modern classical

I composed this work in January of 2013 for the Mars Hill College Saxophone Quartet. The MHC Sax Quartet premiered it April 20, 2013 during the Mars Hill New Music Festival. 
The hall was in complete darkness. Each performer began playing in a different corner of the concert hall surrounding the audience.  Slowly each performer began moving to the front of the hall. When they played the last chord the lights quickly filled the hall.

Quartet for El Anatsui was inspired by the artwork of the Ghanaian artist, El Anatsui. He creates wonderful sheets of metal, wood and cloth that are hung on walls or stand alone on the floor. Each time one of his sculptures are presented at a museum they are presented differently. Which inspired me to write this piece which can be played differently at every performance.

Mars Hill College Saxophone Quartet
Alan Theisen - Alto
Andrew Jenkins - Alto
Dalton Woody - Tenor
Bradley Smith - Baritone

Quartet For El Anatsui (Open Piece No. 3)

Catalog #: SSSRCD0001
Release Date: October 16, 2006
Label: Sweetspot
Format: CD+DVD
Ensemble:: Alarm Will Sound
Notes: percussion credit (glockenspiel) 

(excerpt) Music for Mallet Instruments Voices and Organ

Meryem Aboulouafa: voice
Laura Unger: voice, guitar, violin
Aziz Boumediene: clarinet
Abdellah Hassak: production

Yammou is a Laz work song from the Eastern Black Sea region of Turkey. The Laz people are a minority group, who live in the mountainous regions of Eastern Turkey around the Black Sea. It is very unusual to find harmonized songs in Turkey and the harmony in this tune is very much part of the Georgian influence in the region.

Thanks to Ayla for the tune and her delicious Laz böreği

Yammou

Invention for Piano is the first piece I ever completed. This is a midi recording. One day I will work on the score again and make it a little more playable.

Invention for Piano

I composed this piece in the summer of 2012. I had heard a few open instrumentation works by different composers and I felt i should give it at try.

Open Piece No. 1 was premiered by the Central Michigan University New Music Ensemble December 9, 2012 in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. 

I will post the names of each performer when I receive them.  They did a fine job.  

CMU New Music Ensemble:

Mike Romaniak - Electronics
Kevin Keith - Piano
Jennifer Blackwell - Soprano Saxophone
Jenna Veldboom - Alto Saxophone
Nathan Brown - Trombone
Melissa Bialecki - Cello
Kevin Wilson - Double Bass
David Abraham - Percussion
Steve Bott - Percussion

Open Piece No. 1 for any instruments performed by the CMU New Music Ensemble

Warner CD - Steve Reich - Different Trains - III After The War

Sleep Dealer - The way home

"The London Steve Reich Ensemble is an outstanding group of young musicians.
They have a superb feel for how to play my music. Their performances pulse with life" Steve Reich

The London Steve Reich Ensemble is the only group in the world that composer Steve Reich has allowed use of his name besides his own group. Founded and led by the artistic visions of Vincent Corver & Kevin Griffiths. Pianist/CEO and Conductor/Artistic Director.

The group came together in 2005 at the Royal Academy of Music in London, receiving immediate high acclaim from the Academy itself for its impeccable performances in the first year of its existence. The LSRE has moved forward in the years, performing throughout Europe’s renowned venues such as the London Duke’s Hall, Tonhalle Zurich, KKL Lucerne, Schönbergsaal The Hague, Cheltenham Festival UK and many others.

The LSRE received the Diapason D’Or Award for its first CD under the CPO label, only 2 years later being contracted under Warner Classics (Formally: EMI Classics) for its second CD. The CD includes the string ensemble pieces Triple Quartet and Different Trains by Reich, conducted by Kevin Griffiths for acoustic ensemble. The CD also features the World Premiere arrangement of the 1973 work “Six Pianos” by Steve Reich, now released under the new name “Piano Counterpoint” in 2012. A work that received its World Premiere Performance on The Pearl – Qatar in December 2012, by Vincent Corver, who was personally commissioned by Reich to make the arrangement. In January 2013 the work was taken into the official hire-library of the music publisher Boosey & Hawkes. Various global premiere performances are due throughout 2015 and 2016.

The Ensemble has set new ways in the collaboration with the London Royal Ballet, and the choreographer William Tuckett. A new world premiere choreography has been set for 2016. 

The London Steve Reich Ensemble is known for performing not only Steve Reich, but programming his music alongside other repertoire, complimenting the music of Reich. The performances are recognized by international critics for their intense vitality and precision, whilst keeping the natural flow of sound and where the repeat is not performed as a repeat, but as a micro incremental development.

Steve Reich's style of composition has been hugely influential to many composers and musical groups. He is also equated as the Andy Warhol of classical music. Described by The Guardian as one of "a handful of living composers who can legitimately claim to have altered the direction of musical history". Many critics including Kyle Gann quoted "may...be considered, by general acclamation, America's greatest living composer".

Warner CD - Steve Reich - Different Trains - III After The War

London Steve Reich Ensemble

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