Wonderful scoring! Bravo, a very well-crafted work

A selection of works by performers and composers featured in the June 2nd 2018, 7pm Next Festival of Emerging Artists concert at Music Mountain, Falls Village CT 06031.  Featuring Soprano Tony Arnold, Artistic Director Peter Askim and composers Jessica Meyer, Liisa Hirsch, and Brett Dean.  Admission Free, Donations supporting the David M. Hunt Library are welcome.  Culinary tent opens at 6pm.  Call Hunt Library for tickets, 860-824-7424.

Next Festival of Emerging Artists Featuring Soprano Tony Arnold June 2 2018 at Music Mountain, 7pm

Brett Dean: Nightsky (live 30.3.14)

I was completely blown away by both the inside and outside of Gaudi's "Sagrada Familia" Basilica in Barcelona during a family vacation this past summer. Each side of the outer structure uses very different and dramatic artistic and architectural elements to tell the story of the death and birth of Christ, while the inside has some the most stunning stained-glass windows I have ever seen. These four movements are snapshots of these different aspects of the church, culminating with a moment that explores the truly awesome impact of the building as a whole.

Premiered April 30th, 2017
Brooklyn Public Library
counter)induction

Miranda Cuckson, violin
Jessica Meyer, viola
Raman Ramakrishnan, cello
Aaron Wunsch, piano
Benjamin Fingland, clarinets

Sagrada Familia "Nativity Facade" mvt 1

May 18th, 2017 (premiere)
St. Paul’s Chapel of Trinity Wall Street
NOVUS NY
Julian Wachner, conductor

This work is based on assertions found in Masaru Emoto's book "The Hidden Messages in Water", which can be interpreted as a more spiritual extension of String Theory/Quantum mechanics.  String Theory is about how objects in our universe are composed of vibrating filaments (strings) and membranes (branes) of energy, and the author asserts that the best vehicle to capture and transport these vibrations is water.  His way of proving this was to take pictures of the crystals formed in frozen water after being exposed to different kinds of music and concentrated thoughts directed towards the water. The results were a visual representation of the manifestation of variations of positive and negative emotions.

"Through which we flow" embodies different sonic manifestations of joy, hate, and prayer - using the resonances specifically created by string instruments and the unique acoustic of the church itself to remind us of the power of our own thoughts and actions.  This is piece is dedicated to Julian Wachner, Melissa Baker, Walker Beard, Joshua Anand Slater, Avi Stein, and Harrison Joyce for their tireless work in making Trinity Wall Street an important musical institution here in NYC.

"Through Which We Flow" for String Orchestra

(Culminating version, Oct. 21st, 2017 at the Gabriela Lena Frank Academy of Music -  subsequent tweaks expected.)

Please Me, Place Me is a work that calls into question 'who?' without further explanation.

Our soprano is at once in the process of storytelling and recollecting, both directing and reflecting, while at the same time communicating with the string quartet and you, the audience. Her identity is unknown, her experience of time is unsure, and she is grasping hold of what she can say with certainty. These words are those of Gertrude Stein: Stanza in Meditation, Part 3, no. 3. John Ashbery, speaking of this collection of poems, states:

'Perhaps the word that occurs oftenest in the Stanzas is the word "they," for this is a poem about the world, about "them..." Less frequently, "I" enters to assess the activities of "them," to pick up after them, to assert his own altered importance. As we get deeper into the poem, it seems not so much as if we were reading as living a rather long period of our lives with a houseful of people.'

The joy of making music is that there is never a 'me' alone. Music exists between people– and thus, I wonder who the 'me' is that I'm referring to in the title.

Tony Tony Tony

Please Me, Place Me (2017), for soprano and string quartet. Tony Arnold and Third Angle

Last February, my flight was taking off at 6am just as the sun was rising over New Orleans.

Hit by a wave of nostalgia over this newly discovered favorite place, this piece was written on the plane ride home.

Performed live on June 14th, 2018
Arete Gallery
Greenpoint, Brooklyn NYC

"Delta Sunrise" for solo viola

With playing that is “fierce and lyrical” and works that are “other-worldly” (The Strad) and “evocative” (NY Times), Jessica Meyer is a versatile composer and violist whose passionate musicianship radiates accessibility, generosity, and emotional clarity. 

"Through Which We Flow" for String Orchestra

Jessica Meyer, composer & violist

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