David Dzubay

All Water has a Perfect Memory

Innova 011

726708601126

 

Disc A  69:46

 

            String Quartet No. 1 “Astral”

1.                     Voyage  5:57

2.                     Starry Night  4:07

3.                     S.E.T.I.  1:50

4.                     Wintu Dream Song  6:23

5.                     Supernova  3:39

            Orion String Quartet

 

6.         all water has a perfect memory  15:12

            Voices of Change

 

7.         Producing For A While  8:21

            Voices of Change

 

8.         Delicious Silence  7:11

            Miranda Cuckson, violin

 

9.         Lament  9:28

            Barkada Quartet

 

10.       Volando  4:27

            Zephyr

 

11.       Lullaby  3:09

            Emily Levin, harp

 

Disc B  58:29

 

1.         Double Black Diamond  10:08

            Indiana University New Music Ensemble;

            David Dzubay, conductor

 

            Kukulkan II

2.                     Kukulkan’s Ascent  (El Castillo March equinox)  2:37

3.                     Water Run  (Profane Well)  3:31

4.                     Celestial Determination  (El Caracol)  1:56

5.                     Processional-Offering   (Sacred Well)  4:51

6.                     Quetzalcoatl’s Sacrifice  (The Great Ball Court)  4:13

7.                     Kukulkan’s Descent  (El Castillo September equinox)  2:13

            Indiana University New Music Ensemble

 

            Chamber Concerto for Trumpet, Violin & Ensemble

8.                     Déjà vu (passacaglia sospeso)  13:20

9.                     Rapprochement (intermezzo)  9:08

10.                   Détente(s) (scherzo)  6:31

            Indiana University New Music Ensemble;

            David Dzubay, conductor

            Simin Ganatra, violin

            John Rommel, trumpet/flugelhorn/piccolo trumpet

 

String Quartet No. 1 “Astral” (2008)

I.          Voyage

II.         Starry Night

III.        S.E.T.I.

IV.        Wintu Dream Song

V.         Supernova

Orion String Quartet

Daniel Phillips, violin

Todd Phillips, violin

Steven Tenenbom, viola

Timothy Eddy, cello

 

all water has a perfect memory (2007)

Voices of Change

Jonathan Jones, clarinet

Anastasia Markina, piano

Maria Schleuning, violin

Shu Lee, violin

David Sywak, viola

Kari Kettering, cello

David Dzubay, conductor

 

Producing For A While (2014)

text: Julie Choffel

Voices of Change

Rainelle Krause, soprano

Helen Blackburn, flute

Chris Runk, bass clarinet

Michael Jones, marimba

Anastasia Markina, piano

Maria Schleuning, violin

Kari Kettering, cello

David Dzubay, conductor

Delicious Silence (2010)

Miranda Cuckson, violin

 

Lament (2015)

Barkada Quartet

Christopher Elchico, soprano

Shane Rathburn, alto

Perry Roth, tenor

Justin Polyblank, baritone

 

Volando (2003)

Zephyr

Jorge Montilla, E-flat clarinet

Min-Ho Yeh, clarinet

Howard Klug, bass clarinet

 

Lullaby (2015)

Emily Levin, Harp

 

Double Black Diamond (2005/2007)

Indiana University New Music Ensemble;

David Dzubay, conductor

I-Jeng Yeh, flute/piccolo

Keith Sorrels, oboe

Leigh Lafosse, clarinet

Matthew Hogan, bassoon

Kirstin Schularick, horn

EJ Ramos, trumpet

Matt Maslanka, trombone

James Saliers, tuba

Brian Blume & Josh Bowman, percussion

Timothy Best, piano

Veronique Mathieu, violin

Stanislav Pronin, violin

Sheldon Person, viola

Alvin Wong, cello

Ben Jensen, bass

 

Kukulkan II (2007)

I.          Kukulkan’s Ascent  (El Castillo, March equinox)

II.         Water Run  (Profane Well)

III.        Celestial Determination  (El Caracol)

IV.        Processional-Offering   (Sacred Well)

V.         Quetzalcoatl’s Sacrifice  (The Great Ball Court)

VI.        Kukulkan’s Descent  (El Castillo, September equinox)

IU New Music Ensemble

Daniel Stein, flute

Yi-Chun Chen, clarinet

Liana Gourdjia, violin

Eric Allen, cello

Teddy Niedermaier, piano

 

Chamber Concerto for Trumpet, Violin & Ensemble (2016)

I.          Déjà vu (passacaglia sospeso)

II.         Rapprochement (intermezzo)

III.        Détente(s) (scherzo)

Indiana University New Music Ensemble;

David Dzubay, conductor

Simin Ganatra, violin

John Rommel, trumpet/flugelhorn/piccolo trumpet

Marco Núñez, flute/piccolo/alto flute

Jacob Walsh, oboe/English horn

Wai Ki Wun, clarinet

Cameron Winrow, bass clarinet

Nellie Sommer, bassoon/contrabassoon

Nathan Howard, tenor saxophone

Chris Neiner, horn

Kenneth Johnson, trombone

Sam Appleton, tuba

Matthew Schultheis, piano

Mitchell Beck, percussion

Joel Castro-Lawicki, percussion

Mark Hatlestad, viola

Alex Krew, cello

Sharif Ibrahim, bass

 

Welcome to this survey of some of my music from the early 21st century!  The first disc assembles performances from a variety of chamber ensembles and soloists, spanning a period from 2003-2015. The second disc features compositions from 2007 and 2016 performed by the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music New Music Ensemble, which I have been fortunate to direct since 1992.

 

The title of this collection and of the second work on disc one comes from Toni Morrison’s famous quote:

“You know, they straightened out the Mississippi River in places, to make room for houses and livable acreage. Occasionally the river floods these places. “Floods” is the word they use, but in fact it is not flooding; it is remembering. Remembering where it used to be. All water has a perfect memory and is forever trying to get back to where it was. Writers are like that: remembering where we were, that valley we ran through, what the banks were like, the light that was there and the route back to our original place. It is emotional memory--what the nerves and the skin remember as well as how it appeared. And a rush of imagination is our “flooding.”

 

Nearly all of these pieces involve emotional memory to an extent, some more clearly so than others. A nice thing about music is that even the most programmatic narrative-based music remains somewhat abstract and personal; the composer and audience may have very different interpretations of the same music because so much depends on the history and memories, musical or otherwise, that one brings to the listening experience. In my composing, I enjoy “floods” of the imagination inspired by extra-musical imagery, from stars in the string quartet, flocking birds in Volando, Rocky Mountain ski runs in Double Black Diamond, to the Mayan ruins of Chichén Itzá in Kukulkan or deep waters of the ocean. However, regardless of any suggestive title or narrative, I always try to compose music that a listener can approach from the sound alone, following a line of musical flow from beginning to end.  So, feel free to stop here and just listen or read on as you wish!

 

I send my deepest gratitude to all of the wonderful musicians performing in these recordings and to the audio engineers who captured and edited the sounds so well.  I thank the professionals involved and also all the students from the IU Jacobs School of Music who contributed.  A special thank you to Konrad Strauss for going above and beyond in overseeing and doing a substantial amount of the recording, editing and the mastering of this collection.

— David Dzubay

 

David Dzubay

 

Composer and conductor David Dzubay was born in 1964 in Minneapolis, grew up in Portland, Oregon, and earned a D.M. in Composition at Indiana University in 1991. Additional studies included a fellowship in composition at Tanglewood (1990) and two summers as co-principal trumpet of the National Repertory Orchestra (1988, 1989).

 

David Dzubay’s music has been performed by orchestras, ensembles and soloists in the U.S., Europe, Canada, Mexico, and Asia. Recent honors include a 2015 Fromm commission, Guggenheim, Bogliasco, MacDowell, Yaddo, Copland House and Djerassi fellowships, and a 2011 Arts and Letters Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

A member of the faculty and director of the New Music Ensemble at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music since 1992, Dzubay is professor of music and has been chair of the composition department since 2006. He has conducted at the Tanglewood, Aspen, and June in Buffalo festivals. He has also conducted the Grossman Ensemble of the Chicago Center for Contemporary Composition, the League of Composers Orchestra in New York, the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, Music from China, and Voices of Change, among others. From 1995 to 1998 he served as Composer-Consultant to the Minnesota Orchestra, directing their “Perfect-Pitch” reading sessions, and during 2005-2006 he was Meet The Composer “Music Alive” Composer-in-Residence with the Green Bay Symphony Orchestra. Since 2011, Dzubay has spent three weeks each summer at the Brevard Music Center teaching composition and conducting composer readings with orchestra and band. In March 2019, Dzubay’s Ra! was performed eight times by the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Thomas Wilkins. In May 2019, Dzubay was guest composer and had orchestral works performed at the Beijing Modern Music Festival and at the China-ASEAN Music Festival. He returned to China in July to teach at the Beijing International Composition Workshop. Premieres in 2019 include String Quartet No. 2 with the Pacifica String Quartet, PHO with the Grossman Ensemble, Autumn Rivulets for soprano and orchestra with the Quad City Symphony and a Flute Concerto for Alejandro Escuer and the Orquesta Filarmónica de la Ciudad de México.

 

String Quartet No. 1 “Astral” (2008)

Written for and dedicated to The Orion String Quartet

 

Beginning work on a piece for the Orion String Quartet, and taking a cue either from the group’s name or perhaps from gazing upwards on evening strolls around the MacDowell Colony in rural New Hampshire, I decided to focus on the stars, composing an “Astral” quartet, movements of which would look at stars and space in various ways. Though the movements are somewhat independent, they do share musical elements and together are balanced on the curious middle movement. Like our galaxy, the quartet has a spiral structure, both in the shape of an eight-pitch ‘spiral motive’ and in the duration of the movements (roughly 5’-3’-2’-4’-3’). The ‘spiral motive’ is built by combining a few transpositions of the ‘root motive’ - a group of three pitches separated by a major second and minor third, variations of which are heard frequently in the melodic lines. The ‘root motive’ is also reflected in the overall tonal progression: G-A-(G)-E. One other recurring element, first heard in the opening bars, is a group of three evenly spaced attacks, a representation of Orion’s Belt, the tight grouping of three stars lined up in the Orion constellation.

 

Voyage is a microcosm of the entire work, presenting five sections in palindrome form, introducing the important motives of the work, and imagining a flight through space, complete with syncopated asteroids and transitory worm holes(!) In the quiet center of the movement, we glimpse the traveler’s capsule interior before hurtling through space once more.

 

The ‘three stars in a line’ rhythmic motive is perhaps most clearly heard in Starry Night, sounding as quiet bell tones here and there in an introspective movement that briefly erupts in turbulence reflective of its namesake by Van Gogh.

 

S.E.T.I. is named after the organization founded by Carl Sagan that searches for signs of galactic life in radio transmissions. The music alternates between four Focus sections and three View sections, an aural depiction of the search for extraterrestrial intelligence through the giant radio telescope at Arecibo.

 

Wintu Dream Song sets a Native American funeral song text of the west coast’s Wintu tribe:

It is above that you and I shall go;

Along the Milky Way you and I shall go;

Along the flower trail you and I shall go;

Picking flowers on our way you and I shall go.

After an opening incantation by cello and viola, the song is heard twice, first in the traditional form (a-b-a-b-a-c-d), and then after a transition, in an abbreviated form (a-b-a-c-d). The top voice of the chorale-like texture is fairly repetitive and tonal, following the text closely. One might almost be able to sing along the second time!

 

Supernova begins with music of constrained energy, explodes in a wild development of earlier ideas and then dissipates into the expanse of space. In a tip of the hat to galactic hitchhiker Douglas Adams and his answer to the Ultimate Question, the final chord arrives with 42 strokes.

 

all water has a perfect memory (2007)

Commissioned and premiered by Voices of Change

Kuhmo International Composition Competition, third prize

 

I also began composing all water has a perfect memory at the MacDowell Colony, in an emotional response to fellow “colonist” Natalia Almada’s documentary film of the same name that explores family memories of her two-year-old sister’s drowning. The title is drawn from an essay written by Toni Morrison, in which she speaks of the Mississippi River’s ability to conjure memories: “They straightened out the Mississippi River in places, to make room for houses and livable acreage. Occasionally the river floods these places ... but in fact it is not flooding; it is remembering. ... All water has a perfect memory and is forever trying to get back to where it was.”

 

The sea has long been a source of mystery and spirituality for me. Spending portions of summers in my youth at a remote Oregon beach exploring rocky protrusions, cliffs and caves accessible only at low tide instilled a sense of awe and respect for the elemental power of the ocean, well-spring of life. And one sensed how easily life can be lost. Our human fragility was made clear witnessing the deaths of two teenage boys at the coast, one in 1972 and one in the summer of 2005. Recent times have of course held large-scale tragedies involving ocean waters - from the tsunami in Asia to breached dams in New Orleans. This composition is dedicated to those reclaimed by the sea.

 

Musically, the work presents a theme featuring clarinet, and six variations featuring in turn, viola, cello, piano, violin 1, tutti and violin 2. Extended transitions follow the viola and violin 1 variations. The climatic tutti variation contains seven ‘waves’, the proverbial ‘seventh wave’ being largest and leading to the apex of the work and then a return to the opening tempo for the concluding sixth variation.

 

Producing For A While (2014)

Text (Julie Choffel, 2012)

 

I encountered the poetry of Julie Choffel while working on a project for Voices Up: New Music for New Poetry, a concert at Fordham University - Lincoln Center Campus. Her new book, The Hello Delay, published in March, 2012, won Fordham’s annual Poetry Out Loud contest. Choosing three of these poems, I composed a set for soprano, violin and cello. The curiously ambiguous Producing For A While is the third song in the set, and here finds a new home as a work for soprano and chamber ensemble.

 

I think I’m done with producing for a while. I know I can contribute a lot to the overall production. But I’m done with producing until I can get some input. They said, if we produce you, you sign a contract. If you sign our contract, we will feed you an extra meal per day. If you don’t want this extra meal, you can not give it away to someone else without a contract. If you produce meals spontaneously, we can not be responsible for your production. I said I think I’m done. They said give us a break I said give me a break. We broke everything together and it was useful for me. I needed some input for my overall worth and so they contributed. I had to admit that I wanted them to produce me. I had to fulfill the terms. The terms said I was done producing for a while. They produced a document that said I would show them my terms. I thought when I get enough input I’ll show them. I showed them what I knew about production by waiting it out. They said what if we gave you more input. I said you don’t get it I think I’m done with producing for a while.

 

“Producing For A While” used with the permission of Fordham University Press.  Copyright © 2012.

 

Delicious Silence (2010)

“The delicious silence throngs with ghosts of wingèd sound and shadow.”

                         — Conrad Aiken, Preludes for Memnon

 

Delicious Silence was composed for violinist Liana Gourdjia and is built out of a motto based on pitches suggested by letters in her name: A-G-C-D. This short piece is in three sections, an introduction and exposition, a development that is increasingly agitated and builds to a climax, and a reflective conclusion. Along with the ever-present motto and its transformations, another recurring element is a repeating tone, speeding up and slowing down. No meters are used in the score, and the work is played with a great deal of freedom and perhaps sounds almost improvised.

 

Lament (2015)

Commissioned by the Barkada Quartet

 

I began this work in January 2015 in the days after the senseless attack on the offices of Charlie Hebdo in Paris. The music uses mottos derived from “Charlie Hebdo” and “Je suis Charlie.” More directly, the music is expressive, mournful, stunned, outraged, and at times exhibits an emphasis on freedom of expression, reflected by increased independence among the players.

 

Volando (2003)

 

Volando was composed for Zephyr and premiered by them at the 2003 ClarinetFest at the University of Utah, in Salt Lake City. “Volando” is Spanish for “flying” or “quickly,” and in this short fanfare the three clarinets are certainly asked to fly through many notes in rapid order, requiring great agility on the part of the performers. Volando is in six sections:

 

I.          Fanfare I - Departure. Perhaps the most typically ‘fanfare’-like music in the work, the opening presents the basic musical material of the composition in mostly unison declarative exclamations.

II.         Chirping. A wild cacophony of bird-like chirping.

III.        Fluttering. Muted echoes of the chirps, now as tentative flutters, culminating in some rather labored flapping.

IV.        Soaring. Long ascending scales elided between the players, gaining energy and then juxtaposed with more flutters.

V.         Flocking. The three parts (birds?) converge into rhythmically propulsive arpeggios in octaves.

VI.        Fanfare II - Arrival. The concluding fanfare summarizes all of the musical elements in the work.

 

Lullaby (2015)

 

Commissioned by the Minnesota Orchestral Association for performance as part of the Minnesota Orchestra’s “Adventures in Music” series of family concerts, Wind Says Good Night features a narrator and four soloists from within the orchestra. Katy Rydell’s wonderful book tells the story of a child kept from sleep by a mockingbird, cricket, frog and moth, represented musically by the flute, violin, bass and drums, respectively. Other characters in the book are the night wind, depicted by a rolled, upside-down cymbal placed on a timpani drum and the moon, represented by swells in the horns, winds and strings. A gentle lullaby is featured at the beginning and ending of the work and also in transitions, and is here reworked into a short piece for solo harp.  There is also a version for solo guitar.

 

Double Black Diamond (2005/2007)

Commissioned by the Utah Arts Festival

First Prize in the 2007 Indiana State University Contemporary Music Festival/ Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra Composition Competition

 

Double Black Diamond was composed for the Utah Arts Festival and is named after the rating for very challenging ski runs.  Opening with icy, wintry sounds, the work has three large sections, the first of which is a hazy dream of what lies ahead, with alternating slow and fast tempos, all a bit blurry and out of focus. The middle section evokes the rather mechanical climb up the mountain in a chairlift, with a constantly ascending harmonic progression.  The last third of the piece represents a thrilling ride downhill, with sharp turns, surprises, air-time, one lost ski and perhaps a few bumps along the way.  Of course, I felt it important to research this work, so I spent a weekend in March of 2005 with my sister and brother skiing near Salt Lake City, at Snowbird and Solitude. In 2007, I made a few revisions and added parts for tuba and synthesizer in preparation for an East Coast tour with the Indiana University New Music Ensemble.

 

Kukulkan II (2007)

I.          Kukulkan’s Ascent (El Castillo, March equinox)

II.         Water Run  (Profane Well)

III.        Celestial Determination  (El Caracol)

IV.        Processional—Offering   (Sacred Well)

V.         Quetzalcoatl’s Sacrifice (The Great Ball Court) —

VI.        Kukulkan’s Descent  (El Castillo, September equinox)

Commissioned by ONIX; Dedicated to Alejandro Escuer

2010 Heckscher Foundation-Ithaca College Composition Prize

 

Like many visitors to the ancient Mayan ruins of Chichén Itzá, I stood in awe before the temple of Kukulkan, the god-man known to the Toltecs and Aztecs as Quetzalcoatl or “Feathered Serpent,” and the Great Ball Court, imagining the exotic rituals that have taken place there. This work is a flight of fantasy that attempts to evoke the ritualistic character of some of the monuments found at Chichén Itzá, including:

 

El Castillo: Actually a huge solar calendar, the main pyramid of Kukulkan is a time temple that sheds light on the Mayan astronomical system. During the equinoxes, the shadow pattern of the pyramid’s steps seems to show a serpent climbing up the steps in March and down the steps in September.

 

Two cenotes, or wells (profane and sacred): The smaller profane well was used for everyday needs, while the larger sacred well was used in worship, and offerings were continually made to it. Divers have retrieved skeletons and many ritual objects from its depths.

 

The Observatory (El Caracol): The observatory was built in a spiraling design, with the windows in the dome aligning with certain stars on specific dates, showing the precision of Mayan astronomy.

The Great Ball Court: The whole basis and rationale of Mayan sacrifice was the belief that the victim sacrificed was Quetzalcoatl himself, and by sacrificing the victim they were reenacting Quetzalcoatl’s sacrifice at the beginning of time, thereby renewing creation. In one version of the sacrifice, Quetzalcoatl manifested himself as two persons: the twins Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca. In a ritual that took place at the beginning of time, Quetzalcoatl killed his twin, from whose body the world then emerged. At the end of significant time periods -— at times when creation ran out of power — a ritual ballgame was staged at the ball field of Chichén Itzá. Each side incarnated the God Quetzalcoatl, one side as Tezcatlipoca and one side as the twin Quetzalcoatl. The losers — i.e., the players incarnating Tezcatlipoca, were then sacrificed. The Maya believed that this sacrifice — as a repetition of the original sacrifice of Quetzalcoatl — would renew and keep the world alive.

 

Chamber Concerto for Trumpet, Violin & Ensemble (2016)

I.          Déjà vu (passacaglia sospeso)

II.         Rapprochement (intermezzo)

III.        Détente(s) (scherzo)

Commissioned by the University of Connecticut as winner of the 2015 Sackler Prize

 

The first movement, Déjà vu (passacaglia sospeso), is reflective of having the same discussions and events over and over, not learning from our mistakes. A nine-bar pattern is repeated many times, but always with some change in harmony or texture. This passacaglia is “suspended” for a slower, quiet interior section with more chromaticism and delicate orchestration, but ultimately comes back in increasingly wild variations.

 

I preserved the original working title of Rapprochement for the second movement, a mostly calm intermezzo with the two soloists generally working in agreement. A darker movement, the music is slower and lower, featuring low doublings in the woodwinds, the violin muted at times, and the trumpeter now playing flugelhorn. There are three key ingredients for this movement: a characteristic eighth-note accompaniment with staccato and slurred notes (‘bup-baah-dup”), melodic writing featuring perfect fifths and neighbor tones, and glowing sounds.

 

The final movement, Détente(s) (scherzo), is the closest the music gets to a pitched battle, with the whole ensemble segmented in many different configurations. A fast, bright movement, the low doublings are gone, replaced by piccolo trumpet, open violin, and piccolo instead of flute sometimes joining the two soloists for a “high trio.” Other internal trios are featured, again combining into larger groupings and leading to a climactic return and fuller realization of a progression from the first movement. A quiet reminiscence of the opening of the work leads to the concluding phrase.

 

Performer Bios

 

Barkada Quartet

Christopher Elchico, soprano

Shane Rathburn, alto

Perry Roth, tenor

Justin Polyblank, baritone

 

Said to display “virtuosity of the utmost distinctive order” (Splash Magazine), Barkada Quartet is the first saxophone quartet to capture the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition’s coveted Grand Prize. Formed in 2011 at the Indiana University Bloomington Jacobs School of Music, Barkada Quartet’s individual members share a friendship and musical camaraderie of such strength that their performances are said to be reminiscent of “watching a group of men having a chat at the water cooler.”

 

As a performance ensemble, Barkada Quartet has achieved international recognition, having performed over 60 engagements in Italy, Japan, and 14 states in the contiguous United Sates. Their debut, self-produced album Aventura features original works for saxophone quartet by composers David Maslanka, David Salleras Quintana, and David Werfelmann.

 

Artistic collaboration with friends, colleagues, and mentors located in regions one might consider to be the musical “roots” of Barkada Quartet and its individual members has been an important focus of the quartet since 2012. Their annual concert series have featured works dedicated to the quartet by composers Elliott Bark, David Dzubay, Luke Ellard, Amos Gillespie, John Leszczysnki, Gabriel Lubell, and David Martynuik.

 

Through virtuosic performances, thoughtful musician-composer collaborations, and meaningful educational outreach, Barkada Quartet hopes to remind audiences that chamber music is known historically as “the music of friends.”

 

barkadaquartet.com

 

Miranda Cuckson

 

In demand for her performances of music ranging from older eras to the most current creations, Miranda Cuckson is passionate about the creative role of the performer/interpreter in the artistic process and in communicating the music. Downbeat magazine recently stated “Miranda Cuckson reaffirms her standing as one of the most sensitive and electric interpreters of new music.”

 

This past year (2018) she premiered concertos written for her by Georg Friedrich Haas in Tokyo, Stuttgart and Porto and by Marcela Rodriguez in Mexico City. She also gave the New York premiere of Michael Hersch’s concerto. She was recently presented by the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra’s Liquid Music, Miller Theatre, Strathmore and Art Institute of Chicago. Other venues range from the Berlin Philharmonie and Teatro Colón to the Guggenheim and Cleveland Museums, to the Marlboro, Bard, West Cork, Portland and Sinus Ton festivals. She made her Carnegie Hall (Stern Auditorium) debut playing Piston’s violin concerto with the American Symphony Orchestra.

 

In addition to working with many emerging young artists, Miranda has worked with major composers including Dutilleux, Carter, Boulez, Hyla, Mackey, Crumb, Iyer, Saariaho, Davidovsky, Murail and Wuorinen. Among composers who have recently written for her are Jason Eckardt, George Lewis, Lu Wang, and Steve Lehman. Harold Meltzer’s “Kreisleriana” was commissioned for her by the Library of Congress.

She has released ten albums including Nono’s La lontananza nostalgica utopica futura (Urlicht), named a Best Recording of 2012 by the New York Times; Melting the Darkness, an acclaimed album of microtonal and electroacoustic music; and Bartók, Schnittke and Lutoslawski on ECM Records.

 

Miranda is founder of Nunc, a member of AMOC and counter)induction, and artistic advisor at National Sawdust. She teaches at Mannes School of Music. She studied at Juilliard, where she received her doctorate and won the Presser Award.

 

www.mirandacuckson.com

 

Simin Ganatra

 

Simin Ganatra is professor of violin and chair of the Strings Department at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. She is also first violinist of the Pacifica Quartet, the school’s quartet-in-residence. Ganatra has won wide recognition for her performances throughout the United States and abroad. She has performed numerous times in such prestigious venues as Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, the Kennedy Center, Wigmore Hall, the Concertgebeouw in Amsterdam, and Carnegie’s Zankel Hall. Collaborations include performances with Yo-Yo Ma, Anthony McGill, Lynn Harrell, and Menahem Pressler, among others. She is the recipient of several awards and prizes, including a Grammy for best chamber music performance, the Naumburg Chamber Music Award, the Cleveland Quartet Award, and top prizes at the Concert Artists Guild Competition, Coleman Chamber Music Competition, Pasadena Instrumental Competition, and Schubert Club Competition.

 

Originally from Los Angeles, Ganatra studied with Idell Low, Robert Lipsett, and Roland and Almita Vamos. She is a graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory, where she was concertmaster of the Oberlin Conservatory Orchestra and recipient of the Louis Kaufman Prize for outstanding performance in chamber music. She was previously professor at the University of Illinois, Champaign/Urbana, Northwestern University, and the University of Chicago. She has many recordings on the Cedille Records label, including the complete string quartets of Felix Mendelssohn, Elliot Carter, and Dmitri Shostakovich. During the summer, she serves on the faculty of the Aspen Music Festival and School.

 

Indiana University New Music Ensemble (with soloists Ganatra and Rommel)

David Dzubay, Director

 

The Indiana University Jacobs School of Music New Music Ensemble dedicates its efforts to performing a broad spectrum of contemporary music, focusing on works from the recent past and giving many world premieres with the composer present, but also presenting significant ensemble works from the 20th century. Each season’s repertoire will include music by IU students and faculty, guest composers, and other composers from around the world. To date, ten CDs featuring the New Music Ensemble and music by IU faculty composers have been released. There are also many live audio and video recordings of the ensemble available online at Soundcloud, YouTube and IUMusicLive’s streaming archive.

 

Soloists that have collaborated in performance with the ensemble include guests Wu Man, Claire Chaise, Kate Soper, Stephen Copes, Steve Mackey and Michael Lowenstern as well as numerous faculty and student singers and instrumentalists. Alumni of the ensemble include Jeremy Denk, Winston Choi, Bella Hristova, Madalyn and Cicely Parnas, Edgar Myer and Kenny Aronoff, to just name a few.

 

Founded in 1974 by Frederick Fox and directed since 1992 by David Dzubay, the other directors of the group have been Harvey Sollberger (1983-89), Claude Baker (1989-90), and Eugene O’Brien (1990-92). In addition to presenting a series of six concerts each year on the Bloomington campus, the New Music Ensemble has performed extensively beyond the borders of Indiana, including a residency at the June in Buffalo Festival and performances in venues on both coasts such as Merkin Hall, Miller Theatre, Perelman Theatre, Davies Hall, Benaroya Hall, Zipper Concert Hall and the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. In May 2018, the New Music Ensemble performed a concert at the National Autonomous University of Mexico in Mexico City celebrating the opening of IU’s Gateway Center in Mexico City.

 

Rainelle Krause, soprano

 

Known for her absolute precision and fiery coloratura, soprano Rainelle Krause is a versatile and compelling singer. She was most recently seen as Madame Herz with the New Hampshire Music Festival’s concert version of Mozart’s Der Schauspieldirektor, and in collaboration with San Antonio’s SOLI ensemble as the Queen of the Night. Other performances include Painted Sky Opera’s production of the The Medium as Monica, Blonde in Abduction from the Seraglio and Belinda in Dido and Aeneas with Opera Piccola of San Antonio, the title role and La Fée in Opera for the Young’s touring production of Cendrillon, Zerlina in Don Giovanni with Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music Opera Theater, and Galatea in Acis y Galatea with Opera Nova Costa Rica.

 

Ms. Krause has been awarded First Place in the Fielder Grant Competition, Third Place and Audience Favorite in the Orpheus Competition, and was a winner in the Texas Camerata’s Baroque Aria Competition. She was a finalist in the Lois Alba Competition as well as the International Mildred Miller Competition, a Regional Finalist with the Metropolitan National Council Auditions in New Orleans and St. Louis, and a semi-finalist with the Licia Albanese Puccini Foundation and Gari Foundation competitions. Engagements for the season included Zerlina cover in Don Giovanni with The Dallas Opera, guest soloist with Voices of Change for their Holocaust memorial performance, and featured artist for Opus Opera’s event, Mystique, a circus and opera collaboration. Performances include Vivaldi’s Gloria with the Texas Camerata, Ein Deutches Reqiuem in Norfolk, VA, La Traviata in concert with the Irving Symphony Orchestra, Poulenc’s Gloria with the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra, and Pat Nixon in Nixon in China in her debut with the Princeton Festival. Future seasons include her debut with the Deutsche Oper Berlin and Theater Basel.

 

rainellekrause.com

 

Emily Levin

 

Emily Levin is the Principal Harpist with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and Bronze Medal Winner of the 9th USA International Harp Competition.  Praised for her “technical wizardry and artistic intuition” (Herald Times), Emily brings the harp to the forefront of a diverse musical spectrum, using her instrument to connect with all audiences.

 

Emily has performed as Guest Principal Harp with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Houston Symphony, and regularly appears with the New York Philharmonic. As a soloist, she has performed in Carnegie Hall, the Kimmel Center, and Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and with the Dallas, Jerusalem, Colorado and West Virginia Symphony Orchestras and the Indiana University Festival Orchestra, among others.  For her debut album, Something Borrowed, the Classical Recording Foundation named her their 2017 Young Artist of the Year.

 

A strong believer in expanding music’s powerful impact, Emily has organized benefit concerts for the the International Rescue Committee and the Refugee Services of Texas. As Artistic Director of the Fine Arts Chamber Players, she presents chamber music concerts to the Dallas community that are free of charge and open to all. Emily is a core member of the New York-based new music group Ensemble Échappé and is a 2016 Winner of the Astral Artists national auditions.

 

Emily was named Adjunct Associate Professor of Harp at Southern Methodist University in 2019. She received her Master of Music degree in 2015 at the Juilliard School under the tutelage of Nancy Allen and completed undergraduate degrees in Music and History at Indiana University with Susann McDonald. Her honors history thesis discussed the impact of war songs on the French Revolution.

 

emilylevinharp.com

 

Orion String Quartet

Daniel Phillips, violin

Todd Phillips, violin

Steven Tenenbom, viola

Timothy Eddy, cello

 

Since its inception, the Orion Quartet has been consistently praised for the extraordinary musical integrity it brings to performances, offering diverse programs that juxtapose classic works of the standard quartet literature with masterworks by twentieth and twenty-first century composers. The Quartet remains on the cutting edge of programming with wide-ranging commissions from composers Chick Corea, Brett Dean, David Del Tredici, Alexander Goehr, Thierry Lancino, John Harbison, Leon Kirchner, Marc Neikrug, Lowell Liebermann, Peter Lieberson and Wynton Marsalis, and enjoys a creative partnership with the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company. The members of the Orion String Quartet—violinists Daniel Phillips and Todd Phillips (brothers who share the first violin chair equally), violist Steven Tenenbom and cellist Timothy Eddy—have worked closely with such legendary figures as Pablo Casals, Sir András Schiff, Rudolf Serkin, Isaac Stern, Pinchas Zukerman, Peter Serkin, members of TASHI and the Beaux Arts Trio, as well as the Budapest, Végh, Galimir and Guarneri String Quartets. The Orions serve as Artist Members of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and Quartet-in-Residence at New York’s Mannes School of Music, where they are featured in a four-concert series each year.

 

Heard often on National Public Radio’s Performance Today, the Orion has also appeared on PBS’s Live from Lincoln Center, A&E’s Breakfast with the Arts, and three times on ABC-TV’s Good Morning America. Additionally, the Quartet was photographed with Drew Barrymore by Annie Leibovitz for the April 2005 issue of Vogue.

 

Formed in 1987, the Quartet chose its name from the Orion constellation as a metaphor for the unique personality each musician brings to the group in its collective pursuit of the highest musical ideals.

 

orionquartet.com

 

John Rommel

 

John Rommel has been a faculty member at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music since 1993. He was Principal Trumpet of the Louisville Orchestra from 1988-1996 and has performed throughout the United States, as well as in France, Germany, Austria, Luxembourg, Spain, Chile, and China.  As Principal Trumpet of the Louisville Orchestra, he recorded more than 30 compositions by many of the leading composers of the twentieth century.  Rommel was a member of the Nashville Symphony from 1979-1988.  In recent years, he has performed with the Cleveland Orchestra (including a three-week European tour with the orchestra in the fall of 2017), the Cincinnati Symphony, the Indianapolis Symphony, the Nashville Symphony, the Milwaukee Symphony, and as Acting Principal Trumpet with the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra.  In addition, since 2015 he has been a member of the orchestra for the Strings Music Festival in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.

 

John Rommel’s chamber music experience includes performances with Summit Brass, the Saint Louis Brass Quintet, Fulcrum Point New Music Project, and the Nashville Contemporary Brass Quintet.  He has performed as a soloist in many different venues, including being a featured soloist with “The President’s Own” U. S. Marine Band at the National Trumpet Competition.  He also has extensive commercial recording experience in the studios of Nashville, Tennessee, and Indianapolis, Indiana.  John Rommel’s students hold positions in orchestras, military bands, and with universities in the United States, as well as in Canada and Europe. His primary teachers were William Adam, Louis Davidson, and Leon Rapier, with additional studies with Vincent Cichowicz and William Scarlett. 

 

Voices of Change

Maria Schleuning, Artistic Director

 

Voices of Change performs, celebrates and encourages new chamber music in North Texas. We are the Southwest’s premiere professional chamber music ensemble dedicated to the performance of the music of our time. Now in its 45th year, Voices of Change fills a unique niche in the music world by performing small ensemble works by 20th and 21st century composers. Our mission is to encourage and support current composers through performance and commissioning of new works.

 

Founded in 1974 by pianist Jo Boatright and clarinetist Ross Powell, Voices of Change is one of the longest-lived and most distinguished new music ensembles in the United States. In 1999, Voices of Change was a finalist for the prestigious Grammy Award for Best Performance by a Small Classical Ensemble, a first for any Dallas/Fort Worth area chamber music ensemble. Voices of Change has been awarded the annual ASCAP Award for Adventuresome Programming an unprecedented five times and has recorded LPs and CDs on the CRI, Crystal, Innova, Albany, Centaur, and Redwood labels.

 

The artists are first-tier professional musicians playing music written by well-known and up-and-coming professional composers. The music of living composers is challenging and requires the skill and dedication of accomplished classical musicians to be played.

 

Voices of Change has presented over 75 world premieres, performed music by over 300 composers, and made numerous recordings. Voices of Change is also dedicated to commissioning new works and recording them. The ensemble co-produces an annual Young Composers Competition to introduce and support the music of promising college and high-school composers.

 

voicesofchange.org

 

Zephyr

 

Jorge Montilla, E-flat clarinet

Min-Ho Yeh, clarinet

Howard Klug, bass clarinet

 

At the time of the recording, Jorge Montilla and Min-Ho Yeh were doctoral students at IU.  Jorge is now professor of clarinet at the University of Iowa (Iowa City) and Min-Ho is professor of clarinet at National Kaohsiung Normal University (Taiwan).

 

Howard Klug is a chamber musician, soloist, and clinician who has performed throughout the United States, Great Britain, Belgium, Portugal, Austria, Venezuela, China, and Israel. He plays flute and clarinet, and was a saxophone soloist as member of the U.S. Air Force Band in Washington, D.C. Professor Klug was principal clarinet with the Fresno Philharmonic, the Bear Valley Festival Orchestra, Sinfonia da Camera, and the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, and is a former member of the Columbus Symphony Orchestra and the Grant Park Symphony. Professor Klug’s chamber music affiliations have included the Illinois Trio, the Illinois Woodwind Quintet, the Chicago Ensemble, Trio Indiana, and fourté.

 

Credits

 

String Quartet No. 1

Produced, Engineered, Edited & Mixed by Adam Abeshouse

Recorded on March 22, 2017 in LeFrak Concert Hall at the CUNY Aaron Copland School of Music.

 

...all water has a perfect memory... and Producing For A While

Produced & engineered by George Gilliam

Edited by Konrad Strauss

Recorded on May 9, 2016 at the Mexquite Art Center in Mesquite, TX.

 

Delicious Silence

Produced, engineered, edited & mixed by Adam Abeshouse

Recorded on November 3, 2017.

 

Lament

Produced, engineered, edited & mixed by Konrad Strauss

Recorded March 8, 2018 in the Musical Arts Center at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.

 

Volando

Engineered & edited by Hideki Isoda (Riax

Studios)

Recorded June 27, 2003 in Auer Hall at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.

 

Lullaby

Produced, engineered, edited & mixed by Adam Abeshouse

Recorded in summer of 2017.

 

Double Black Diamond

Produced, edited & mixed by Konrad Strauss

Engineered by Douglas Gross

Recorded March 9, 2007 in Auer Hall at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.

 

Kukulkan II

Produced & mixed by Konrad Strauss

Engineered & edited by Keith McGraw

Assistant Engineers: Keith McGraw, Ben Glawe

Recorded March 9, 2007 in Auer Hall at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.

 

Chamber Concerto for Trumpet, Violin & Ensemble

Produced, edited & mixed by Konrad Strauss

Engineered by Walter Everton

Assistant Engineer: John Conant

Recorded April 22, 2017 in Auer Hall at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.

Mastering: Konrad Strauss

 

Websites:

David Dzubay: ProNovaMusic.com

Adam Abeshouse: abeshouseproductions.com

Konrad Strauss: konrad-strauss.com

 

Performing Rights Organization: Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI)

Supported by grants from:

American Academy of Arts and Letters

Indiana University New Frontiers in the Arts and Humanities

 

Photos:

Leesa Voth (Barkada)

John Rogers (Cuckson)

Alain Barker (IU JSoM NME)

Suzanne Vinnik (Krause)

Dario Acosta (Levin)

David Dzubay (quartet and Adam Abeshouse)

 

Cover photos: Neva Micheva

 

All music is published by Pro Nova Music (BMI).   ProNovaMusic.com

 

Innova Director, designer: Philip Blackburn

Operations Director: Chris Campbell

Publicist: Tim Igel

Innova is supported by an endowment from the McKnight Foundation.

innova.mu