For Saxophone Quartet.  Studio recording from February 2014.  Raymond Kelly, Soprano.  Ana Garcia, Alto.  Andrew Steinberg, Tenor.  Joshua Lang, Bari.

I. Call to Worship
II. Prayer for Deliverance
III. Gloria Patri
IV. Speaking in Tongues
V. Offertory Music: Or, the Day the Widow Van Sant Turned Pages
VI. The Lord's Prayer
VII. Sending Forth

The REVIVALIST

For 4 levels of instruments and three conductors.

Alex Burtzos, Conductor
Derek Cooper, Conductor
Anthony Constantino, Conductor

Martha Cargo, Piccolo Solo
Minhee Kim, Flute
Lindsay Hogan, Oboe
Eric Umble, Clarinet
Travis Larson, Bassoon
Maria Hadge, Cello
Charlotte Munn-Wood, Violin
Olympia Moy, Violin
Midori Witkoski, Viola
Irene Han, Cello
Evan Cannon, Bass
Cherie Khor, Piano
John Ringor, Vibraphone
Kevin Ritenauer, Percussion
Marcelina Suchocka, Percussion
Eric Goldberg, Percussion

12.14.12

For String Quartet.  Commissioned by the New Music on the Point 2014 Festival.  This recording is of the world premiere in Middlebury, VT - June 14, 2014.

Violin I - Christopher Otto
Violin II - Leah Kettelkamp
Viola - Farkhad Abdikadirov
Cello - Kevin McFarland

OMAHA (all the things you could be you are you were)

For soprano/tenor sax duo.  Recorded live in New York City, October 17, 2014.  To learn more about Alex Burtzos, please visit http://alexburtzosmusic.com/

Performed by Epoch Duo
Jordan Smith, Soprano Saxophone
Dan Kochersberger, Tenor Saxophone

One Final Gyre

David Bloom conducts "The Outlaw in the Gilded Age" at the Dynamic Music Festival.  Recorded live in New York City, February 2015.

I. Sawmill Shootup
II. Madame Maude & Her Whiskey Chorus
III. The Train Caper

David Bloom, Conductor
Chia-Ying Wu, Violin
Samuel Marques, Clarinet
Ilana Fabish, Horn
Andrew Steinberg, Baritone Saxophone
Borah Han, Piano

The Outlaw In The Gilded Age

For violin and piano, after images by M.C. Escher.  Recorded live at the cell in New York City, May 2015, by Charlotte Munn-Wood (Violin) and Yumi Suehiro (Piano).

This piece is in seven sections:

I. The Tower of Babel (a) (0:00)
II. Magic Mirror (3:53)
III. Waterfall (8:10)
IV. Relativity (13:02)
V. Belvedere (18:30)
VI. The Tower of Babel (b) (22:23)
VII. Another World (25:30)

The Impossible Object

Live recording made May 29, 2015 at the cell in New York City.  

Performed by ShoutHouse, with:

Mikaela Bennett, Soprano
Jai Issa, MC
Alex Burtzos, Conductor

Love & Loss & Loathing & Lizards

Recorded in Aspen, CO, June 2013.  

Raul Suarez, Violin
Stefan Van Sant, Clarinet
Alfredo Ovalles, Piano

Teach The Torches To Burn Bright

The world premiere of Alex Burtzos' "Gursky Songs."  Poetry by Daniel Neer, after images by Andreas Gursky.  Used by permission.  This recording made at the National Opera Center, New York City -- March 3, 2016.  For more information about Alex Burtzos, visit www.alexburtzosmusic.com.

Daniel Neer, Baritone
Megan Atchley, Violin
Maria Hadge, Cello
Jing Yang, Piano

TEXTS:

I. PARIS, MONTPARNASSE

Mother is home from work, I can tell
The red blind has been pulled down.
The one that matches the plush scarlet sofa where she is resting,
Shading her headache from the harsh afternoon sun.
There are two hundred sixty-four steps
From the Metro to our front door, give or take.
In the Winter, it's often dark when I walk home from school,
And Mother gets busy and sometimes works late.
But it's Spring, and it's light, and the red blind is pulled...
She is home, and I am glad.
I will wake her with a gentle kiss.

II. CHICAGO, BOARD OF TRADE

For twenty-five years I've clowned in this circus,
White-knuckled aboard a whirling carousel
With centrifugal force strong enough to
Pull me out of the game (if I'm not careful).

Cups of coffee greet each new day,
Scotch and sodas end them,
In between is heartburn and cigarettes
And endless wrestling with Bulls and Bears.

It's the weekends I live for, out on the lake.
Adrift in my boat, I daydream at water
And count down the months till retirement
Free from the cacophony of buying and selling.

Underneath the surface, fish swim in schools,
Evade their predators with razor-sharp moves,
Search for food and build their strength,
Using all their skills to survive to another day.

Those sun-kissed days are far behind and far ahead.
It's Monday morning, mid-November, forty-five seconds
Until the opening bell pulls me under the big top
And I am sucked into the surging swell.

III. FRANKFURT, HAUPTBAHNHOF

Which of these trains will take me to my love,
Who waits under a blue spruce at the depot?

What platform will lead me to a life full of hope,
That waits in green fields by the river?

How many miles will return me to my youth,
That flew quickly past like a golden finch?

What ticket will deliver me from this forlorn place,
This black cavern of dreams unfulfilled?

Gursky Songs

Musicians from the Aston Magna Music Festival perform Alex Burtzos' "SONATA/SONARE" at Bard College Simon's Rock, Great Barrington, MA.  

SONATA/SONARE (2016)

I. Finding
II. Losing
III. Searching

Daniel Stepner, Violin I
Edson Scheid, Violin II
Laura Jeppesen, Viola da Gamba
Michael Sponseller, Harpsichord

SONATA/SONARE

Alex Burtzos is an American composer and conductor living in New York City.  His work has been performed across the United States and Europe.  To learn more about Alex's music, please visit www.alexburtzosmusic.com (link below).

Alex Burtzos

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