Program:
Ryan Lindveit Venus of Willendorf
From the composer: “I first learned about the Venus of Willendorf, a 30,000-year-old, 4.4-inch carved limestone figure found in Austria, in an art history class in 2014, and so it was with tremendous sense of anticipation and excitement that I approached visiting the Natural History Museum Vienna, where the figure is currently exhibited, ten years later. In the same spirit of joyful enthusiasm, I composed Venus of Willendorf for the Akropolis Reed Quintet, a group of musicians who eagerly tackle every musical challenge with artistry and aplomb. The origins of the Venus figurine are mysterious, as is its meaning, though some scholars theorize that it is associated with fertility, growth, and vitality. In response to this theory, I composed exuberant and vigorous music for these talented musicians. Additionally, the Venus is both quite tiny and amply voluptuous, so I often simultaneously feature high notes in the oboe with low notes in the bass clarinet to reflect metaphorical mappings of high sounds with small things and low sounds with large things.”
Oswald Huỳnh These few specks of time
From the composer: “These few specks of time is an examination of grief, time, and being. Living between two disparate cultures, I have had to reconcile many different identities and values, which has profoundly impacted my creative and moral philosophies. This piece is an exploration of some of those frictions, especially in regard to intergenerational relationships, conflicting ideals between East and West, and how different cultures perceive death. The title of the outer movements (I and V) are derived from a Vietnamese proverb: Sống dầu đèn, chết kèn trống; The living need light, the dead need music. The inner movement (II and IV) are conceptually inspired by two artists, Kendrick Lamar and Ocean Vuong, especially in their confrontations with intergenerational trauma--cultural conflicts between time. The central movement (III) is titled after the 2022 film of the same name, Everything Everywhere All At Once. The melodic material in this work is derived from the Vietnamese folk song, Lý Cái Mơn, which is presented in its full form in the first movement.”
Derrick Skye A Soulful Nexus
From the composer: "A Soulful Nexus is a transcultural classical work that blends elements of Persian classical music with ornamental vocal techniques found in solo Balkan vocal melodies and the groove-based polyrhythms characteristic of electronic dance music. From Persian classical music, the piece uses an E koron, which to the Western trained ear may sound like a flat microtonal pitch. However, in Persian classical music, a koron is considered its own note, not a microtone between notes. Sonically, this demonstrates how something initially perceived as an imperfection, over time and with change in perspective, can be seen as an aspect of perfection.
Central to A Soulful Nexus is the use of the melodic framework Gushé Shekaste from Persian classical music, which includes the E koron. Shekaste translated means "broken," due to the relationship between the main tetrachord and auxiliary notes of this melodic framework. Throughout the piece, Morakab-Navazie is used to move between Gushé Shekaste and Darâmad Dastgâh-e Mahur and Dastgâh-e Râstpanjgâh. The fourth movement in particular is inspired by Afro-Persian music from Southern Iran. From Balkan music, the piece uses mordents and fragmented motivic phrasing often used by solo vocalists in Bulgarian women's choir music. From electronic dance music, A Soulful Nexus uses cyclical, groove-based polyrhythms to accompany instrumental solos. The title A Soulful Nexus serves as an invitation for listeners and performers to trace the intricate pathways of these musical idioms interwoven throughout the composition."
Jeff Scott Homage to Paradise Valley
From the composer: “Paradise Valley and Black Bottom, Detroit. For me it wasn’t a question of whether I knew the history, but rather, why I didn’t. As I toured through the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, I thought…. Motown, check. Ford Motor Company, check. The Flame Show Bar? The Gotham Hotel? For me, not a notion. Paradise Theater? The very venue that this newly commissioned work will premiere, or Orchestra Hall as we know it. I had no clue that it once operated as a Jazz venue under this name. From 1941-1951 the Paradise Theater hosted the who’s who of jazz royalty. Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Count Basie and more. This piece of local history was an entryway to a much larger story. A story of a once thriving African American community. A community that grew from extremely humble beginnings during the Great Migration and out of the Great Depression.
Only to be razed in favor of “Urban Renewal” projects in the 50's, 60's and 70’s. This work, Paradise Valley Serenade, opens with a morning yawn and sunrise in “Dawn and Dusk”. The day has begun like most others and there is work to be done, like in any other urban American community. But unlike most communities, there is a cultural hub within, that spews musical fire by night and draws the culturally curious to witness the flames. In the second movement, “Paradise, Razed but not Forgotten”, I envisioned an elder from the Paradise Valley or Black Bottom community, in a docile voice, telling the story to a grandchild. The story is told with great melancholy and even describes his/her witnessing of the demolition of the neighborhoods. That said, there is pride in the telling. A feeling of fortitude and resilience. For the last movement, “A Hug for Cab”, I envisioned what it might have been like to see Cab Calloway live at the Paradise Theater. With his swinging big band, double entendre lyrics, high energy dancing and stage antics.”