Web Portfolio - CONCERT

Chivalry dates back to the medieval institution of knighthood.  While its meaning has changed over time, Of Chivalry and Valor celebrates some of the central tenets deeply rooted in the original chivalric code.

The militaristic beginning of the composition depicts a courageous battle during war time, where knights would demonstrate their loyalty, bravery, and valor.  Following the battle, the music portrays the softer values of generosity and selflessness.  The inspiration for this middle section, full of honor and gallantry, was my dear friend Melany Felsen.  The main thematic material for this middle section pulls heavily from one of her favorite themes as a clarinetist, found in the second movement of Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2.  For the finale, we return to the battlefield to witness the heroic triumph for the chivalrous warriors.

Of Chivalry and Valor was commissioned and premiered by Anthony Rivera (Eastern Technical High School, Baltimore County Public Schools) in 2013.

Of Chivalry and Valor || Wind Ensemble/Band

A short Orchestral piece featuring the sacrifice of a unknown hero which saved the world from its terrible fate.

Music Composed and Orchestrated by: Carlos G. Herrera

Conducted by: Carlos G. Herrera

Recording Engineer: Jake Jackson

Assistant Engineer: Fiona Cruickshank

Sound Mix & Master: Pablo G. Schuller  and Carlos G. Herrera

Recorded at Air Lyndhurst Studios with a 55-piece orchestra

Thanks to everyone that made this possible. 

The death of the Hero-Orchestral/Romantic

This was a cue written for the portuguese short-film "Lei da Gravidade" (Law of Gravity). I'm extremely proud of having been part of this project. I love the film and everybody who worked on it (Director, Producer and Actors) are extremely talented people that have inspired me to write this and other wonderful cues. It's a privilege and an honour to work with people like this!
I'm also very proud of this piece, not only for the music itself (and what it expresses), but also for its recording. It was recorded at the one and only AIR Studios, Lyndhurst Hall, London, UK, by an orchestra of dream musicians, that made this sound even better than I could've ever imagined! Thank you so much to all of them!!!
The session was engineered by the Jake Jackson and later mixed by Pablo Schuller.
The orchestra contractor was Hilary Skewes.
A special thank you to Lucio Godoy, Alfons Conde and Vanessa Garde for making this happen.

Lei da Gravidade - A Culpa é do Filme

Fly with Me - Yip Sau Man

A cue recorded at AIR Lyndhurst Studios in London on May 20, 2014.

The Forgotten Chase (recorded at AIR Studios London)

2014

This is a cue written for my Master's thesis for the Scoring for Film, Television, and Video Games program at Berklee College of Music in Valencia, Spain. This adventure cue is meant to accompany a montage of excerpts of flying scenes from the works of Hayao Miyazaki.

This cue, scored for full orchestra, was recorded on May 21, 2014, in Lyndhurst Hall at AIR Studios in London, UK.

Conductor: David Federman
Producers: Lucio Godoy, Alfons Conde, Vanessa Garde
Session Engineer: Jake Jackson
Assistant Engineer: Fiona Cruickshank
Mix and Mastering Engineer: Pablo Schuller
Orchestra Contractor: Hilary Skewes

Full Personnel: See the full list of personnel here: http://federmusik.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/flight-recording-personnel.pdf

Watch the video of the recording session here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIiDdGR8I1Q

Please contact me privately to see the finished video project.

Flight

The Rift is an original composition for the fantasy adventure game, Epoch Legends. It was recorded at Air Lyndhurst Studios in London as a final project for the Masters in Scoring for Film, TV, and Video Games at the Berklee College of Music, Valencia Campus.

Epoch Legends - The Rift

Beautiful, sweeping piece inspired by the City of Arts and Sciences located in Valencia, Spain.

Performers are: 

Trbn 1: Kirk Ferguson, Assistant Principal Trombone, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra
Trbn 2: Mark Hetzler, Professor of Trombone, University of Wisconsin-Madison (former Empire Brass and former Principal Trombone of Hartford Symphony)
Trbn 3: Dylan Chmura-Moore, Assistant Professor of Trombone, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh
Bass: Alan Carr, Professor of Low Brass, Concordia University Wisconsin 

City Of Arts And Sciences - David Faleris

A love that can never be... || Harp Quintet

Trbn 1: Kirk Ferguson, Assistant Principal Trombone, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra
Trbn 2: Mark Hetzler, Professor of Trombone, University of Wisconsin-Madison (former Empire Brass and former Principal Trombone of Hartford Symphony)
Trbn 3: Dylan Chmura-Moore, Assistant Professor of Trombone, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh
Bass: Alan Carr, Professor of Low Brass, Concordia University Wisconsin

City of Arts and Sciences || Trombone Quartet

ACCBDA 2017

A Martyred Village || Brass Quintet

Commissioned by Jeremy Wilson, available on his album "Perspectives"

A LIMINAL SPACE:  neither here nor there, after "what was" but before passing that threshold of "what's next".  A Liminal Space can be a time and place of paralyzing unknowns, and there is no way to easily navigate such indeterminate change.  What lies past the threshold is not simply a concealed or obscured future for one's self, but rather a new version of one's self about to be defined.  Although this state of unpredictable transformation can be threateningly mysterious, there is a beauty and power to the endless possibilities of "what will be".

A Liminal Space || Trombone Solo & Piano

One of the most common fears among children is the fear of the dark.  Sometimes, this transfers into an irrational fear of a monster in the dark, often hiding "under the bed" or "in the closet" .  As an adult, it is impossible to recreate the vivid nature of believing such a monster exists.  This piece attempts to put the listener (and performers) back into the child's shoes.  The first half is conversational in nature... a mother trying to put her child to bed worry free.  The child eventually falls asleep to a lullaby after several attempts and a dream sequence ensues.  This dream is warm and colorful at first - a true dream that only a child can dream.  Not surprisingly, the dream turns to nightmare with the inevitable appearance of the monster in the closet!  The child wakes up to his mother comforting him, rocking him as the monster echoes away.

The thematic material is ultimately drawn from a twelve-tone row and its subsequent matrix (a set of transformed rows, backwards and inverted, derived from the original row).  From the twelve pitches that make up the chromatic scale, a twelve-tone row is a predetermined order of those twelve pitches.  This means no pitch will be repeated until the other eleven have been sounded.  The trombone opens the piece with the row in its original form and exclusively performs variations of this row until the brief lullaby section, just prior to the dream sequence.

A second series of pitches (six instead of twelve) is based off of the first six pitches in the original twelve-tone row.  This second series is first heard in the piano as a response to the trombone's opening row... the mother's response to the child's statement about the monster.

During the dream sequence, this calm second series is freely improvised by the trombone until it slowly morphs into the original twelve-tone row (symbolizing the monster).  As the trombone plays, various effects are applied to the live trombone performance (captured by the microphone).  Because nothing is pre-recorded, the performers interact with one another to create a real-time, genuine dream sequence. The dream unfolds and evolves naturally until the child awakens.

There's a Monster in My Closet || Trombone & Piano with Live Sampling

David Faleris

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