Videos
“Lilith: Mother of Dreams”
A monodramatic chamber opera.
Demetrius Spaneas, composer and clarinet
Alexandra Honigsberg, librettist and viola
James Siranovich, music director and piano
Christina Rohm, soprano in the title role
Before there was Eve, there was Lilith: Adam’s first lover, once human, made from the same dust, sensuality’s queen, bride of the Angel of Death, mother of opposing cosmic forces — strong, willful, unstoppable. She rules the storms of the skies and the heart — night owl, holy woman of power. From ancient tales of Gilgamesh and Enkidu, to King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, to Greece’s Lamiae and Daughters of Hecate, to Native American lore and Victorian Gothic Horror, Lilith looms large in the minds of men and women when the lights go out and they enter dream time. Some call her demon, predator, vampire — others mother, lover, elder, friend. But whatever the appellations, she persists in the realms of our imaginations, from holy books and high literature to popular feminist concert series, TV shows, and Japanese anime. Child of Light? Daughter of Darkness? Both? Neither? You decide.
Premiered on December 20, 2012 at Flushing Town Hall, Flushing, NY.
Dan Fridman, video; Mark Gallay, audio
Movements two and three–”With Tenderness” and “With Ecstasy,” respectively–of my “Three Dialogues for Saxophone and Orchestra”
Composed and performed by Demetrius Spaneas, alto saxophone, with the Greater Newburgh Symphony Orchestra, Woomyung Choe, conducting.
Premiere at Aquinas Hall, Mount Saint Marys College, Newburgh, NY, September 22, 2012.
Performing my piece “Soho Sophisticate” as part of my show on the Composers Collaborative, inc. ‘Serial Underground’ series at the Cornelia Street Cafe, NYC on December 4, 2011. Video shot by Carlton Bright.
2nd Dushanbe International Jazz Festival, May 3. 2010, Dushanbe, Tajikistan. My collaboration with the Tajik traditional band Mizrob, performing my composition “Open Letter to Dushanbe”, which is based loosely on Mingus’ “Open Letter to Duke”, and was dedicated to the people of Dushanbe for their kindness and hospitality. This piece combines jazz with traditional Tajik music. The words in the 2nd section, sung in Tajik, basically mean, ‘I look at you with undying love, but even though you turn away, I know your heart calls me, too’
Demetrius Spaneas, alto saxophone, composer
Mizrob, traditional Tajik ensemble
Sponsored by the Bactria Cultural Centre, Dushanbe, Tajikista
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Demetrius Spaneas plays a jazz improvisation encore (with a little Ellington thrown in) at the Mozartiana Festival in Gdansk, Poland; August 20, 2010
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“Courante” and “Sarabande” from “…no longer to his father…,” a contemporary suite of dances for solo saxophone based on the Baroque suite. Composed and performed by Demetrius Spaneas.
From my solo program “Metanoia: a monologue on life, loss, and rebirth” performed as part of the Composers Collaborative, inc. (CCi) ‘Serial Underground’ series at the Cornelia Street Cafe in NYC on April 12, 2010.
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“Three Graces for Clarinet Solo” : “Aglaea” (Beauty), “Euphrosyne” (Mirth), and “Thalia” (Good Cheer). Composed and performed by Demetrius Spaneas.
From my solo program “Metanoia: a monologue on life, loss, and rebirth” performed as part of the Composers Collaborative, inc. (CCi) ‘Serial Underground’ series at the Cornelia Street Cafe in NYC on April 12, 2010.
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From my solo program “Metanoia: a monologue on life, loss, and rebirth” performed as part of the Composers Collaborative, inc. (CCi) ‘Serial Underground’ series at the Cornelia Street Cafe in NYC on April 12, 2010.
I am playing improvisations on three of Karlheinz Stockhausen’s “Zodiac” (Tierkeis) pieces: “Aries”, “Leo” and “Sagittarius.”
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Aeolian Windbag op.75 by Nickos Harizanos
for Alto Saxophone, pre recorded material and video
Demetrius Spaneas – Alto Sax
Panayiotis Tsangas – Video
