B.C. Chinese Music Ensemble & Nu:BC Collective announce Chinese and Canadian commissions

I'm involved in this great cultural collaboration between China and Canada. Here's the press release announcing the project…

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Arts Partners in Creative Development

~~~ FUTURE HERITAGE / INTERCULTURAL INNOVATIONS ~~~

Workshops / Concert

B.C. Chinese Music Ensemble / Nu:BC Collective

The BC Chinese Music Association (BCCMA) and B.C. Chinese Ensemble (BCCME) in partnership with Nu:BC Collective and the UBC School of Music were awarded an Arts Partners In Creative Development Project < Future Heritage : Intercultural Innovations > . The BCCME / Nu:BC ensemble combines 16 of Canada’s most talented Chinese and new music performers, and will present 3 workshops and a gala concert with world premieres of newly commissioned works by six (6) exceptional composers. Three (3) Canadian and three (3) Chinese composers explore new styles of Chinese and Western musical culture in one ensemble conducted by Ray Zhuo.

The collaboration with Canadian / Chinese composers creates a unique and innovative instrumental style reflecting contemporary Canadian culture while the combination of the BCCME and NU:BC demonstrates the equality of the two musical cultures. The composers from China : Jian-Ping Tang of Central Conservatory of Music, Ning Wang of China Conservatory of Music, Cheng-Long Zhuo of the Shanghai Musicians Association will bring to Vancouver an enormous amount of exposure to the top echelons of Chinese musical life. Their musical styles combine abstract and highly expressive emotions, built solidly on Chinese classical / traditional music skills. Simultaneously the three renowned Canadian composers : Dorothy Chang of UBC, John Oliver and Owen Underhill of SFU share their talent and imagination joining Western contemporary with Chinese musical essence.

The theme of “ Succession , Innovation , Amalgamation , Delimitation and Artistic Conception ” celebrates the skill, knowledge and ability to communicate between cultures. Through listening to each other at the deepest artistic levels and showcasing the artistic equality of the performers, instruments and musical thoughts, we are laying the foundations for a new level of musical and intercultural innovation. The whole process from workshop to performance will be documented and edited into a bilingual DVD for educational purposes and will be deposited into music libraries across Canada and China. Come and take part in creating the musical heritage of the future !

PROGRAM

Colorful Forest : Cheng-Long Zhuo / Ensemble

Slender Gold : Owen Underhill / Ensemble

Tsu-ur Song : Ning Wang / cello, bass, suona, dizi - Concerto Grosso

Four Gardens : Dorothy Chang / Ensemble

Goddess of Luo River : Jian-Ping Tang / flute/zheng - Double Concerto

The Bridge : John Oliver / viola, sanxian, percussion - Triple Concerto

WORKSHOPS

Feb 15-16 , 2011 2:00-4:30 pm Feb 17 , 2011 1:30-4:00 pm :

3 workshops with all six composers in attendance

Gessler Hall - UBC School of Music and open for UBC music students

CONCERT

Date : Feb 18, 2011 Friday 8:00 pm

Place : Roy Barnett Recital Hall, UBC School of Music

Tickets : $30 / $20 *( * senior/student )

Ticket information : Tel. 604-327-8807 , E-mail : bccma@rogers.net , web : www.bccma.net

Media Contact : Mark Armanini, Tel. 604-739-8047, E-mail : armanini@interchange.ubc.ca

Gypsy Chronicles for the Vancouver Intercultural Orchestra

I just finished a new work for the Vancouver Intercultural Orchestra. This orchestra that mixes instruments of the western orchestra with instruments from all over the world presents a unique challenge. Their musicians have different skill sets: some read music with great fluency, while others learn music mainly by ear. Some who read music are faster with their signs from their Chinese, Indian or other traditions using letters, numbers, and lines, rather than the notes and rhythmic notation we're used to in western music. It all makes for a great challenge to write music that the whole band can play.

My greatest challenge was to create an opening that everyone in the band could get their musical mind around, and to celebrate the great project of intercultural music making. To this end, I imagined myself on the road to Byzantium, or Constantinople, or Istanbul (take your pick): somewhere on the Silk Road, with a bunch of gypsies, who originate from Allah/God/Vishnu knows where. And they are all playing their instruments together. So the first movement (of four) is somewhat traditional in sound, evocative of some sort of imagined Persian music. The Persian 17-note mode – the tuning of the "tar" (triple-coursed gourd-resonating guitar from Iran), one of the 'guitars' in the band – is at the core of the sound of this music. (Ah yes, the sound of the music, based on this scale and an altered Chahargah mode, has wonderful resonant properties that merit a completely separate entry…) This first movement is infused with the unison melodic practice of the Middle East, yet it is mysteriously striving to compose itself, perhaps suggesting echoes of the early melodic conversions of Claude Vivier and Stockhausen, yet I unabashedly veer toward the Troubadours. All great fun to prepare you for the small monuments of the second and third movements, about which I'll say absolutely nothing – don't want to spoil the party. And in closing, the music returns to dance.

My propensity for rhythmic drive, precision, and variety make my music challenging to play. This is appropriate since the concert is all about rhythm. It's titled "Rising Beat on the Infinite Horizon" and takes place on November 28, at The Cultch featuring a 22-member orchestra with 6 guest percussionists. There is a great deal of playfulness in this piece and lots of fun with solos on Arabian oud, Persian tar and santur, frame drum, tabla, erhu, and western chamber orchestra. I hope to see you there.

EVENT DETAILS:

"Rising Beat on the Infinite Horizon"
at The Cultch
1895 Venables St, Vancouver, BC, CA
November 28, 2010, 8 pm

Contemplating Motion: a proportional score

On June 9, the Turning Point Ensemble hosted a concert in North Vancouver at which they premiered dozens of new compositions completed by young composers from Seycove Secondary School and Sherwood Park Elementary School. This is part of their "Creating Composers: Nurturing Life-long Musical Expression Through Composition" program, a partnership with Vancouver-area schools that provides opportunities for children to express themselves through composition. Each year, the TPE partners young composers with professional composers to mentor their aspirations and work, and they provide a series of workshops with the musicians of the ensemble to teach effective writing techniques.

This year, they commissioned a short work from me to include on the concert. The professional challenge I faced was to create a work that could be rehearsed and successfully performed with only one short rehearsal. The educational challenge before me was to create a work that displayed new approaches to composition with which the young composers would be less familiar, and to demonstrate how a piece can be conceived of with very simple means and be developed within the constraints of the initial idea. The result was Contemplating Motion for violin, cello, trombone, clarinet, and harp.

I found myself returning to deep-listening-based composition and proportional notation. This manner of scoring music focusses the musicians' attention on the evolving sounds they are making: on the sonic-energy relationship of their own sounds to the sounds that came before and that will come next. In the case of my own score, all of the notes are written out, and there are specific durations that need to be counted, but there is flexibility in the actual timing that each musician chooses in the execution of their notes, except later when a rhythm emerges. You can download the first two pages of the score here.

As you will see from the beginning of the musical score, the music explores the resonance of a low C. Movement is created by "timbral transformation," that is, selective focus on various parts of the spectrum (or overtone series) of the note C. There are only two "chords" in the piece, when the resonance focus shifts to the note D. So there is no traditional harmony or melody in the music, only the exploration of sound. (The music student may notice that a secondary harmonic area is explored in the harp part at the tritone, where the major 3rd and dominant 7th are "common tones" in equal temperament; here the natural and tempered versions of the notes collide. See the second to last bar in the score. Buy the score here.)

When I presented the finished score to the high school class, most were perplexed at what I had created and wondered how to play such music. Many were just putting together their first chord progressions, improvising at their instruments with the familiar materials of music. Some had "sound idea" concepts that were more abstract. But I sensed that proportional notation was entirely new. I did my best to explain how all sound is motion, and that "contemplating motion" could refer not only to rhythm, but to "harmony" – or in my case "resonance" – as well. Certainly a quantum leap for many. To Rob McLeod's credit (their music teacher and leader of the collaboration with TPE), they were already exposed to the concepts through brief encounters of the scores John Cage, and, I sensed, discussions of sound object and musique concrete, though I didn't get a sense that the scores of Penderecki, Lutoslawski, Boulez and Stockhausen had been explored in any depth. But these kids were just getting started!

Working with the Turning Point Ensemble on this music was very rewarding. I found it an interesting exercise to work under the same conditions as the school-aged composers. Most rewarding for me though, was to hear, at the concert, a piece that had clearly been conceived of using my piece as a model. Sure enough, the composer, whom I had not previously met (i.e. she was not one of the students I had tutored), came to me after the dress rehearsal and thanked me for my presentation, saying that, once she saw my score and heard me talk about it, she saw "a way to write down my own piece."

The Turning Point Ensemble and the North Vancouver School District have together created an incredibly rich cultural program for young people in this program, connecting creativity, self-expression, self-confidence, and the thirst for knowledge and new experience in a way that raises a generation of societal leaders. The flexibility of mind and of personality that this kind of program engenders is of great benefit to society, regardless of the final role that any of these young people may play in our society. If we want a society of innovators and high-functioning people, then this sort of program should not only be supported in our public schools, but be considered an essential offering for the high-functioning and/or highly-motivated young person. Instead, the North Vancouver School District has cancelled the program for this coming year, citing lack of funds.


Please consider writing a letter to John Lewis, the "Superintendent of Schools and CEO" for the North Vancouver School District.

Five-ring Concerto recordings (excerpts) now available

I listened to the recording of the first performance of my Five-ring Concerto last night. Nice recording by Andrew Smith of Vancouver Live Sound captured the excitement of the concert. 

You can hear the recordings here:

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/John-Oliver/17803448646

Look down the left column for "My Band"

Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/johnolivermusic

Reverbnation: http://reverbnation.com/johnolivermusic 

CTV was the "official broadcaster" of the Olympics and, as far as I know, did not record any concerts other than those that were part of the official ceremonies. CBC bid for the broadcast rights and lost. CBC is a broadcaster with vast experience recording and broadcasting to both TV and radio, whereas CTV is a television network only. As a consequence, the Cultural Olympiad went essentially unnoticed and unreported by CTV. I watched the Olympics extensively and did not see a single news cast that included reporting about the Cultural Olympiad. 

It seems inconsistent and a lost opportunity that the BC and federal governments would invest in all of these cultural activities for the Olympics, and then sit on their hands when these investments do not get properly disseminated by the chosen broadcaster. The Olympics was the moment to show the world the great wealth of culture we offer, not only the famous entertainers at the opening and closing ceremonies, but throughout the entire society. It is in the public interest for the governments of BC and Canada to ensure that such an investment doesn't go to waste. Surely if private enterprise can't do the job properly, then a publicly-accountable entity (like the CBC) should be charged with making our country proud by broadcasting the numerous excellent events of the Cultural Olympiad. There's no question that CTV does sports well, but it makes me wonder what were the criteria for the bid to be the official broadcaster. If the bid criteria excluded a requirement to broadcast the Cultural Olympiad, then we can guess what members of the Olympic Organizing Committee and VANOC actually think about this aspect of the games.

"Paris - Amsterdam : 512" a popular success in Amiens FRANCE

I just received an email from the organizer of the event for 500 saxophones in Amiens, FRANCE. My composition Paris - Amsterdam : 512 was a great hit with the public. Here's what Serge Bertocchi had to say:

Merci 1000 fois pour ta pièce , qui fut l'un des beaux moments de notre Journée !!
Les participants, petits et grands, comme le public ont accueilli ta pièce avec enthousiasme !

Serge

To learn more about the wonderful saxophonist Serge Bertocchi, please visit his myspace page.

I will be posting some images and sounds once I receive them.

UPDATE: Here is a link to the opening of the piece, a recording made by a member of the audience on a portable device.

2010 ICMC Red Edition 360 degrees of 60x60: 6 different mixes of 60 works, 60 composers, 60 seconds each

BACKGROUND
60x60 contains 60 works from 60 different composers. Each composition is 60
seconds (or less) in duration sequenced together to create a one hour
performance. Highlighting the work of a great many composers, 60x60
testifies to the vibrancy of contemporary composition by presenting the
diverse array of styles, aesthetics and techniques being used today.

Debuting in New York City November 2003, 60x60 started as an acousmatic
"tape" concert with its 60 short electronic works synchronized with an
analog clock to mark the passage of each minute. since then 60x60 has
received thousands of audio submissions from more than 50 countries around
the world, produced radio shows, collaborated with multimedia (including
dance, video, sculpture, and photography) and released several audio albums
on CD.

360
360 degrees of 60x60 was created for the 2010 ICMC RED Edition
(International Computer Music Conference) 360 one minute pieces were
selected to create 6 one hour mixes. The 6 different mixes are all named a
different shade of red to honor the RED edition of ICMC: Burgundy mix,
Crimson mix, Magenta mix, Sanguine mix, Scarlet mix, and Vermilion mix.

360 composers were selected from over 40 different countries. Composers
ranged from different aesthetics, styles, ethnicity, culture, age, gender
and career stage. 60x60 is specifically designed to represent a broad
cross-section of acousmatic music being created throughout the world today.

In the spirit of worldwide collaboration and exposure in addition to
installation performance of the 360 degrees of 60x60 at the International
Computer Music Conference, “remote” concerts of the 6 mixes will take place
in more than 100 venues throughout the world over the next year. “360
degrees of 60x60, 60 works, 60 seconds long; to and from all around the
world.”

At the conference all 6 mixes will be performed as a 6 hour installation
each day of the conference.

June 1st and June 2nd from 1:00 PM – 7:00 PM 360 degrees of 60x60
installation will take place at the EMF (Electronic Music Foundation) 307
7th Avenue Suite 1402 (between 27th and 28th Street) New York City, NY 10001

June 3rd, June 4th and June 5th from 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM 360 degrees of
60x60 installation will take place at the Wang Center Chapel Stony Brook
University Stony Brook, New York 11794

The mixes will be performed in alphabetical order: Burgundy, Crimson, Magenta,
Sanguine, Scarlet mix, and Vermilion.

The 360 composers included in 360 degrees of 60x60 are:

360 degrees of 60x60 (Burgundy Mix)
Emerson Aagaard, Robert Allaire, Tatjana Bahme-Mehner, David Berlin, Kari
Besharse, John Bilotta, Rich Bitting, Colin Black, Greg Bryant, Paul
Burnell, Thomas Ciufo, Andrew Dolphin, Thomas Donahue, Phil Edelstein,
Brendan Faegre, Amanda Feery, Brian Fending, Ken Field, Judy Franklin, Terry
Gambarotto, John Gibson, Akiko Hatakeyama, Martin Herraiz, Joel Hickman,
Holland Hopson, Nick Hwang, Gretchen Jude, Timo Kahlen, Michiko Kawagoe,
Christopher Keyes, Shu-Fang Ko, Robert Lepre, Paul Lombardi, Fernando
Lopez-Lezcano, Hayley McCamey, Brian McGeever, Katie McMurran, Alexander
Mouton, Ken Paoli, Aki Pasoulas, Joseph Pehrson, Nora Ponte, Gene Pritsker,
Giuseppe Rapisarda, Robert Ratcliffe, Tim Reed, Prent Rodgers, Eric
Schwartz, Kazuaki Shiota, bob siebert, Diana Simpson Salazar, John Thompson,
Dan Tramte, Julian Villegas, Zina von Bozzay, Randall West, Marcus Wrango,
Hsi Yang, Zachary Young, and Josh Zaslow

360 degrees of 60x60 (Crimson Mix)
Sean Archibald, Richard Arnest, Lydia Ayers, Christopher Bailey, Michael
Baldwin, Zachary Todd Barr, Brian Belet, Daniel Blinkhorn, James Brody,
Warren Burt, Ede Cameron, Foster Clark, Cindy Cox, Mike Crain, Josh Crowe,
Pierre Desmarais, Francis Dhomont, Marco Dibeltulu, Matthew Ellis, Robert
Fleisher, Doug Geers, Michael Gogins, David Gordon, Kraig Grady, Esin
Gunduz, Tomer Harari, Jaclyn Heyen, Ryan Homsey, Chuckk Hubbard, Aaron
Krister Johnson, duck juggler, Tova Kardonne, Elizabeth Joan Kelly, Howard
Kenty, Laura Kramer, Petri Kuljuntausta, Chris Mann, Phil Mantione, David
Morneau, Peter Mottram, Chiharu Mukaiyama, Milica Paranosic, Christopher
Preissing, Jeffrey Rabena, Dean Rosenthal, Bettie Ross, Edward Ruchalski,
Iván Sánchez, Anne van Schothorst, Wolf D. Schreiber, Anthony St.Pierre,
Heather Stebbins, Paul Tucker, Vittorio Vella, Clemens von Reusner, Rodney
Waschka, Marcel Wierckx, and Tom Williams

360 degrees of 60x60 (Magenta Mix)
Liana Alexandra, Taylor Ashley, Jeremy Baguyos, Per Bloland, James Bohn,
Susan Brewster, Ann Cantelow, Da Jeong Choi, Stavros Choplaros, David
Claman, Douglas Cohen, Amanda Cole, J.C. Combs, Ron Coulter, Lucio E.
Cuellar, Mark Eden, Robert Fanelli, Jonas Foerster, Ulf Grahn, Melissa Grey,
Richard Hall, Anthony Hood, Bernard Hughes, Marie Incontrera, David Jaggard,
Travis Johns, Tuan Hung Le, Cyprian Li, Brian Lindgren, Sylvi MacCormac, Eli
McCartney, David Mooney, Serban Nichifor, Charles Nichols, Robert Payne,
Andrian Pertout, Guillermo Pozzati, Bob Rocco, Paul Russell, Antti Saario,
jacky schreiber, Daniel Sedgwick, David Ben Shannon, Adam Sovkoplas, Adam
Stansbie, Ken Steen, Christiane Strothmann, Elke Swoboda, Agnes Szelag, Aart
Uunivers, Jeremy Van Buskirk, Victor Villarreal, John Villec, Patricia
Walsh, Jane Wang, Dan Weymouth, Brent Wilcox, Ozan Yarman, Ph.D., Gregory
Yasinitsky, and Ivan Zavada,

360 degrees of 60x60 (Sanguine Mix)
Paul Adriaenssens, Anthony Arlotta, Rebecca Ashe, Greg Bartholomew, Dennis
Bathory-Kitsz, Jay Batzner, Cameron Bobro, Jason Bolte, benjamin Boone, Ian
Corbett, Andrew Davis, Daniel Dominguez Teruel, David Drexler, Enrico
Francioni, Kenneth Froelich, Iris Garrelfs, Philippe-Aubert Gauthier, Monroe
Golden, Daniel Griffing, David Hahn, Jack Harris, Andy Hasenpflug, Luke
Jennings, Lynn Job, Jiri Kaderabek, Bevin Kelley, Kevin Kissinger, Juraj
Kojs, HyeKyung Lee, Stephen Lias, Patrick Liddell, John Link, Tom Lopez,
Craig Marks, Gene Marlow, John Maycraft, Mike McFerron, Scott McGregor -
Moore, David McIntire, Tricia Minty, Steve Moshier, Alon Nechushtan, Julia
Norton, Doug Opel, Maggi Payne, Michael Pounds, Margaret Schedel, Les Scott,
Alan Shockley, Mary Simoni, Steven Snowden, Michael Spicer, Laurie Spiegel,
Stephen Stanfield, Madjid Tahriri, Eldad Tsabary, Doug Van Nort, Giovanni
Varrica, Rob Voisey, and Jon Weinel

360 degrees of 60x60 (Scarlet Mix)
Aaron Acosta, Monty Adkins, John Akins, Jacob Alford, Shani Aviram, Mark
Ballora, John Biggs, Adrian Borza, George Brunner, Michael Casey,
Christopher Chandler, Jen-Kuang Chang, Hsin-Li Chen, Ming ying Chen, Michael
Takezo Chinen, HEE YOUNG CHO, Lin Culbertson, elise cumberland, Mathew
Dalgleish, Jared Davison, Moritz Eggert, Travis Elrott, Juan Escudero, Thea
Fahardian, Jeff Fairbanks, Michael Farley, Brent Ferguson, Thomas Gerwin,
William 'Kwesi' Grant-Acquah, Scot Gresham-Lancaster, Bruce Hamilton,
Christopher Haworth, Min Eui Hong, Sair Sinan Kestelli, Anton Killin, Nicole
Kim, Yota Kobayashi, Yu-Ping Lin, Zachary Lovitch, Christian McLeer, Marty
Meinerz, Valerio Murat, Lee Noyes, James O'Callaghan, Rui Ogawa, David
Parfit, Scott Peterson, Momilani Ramstrum, Tony Saunders, Patrick Scott,
Daniel Steffey, Joyce Wai-chung Tang, Clay Taylor, En-Ning Tsai, Corinne
Tuney, Florian Vitez, Shu-Cheng Wu, Azumi Yokomizo, Sabrina Peña Young, and
Mark Zaki

360 degrees of 60x60 (Vermilion Mix)
Kevin Austin, Kwesi Awotwi, Daryn Bond, Arnold Brooks, Lou Bunk, Mark
Corwin, Mitch Curtis, Ricardo Dal Farra, Douglas DaSilva, Thomas Dempster,
Hrayr Eulmessekian, Mary Beth Farmer, Yves Gigon, Josh Goldman, Mark
Hannesson, Andrew Heathwaite, Ron Herrema, GuangJie Ho, Daniel Houglum,
Stephen Howden, Ioannis Kalantzis, Ioannis Kourtis, David Krajic, Fernando
Leppe, David Litke, Guillaume Loizillon, Pasquale Mainolfi, Svetlana Maras,
John Maters, Alexandre Matheson, Diana McIntosh, Jeffrey Mettlewsky, Bonnie
Miksch, Rosemary Mountain, Steven Naylor, David Ogborn, John Oliver, Alex
Olsen, Michael Olson, Juan Pablo Medina, Samuel Pellman, Kala Pierson,
Michael Pionsonneault, Grant Pittman, Ambrose Pottie, David Power, Fabian
Racca, Gilberto Rosa, Stephen Schedra, Jorge Sosa, Julian Stein, Penko
Stoitschev, Steel Stylianou, Kotoka Suzuki, Roberto Terelle, Barry Truax,
Graeme Truslove, Roxanne Turcotte, Victor Valentim, Michael Weinstein, and
Hildegard Westerkamp

Emperor Under Glass for solo piano

New publication Emperor Under Glass for solo piano. Get your FREE PDF here.

I wrote Emperor Under Glass in a single day on Monday December 7, 2009 as a response to an open invitation from Australia’s Aurora Festival to create a new work for solo piano on the theme of “Momentary Pleasures.” Beethoven's Emperor concerto played every week on our turntable while I was growing up. I loved the opening energetic arpeggios and was always disappointed when the main theme came in. Thus, these arpeggios were a momentary pleasure that I wished could go on forever. Now I understand it is the resonance to which I was attracted, and which quietly becomes the subject in my short piece.