYC for years–it was only a matter of time until I would return here. I feel at home.

So, all in all, 2010 was a pleasant surprise–heck, it was an amazing year! I don’t know what 2011 will bring. In a few days, I will write about what I have planed, and what I am setting into motion.

Only time will tell…

Yours always,

Demetrius

I decided to post a few pictures from the Best Buddies fundraiser concert at Carnegie Hall. In these photos: Enrique Pina, Elaine Kwon, and The New York Chamber Virtuosi; all photos, save the last and the flier, by Akabueze Kamau. I hope you enjoy!

Demetrius

Me playing solo

Me conducting tenor Enrique Pina; Puccini

Me conducting pianist Elaine Kwon; Rubinstein

Me conducting pianist Elaine Kwon; Rubinstein

Me, after the concert at reception

Concert Flier

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Join Best Buddies NY at Carnegie Hall for a magnificent concert featuring Elaine Kwon, an internationally acclaimed pianist. Ms. Kwon will be joined by celebrated tenor, Enrique Pina; internationally recognized saxophonist and conductor, Demetrius Spaneas; and Jessica Sibelman and the New York Chamber Virtuosi, one of the most up and coming classical orchestras on the horizon. Actress, Catherine Eaton and playwright, Brian Dela…ney, round out the roster, adding yet another spectacular component to the evening’s performance.

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Prior to the concert, at 6:00pm, a reception will be held including food, drinks and fantastic auction opportunities. Immediately following the concert, a private dessert reception with the performers will be held for sponsors and VIP ticket holders.

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In addition to an elaborate array of Silent Auction items, BBNY will auction off the Drop of Hope Necklace, custom made for the organization by world-renowned artist, Alex Soldier.

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Tickets are available from $50-$500.

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For Tickets, call CarnegieCharge: 212-247-7800

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Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall

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881 7th Avenue

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**Proceeds from the evening benefit Best Buddies New York. Best Buddies in a non-profit organization dedicated to establishing a global volunteer movement that creates opportunities for one-to-one friendships, integrated employment, and leadership development for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

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Carnegie Hall

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

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