CASA FALL 2010 CONCERT
with the world class Olmos Ensemble
Come hear the Newest Music in San Antonio played by
World Class Musicians from the San Antonio Symphony when
the Olmos Ensemble plays music
by the Composers Alliance of San Antonio
September 21st and 22nd, 2010 at 7:30pm
Tuesday, September 21, 2010 at the First Unitarian Universalist Church of San Antonio
and
Wednesday, September 22, 2010 at the University of Texas at San Antonio Recital Hall
Both concerts are at 7:30pm
Come hear FOUR world premiere performances!
For directions to the Unitarian Church, click here. For directions to UTSA, click here.
Admission to the September 21st concert at the Unitarian Church is by suggested donation: $10 adults, $5 students and seniors (NO ID NEEDED!)
The September 22nd concert at UTSA concert is free.
PROGRAM
Ken Metz: Three Movements for Woodwind Quintet (2010)
1. Hurry...Wait
2. Natanson Funeral March
3. Intensities
WORLD PREMIERE
Juan Luis de Pablo Enríquez Rohen Citlallipopocapapalotl (for solo flute) (2005)
Movements I - III
Willam Ross Spirits at Play (for violin, oboe, piano) (2010)
WORLD PREMIERE
Dimitar Ninov Recitative and Toccatina for Clarinet and Piano
S. Beth May Flamethrower (for oboe, clarinet, bassoon, violin) (2010)
1. Comedy
2. Interlude
3. Tragedy
WORLD PREMIERE
Matt Dunne Five movements from Twenty Miniatures (2009)
Charles Goodhue Flowers in Blue Vases (for clarinet and bassoon) (2010)
WORLD PREMIERE
Juan Luis de Pablo Enríquez Rohen Citlallipopocapapalotl (for solo flute) (2005)
Movements IV - VIII
Brian Nelson Quixotic (for woodwind quintet)
I. Andante - Presto - Tranquillo
II. Vivo
PROGRAM NOTES and COMPOSER BIOGRAPHIES
Moritz von Schwind woodcut
Three Movements for Woodwind Quintet was composed using recently created music (the first two movements) plus a revision of a movement from a much earlier woodwind quintet (1995). The first movement hopefully conveys its title. The second movement (inspired by the Moritz von Schwind woodcut shown above) is dedicated to the jazz drummer, Bobby Natanson, with whom I performed for many years and who, like many drummers I have known, possessed a completely bizarre personality and was someone one would never forget upon meeting. The third movement was revised from part of my master’s thesis back at UNLV. It was an interesting experience to go back to earlier work and try to add to it.
Ken Metz is a composer who loves music and has devoted his life to it. He teaches music theory and composition at the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas and has recently published an introduction to music theory textbook, co-authored with Dr. Robert Frank of Southern Methodist University, entitled Fundamentals for the Aspiring Musician (available from Routledge).
Citlallipopocapapálotl (2005) is a collection of comets for solo flute. In the aztec tongue, Nahuatl, the word Citlalli means ‘star’ and the word Popoca means ‘that which smokes’. Together, these two words mean ‘comet’; in other words: ‘the stars that smoke’. For the present composition the word Papalotl, which means ‘butterfly’, is added meaning to resemble the elliptical path of comets. The piece is originally witten in eight continuous movements. For our present concert, we will hear movements I through III during the first part and movements IV through VIII for the second part.
Juan Luis de Pablo Enríquez Rohen (b. 1971) is a Mexican composer, the son of Martha Rohen Ortega and Juan Luis Enríquez Alcázar. He started, at sixteen years of age, to study the craft and study of musical notation under the tutelage of his grandmother, Bertha Alcázar de Enríquez, a composer. Other blood related musicians are the pianist and teacher of piano at the 'Conservatorio de música de Madrid', Eva Alcázar, the Mexican violinist, Concepción Alcázar and the celebrated mexican composer, Aniceto Ortega. Enríquez Rohen is the author of numerous musical compositions in different styles and genera, as well as writings and treatises on the "Music of the Spheres". He has taught music at the University of Houston, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Centro Morelense de las Artes (CMA), Centro de Creación Musical (CENCREM) and currently at the Escuela Superior de Artes de Yucatán (ESAY). His foremost teachers have been: Bertha Alcázar, Timothy Kramer, Francisco Núñez, Víctor Rasgado, Michael Horvit and Robert Nelson. Enríquez Rohen’s work combines different timbres and styles, theatrical expressiveness, the imaginary, the liberal arts and treatises on numeric coincidences, proportional and centric serialism, works related to the ‘Music of the Spheres’ and the sound-world of the ancient Mexica.
Recitative and Toccatina for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 5 consists of two short movements in contrasting tempi. With its alternating meters and rhythmic figures, the first movement bears an allusion to a person’s monologue with its points of hesitation and reassurance; of hope and encouragement. The driving thythm and the lively passages of the second movement evoke an atmosphere joy and optimism. The classical line and formal design of the piece are naturally infused with short figurations which refer to Bulgarian folklore music.
Dimitar Ninov is a composer, music theorist, and conductor who resides in Austin, Texas. He has been the 2009 Chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Association of Composers, United States. He teaches theory and ear training at Texas State University, San Marcos, and he also serves as board member of the NACUSA Texas Chapter. Ninov is a published composer and an invited lecturer at regional, national and international music theory conferences. His music has been performed in the United States and abroad. His Piano Album, published by the FJH Music Company is being distributed worldwide, and his violin and piano piece “A Lonely Man’s Prayer” has been recorded on the “Made in the Americas” CD series, a production of ERM Media. In 2007 his piano piece Golden Leaves was included in volume six of the FJH’s most representative piano series “Succeeding with the Masters”. Ninov holds a doctoral degree in composition from the University of Texas at Austin (2003), and master’s degrees in theory (1992) and composition (1996) from the National Academy of Music in Sofia, Bulgaria. He has previously taught theory and ear training at the University of Texas at Austin and at the University of South Carolina.
Flamethrower: When I was growing up, my father always wanted to have a family dog named "Kitty" and a family cat named "Doggy." He thought that it would be humorous, in the evenings, to stand at the door of the house and yell "Here, Kitty, Kitty", prompting the dog to come running. He also thought it would be amusing to call for the "Doggy" and have a cat arrive. Perhaps, had this taken place, the cat would have ended up displaying some strangely dog-like behavior and vice-versa. And perhaps, in between the comings and goings of the cat and the dog, a famous comedian would have appeared at our house for a visit, having heard of my father's antics.
S. Beth May was born in Lafayette, Indiana. She currently resides in San Antonio, TX, where she has served on the music faculty at Northwest Vista College since 2002. She holds degrees in music composition from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Yale University, and the University of Texas at Austin. Prior to teaching at Northwest Vista College, she was a Peace Corps volunteer in Namibia. Her textbook, Music Fundamentals: An Introduction is available from Kendall-Hunt Publications.
I composed the Twenty Miniatures for Guitar in the summer and fall of 2009, as a result of winning a grant from the Artist Foundation of San Antonio. Most of my prior works for guitar were commissioned by virtuoso performers and ensembles. Consequently, I wanted to write some music that many guitarists could play, including serious students, amateurs, and professionals. My inspiration for this work has been the few sets of very high quality short compositions for guitar composed in the 20th century, especially the 24 Preludes by Manuel M. Ponce and the 20 Estudios Sencillos by Leo Brouwer. As it turned out, the Miniatures are a little longer and more challenging than either the Ponce or Brouwer short pieces. I found it invigorating to try to write short, accessible pieces that have musical depth and focus, The compositional style of the Miniatures reflects my jazz influences, interest in harmonic development, and admiration for implied counterpoint. I have tried to stay quite focused with regards to textural and rhythmic settings, relying on those to provide continuity while (hopefully!) allowing melodic and harmonic development to provide variety. There are bits of milonga, jazz waltz, folk music, even a touch of celtic influence. The set concludes with a theme and four variations, which explore differing moods on the same melody.
Matthew Dunne, guitarist and composer, was the 2008 winner of the Tobin Grand Prize for Artistic Excellence from the Artist Foundation of San Antonio. He has performed and taught throughout the United States and Mexico in both the classical and jazz genres. The San Antonio Express News has called his playing “beautiful…elegant, well crafted and sophisticated” He received the DMA degree in guitar performance, jazz emphasis, from The University of Texas at Austin, the first guitarist to receive this degree, Since 1992, he has been on the music faculty of the University of Texas at San Antonio. He is a frequent collaborator with the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, having composed music for three consecutive LAGQ CDs on Telarc, including the GRAMMY winning Guitar Heroes. He also composed the set piece for the 2005 Guitar Foundation of America Competition, Appalachian Summer, which has since been recorded on Naxos. Matthew has recorded three CDs; Forget the Alamo, a collection of his compositions for jazz quintet; Music in the Mission, a classical guitar CD recorded in Mission San Jose,; and The Accidental Trio, with vocalist Joan Carroll and accordionist Mark Rubinstein, Matthew has directed the Southwest Guitar Festival in San Antonio biennially since 1995. This festival has included collaborative projects with many arts organizations in San Antonio and has garnered considerable critical acclaim and international recognition.
Flowers in Blue Vases was inspired by several flower paintings of Van Gogh. It is a playful allegory about flowers in vases that are beautiful for a time and then wither and die only to be replaced. These events can happen repeatedly, but occur only two and one-half times in the piece. There is also a section for the listener to reflect on the mystery and the meaning (if any) of these events. The piece closes with beautiful flowers again in their colorful vases. A short epilogue suggests that, although about life and death, the allegory perhaps was not so serious.
Charles Goodhue has been composing since early teen years. He likes to write for chamber groups. In another life he was a biochemist with many publications and patents, and known world-wide in his field. Now he is almost independent of all that, and has settled in for happy anonymity, writing music that is occasionally played by accomplished musicians.
Quixotic: The first movement is multi-sectional and freely imitative with a clear tonal theme first introduced in the French horn. The Andante is an exposition of the theme and the chromatically twisting accompaniments of the woodwinds. The Presto develops the chromatic lines in a fast moving imitative texture climaxing in a strict canon between the upper three woodwinds against the horn and bassoon. The Tranquillo brings back the material of the opening like a recapitulation, but this time seen through the mirror of the chromatic lines compressed as dense harmonies accompanying the bassoon.The second movement builds on the chromatic features of the first movement, but presents the material in a more playful light. The movement's imitative character is prevalent, but the climax is created through the unity of all five players to the initial motive of the main theme from the first movement. The climax dies away to the return of the chromatic harmonies, but ends lightly with a humorous horn lick and bassoon accent.
Brian Nelson is currently teaching composition and theory at Trinity University, recently finishing his D.M.A. in Composition and M.M. in Organ Performance degrees at Rice University. Brian has been commissioned for new works from the Michele Brangwen Dance Ensemble, Trinity University Organist David Heller, the American Guild of Organists, and the Trinity University Theatre Department. His music has also been performed by the Woodlands Symphony Orchestra, the University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra, the San Antonio Symphony Orchestra, and his new orchestra work will be performed by the Rice Symphony Orchestra on their 2011-2012 season.