Sunday, November 2, 2003, at 4:00pm
at the First Unitarian Universalist Church
(7150 IH-10 W @ Crossroads; at the intersection of IH-10 West and IH-410 West)
a FREE concert by
Composers Alliance of San Antonio (CASA)
a concert of music by San Antonio Composers
~ Program ~
Michael Twomey: Exegesis (2001)
for viola and computerized accompaniment
Michael Twomey, viola
William James Ross: Inner Spaces (2002)
for two organists
Elaine Ehlers and Madolyn Douglas Fallis, organ
Juan Luis de Pablo Enríquez Rohen: Moonshines on Tepeilhuitl
Juan Luis de Pablo Enríquez Rohen, piano
David Heuser (1966): Baby Toys (2003)
William Sherrill, Juan Mendoza, Brad Smith, Jered R. Keller, percussion; David Heuser, conductor
Misook Kim: “After” (2003) for viola solo
Michael Twomey, viola
Ken Metz: Songs From Mother Goose (2003)
Bill Higgins, baritone
Irina Khovanskaya, piano
Timothy Kramer: Meditation (Noël Nouvelet) (2002)
Geoffrey Waite, organ
Justin Merritt (b. 1975): 5 Preludes for Piano (1999)
Hyun-Kyung Kim, Piano
CONCERT REVIEW
From the San Antonio Express-News
Music review: Composers' works lively, exciting
By Diane Windeler
Special to the Express-News
November 6, 2003
Sunday's ear-opening concert by the Composers Alliance of San Antonio was further proof that we need not look outside for exciting new music; a good deal of it is being created here.
Eight members of the alliance were represented at the Unitarian Universalist Church, mostly showcasing works written within the last two years.
From Michael Twomey of Our Lady of the Lake University came "Exegesis," a 2001 score for viola and computerized accompaniment, performed by the composer. This airy, lyrical work is anchored by a five-note phrase that is framed with echoes, wing-like fluttering, gentle clatters and other intriguing effects moving between two speakers.
Ken Metz of the University of the Incarnate Word set "Songs from Mother Goose," six of the scarier nursery rhymes, for voice and piano. Confidently performed by baritone Bill Higgins and Irina Khovanskaya, the melodic style is rather like Lee Hoiby in a funk, the harmonies employing chromatics and suspensions to reflect the darker sides of those familiar texts.
The oldest score came from Trinity University's Justin Merritt, the multi-textured, complex but appealing "5 Preludes for Piano" (1999). Its flavors vary from ethereal una corda triads to quirky chromatic spirals to arrhythmic razzamatazz, all given an exemplary performance by newcomer Hyun-Kyung Kim.
"Baby Toys" is a delightful, impish percussion score for rattles, squeaky things, electronic gizmos and nursery-version musical instruments, written for this concert by David Heuser of the University of Texas at San Antonio. There was actually coherent structure and form to it, performed by conductor Heuser and four musicians sitting cross-legged on a carpet strewn with kids' room clutter.
"Meditation (Noel Nouvelet)" by Trinity University's Tim Kramer, is a haunting, intensely moving organ score that was premiered last summer in memory of 9-11 at the American Guild of Organists convention. Geoffrey Waite's performance was appropriately spellbinding, reflecting the imagery of something shrouded in dense smoke — the chorale tune that, like a phoenix, slowly emerges in the pedals and begins to soar.
Organ duo Madolyn Fallas and Elaine Ehlers turned in a well-contoured account of the densely layered, attractive "Inner Spaces" by UTSA professor William James Ross.
Houston graduate student Juan Luis de Pablo Enriquez Rohen was the pianist for his languid, deeply ruminative "Moonshines on Tepeilhuitl, which is filled with treble filigree and ripe harmonies.
Twomey was the excellent violist in "After" for solo viola by Incarnate Word's Misook Kim. The brief, handsome work features interesting yet conventional effects, such as a double stop passage with a drone thrumming beneath an undulating melody.
The Voice of New Music in San Antonio