Demetrius Spaneas |

It’s official!

My new CD, Sfumato, has been released!

This recording is a series of meditative duo improvisations with Russian Medieval/Byzantine-style vocalist Galina Parfenova. I will present a solo performance and reception on February 21 to mark the release. I am also happy that I am presenting this in my home town of Lowell, MA. Reception begins at 4PM, with the performance starting around 4:30.

One very important aspect of this recording is that I am not only the performing artist and composer on this CD, but I am also the producer, the publisher, and I have created my own record label, DSM (dspaneasmusic)–in which this is the first release, DSM-01–that will solely be an outlet for my own creative endeavors.

It was a lot of work, but very satisfying!

The CD is now available on digstation, CD Baby, and iTunes. Amazon and downloadable ring-tones available soon!

Once the whirlwind of this weekend is over, I will have all of the CD information up on this website–sooner rather than later!

As serendipity would have it, on the following day, February 22, I will be a special guest of both Middlesex Community College and Lowell High School. I will give a talk/presentation about myself and my career to LHS students. This special program is organized through Middlesex Community College. Below is a description of the program:

The Middlesex Community College Music Outreach Program started 5 years ago.  Our goal is to present high quality musical events which go beyond the normal school music curriculum for Lowell area high school students. These have included concerts, lectures, demonstrations and workshops presented by professional musicians of the highest caliber, including members of the Boston Symphony, as well as MCC faculty.  Lecture/concerts are presented in the Assembly Room of the newly renovated Federal Building on E. Merrimack St.

This is exciting for me! As any of you who have followed my travels know, I love giving these types of talks…not to talk about ME, per se, but to talk to students who may be interested in pursuing a career in music. I will tell them the truth…both the good and the bad, the happiness and the frustration, the elation and the devastation. The ones who are serious will hopefully understand…others, well, others may not be ready to hear quite that intense of a message.

Also, it’s important for me in these talks to discuss other cultures and how the US is looked upon internationally. I will also tell them the issues that I have personality encountered as an American traveling into less than friendly regions of the world. Again, many may not understand the weight of such issues, but the ones who are ready will listen, and begin to understand.

It’s always an issue what to tell someone who wants to pursue a career in the arts, to major in it at college. It’s a difficult call; usually, I would tell someone that if they can do something else, anything else, do it…

…the problem is when you can’t do anything else. I’m not talking about skills here…I’m talking spiritually. If your soul will not allow anything else, then you have no choice…you must. If it can allow other possibilities, then don’t do it. This is the issue that most young people don’t understand until it’s sometimes too late. They liked singing or playing in a band in high school, and then think that they’ll do this only, usually with very poor guidance from teachers and mentors…they have no real understanding of what they need to do, or what will be expected of them.

They also have no idea what they’re getting into…

This is where these talks are helpful. Young people can ask questions…this is where I can be of best service to them. They have to understand that most of what they know about the career, about the economy, about music education at the high school and college levels in the US, and about the reality of job opportunities are completely wrong.

It’s all about honesty, which is unfortunately something that young people don’t always get when being wooed by college programs or other types of–for lack of a better word–promoters.

But I’ll do my best for them–I have to.

One last thing–for those of you who are keeping score at home, I have decided to go back to my metal Otto Link 8 on tenor…‘The Cannon’, i. e., the Dukoff 10* is going back in the archives as a memento of a past life. We tried for a while–we were mutually exclusive for a month, but just decided that too much time had passed and we had drifted apart…

Actually, in all honesty, I like a lot of what the Dukoff brings in so far as power and edge, but the Link is overall the most complete mouthpiece. Well, that’s OK…I started on a Link, almost exclusively played on a Link until I was with the Funk Brothers (actually, I switched to the Dukoff when I played with Three Dog Night for some reason…). I mean, Coltrane played on a Link…you can’t get better than that.

Peace,
Demetrius

ps–I did go back to my bigger set-ups on clarinet and bass clarinet recently, but that’s a story for another time.

More Info: Mike Frengel m.frengel@neu.edu

http://www.musictech.neu.edu/2010springconcerts

Electroacoustic Music Series
Sponsored by the Music Technology program at Northeastern University

Spring 2010: Concert 1 of 4
1/23/10 – 8pm

Gilles Gobeil, Featured Composer
After studies in music theory, Gilles Gobeil completed his Master’s in composition at Université de Montréal. Since 1985 he has concentrated on the creation of acousmatic and mixed works. His compositions approach what is known as “cinéma pour l’oreille” (cinema for the ear); many of them are inspired by literary works and seek to “visualize” them through the medium of sound.

Gobeil has been awarded more than twenty prizes in Canada and internationally, such as Black & White (Portugal, 2009), Ars Electronica (Austria, 2005, 1995), Bourges (France, 2009, 1999, 1989, 1988), Stockholm Electronic Arts Award (Sweden, 1997, 1994), CIMESP (Brazil, 2001, 1999, 1997), Métamorphoses (Belgium, 2002, 2000), British Design & Art Direction (2002), Ciber@rt (Spain, 1999), Luigi Russolo (Italy, 1989, 1988, 1987), Newcomp (USA, 1987), SOCAN (Canada, 1993), Conseil Canadien de la Musique (1985), Brock University (1985), SDE Canada (1984). He received the Prix Opus 2004–05 (Disc of the Year) from the Conseil québécois de la musique (CQM) for his disc Trilogie d’ondes; in 2003–04, Le contrat was a finalist in the same category.

He has received commissions from Codes d’Accès (Montréal), empreintes DIGITALes (Montréal), GMEB — Groupe de musique expérimentale de Bourges (France), Musiques & Recherches (Belgium), Réseaux des arts médiatiques (Montréal), Société Radio-Canada, ZKM — Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie (Germany), Totem Contemporain (Montréal), Folkmar Hein, and from the performers Suzanne Binet-Audet, René Lussier, Arturo Parra and Rick Sacks.

He has also been Composer-in-Residence at The Banff Centre (Canada, 1995, 1993), Bourges (France, 1991), GRM — Groupe de recherches musicales (France, 1993), ZKM — Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie (Germany, 2009, 2007, 2006, 2005) and was Guest Composer of the DAAD’s Artists-in-Berlin Programme (Germany) in 2008.

Gobeil is currently a professor of music technology at Drummondville CEGEP, where he has been teaching since 1992, and has been Guest Professor of electroacoustics at the Université de Montréal (2005–06) and at the Montréal Conservatory (2007). He is a member of the Canadian Electroacoustic Community (CEC), Associate Composer of the Canadian Music Centre (CMC) and co-founder of Réseaux, an association dedicated to the production of Media Art events.

Edmund Campion, Composer
Edmund J. Campion received his Doctorate degree in composition at Columbia University and attended the Paris Conservatory where he worked with composer Gérard Grisey. Campion is currently Professor of Music at the University of California, Berkeley, where he also serves as Co-Director at CNMAT (The Center for New Music and Audio Technologies). Prizes and honors include the Rome Prize, the Nadia Boulanger Award, the Paul Fromm Award at Tanglewood, a Charles Ives Award given by the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and a Fulbright scholarship for study in France. Recent projects include a Fromm Foundation commission for Outside Music, written for the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players and a French Ministry of Culture Commande d’etat for Ondoyants et Divers (Billaudot Editions, Paris), written for the Percussion de Strasbourg Ensemble.

Mike Frengel, Composer
Mike Frengel holds B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in electroacoustic music composition from San Jose State University, Dartmouth College and City University, London, respectively. He has had the great fortune to study with Jon Appleton, Charles Dodge, Larry Polansky, Denis Smalley, Allen Strange, and Christian Wolff. His works have won international prizes and have been included on the Sonic Circuits VII, ICMC’95, CDCM Vol.26, 2000 Luigi Russolo and ICMC 2009 compact discs. Mike serves on the faculty of the music departments at Northeastern University and Boston Conservatory, where he teaches courses in music technology and composition.

Elainie Lillios, Composer
Elainie Lillios’ music reflects her fascination with listening, sound, space, time, immersion and anecdote. Influential mentors include Jonty Harrison, Pauline Oliveros, Larry Austin and Jon Christopher Nelson. She has received grants/commissions from Rèseaux, International Computer Music Association, La Muse en Circuit, New Adventures in Sound Art, ASCAP/SEAMUS, LSU’s Center for Computation and Technology, Sonic Arts Research Centre, Ohio Arts Council, National Foundation for the Advancement of the Arts and others. Her composition Veiled Resonance won First Prize in the 2009 Concours Internationale de Bourges, with other awards from the Concurso Internacional de Música Electroacústica de São Paulo, Concorso Internazionale Russolo, Pierre Schaeffer Competition and La Muse en Circuit Radiophonic Competition. Elainie’s music is available on the Empreintes DIGITALES, StudioPANaroma, La Muse en Circuit, New Adventures in Sound Art and SEAMUS labels.

Demetrius Spaneas, Saxophone
Multi-wind instrumentalist/composer/recording artist Demetrius Spaneas leads a varied international career and has worked with such diverse artists as John Cage, Ray Charles, and Kyrgyz traditional musicians. He has been featured soloist and composer at major concert venues and festivals throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. Through his work with the US Embassy system, he has presented concerts and lectures on American music and culture throughout the former Soviet Union. His current cultural initiatives focus on Central Asia, the Balkans, China, and Russia, where he is Music Director for the International Foundation for Contemporary Arts and Humanities “APXE” based in St. Petersburg. For details and upcoming events, please visit: http://www.dspaneas.com

2010 and Transitions

Is there a year that is not a transition year? In the grand scheme of things, change is constantly happening around and within us; the size and scope of this change, and how it effects our consciousness, defines whether or not we consider a period to be one of transition or not. For me, the idea of being ‘stable’, at least in a non-psychological sense, is so far removed from my consciousness that the idea of staying in one place, one job, or one state of mind, for an extended period is almost a dream. Change happens, constantly; for some of us, a life in constant flux is the standard.

It’s also interesting how an artist’s concept of self changes, or at least matures, over their creative period. 10 years ago, I was composing very little (although I was working as an arranger/orchestrator), running around as a saxophone teacher to multiple colleges, and freelancing full-time, playing well over 200 gigs a year…sometimes up to 4 a day. I would run from orchestra rehearsals on bass clarinet to matinee performances of a musical theater production to an evening jazz or rock gig on tenor. On the road, in constant motion, was a standard state for me. I actually couldn’t turn down work quickly enough, and I took less than half of what I was offered, purely for the fact that I couldn’t physically do everything and be everywhere–if I could fit it, somehow, regardless of the physical or psychological strain, I’d do it. I was one of the most working musicians in the Northeast, and I was miserable.

Many of my colleagues have asked me why. They tell me that their life’s goal was to play gigs; for many years, I also defined myself by what I was doing and with whom I was playing. “You’re working constantly”, they would say, “you get to play out every day and play with all of these great musicians and ensembles. I would kill for that.”. Yes, I was, but the excitement of it–realize, I enjoyed the crazy life-style much more than the actual gigs–was wearing thin and I found myself progressively more and more unsatisfied.

My transition from freelancer to artist started in the early 2000’s. After an extended period of both physical and spiritual trauma came to an end, I started focusing on me as artist rather than me as ‘worker bee’, or a better analogy, ‘drone’. Work was becoming less and less during this period, anyways; the post-9/11 world had little desire or funding for the arts or interest in live music, and gigs, once plentiful, dried-up quickly. Within the first year following the attacks, my gig numbers were half what they were the previous year and dwindling rapidly. It was then (2002) when I decided to record my first solo CD and start to seek both a national and international audience.

I also began to compose again.

I always wanted to be a composer. Even in high school, I wanted to write and major in it in college, but there was no one to advise me. I had a great saxophone teacher in high school (Tom Ferrante, who taught at (then) U Lowell) who pushed me to New England Conservatory, where I studied classical and jazz performance, as well as took private composition lessons. I had always seen myself as a composer, and that my performing was just a means to this end. My original goal was to get a doctorate in composition, teach full-time at a university or conservatory (I actually love teaching), and by my 40s be doing both composing and performing, with composing becoming more prominent as I matured. Well, life (gigging, making rent every month) got in the way and I never achieved this. No time and not enough money to do it. I had to work, I had to hustle.

But through the many twists and turns over the last 20+ years, I found my way.

Amazingly, now, in my 40s, I have a similar artistic career to what I wanted. I don’t have the doctorate nor a full-time teaching gig, but I have created a unique career as a composer/performer. I don’t gig much any more–this means I’m not playing music that I don’t like just for money–but play either my compositions or music by my friends whom I want to help, to champion. I don’t have the stability that I yearned for, but I do have the flexibility of not being tied to a specific city, or country. I’m no longer on the first-call list for orchestras or pit bands, but I am on the international festival circuit as a performer and composer, which is amazing. I’m finally an artist, and thankfully, still growing and maturing as one.

Sometimes, it’s hard to remember that it’s OK to be a creative artist and not a money-making machine. It’s difficult to not let life get in the way of living fully. Maybe my New Year’s resolution will be to turn this thought into a daily mantra.

That being said, I look forward to the transitions of 2010. I have been living in Boston since fall 2008. My position at Northeastern University may well be coming to an end in June (I have a two-year contract, renewal dependent on funding) and again, I will be in flux. Chances are, I will be in another city, if not another country–options are being weighed–dependent solely on opportunities and how they evolve over the next couple of months. Even if my position continues unaltered, chances are that I will move back to NYC and commute; I thrive in that creative atmosphere, and all of my important artistic work in the US is there…Boston, for me, holds very little of artistic interest.

I also look forward to the wonderful projects that I am engaged in; many of these will come to fruition in 2010. As I have said many times, as an artist, one must constantly produce at the highest possible level; it is through this body of work that one is remembered, that one is impactual and influential, and that one continues live in the collective consciousness long after their physical body dissolves.

I am probably most proud of the two recordings that will both be released in 2010. The first, entitled Sfumato, was recorded in St. Petersburg, Russia in December 2007. This is a collection of meditative improvisations with Medieval-style overtone singer Galina Parfenova. The two of us went into a studio and just interacted…it was natural, organic, and if I may say, beautiful. This will be released in February; this was also the first of my recordings that I decided to be the sole producer on, so there is an added bonus that it is the first of my catalog.

The second CD has a very different vibe, but was created in much the same way. November Snow was recorded in Beijing by German sound master Jurgen Frenz. The CD is a collective improvisation of myself, Neil Rolnick, and Bruce Gremo. This series of improvisations uses technology (computers and interactive electronic instruments, as well as acoustic instruments) where Sfumato was purely acoustic. We are planning on sending this to major labels, primarily in Europe–we believe that we have something special and powerful.

It will be a busy year compositionally. Right now, I am engaged in writing a piece for the Rome, Italy based ensemble Piccola Accademia Degli Specchi. This wonderful ensemble has a special love for living American composers. The work, entitled Love Letters in the Ether, will be the centerpiece of their US tour and I hope that it will become a mainstay in their repertory for European concerts and festivals, as well; I am actually working with them to produce this US tour. It’s a big work, and one of the strongest pieces I have written.

I also am going to write a large-scale piano work for my friend Susanne Kessel in Bonn, Germany. I have been wanting to write a piano work of large size and scope for a while now, and Susanne is absolutely a wonderful artist. I also hope to schedule the premier to coincide with my own concert/lecture tour of Germany sometime during the 2010-2011 concert season in which I will travel to multiple cities.

Boston-based choreographer Rebecca Rice and I are working on a new production entitled Energy Theory. This piece will present energy as an eternal force of creation and transformation; this will be done through music, costume, and modern dance choreography. I will write for a small ensemble that features me as improviser.

I need to write an orchestra piece…it’s been a while, a really long while…not counting working as an orchestrator, I haven’t written for orchestra since I was a student. There wasn’t a need to; as a composer/performer, one writes mostly for oneself. But it’s time to have a mature orchestra work in my catalog. I may actually take one of my large chamber pieces or film scores and adapt it for orchestra; I have some compositions that I believe will work beautifully and have a whole new life in this format. We’ll see…

Concerts and traveling are starting to come together for the spring. The main trip in the works is to Dushanbe, Tajikistan. I am organizing a collaborative project with both the Bactrian Cultural Centre and the US Embassy in Dushanbe. I will organize a ensemble that combines American Jazz (me) with traditional Tajik music and musicians. We will be the centerpiece for their Jazz Festival, and then do outreach concerts throughout the country. Of course, this project depends on my fundraising, so I will be working on this intensely over the next few months. More on this later on.

NYC, as always, holds my most interesting US endeavors. My group The Sapphire Ensemble will be organizing our annual spring concert at (most likely) the ICO Gallery. This location will be dependant upon whether or not they have their piano ready; they most recently moved to a larger location in Chelsea. This is why the date is not yet set.

My main concert of the spring, however, is as a soloist. I will present my program Metanoia : A Monologue on Life, Loss, and Rebirth on April 12 as part of the Composers Collaborative, Inc. concert series at the Cornelia Street Café. This is the first time in the organization’s history that they have given an entire concert to one artist; I am grateful for this opportunity.

We will see what happens, and where, in the fall.

I am happy to see 2009 depart. It was a year of angst (my trip to Uzbekistan), triumphs (my trip to China), and loss (the passing of friends, colleagues, and teachers). I am always one who looks to the future and never to the past. There is no event or time-period in my life that I would ever want to relive or revisit, and I would never want to go back…only forward. The wonder of 2010 is that it hasn’t happened yet, so the possibilities–the opportunities–are endless.

Happy New Year

Demetrius

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.

I am very excited to be traveling to Beijing and Hong Kong for a concert/lecture tour.

In Beijing, I will be a featured performer and resident composer at the Musicacoustica Festival, performing saxophone works by Anthony De Ritis, Benoit Granier, John Mallia, and myself, including my Interlude 1 (Intension) and Interlude 2 (Reflection) for solo saxophone, and my Interlude 3 (Ascension) for saxophone and electronic drone.

Along with the Festival, I will be presenting concerts and lectures/master classes at other institutions and venues around Beijing, including: the Beijing Central Conservatory, the University of Beijing (Peking University), The Plantation, and the experimental club d22. The concerts will range from the above program to new works by Chinese composers to live human/laptop improvisational interaction. My lectures and master classes will range in topics from contemporary performance techniques and composition, to career topics for artists working internationally in the 21rst century and modern concepts in cultural diplomacy.

The second part of the tour takes me to Hong Kong where I will be a guest of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, presenting both solo concerts–including a new work by Hong Kong composer Wendy Wan-Ki Lee–and lectures/master classes to the University’s music students.

Looking forward to another great adventure!

Demetrius

On Lineage

We are touched by those who share their wisdom with us. As artists, we are an amalgamation of our teachers. Even though we may not be completely aware of this influence and how much it effects our creative process, it is undeniably there. Of course, sometimes the influence is negative and our creative reaction is to strive to be nothing like that teacher, but this is also influence.

I am writing this the day after the passing of one of my most influential teachers, Joe Maneri, a great creative spirit who taught at New England Conservatory. Joe was a free spirit, a kind and gentle soul who was very giving with his wisdom. I am also writing this because I have had three influential teachers pass recently, all of whom had incredible impact on my artistic life and whose teaching and concepts I have tried to pass onto my students. The other two were composer George Russell and composer/saxophonist Jimmy Giuffre.

Recently, I have been thinking a great deal about artistic lineage. I feel blessed to have been the recipient of great knowledge from those who were considered to be the masters of their field. The older I get, the more important this sense of lineage is to me. The older I get, the more concern I have for following generations that they are not only unaware of the lineage that they are a part of, but also that they have lost any sense of their place in the evolution of their art form. Most disturbingly, I find that many of the younger generations have no idea of history and have no idea who any of these people were.

Unfortunately, it shows.

I worked with Joe on both the performance and composition of microtones. Microtones for Joe meant dividing the 12-note octave into 72 notes. Suddenly, when you’re dealing with 6 notes to the ½ step, your sense of intervallic relationships becomes far more heightened. Being a color player (from the Joe Allard concept of wind playing–another tradition that has lost it’s adherents in the last generation–which is why this matters so much in my playing), the extensive work I did with microtones opened up so many new dimensions of my playing that I am still exploring it and finding new ways of applying it to what I do.

But Joe wasn’t just an innovator; he also came from a tradition.

Joe, along with others of his generation who taught at New England Conservatory, came from, either directly or indirectly, Arnold Schoenberg’s inner circles. Regardless of whether they were in the jazz or classical realm, the common denominator was Schoenberg, who taught in Boston and NYC after moving to the US. Love him or hate him, a contemporary composer can not deny Schoenberg’s influence, and I embraced his concepts because they were being presented by his disciples, who referred to him as “The Master”. None of us are dodecaphonists anymore–in 2009 one shouldn’t be–but the techniques that developed through Schoenberg, Berg, and most especially Webern are used constantly, even though the sonic outcome today is much different. They have evolved–I use them in my own way for my own music–but they are there.

I remember when my theory teacher, who was a composer–they were all composers then, real composers, not theorists–reprimanded me for daring to add a major seventh interval to the final chord of a choral I had written. “You are a disgrace to this class, music, and everything that The Master had ever stood for” bellowed from my teacher…I learned and eventually, I understood.

My theory classes were taught by these composers. They used Schoenberg’s Theory of Harmony text, which is a wonderful book. They taught theory not by analysis, but by having us, all of us, write music using what we learned in class. Teaching the structure of music by actually doing it, not through the dry, chord by chord analysis and speculative methods of current pedagogical music theory which amount to little more than mental masturbation. Unfortunately, the current methods are now standard, theory has taken the place of craft, and the passing of knowledge is dying quickly in our universities and conservatories.

“Talking about music is like dancing about architecture.” Elvis Costello.

What I find equally disturbing is how little both classical and jazz performers understand the lineage in which they come from. I will mention Jimmy Giuffre, for example, and most young saxophonists will look at me with blank stares. I would then explain that Giuffre was the spear-head of the jazz avant-garde in the 50s and 60s; their answer: “That stuff has no effect on me, it’s dead, so why should I care?”. Worse are classical players who have no idea of their own teachers pedigree…no idea that their flute teacher comes from a tradition that goes back to mid-19th century France and that’s why he teaches them a specific playing style and interpretation. They don’t know, they don’t care…they only care about the grade and finding the easiest way out.

Most disturbing are the composers; those that create music. There seems to be this new idea that traditional training is no longer pertinent; they supposedly don’t need it. “Who cares about Monteverdi or Palestrina? They are long dead and won’t get me a job writing music for video games”. I know so many young composers–and for the record, the younger generation of teachers–who know so little of the tradition that they are supposedly continuing that it is laughable. Major composers whose works should be at the tips of their tongues are disregarded. They see people achieve fame outside of traditional modes of education and believe that they don’t need to learn anything other than how to land a job.

I am writing this because I have great concern about my art. I see what has been lost and am saddened greatly by the knowledge that no longer passes from teacher to student. This isn’t about conservatism or stagnation; for an art form to evolve, the sacred knowledge must be passed from the teacher, then the student fashions it in a way to reflect modern society. The process then continues. You must learn how to write by studying Monteverdi and Bach and Mozart, just as you must learn to play by studying (and understanding!) Heifitz and Gould and Bird. But it’s up to you now to evolve and continue the lineage; never looking backwards, but always moving forwards.

Based in Russia for a year, Demetrius Spaneas conceived and organized numerous interlocking projects and traveled from Germany to Kyrgyzstan presenting concerts. Join Demetrius as he shares his insight on creating international networks, producing concerts and festivals, and working as a Cultural Ambassador for the U.S. Embassies in the former Soviet Union.

Hosted by:

New England Conservatory Alumni Association

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

6:30PM-8:30PM

Offices of Chamber Music America

305 7th Avenue, 5th Floor, Manhattan

New York, NY

Demetrius Spaneas conducts the Northeastern University Concert Band. Works by Copland, Gould, Rossini, and Eric Schwartz. To be held at Northeastern University’s Fenway Center, April 6, 2009, 8PM.

Uzbekistan, February 2009

As most of you know, I am a performer and composer who travels overseas extensively, presenting concerts and lecturing at colleges and conservatories, most especially in Eastern Europe, Russia, and Central Asia.  My cultural initiatives are either of my own creation, collaborations with international artists and organizations, or as a ‘cultural ambassador’ working with the US Embassy system, primarily in the former Soviet Union, to promote American music and artists while stimulating dialogue and interaction with local artists.

You must also understand that none of my work is political by any stretch of the imagination. Unless you’re Pete Seeger, the mixing of art and politics is usually a foul one and is successful only rarely. I don’t care about politics–I do care about Humanism and the soul of the Individual.

This last visit to Uzbekistan, my third since 2007, was quite an experience on multiple levels. It showed me not only the state of the human condition and the fear instilled in certain societies, but it also proved to me the great human desire to communicate and share one’s feelings, and even one’s hopes…

I left on February 22 out of NYC, transferred planes in Moscow (after a 7 hour wait…typical, but I don‘t have any complaints about Aeroflot except the quality of the food…), and arrived in Tashkent on the morning of the 24th.

The first part of my trip was to be in collaboration with the Ilkhom Theater and the Omnibus Ensemble; the former being the only independent and uncensored venue in all of Central Asia (and before that in the whole of the Soviet Union) and the latter being the only contemporary music ensemble in Central Asia. These are wonderfully gifted people who are doing tremendous work, literally an oasis of art in a multi-country region. It must be understood here that this theater has received great pressure from the Uzbek government, and also great assistance from Western Embassies and art/culture groups, most notably the US Embassy and the Goethe Institute (Germany). The founder and director of the theater was murdered in 2007, a few weeks before my first visit. It is widely thought (and understood) that this was not a random occurrence, but one meant to stifle the theater for good, thereby destroying the one venue for free speech…

…but they battle on…

For this, our third collaboration, I was to be a featured composer and performer at the Black Box Music and Vision Festival. We were going to premier three new films scores that I composed especially for the festival: two films by Uzbek film-maker Sukhrob Nazimov which I would perform live to the films on saxophone with electronics, and a large film by Greek film-maker Eri Skyrgianni, which would be me performing as soloist with the Omnibus Ensemble, once again live to the film–basically this one was an hour and ten minute concerto. After much rehearsal, and must exhaustion, we presented a wonderful concert which was met with great reaction from both the audience and journalists present–a great success!

That was the 25th.

The next morning, the 26th, at 4AM I was picked up by the US Embassy delegation to fulfill the second part of my work there, which was as a cultural ambassador and to present concerts, lectures, and master classes in the country’s major cities: Bukhara, Samarkand, and back in Tashkent.

So…for eight hours we traveled across the plains, the cotton fields, the arid morning of Southern Uzbekistan. It was during this journey that it was learned that three Uzbek journalists (friendly to the West) were arrested and convicted of criticizing the Uzbek government….they were given 12 years in prison…

At this point, you must understand that this government, especially on the local levels, is one that is not only based on instilling fear and controlling speech and learning but also quite corrupt. The above mentioned cotton fields are worked by students forced out of school, and the roads are kept clean by the people in cars stopped by police on the highway for only that reason.

These arrests were probably a factor in what happened next.

It seemed as if the local governor of Bukhara decided that having an American jazz musician speaking at his music college was a bad idea. They may have been fear of a pro-democracy riot that my presence would ignite, or fear that jazz, that symbol of Western decadence which was outlawed in the Soviet Union, would allow the students too much of an understanding of freedom…

…these may be, and probably were for the most part, true, but it must also be known that probably the biggest factor was the fact that he was insulted that the US Embassy went above his head and below for permission, but didn’t ask him directly…

…so he decided to put an end to it…

We found out that the teachers who had invited me decided to move the event off-campus to a local music school, thereby following the letter of the law not to allow me on campus, but not the spirit. After a quick talk through, I took stage with three Uzbek teachers who have a jazz trio. We had fun, and the students there got something new and had the opportunity to learn…the director of that school was tremendously stressed because he knew that once the officials and the NSS (former KGB)knew of the location, they’d shut it down and take people away…which is what basically happened.  After we got off stage, and as I was overrun with students asking questions and wanting autographs, the NSS came in, and told the director of that school that he was to report to headquarters…as far as I know, he was only reprimanded.

From that point on, we were under constant NSS surveillance. Wherever we went: restaurants, hotels, walking in town, driving…we were watched and followed. We would literally turn around and 2 people would duck behind a building…and it wasn’t the same people all the time, either…you would think that they would have better ways to spend their money than to follow a jazz musician all around the country…

The next day, the 27th, we headed towards Samarkand. Now, in this instance, the director of that school was called in before-hand and forced to shut everything down and not allow me anywhere near the College of Music, and anyone who may have wanted to work with me was told that they better not even try. This was frustrating…I’m not the one hurt by this, the students are…their education is being truncated by arrogance and fear…all they want is dialogue, and that’s what they are denied.

To try and salvage something, we were in contact with a number of journalists who wished to do a television interview with me to help set the record straight and to show how beneficial this dialogue with me would be. We planned a meeting at the television studio, only to later find out that the studio was told that if I were to enter the building, it would be shut down. We organized the journalists to meet us in the conference room at our hotel, which we secured earlier that day…when we arrived, all rooms were closed to us, NSS men sitting in the lobby…

…so, we had an informal talk there in the lobby–no cameras were allowed. As it turned out, one of the teachers in Bukhara connected us with the one jazz musician, a pianist, in Samarkand, who invited me to play with him that night at this club in the city.

So, we all went. We had a fantastic time. The journalists recorded everything and interviewed me, and the pianist and I jammed for hours. It was all good until the journalists left…they were ‘called in’ by the NSS, their equipment and the footage confiscated…

Fearing the worst, we left the next morning (28th) for Tashkent to present there at the College of Music, NSS not far behind. We contacted the school and told them what happened, and were told that no one has said anything to them. We arrived, I taught, I played, I answered questions–it was a great event, exactly what the other two should have been. There were NSS men there, I believe (the auditorium was large, so I couldn’t be sure), but they sat and listened, took notes, and must have reported back that no pro-democracy riots had occurred and that I was actually quite the gracious guest…

Obviously, since I was doing something in the capitol city, the seat of government, it must be alright..

After all of this, I worked with some composition students from the Uzbekistan State Conservatory, crashed for about an hour (thankfully, I gave up regular sleeping back in the late 80’s) and was picked up by an Embassy car to go to the airport at about 2AM, March 1rst. They sent me through the ‘diplomatic passage’ just in case, but I don’t think that there was too much worry, but one never knows…something could have been planted on me which would make my stay in Uzbekistan ‘extended’ to say the least…

So now what, you ask? Well, I’m going back–I have to, my work is not done yet. Again, I believe that these actions were generated by fear–fear of losing control, fear of the unknown…the most basic human need is that of communication–this transcends arts and politics–people have a desire for dialogue. These teachers and journalists risked their careers just to communicate with me–this act can not go unheeded . I am in the process of organizing a new, large-scale, cultural initiative which will hopefully, with the Uzbek government’s approval (which by the way, on the highest level I believe wants this) stimulate artistic and educational dialogue between Uzbekistan and the West…

…we can only gain from this…we can only evolve as souls by learning from each other…and talking…

Thank you for reading,

Demetrius Spaneas

Immediately following my concert at the Omnibus Black Box Festival, I will be working with the US Embassy by presenting master classes and concerts in the major cities of Uzbekistan: Tashkent, Samarkand, and Bukhara. This will include performance and composition seminars, lectures on American music history and culture, and jazz concerts with university/conservatory students and local professionals.

Please Download the PDF Master Class Poster here