Premiere performance: March 6, 2008, Maryem Hassan-Tollar, alto. Rufus Mueller, tenor. The Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Choir under the direction of Ivars Taurins. Trinity United Church. Toronto, Canada.

The Texts:

1. Shalom-Salaam
 
I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.

As a lily among thorns, so is my love among young women.

As an apricot  tree among the trees of the woods, so is my beloved among young men.
 
My beloved spake, and said unto me,

Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone.
 
My beloved spake, and said unto me,
 
The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, 
and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land again (repeat). 

Salaam - Shalom: Give us peace (repeat).

From The Song Of Songs — 1. Salaam - Shalom

“For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun? And what is to cease breathing, but to free the breath from its restless tides, that it may rise and expand and seek God unencumbered? Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing. And when you have reached the mountain top, then shall you begin to climb. And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance.”
–Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931)

I’ve always thought of jazz as being the language of imagination and freedom— a conversational, fluid melding of ideas. This piece features a jazz trio (tenor saxophone, trombone, and double bass), set against the backdrop of an orchestra. The first movement of Blueprint opens with some precise, dancing Balkan rhythms, which set the tone and reveal the architecture of the work. The second movement begins as a slow meditation (taking its inspiration from the evocative quote by poet Kahlil Gibran, above), and builds toward a climax—“melting into the sun”—the idea of the release of the spirit from the body. The third movement mirrors the first movement in its exuberant rhythmic drive, and also draws a bit of inspiration for its raw melodic language from the delta blues. This was an incredibly fun piece to write, and I’d like to acknowledge with thanks the trio of musicians involved in the premiere: Brent Mah (tenor saxophone), Jim Hopson (trombone), and Graham Clark (double bass).

Blueprint received its premiere with the West Coast Symphony Orchestra, with Bujar Llapaj- conductor, on June 10th, 2016, at Christ Church Cathedral, Vancouver, BC, Canada.

Sheet music (and a complete archival recording of the piece) are available through the Canadian Music Centre:

https://cmccanada.org/shop/70958/

Live at Christ Church Cathedra

Blueprint (Concerto for Jazz Trio & Orchestra)

You can learn to play this piece. FREE scores and parts, among other materials, are available online: kronosquartet.org/fifty-for-the-future

Composed by Kala Ramnath on violin, arranged for string quartet by Reena Esmail 
© 2016 Inner Sunset Publishing
℗ 2016 Kronos Performing Arts Association
Commissioned for Fifty for the Future: The Kronos Learning Repertoire

Produced by Kronos Quartet
Recorded July 2016 at Studio Trilogy, San Francisco, CA
Engineered and mixed by Laura Dean
Assistant Engineer: Alex Spencer
Production Assistant: Minna Choi
Mixed at Women's Audio Mission, San Francisco, CA
Assistant Mixing Engineers: Monica Bonilla, Ripley Young, Becca High, Victoria Fajardo, Hannah Valente and Victoria Fajardo

Amrit

Kala Ramnath - Amrit

This track was recorded from a youth penitentiary in the Greater Vancouver Regional District and shared with consent and permission.

Librarium's Album

Music For the People ft. BYCS Youth (Version 1.0)

Salvatore Sciarrino's first work for solo flute, All'aure in una lontananza (1977), performed on alto flute by Mark Takeshi McGregor. Performed live on 14 September 2016 at the International Symposium of New Music 2016 in Curitiba, Brazil. Presented by the Grupo de Pesquisa Núcleo Música Nova.

Salvatore Sciarrino: All'aure in una lontananza

First piece from a set of short piano pieces for intermediate players.  Explores syncopation and rhythms found in reggae music.

A little Reggae Music

Re-imagining of Narvaez' "Cancion del Emperador."

AYRE II - Remixes

Elizabeth Knudson: You Dream In Beauty

Elizabeth Knudson is a nationally award-winning composer of orchestral, chamber, vocal & electroacoustic music, and an Associate Composer of the Canadian Music Centre.  

For a more detailed bio: http://www.elizabethknudson.ca/bio/
To request purchase/rental/loan of sheet music, please visit the Canadian Music Centre website: https://cmccanada.org/composer/elizabeth-knudson/

Blueprint (Concerto for Jazz Trio & Orchestra)

Elizabeth Knudson

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