FLOW by Benjamin Taylor
my mountain top by Andy Scott
Pearls by Roland Szentpali
1. Ducati SPS 916
2. My One and Only Love
3. Susi

Albert Miller Faculty Artist Series Recital 2020

Musique concrète-esque study of Budapest Metro sounds.

Ajtok

This is a live recording by Quintet Attacca (http://www.quintetattacca.com).

"Towns of Wind and Wood" was inspired by Anne Carson’s incredible poem "The Life of Towns", on which several of my early orchestral works were based.  The work is actually a set of double variations (there is a theme for the towns of wood and another for the towns of wind, although the two are interrelated).  Each town of wind uses one of the five pentachords which contain three or more minor thirds; the towns of wood act as segues and use both pentachords of the neighboring movements.  My tools in the construction of these towns are however relatively arbitrary; it’s good to keep in mind that one’s appreciation of architecture does not necessarily require an engineering degree.

Towns Of Wind And Wood, for woodwind quintet

Conducted by Jerry Junkin with the University of Texas, Austin Wind Ensemble.
Performed by Sean Meyers, Sarah Hetrick, Darwin McMurray, Megan Elks.
I. Liminal
II. Tactics

CONCERTO for Saxophone Quartet and Wind Ensemble

Performance at the International Double Reed Society Conference July 2022 by the Paradise Winds Reed Quintet:
Tiffany Pan, oboe
Joshua Gardner, clarinet
Stefanie Gardner, bass clarinet
Patrick Murphy, saxophone
Joseph Kluesener, bassoon

the alphabet: ruin of silence • Paradise Winds

Performed on March 7, 2014, by the Northwestern University Contemporary Music Ensemble, conducted by Eli Chen.
The title Come prima is a standard Italian musical indication which means "as before" or "like the beginning." In this piece, the term applies to the work's literal structure: the opening section is reprised at the end, albeit in a notably altered and abbreviated fashion. The title also refers to something more philosophical: many pieces, which purport to express conflict or struggle, emphasize a process of transformation. In Come prima, I felt inspired to explore that which keeps a person in crisis grounded, or centered—what remains constant, what one can hold onto throughout the crisis which lends stability and strength. Most of the harmony in Come prima is derived from the opening chord of the last movement of Mahler's First Symphony, which Mahler called "an outburst of despair from a deeply wounded heart." Mahler's chord is first fully heard in the piece at the transition from the first slow section to the first fast section.

Come prima was composed for the Seattle new-music ensemble Contemporary Chamber Composers and Players, which gave the premiere performance in August of 2004, in Seattle. The work is dedicated to them and especially to my violinist friend Eric Rynes, which explains the somewhat difficult and prominent violin part.

Come Prima (Northwestern University performance)

The Dark Moon (Amavasaya) occurs when the moon is invisible against the backdrop of the Sun in the sky. In almost all Nepalese and Indian languages (most derived from Sanskirt), Amavasaya is when the Moon is within the twelve degrees of angular distance to the Sun as seen from Earth before syzygy (conjunction). It is traditionally considered an auspicious time—a time of great power—when many make offerings in remembrance of ancestors who have passed on. Amavasaya is the occasion for some of the most famous Hindu festivals such as Diwali, the Festival of Lights, held in mid-autumn. This work is an offering to my ancestral as well as musical predecessors. 


Amavasaya

Verdichtung

Covey Concert 4-4-11

Primary Colors

Remorselessly speculative composer/pianist/improvisor Keith Eisenbrey is a native of the Puget Sound area. He studied composition with Dell Wade, Ken Benshoof, John Rahn, and Benjamin Boretz. He is a cofounder of Banned Rehearsal, an ongoing argument in creative musical expression with over 1000 recorded improvisation sessions in the main sequence. His compositions center on solo keyboard, sacred song, and small ensembles. His listening journal can be found at http://nowmusicinnewalbion.blogspot.com and hours of sounds can be found at https://soundcloud.com/keith-eisenbrey

"16 Clavichord Improvisations, August 2020"

The clavichord is a stringed keyboard instrument, dating back some 600 years. It is known for its quiet intimacy and sensitive touch and is possessed of a huge dynamic range that tops out at a thunderous mezzo piano. Since it doesn't project effectively in any but the smallest spaces I thought it a perfect choice for these our so sadly secluded days. I am playing a 5-octave double-strung unfretted Zuckermann instrument that my dad and I built from a kit in 1984-5. The 16 improvisations shared here were made on August 16 and 22 of this year. Where one ends and the next begins is not crucial.

Wayward in Limbo #47 – Keith Eisenbrey

Jenny Ziefel is a Seattle-based clarinetist and saxophonist with diverse performing interests. Her activities range from orchestra, ballet, and pit orchestra to jazz, free improvisation, new music, and chamber orchestra. She has performed regularly with Lake Washington Symphony Orchestra (Bellevue Philharmonic), Spiritus Winds, Seattle Women’s Jazz Orchestra, Blackwood and Silver, Neum (with Jesse Canterbury and Paul Hoskin), and other Seattle area ensembles. https://jennyziefel.com

This piece was inspired by the events of 2020 and the passing of William O. (Bill) Smith and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. In a time of great upheaval, there are moments of grace, of action, of reflection, and of unraveling. Each of these pieces is a reflection of these shifting frames of perception.

(00:00) In Memoriam (for Bill Smith and Ruth Bader Ginsberg)
(12:27) Uncertainty and New Realities
(19:10) Clarion Call
(24:15) Prayer and Hope for the Future

Wayward in Limbo #53 – Jenny Ziefel

Ryan M. Hare, composer and bassoonist, was born in Reno, Nevada in 1970, and now lives in Pullman, Washington. He earned tenure and the rank of full Professor at Washington State University, where he taught composition, bassoon, and music theory from 2003 until 2020, when he decided to take a voluntary early retirement in order to focus his attention on composing.

Ryan’s music has been performed at a large variety of venues and festivals, in as diverse locations as Tokyo, Japan, and Darmstadt, Germany, as well as Southeast Asia and China. Commissioners include Fred Korman, longtime former principal oboist of the Oregon Symphony, and the Washington Music Teachers Association, who awarded Ryan "Washington State Composer of the Year" in 2012. Further commissions have come from the Walla Walla Symphony, Mid-Columbia Symphony, Washington Idaho Symphony, Common Tone Arts, Affinity Chamber Players, the University of Idaho Vandaleers Concert Choir, and the Lake Forest College Orchestra, among others. His music has been championed by numerous other well-known performers and ensembles around the world, with notable recognition from New Music USA, Artist Trust, and the American Prize. In addition, a number of Ryan's compositions are published by TrevCo Music Publishing and ALEA Publishing.

Much of the subject matter of Ryan Hare's music is drawn from nature; recurrent themes include the deep mysteries of the cosmos and the extraordinary beauty of the state of Washington—as originating from a gloriously violent and volcanic past. He finds delight in the outdoors, physics, and astronomy, both in pursuit of hobbies such as hiking, photography, and bicycling, and also as a source of musical inspiration. He has often found creative respite in bicycling all over the beautiful region of southeast Washington known as the Palouse. 

Inspired by the multiplicity of styles found in art music of the twenty-first century, Ryan sees no essential contradiction between serialism, the avant-garde, minimalism, and the vernacular, but rather embraces the rich potential for all of it to be synthesized into something beautiful, compelling, and unexpected.

With numerous guest artist appearances at multiple venues around the U.S., including many at International Double Reed Society annual conferences, Ryan M. Hare seeks to combine composition and bassoon whenever possible. He believes in the promotion of the music of today for its own sake but also as a necessary component of maintaining and refreshing the interpretation of music of the past. 

Ryan is a founding member of the Artemisia Winds chamber ensemble, and also serves as principal bassoonist of the Yakima Symphony Orchestra, McCall SummerFest orchestra, Siletz Bay Music Festival orchestra, co-principal bassoonist and contrabassoonist of the Walla Walla Symphony, contrabassoonist of the Mid-Columbia Symphony, and has performed in a variety of the leading professional ensembles all over the Pacific Northwest. He has been featured as a concerto soloist with the Yakima Symphony, Washington Idaho Symphony, and WSU Symphony Orchestra.

Before earning the degree Doctor of Musical Arts in Composition in 2000 at the University of Washington, Ryan M. Hare  earned a Master of Music degree in Composition at Ithaca College, and a Bachelor of Arts degree with an emphasis in composition at Oregon State University. Ryan's principal teachers in composition include Joël-François Durand, Diane Thome, Richard Karpen, Greg Woodward, and Ron Jeffers. Additional composition studies were also undertaken with Shulamit Ran and Jacob Druckman, both visiting professors at Ithaca College, and Brian Ferneyhough and Paul-Heinz Dittrich at the 1996 Ferienkurse für neue Musik, Darmstadt, Germany. His primary bassoon teachers include Arthur Grossman, Lee Goodhew, and Mike Curtis, with additional studies in audition preparation with Seth Krimsky.

Come Prima (Northwestern University performance)

Ryan M. Hare

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