NEW HAVEN WORX IV
7:30 PM ECA Arts Hall, Educational Center for the Arts
Saturday, February 28th 2004 _____________________________________________________________
“Piano suite: IV movement” by Thiago Trevisan
Thiago Trevisan, piano

“COLORS” poem by Mark Saba

“Blues Sonatina (1986-2003)” by Robert Carl
1. Blues Box
2. Warm Waxing Wail
3. Swing Shift
Robert Carl, piano

“Hocus Opus” poem by Tom Burnett

“For Miles Davis” by Robert Nasta

“SAM” poem by Mark Saba

“Ta Osta Ta Xera” by David Heetderks
Loop2.4.3, percussion and An-Lin Bardin, cello

“NARTHEX (1971)” by Bernard Andres
Cynthia Beausang, flute; Rebecca Flannery, harp

“East Wind” by Shulamit Ran
Sergio Pallottelli, flute

“Piece for Ten Fingers, One Mouth” poem by Tom Burnett

“Melody” by Karl Warner
Emily Kalish, violin; Evan Paul, piano

“Sequenza XII for Bassoon” by Luciano Berio
Rachael Elliott, bassoon

“Invocation” by Joseph Drew
Loop 2.4.3, percussion; Joseph Drew, trumpet

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Program Notes

Piano suite: IV movement-This is the fourth movement of my Piano suite, Op 4. Some of the influences for this work are Debussy, Scriabin, and Messiaen. The structure evolves from a few double note patterns and some harmonic gestures that reappear throughout the piece in a myriad of veiled forms, but always having some connection to the introductory material."

Blues Sonatina (1986-2003)
My Blues Sonatina is both something old and new. The second and third movements are earlier pieces; once I had composed Blues Box this year for the Dutch pianist Marcel Worms, I realized that the other two finally fit together into a larger sequence
(1.) “Blues Box” is a dark, lush, rumination, and strangely enough, serial. I chose a technique I almost never use to create a sort of
"cage" I could rattle, one which would keep me from falling into too many blues clichés
(2.) “Warm Waxing Wail” was begun as a daily musical journal of a vacation, a little one-minute piece written every day in Southern California on a lovely little island---in the middle of a parking lot! In it, the pianist sings in vocalise. It’s a smoky nightclub song, abstracted
(3.) “Swing Shift” was originally written as a competition piece for high school pianists. While not necessarily virtuosic, it’s not easy either, especially in its tricky rhythms. I pity those kids now! But at last I’ve shouldered my responsibility and learned it, too.

Ta Osta Ta Xera was written for Loop 2.4.3 and cellist An-Lin Bardin. The piece is built on a small handful of jittery, nervous ideas that grow out of each other and are interrupted by impassioned outbursts. The title is taken from the Greek translation of a section in the book Ezekiel, where a despairing prophet has a vision of a valley full of bones that come to life.

NARTHEX (1971) is the external portico or vestibule of a church leading to the nave or main part of the church. This work is based on memories of a trip to Burgundy after viewing sculptures by Gislebertus of Autun. "The dazzling luminosity of outdoors made a striking contrast with the semi-darkness and coolness inside the churches like the Cathederal of St. Lazare, Autun and the Abbey Church of Cluny. A poetic and dramatic situation was created by that contrast alone. " The following subtitles are written into the piece at various sections: Lute player, Flight into Egypt, Dance of Avarice, Dance of the Demons, Death of Avarice, Sleep of the Magi, Cithara player, Cain and Able, Dance of the Damned, Flight of Avarice, Pictures of the sculptures will accompany the performance.

"Melody" is dedicated to the memory of Lou Harrison. His spirit, along with the profound simplicity and beauty of his music, has influenced me and my own musical thinking in countless ways. My goal in this piece was to write a long continuous melody from beginning to end, and to build the entire form out of a few simple figures. I would like to give special thanks to my performers for dedicating their time and talents.

Sequenza XII for Bassoon (Composed in 1995 for Pascal Gallois) Influenced by Berio’s interest in Japanese No Theater, an extremely slowly unfolding traditional drama, this Sequenza is a sort of meditation. Its primary element is a continuous sound which slowly evolves through glissandi, and which is occasionally interrupted by unstable outbursts.

Invocation is an excerpt of a larger suite originally written for trumpet and tape. The suite is the culmination of an evening-length ritualization of Ives’ “The Unanswered Question”. The focal point of “Invocation” is a Zen chant: “The Awakening of the Desire to Benefit Others”, which is sung by the monks of the Soji-ji Monastery.

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Bios

Thiago Trevisan is an undergraduate piano performance major at the Hartt School, studying piano with Luiz de Moura Castro, and composition with Ingram Marshall.

Mark Saba’s poetry, fiction, and essays have appeared in many magazines around the country, most recently Phantasmagoria, Fiction, Mars Hill Review, and The Midnight Mind. He will have a group of poems published bilingually (English and Italian) soon in the Yale Italian Poetry Quaderno. He is the author of “Judith of the Lights,” an award-winning epic fantasy poem from the Mellen Poetry Press. His novel, THE LANDSCAPES OF PATER, will be published this year by the Vineyard Press.

Robert Carl studied composition with Jonathan Kramer, George Rochberg, Ralph Shapey, and Iannis Xenakis. His music is performed throughout the US and Europe, and is published by American Composers' Edition, Boosey&Hawkes, and Apoll-Edition. His grants, prizes and residencies have come from such sources as the National Endowment for the Arts, Tanglewood, Connecticut Commission on the Arts, Camargo Foundation, MacDowell Colony, Yaddo, Bogliasco Foundation, Djerassi Foundation, the Aaron Copland House, and the Rockefeller Foundation. He is the recipient of the 1998 Charles Ives Fellowship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, chair of the composition at the Hartt School, University of Hartford, and writes extensively on new music for Fanfare Magazine.

Tom Burnett has performed original works in NY at The Kitchen, Bowery Poetry Club, St Marks Poetry Project among others. Has directed productions for Projects for a New Millennium here in New Haven and has done numerous collaborations with artists including Istvan B'Racz and Loop2.4.3. Tom is a member of “Uncle Jimmy's Dirty Basement” in NYC.

Bob Nasta is a composer.

David Heetderks is a composer and violist in New Haven, and is co-coordinator of the fourth New Haven Worx. He has created pieces for Evan Ziporyn of Bang on a Can All-Stars, the Gemini Duo, pianist Reto Reichenbach, and the Group435 string orchestra. Recently his music has been featured at the Music 03 festival at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and at the Milford Center for the Arts. His Ukifune, created for the ensemble Clogs, is recorded on their album Thom’s Night Out and has been performed at the Kitchen and various venues in Europe. Mr. Heetderks was educated at the Yale School of Music, where his main teachers included Ezra Laderman, Alvin Singleton, and David Del Tredici.

Cynthia Beausang studied flute with Samuel Baron at SUNY Stony Brook where she completed her degree in music performance. While residing in England, she played with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, the Merseyside Opera, the Chester Music Society and the Mozart Chamber Players. Eight years ago, she moved to the New Haven area, where she is currently a faculty member at the Neighborhood Music School as well as being an active chamber musician. Groups she has played with include, the Connecticut Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra, the Wallingford Symphony, the New Haven Symphony, and Orchestra New England.

Rebecca Flannery has appeared as a chamber musician throughout Europe and the United States, notably Carnegie Recital Hall, Lincoln Center and WQXR. She was a founding member of Chrysolith, the Chamber Musicians’ Alliance, and other chamber groups. She has performed under the baton of Georg Solti, Aaron Copland, Blanche Moyse and Otto Werner Mueller and has appeared on television and radio in both the US and Europe. Ms. Flannery teaches harp at The Hartt School of Music, University of Hartford. She gives master classes regularly across North America. Her compositions for harp include “A Suite of Afterthoughts” (2000), and “Tour Package”: a set of solos (for lever or pedal harp) and duos for harp with flute and alto flute.

Sergio Pallottelli has performed internationally with many orchestras and has worked with composers such as Mario Davidovsky, Milton Babbit, Shulamit Ran, Samuel Adler and John Adams. Mr. Pallottelli teaches flute at Taft School in addition to having his own private studio, and is Ransom Wilson’s assistant at the annual master class in Italy. He holds a Diploma in flute from Milan Conservatory, Masters in flute from Univ. of Utah and Yale School of Music and an Artist Diploma from Yale.

Karl Warner is originally from Strafford, Vermont. Currently he is a doctoral candidate at the Hartt School, studying composition with Robert Carl and Ingram Marshall. Karl’s music has been performed throughout the North East by ensembles which include the
Network for New Music and the Relache Ensemble. Prior to coming to the Hartt school, he studied composition at Connecticut College with Noel Zahler, West Chester University with Robert Maggio and Larry Nelson, and privately with Katherine Hoover in New York City.

Emily Kalish, from Great Barrington, MA, studies violin performance with Katie Lansdale at the Hartt School. At Hartt she has played with both the Hartt Contemporary Players and Baroque Collegium. During the 2002-3 school year, she frequented New Haven as a member of the Ambrosia Quartet.

Evan C. Paul, studied piano with James G. Staples and composition with Daniel J. Perlongo at Indiana University of Pennsylvania after graduating early from high school. Evan graduated with a degree in piano performance in 2001; and, currently studies composition with Steve Gryc at Hartt.

Joseph Drew MM, Yale University; BM, Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory; member of Loop 2.4.3; founding member of Analog Arts Ensemble; Artistic Director of Downtown Music (NYC); Taught at Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, Yale University, The Juilliard School; Performs in Europe, Asia and throughout the US.

Rachael Elliott is a freelance bassoonist from Lyndon, Vermont. As a founding member of Clogs, she has produced two albums and toured extensively throughout the US, Western Europe, and Canada. Rachael has commissioned new repertoire for the bassoon including "Polka the Elk" by Padma Newsome and "Wounded Trees" by Beth Wiemann. Last year, Rachael premiered "21 Variations for a Friend" for Amplified Bassoon, Percussion & Chamber Orchestra, by Newsome. A 2003 grant recipient through Chamber Music America’s Residency Partnership Program, she recently produced a Clogs residency in collaboration with the Hamden Public Library.

Loop 2.4.3 (a percussion-based ensemble) hopes to bring a new relevance to chamber music in the 21st century, crossing traditional boundaries between genres of music with its boldly innovative programs. With a repertoire ranging from J.S. Bach to George Crumb, from Eric Dolphy to Radiohead, Loop 2.4.3 is as comfortable in a recital hall as it is in a jazz club setting. Loop 2.4.3 creates new works and commissions outside composers, stimulating curiosities and encouraging experimentation. This musical collective draws from an extraordinary palette of percussion sounds, sometimes adding electronics, voice/poetry, or other instruments. They may appear as a percussion trio, or as a mixed chamber group of up to seven performers. Recently relocated to New York City, the loop has roots in the American Mid-West and Northeast, as well as contributing members from Argentina and Eastern Europe. The extended ensemble includes two Fulbright scholars and graduates of the Yale School of Music, the Paris Conservatory, the Franz Liszt Academy, Oberlin Conservatory, and Central Michigan University. Their classical training is balanced by street smarts, with lessons learned in smoky clubs, experimental music venues, and European squats (please see www.loop243.com).

Istvan Peter B'Racz is the Artistic Director and founder of New Haven Worx

Alphonse Izzo is a composer and painter living in Branford, CT with his wife Karen. He is one of the assisting coordinators for tonight’s episode...

Jamie Burnett is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University in Theatre Production Design. As former Technical Director and Lighting Designer for the Educational Center for the Arts in New Haven for ten years, he has designed lighting for hundreds of productions in the Arts Hall and the Little Theater. He is also a consultant, designer, special events planner and film/video gaffer as well as a licensed electrical contractor.

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A VERY WARM THANK YOU TO:

Alphonse Izzo and David Heetderks for doing most of the organizational work for this one! Great job !!! Jamie Burnett for his stunning lighting that makes each show not just a concert, but truly an EVENT!
Brian Applegate for being our ticket-taker!
Kathy Wright for putting up with us, and doing a great job.

Rod Richardson (“Radio Nothing” host) for supporting us by giving us some air-time on WPKN WPKN (89.5 FM) well, need I say more?

Thanks to Projects for a New Millennium for their constant support in all cool things happening in the area and to the Neighborhood Music School for giving us the chance to begin...

Mark Saba for his poster (the “good” one, mine was the ugly-hard-to-read one).

Lydia Emperador for putting up, with someone who is off the edge, and still being in a good mood! To ALL my lovely family (past and present) who are the bedrock of all good things in my life,

And last but certainly not least:

To YOU, dear Listener.
This is all dedicated to you.
Without you, it’d be no fun.

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On a final note (if you got all the way down here, I'm impressed!), the concert itself was quite an event. I highly recommend downloading the entire album/concert to experience it. I own these recordings, but I am happily releasing this for free, so that this is a public record available to you, and to the composers, as well as the performers.

If you decide to pay for a single download (for one composer/performer), I will contact them, and gladly forward them the money. If there is an easier way to do this, I will figure it out.

They were not compensated for this concert, which goes to show the incredible dedication these amazing artists have. I am so deeply grateful to have been able to share the sonic stage with them.

THANK YOU!
-Istvan