Deception was composed in 2012.  It was awarded first place in the 2013 Susanville Symphony Composition Competition, American Composer Category.  The Symphony premiered the work at their Modern Composer concerts on April 19, and 21, 2013 with the composer conducting.

This recording is from a live performance by the UC Davis Symphony Orchestra at the Music and Words festival on January 31,2015.

Some of the thematic material in Deception began as underscore for a film.  The opportunity to expand on these ideas sparked the inspiration to create the piece.  Deception is a musical interpretation of the emotional progression felt when deceived: confusion, shock, anger, and disbelief.  The composition begins with a motif of intense slow glissandi, exploiting the microtones between the notes. Tone clusters shifting in dynamics, register, and timbre provide the harmonic background.  Immediately following is an expressive theme stated by the Cellos. These melodic fragments become the foundation of the work.  As the themes are developed, new motifs are presented in a series of dynamic and rhythmic peaks and valleys.  The ultimate climax is reached with a culmination of the main thematic ideas heard simultaneously in a rhythmic frenzy.  In the conclusion, the oboe now performs the expressive theme, while the intense glissandi become a whisper when stated by the violins as harmonics.


Deception

RECONNECTING is a programmatic composition that tells the story of participants in a unique rehabilitation program for juvenile and adult offenders with mental illness or substance abuse issues. The Treatment Court of the Delaware County Juvenile Court, Delaware County Municipal Mental Health Docket, and Maryhaven Treatment Center are designed to help participants gain control over their illness or addiction, to take responsibility for both their offense and their personal development, and to reconnect as healthier individuals to their families and community. The Central Ohio Symphony's Reconnecting program developed the groundbreaking therapeutic drum circles for all three of these programs. I traveled several times to Delaware to conduct research for the composition. I attended juvenile and adult court hearings and met with the program’s support team comprised of the Magistrate, Probation Officer, Therapist, and Treatment Services Department Head. This allowed me to gain valuable knowledge of the program and see firsthand the efforts taking place to help rehabilitate the offenders. I also attended a drum circle session and was able to speak directly with the participants about their experiences in the program, as well as witness the type of drumming techniques they were learning. From these discussions and observations I created the structure for RECONNECTING, which is built on the progression of the participants though the court program: their initial Offense, three rehabilitation phases, Graduation, and the Future.

The three rehabilitation phases possess common symbolic elements that create cohesion within the piece. The “Call and Response” sections represent the progress of the participants through the program and their relationship with the court and wider community. In phase one there is a “Call” from the orchestra but no response from the drummers. In phase two the orchestra’s “Call” is met with a mutual “Response.” In phase three the “Call” is initiated by the drummers and the “Response” is from the orchestra. The support team theme likewise becomes more positive and nurturing with every iteration. A gavel strike, in the percussion section, represents the frequency of the court hearings in each stage of the program, and is heard less regularly as the participants are granted more independence. Each phase also contains a “Story” which is directly inspired from my observations while conducting research for the composition. In addition to “Call and Response," other drumming techniques common to drum circle sessions that appear in the score include “Heartbeat,” “Shaker Pass,” and “Speaking” of names. The “Heartbeat” goes through several emotional transformations throughout the piece ranging from terrified to proud. The “Shaker Pass” is used in the Promotion sections to symbolize the passage of time. During the Graduation portion of the piece, the drummers announce themselves individually by improvising a musical interpretation of “Speaking” their names with the drums. This gives them an opportunity to express how they would like to be perceived on graduation day.

This recording is from the world premiere performance.  The orchestra was performed by the Central Ohio Symphony.  The drum circle was comprised of participants and staff of the court rehabilitation program from which the composition was inspired.  The drummers did not read music, but were able to learn the drumming patterns through word phrases that matched the written rhythms in the piece.  Flash cards were used to inform the drummers which techniques and rhythmic patterns would occur next.

RECONNECTING

I love composing works that have a direct connection to the community and location where they are premiered. This composition captures the bustling railway activity of President Street Station in the Eastern Inner Harbor of Baltimore circa 1850's-1860's, when it was the center of the waterfront district. It is a driving rhythmic piece depicting the former passenger station, switching buildings, roundhouses, tracks and rail yards. I have used images and writings about the station as inspiration.

President Street Station

American Frontier will be performed at the Central Ohio Symphony's annual July 4th concert!

American Frontier

Symphony Number One will premiere my latest work at TEDx MidAtlantic 2017!

Catalyst

Selected as a winner of the Allentown Symphony's "Pictures at an Exhibition" composer competition.  It will be performed by the Allentown Symphony Orchestra at the March 10 & 11, 2018 Classical Concerts.

The Sinking of the Cumberland by the Merrimac

This is a mock-up of my Concerto for Marimba and Chamber Orchestra to be performed by soloist Brian Zator and Symphony Number One.

Concerto For Marimba, Mvt. I

Composed in celebration of the Central Ohio Symphony's 40th season. To be premiered on March 31, 2019.

Fanfare for the 40th Season

Performed by the Tampa Bay Symphony in February 2019. The work is based on the form of the Declaration of Independence and is built in five sections;  Introduction, Preamble,  Indictment (of King George III), Denunciation, and Conclusion.

Declaration - Tampa Bay Symphony performance

Concerto For Marimba, Mvt. II

Ben Goldberg is a New York-based composer who has received awards for his concert music, film music, and academic achievements. He is the Composer-in-Residence for the Garden State Philharmonic and Baltimore chamber orchestra Symphony Number One. Goldberg has won composition competitions held by the Allentown Symphony Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Joliet Symphony Orchestra, Lexington Philharmonic, and Susanville Symphony. He's enjoyed a special partnership with the Central Ohio Symphony. They have premiered five of his works including Reconnecting scored for Drum Circle and Orchestra. Reconnecting has been featured in Symphony magazine, and at presentations for The League of American Orchestras and Percussive Arts Society national conferences. The piece received an Honorable Mention for the 2016 American Prize in Composition (Orchestra division). He has given presentations of his works at the Juilliard School and UC Davis.

Goldberg’s music has been featured internationally in films, television programs, podcasts, video game apps, and advertisements. His four feature-length film scores include Broadway’s Finest which earned him best original score honors at the 2012 Long Island International Film Expo. His music has been broadcasted in over thirty countries and heard on Animal Planet, CBS, FOX, NBC, HBO, The History Channel, Tokyo Broadcasting System, and children’s home videos.

Goldberg studied composition at Boston’s Berklee College of Music, where he graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Music degree in film composition. He was the recipient of the school’s Film Scoring Achievement Award.

Ben Goldberg

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