Category: music composition

What an incredible day!

Today 6.8 my piece “ICE” commissioned by Green Capital Lahti got its video premiere, recorded by Lahti Sinfonia and conducted by Finland’s star conductor Dalia Stasevska (who is still in the UK as she conducted the opening of the Proms!)! The video premiere was on the big screen of Helsinki Music Centre at 12 PM, and is now available online in 100 cities threatened by rising sea levels. 

After the video premiere, the Mayor of Lahti Pekka Timonen officially cut the ribbon and opened the monumental visual piece I.C.E by Erkko Aarti and his team. The piece can be seen in front of Helsinki main library Oodi for the next 10 days, and all these days from 10 AM to 5 PM my piece ICE can be heard in the Wood Paviljong (on repeat).

When I was asked in December 2020 if I would like to compose the piece, I immediately had a “vision” of how this piece should sound, it was clear from the beginning to the end. Due to it’s important topic (the climate crisis) this piece is really special to me. My humblest thank you to Green Capital Lahti, Sinfonia Lahti and Dalia Stasevska for your trust in me, and giving me this enormous and amazing opportunity to be part of this!

The School of Music at UNCSA presents the UNCSA Wind Ensemble, in partnership with the Piedmont Wind Symphony, performing a joint concert featuring
the works of internationally acclaimed jazz composer and musician Omar Thomas on Friday,
Nov. 4, at 7:30 p.m. at the Stevens Center. The ensembles will be conducted by music
director and Music faculty member Mark Norman.

Tickets are $20 regular, $15 for students with valid IDs at http://www.uncsa.edu/performances or by calling the box office at 336-721-1945.

The UNCSA Wind Ensemble and the Piedmont Wind Symphony will perform several of Thomas’
pieces including “A Mother of a Revolution,” “The Low-Down Brown Get-Down,” “Come
Sunday” and “Shenandoah.” Thomas will be introducing his pieces and speaking throughout
the concert.

The concert will also feature Jeff Scott’s “Baile si quiere!” featuring the UNCSA
Faculty Winds; John Mackey’s “Songs from the End of the World,” featuring soprano
Lindsay Kesselman and the Piedmont Wind Symphony; and Chen Yi’s “Energetically” from “Dragon
Rhyme” with the UNCSA Wind Ensemble. Conducting graduate student Tim Heath will serve
as guest conductor.

Mark Norman, the School of Music’s director of instrumental ensembles who also serves
as the music director of the Piedmont Wind Symphony, says bringing in renowned talent
like Thomas is crucial for students.

Mark Norman

“It’s a complete honor that we are hosting perhaps one of the most sought-after and
influential composers of this generation, certainly his generation,” said Norman.
“It’s a thrill for us to have him on campus working with our students, working with
our community, and our professional musicians within the community. We’re very excited
and the students are excited.”

During his residency at UNCSA, Thomas will also rehearse his pieces with students
and serve as a guest lecturer for the composition seminar and performance hour.

Thomas’ work to be performed during the concert highlights the era of blaxploitation
films during the early ’70s. This genre of filmmaking placed Black actors in lead
roles, was aimed at African American audiences and was controversial for stereotyping
characters. “Despite the backlash studios received, the films possessed an exciting,
raw, soulful quality, and from these films were born some of the most iconic characters
and soundtracks ever created,” Thomas said. “The Low-Down Brown Get-Down” pulls from
various sounds and styles of African American folk music including funk, R&B, soul,
early hip-hop and the blues, he added.

“I’m thrilled to work with Mark Norman and UNC School of the Arts,” said Thomas. “With
the excellent musicianship of UNCSA’s students and the gracious leadership of Mark,
I think we will create a memorable and funky performance.”

UNCSA Faculty Winds

The UNCSA Faculty Winds includes Music faculty members Tadeu Coelho, flute; Jaren
Atherholt, oboe; Ronald Rudkin, clarinet; Maria Serkin, horn; Stephanie Patterson,
bassoon; and Chris Reichmeier, bongos.

About Omar Thomas

A Brooklyn native of Guyanese descent, Omar Thomas has been commissioned to create
both jazz and classical style work with his music performed in concert halls around
the globe. His work has been performed by such diverse groups as the Eastman New Jazz
Ensemble, the San Francisco and Boston Gay Men’s Choruses, The United States Marine
Band, the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, the Houston Symphony Orchestra, and the Showa
Wind Symphony, in addition to several of the country’s top collegiate music ensembles.
In 2019, Thomas was awarded the National Bandmasters Association/Revelli Award for
his wind composition “Come Sunday,” becoming the first Black composer awarded the
honor in the contest’s 42-year history. He is now a Yamaha master educator whose first
album “I AM” debuted at No. 1 on iTunes Jazz Charts and peaked at No. 13 on the Billboard
Traditional Jazz Albums Chart.

About Lindsay Kesselman

Lindsay Kesselman, Soprano Soloist

Lindsay Kesselman is a two-time Grammy-nominated soprano who passionately advocates
for contemporary music. She has been featured in “Energy in All Directions” by Kenneth
Frazelle with Sandbox Percussion at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center, the role
of Anna in Kurt Weill’s “The Seven Deadly Sins” with the Charlotte Symphony, “Astronautica:
Voices of Women in Space” with Voices of Ascension and more. Kesselman has been the
resident soprano of the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble for 10 seasons and Haven, Kesselman’s
trio with Kimberly Cole Luevano and Midori Koga, which actively commissions and tours
throughout North America. Kesselman holds degrees in voice performance and music education
from Rice University and Michigan State University.

About the UNCSA Wind Ensemble

The University of North Carolina School of the Arts Wind Ensemble combines selected
talented high school, undergraduate and graduate students to perform a variety of
classic literature and modern wind band repertoire. All sections rotate to individual
part assignments that are personalized for each student by the applied faculty and
director.

Throughout its history, the wind ensemble has enabled students to work with world-class
soloists and composers and has participated in numerous new music commissioning projects
leading to world and regional premieres. Many former members now perform with professional
orchestras, military bands and chamber ensembles around the world.

About the Piedmont Wind Symphony 

Founded in 1989, the Piedmont Wind Symphony (PWS) consists of the finest professional
musicians in the Piedmont-Triad area of North Carolina. Known for their energetic
and innovative programming, PWS consistently brings headlining performers such as
Ben Folds, Al Jarreau, The Capitol Bones, Demondrae Thurman and Arturo Sandoval to
its audiences. Thousands of concertgoers enjoy PWS performances and its Piedmont Pops
concerts each year. Serving as a leading ambassador for N.C. bands, PWS frequently
works with today’s composers and music educators in producing recordings and providing
inspiration to band participants of all ages. 

Contact Media Relations

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Trigger Warnings: Racism, Sexism, Violence

Today the 25th of November is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. 

Violence against any human is always a product of a complex system of power and inequality, a system, that campaigns like MeToo, BlackLivesMatter and many more have tried to dismantle since years.

I believe in the good in all humans, that most of us want to become better humans and strive for a better world. For me the “woke movement” has been a proof of that: a growing number of people trying to educate themselves about their own privileges, get informed about the basics of intersectional feminism and working on changing their way of speaking to make it more inclusive and a safe space for as many as possible.

However, since last Friday Finland has been buzzing after the scandal on national TV. ( Yle’s Marja Sannikka discussion program where first the whole “woke culture” was questioned after which astronomer Esko Valtaoja used the racist N-word twice in a discussion which left the reporter Renaz Ebrahimi bewildered). It has been very disappointing to watch: both the program itself as well as the media coverage it got afterwards.

Here are a few points of prevailed power structures that have upset me:

1. Why would you interview two white males (Valtaoja and Tammisalo)about racism, when they never have studied anything to do with racism or with intersectional feminism. This is a very important and difficult subject, where terminology is very important. Why invite people who neither have the terminology nor even personal experience.

2. Why juxtaposition a person of colour (Ebrahimi), who has a lot of knowledge about racism and intersectional feminism, with a person who has no knowledge in the field and say that “everyone has the right to their opinion”. No, no one has the right to racism or oppression in the name of “free speach”.

3. The person of colour (Ebrahimi), who rightly was upset of the usage of the N-word, has been portrayed as “aggressive and emotional” by press and many on social media. It is absolutely absurd that the person calling out the racist behaviour is being portrayed as the “agressive” one, and not the one using the racist language (in a calm voice).

4. The absurd juxtaposition, of a white male (Valtaoja) and white female Sannikka) arguing for “free speach” against a woman of colour (Ebrahimi) who opposes hate speech, has made the internet explode. The outcome has been that: Ebrahimi has received hundreds of death threats and other threats over social media. Sannikka’s program has been cancelled. Valtaoja has been given media coverage by Iltasanomat to tell “his version”.

Here we see usage (and misusage) of power in a nutshell, and the outcome was just an other “textbook example” of how structural oppression works. The person of colour who happened to be a woman had to pay the highest price, although she only called out racism and said it was unacceptable. 

Threat of violence against women is used very actively also today to try shut up women’s voices.

Lets try to change that, together, okay?

It was a historic night of enlightenment, emotion, and of course, inspired Jazz performances at the inaugural Jazz Music Awards: Celebrating The Spirit of Jazz, held on Saturday, October 22, 2022, at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre in Atlanta, Georgia.

The first full-scale awards ceremony devoted to celebrating Jazz music and the artists who create it left the audience dazzled by the sheer amount of talent gathered on the stage, from the co-hosts, NEA Jazz Master Dee Dee Bridgewater and multiple award-winning actor Delroy Lindo, to NEA Jazz Masters Dianne Reeves, Terri Lyne Carrington, and Kenny Garrett, to prominent Jazz artists The Baylor Project, Ledisi, Brandee Younger, Lizz Wright, Jazzmeia Horn, Somi, Lindsey Webster, Tia Fuller, and others – all under the musical direction of Carrington, the show’s co-executive producer. 

The ceremony was a heady mix of soul-stirring elements: heartfelt salutes to Jazz influencers and innovators; the presentation of competitive awards to a range of creative artists; and powerful musical performances by some of today’s best global Jazz musicians. The Spirit of Jazz was felt within the walls of the nearly 3,000- seat Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre.

Several moments of the Awards show prompted standing ovations: A mid-show medley of “Songs of Social Justice” put Dianne Reeves, Lizz Wright, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Jazzmeia Horn, and Ledisi together in an incredible and historic round-robin display of vocal virtuosity as they sang anthems of struggle and overcoming. Reeves opened the segment with her powerful composition, “Endangered Species,” also sung recently by Emmy winner Sheryl Lee Ralph in her acceptance speech.

The Baylor Project, three-time Jazz Music Awards nominees opened the show with the appropriately titled groove, “We Swing” featuring Dianne Reeves and Jazzmeia Horn. Best Mainstream Artist winners, Kenny Garrett and Orrin Evans, along with James Genus and Terri

Lyne Carrington, astonished the audience with powerful and inspired saxophone riffs and rhythm section interplay during a tribute to the late pianist McCoy Tyner, who was feted with the Jazz Legend Award. Vocalist Somi, one of two winners of the Best Vocal Performance Award in a surprise tie, brought attendees to their feet with her syncopated and soaring Miriam Makeba tribute, “House of the Rising Sun.”

A presentation of the Lifetime Achievement Award to influential Jazz saxophonist and composer Wayne Shorter included an inspired medley of his tunes after Shorter shared a heartfelt video message. Henry Threadgill spoke via video about the power of forging new paths not only in Jazz but in life during his tribute as Jazz Composer. The show closed with an affecting performance by Lizz Wright and Tia Fuller of “Georgia On My Mind,” a tune that carries more weight during a tight state election season.

Nominee Brandee Younger, demonstrated the versatility of the harp over the infectious groove undercurrent in “Spirit U Will” with Terri Lyne Carrington’s All-Star Band, a collective of world- class musicians who played throughout the show. The group included pianist Orrin Evans, bassist James Genus, guitarist Mark Whitfield, tenor saxophonist Marcus Strickland, alto saxophonist Braxton Cook, trumpeter Milena Casado, keyboardist Ray Angry, drummer Nikki Glaspie, and DJ/percussionist Kassa Overall.

The show had emotional moments as well. James Patterson, 91, a beloved Clark Atlanta University Jazz professor, wept with joy upon receiving his Jazz Impact Award from George T. French Jr., president of Clark Atlanta University. Many others – including hosts Bridgewater and Lindo – were sobered and dismayed by the more than one hundred jazz legends and icons listed during the In Memoriam tribute, who passed away between the latter part of December 2019 and October 2022, many of whose transitions were a sad surprise. And these moments only scratch the surface of the depth and breadth of what the Jazz Music Awards brought to bear – an evening of recognition that was deeply appreciated by the Jazz community.

Wendy F. Williams, the creator and executive producer of the Jazz Music Awards, says that the event proved to be everything and more than what she and the team were striving for, particularly as a Jazz celebration of this caliber was long overdue. “I was overwhelmed by the talent of all the world-class performers and musicians,” says Williams. “There are so many people to thank, but the event would not have been possible without the full support of Clark Atlanta University, 91.9 WCLK, and the incredible teams of executives and creators we assembled.”

Terri Lyne Carrington, who served as musical director and co-executive producer for the Awards ceremony, delivered a stellar night of musical magic. Says Carrington: “The inaugural Jazz Music Awards was a huge undertaking that resulted in a major music award celebration. More importantly, after the ceremony many of the artists personally shared with me that this was something that the Jazz community needed.”

Winners of the eight competitive awards were Christian McBride & Inside Straight, who earned two awards for both Best Mainstream Artist and Best Duo, Group or Big Band; Ragan Whiteside for Best Contemporary Artist; Samara Joy for Best New Artist; Bob Baldwin for Best Contemporary Album; and Norman Brown for Song of the Year. Two categories were tied, with both Somi and Stacey Kent earning Best Vocal Performance, and pianist Orrin Evans and saxophone player Kenny Garrett taking home statues for Best Mainstream Album. A few of the show’s winners and honorees were unable to accept in person due to international tours, with McBride and Joy on the road in Europe during a recently opened touring market.

The Jazz Music Awards presenters included Jean and Marcus Baylor of The Baylor Project, Jazzmeia Horn, Brandee Younger, Dianne Reeves, Ben Tankard, Orrin Evans, Ragan Whiteside, Tia Fuller, and Bob Baldwin. Also serving as award presenters were on-air talent from 91.9 Jazz WCLK including Program Director David C. Linton and on-air talents Debb Moore, Rivablue, Jamal Ahmad, and Morris Baxter.

As a well-orchestrated assembly of jazz greats, a spectacular concert, and a tribute that shed light on several jazz greats, the 2022 Jazz Music Awards more than demonstrated its first-year theme: “Jazz Is The Culture.”

The second Annual Jazz Music Awards is scheduled for Saturday, October 21, 2023. Jazz Music Awards Week starts on Wednesday, October 18, through Saturday, October 21, 2023.

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Go Behind the History of Off-Broadway’s Straight Line Crazy Starring Ralph Fiennes With CBS Sunday Morning

Correspondent Martha Teichner sat down with Ralph Fiennes to discuss Robert Moses, the man who built most of modern New York City.

CBS Sunday Morning correspondent Martha Teichner goes behind Straight Line Crazy, David Hare’s new play starring Ralph Fiennes as historic figure Robert Moses. 

Fiennes said to Teichner, “What I like about the play is the provocation of it, is the provocation of a man who challenges you to like him. He does stuff for people, he’s also done terrible stuff to people.”

Moses was once one of the most powerful men in New York, the “master builder” of many new parks, bridges, and more than 600 miles of expressways. His career spanned from the 1920s to the mid-1950s, during which he manipulated many, including politicians, with a mix of charm and intimidation to build the world as he saw it. Oftentimes, his vision excluded and displaced African-American communities, Latiné communities, and others. His controversial career is captured in the play by two of its most decisive moments, and the questionable legacy that has followed.

Teichner also spoke with Robert Caro, who wrote a Pulitzer-winning biography about Moses titled The Power Broker. Caro, who interviewed Moses seven times, shared with Teichner, “When you were in his presence, one of the things you saw was genius. One of the other things you saw was ‘don’t get in my way.'”

“The city that we’re living in today, for better and for worse, is still his city,” Caro stated.

The show, which transferred from London’s The Bridge, opens its Off-Broadway run at The Shed October 26. Previews began October 18 for the run through December 18. Fiennes is joined on stage by Aisha Bailey, David Bromley, Al Coppola, Andrew Lewis, Alana Maria, Guy Paul, Krysten Peck, Judith Roddy, Helen Schlesinger, Adam Silver, Mary Stillwaggon Stewart, and Danny Webb.

The production also has set and costume design by Bob Crowley, lighting design by Jessica Hung Han Yun, sound design by George Dennis, music composition by George Fenton, associate design by Jaimie Todd, and casting by Robert Sterne. The production stage manager is Cynthia Cahill.

Visit TheShed.org.

Check out production photos of Straight Line Crazy below.

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Get a First Look at Straight Line Crazy Playing at London’s Bridge Theatre

In the midst of everything terrible happening in the world, one amazing thing happened in my life that I would like to share with you: my piece ICE is nominated for the Teosto-prize alongside 11 other amazing works of music by colleagues! ICE was commissioned by Lahti Green Capital of Europe 2021 and was premiered by the world’s first carbon neutral orchestra Lahti Symphony Orchestra conducted by their fantastic chief conductor Dalia Stasevska.

About the piece ICE: The piece is inspired by melting ice and in the piece we can hear how landscapes and winter become ever shorter, in the end while alarm signals are chiming and all possible breaks are put into action. Through this piece I try to express how global warming as well as the collapse of ecosystems and the ever faster growing tempo of the world, is killing the beautiful snow and ice structures of millions of years, and how the heart of the earth is fighting for its existence through each beat. In this piece I have also tried to describe what happens if we WILL take action: you can hear a rewind, how action has an impact and can make us go back to winters. The name ICE stands both for ice and for “In Case of Emergency”.

Cecilia Damström: ICE. Photo by Jussi Helttunen

Sarah Marze’s research involves microphones, not microscopes. 

She’s one of seven student recipients of 2021 UConn IDEA grants, which support summer projects in entrepreneurship, community service, research, and the arts. With her classically trained vocal background and majors in voice performance and music composition, Marze (‘23) already had an impressive portfolio.  

But she knew that she wanted to take her work to the next level for the IDEA grant. She decided to bring it back to the place where she first got her start in composition—high school classrooms.

The resulting project, entitled “Let Us Sing!,” is a collection of six art songs—short pieces composed for piano and a solo vocalist—geared toward high school singers, anchored in Marze’s study of vocal pedagogy. Marze created a set of beginner, intermediate, and advanced difficulty songs for higher voices, and a corresponding set for lower voices. The songs, she says, all have “strict parameters, so they work for a lot of different developing voices.” 

Writers from the Connecticut Poetry Society worked with Marze to provide the lyrics. Many of these poets are current or former teachers, giving them a sense of the themes that would resonate with high school audiences. Her collaborations with these local poets were natural continuations of her engagement with educators and mentors throughout her life. 

“I got to work with composers a little bit in high school, and I found that to be a really empowering experience as musician,” Marze says. “It’s really shaped who I am as a student and musician. I wanted to give back, especially, to the high school age group.” 

“Let Us Sing!” is designed to provide students with engaging, accessible performance pieces from a young, contemporary composer. It was motivated by the gaps in the existing repertoire of similar pieces for young voices. 

“Any voice teacher can tell you that there is a dearth of contemporary art songs that are vocally appropriate, emotionally appropriate, and financially accessible for younger students,” Marze explains on her website. 

Working with Constance Rock, coordinator of applied vocal studies at UConn, and Kenneth Fuchs, professor of music composition, Marze compiled a book of sheet music and instructional guidance for each song. Her final research task was to demo the songs with two local high schoolers and their teachers in a collaborative workshop. Afterward, everyone got ice cream from the UConn Dairy Bar to celebrate. 

This hands-on teaching experience helped Marze solidify her pedagogical takeaways from completing her IDEA grant project. She transformed her understanding into thoughtful notes that accompany the pieces in the book. (She notes that the song “Hush,” for instance, features “repeated ‘shh’ sounds [which] are ideal for teaching beginning breath support.”) The finished project is a testament to her conviction that “artistic endeavors are research.” 

“In the same way that science is necessary for furthering human knowledge, music and art are really necessary for furthering the human spirit,” she says. 

With “Let Us Sing!” now complete, Marze has turned to work on her honors thesis project, a rhapsodic piece for solo clarinet and chamber orchestra called “Morning Rhapsody.” She’s also wrapping up an auspicious undergraduate career studded with other composition and performance highlights, like her “Songs of Salem, 1692” song cycle memorializing the Salem Witch Trials. 

Marze sees a multifaceted future for herself after graduating. 

“The thing to know about people in music is that we all tend to wear five hats,” she says. “I want my career to be a combination of performing, conducting, composing, and teaching.” 

Materials for “Let Us Sing!” are available for free educational use on Marze’s website. To the songs’ young performers, she writes, “I ask that you sing with your whole heart! Making your audience feel something is more important than being ‘correct.’” 

Marze, alongside high school singer Emma Banton, will be performing the pieces from “Let Us Sing!” in the von der Mehden recital hall Monday, Nov. 4, from 5-6 p.m. 

October is the Month of Discovery, when undergraduates are introduced to the wealth of research and innovation opportunities at UConn. This month, enjoy profiles of outstanding undergraduate researchers on UConn Today, attend a full slate of programming on campus and online, and register for Discovery Quest to launch your undergraduate experience to new heights.

Students interested in learning more about research and innovation opportunities at UConn can check out the series of events offered as part of the Month of Discovery. 

Follow UConn Research on Twitter & LinkedIn.

Happy Minna Cath Day – Day of Equality!

What a wonderful week it has been, in the former home town of Minna Cath – Kuopio – working together with the fantastic Maria Itkonen and Kuopio Symphony Orchestra! The ice was thick enough to walk (or skate!) on, the sun was always shining, the people were amazing, the concert outstanding and the concert review raving! 

“Damström’s wonderful musical language is impressive.Cecilia Damström’s piece Lucrum now fits our time a little too well. The Helsingborg Orchestra commissioned the work from Damström to their theme “The Seven Deadly Sins,” and greed is now the sin that attacks our eyes and ears from the media every day.

Damström works with the subject musically superbly through elements of growth, continuously adding more and more through demanding musical structures. A magnificent work from one of our leading composers of the new generation. Itkonen managed to bring out fantastic effects out of the orchestra.”

Jussi Mattila for Savon Sanomat 19.3.2022

Cecilia Damström on ice in Kupio 16.3.2022

Sunset on ice in Kuopio 16.3.2022. Photo©Cecilia Damström

Maria Itkonen rehearsing in Kuopio. Photo©Cecilia Damström

Maria Itkonen on ice. Photo©Cecilia Damström

Happy composer Cecilia Damström, soloist Aapo Juutilainen and conductor Maria Itkonen after a great concert in Kuopio 17.03.2022

U.S. Girls has shared a new single ballad, ‘Bless This Mess’, with a music video accompaniment.

It follows the experimental alt-popper’s last release, ‘So Typically Now’, which dropped back in July. Solo musician Meg Remy uses the new ballad to enter a stripped-back diva era after a series of upbeat bangers.

“Before camera phones, the family camcorder was often the mirror tool used to capture selfie-like performances of teenage daydreams and insecurities,” Remy recalls. “Recently I unearthed a VHS tape housing footage of my 1998 self singing on top of my favourite songs of the day, along with my 2000 self publicly performing music for the first time, plus various other blush-worthy self-portraits. I decided to air out this acutely personal footage. My meta music video vision: 1998 self singing a song that 2020 self wrote.”

The footage was assembled into a music video by Evan Gordon, who says: “I buckled down and painstakingly dragged the eight-minute clip over each word of the song, forwards and then backwards, splitting off any partial or direct match. Beyond my expectations, I was able to find multiple matches for each phrase. From here, I worked on stitching the clips together to make complete phrases, selecting from my list of matches much like making a comp of vocal takes.”

“This video is a realfake,” they conclude. “It’s naturally authentic while being transparently fake. Its intent is not to deceive or convince, but rather to induce reflection and remembrance.”

You can listen to ‘Bless This Mess’ here, and watch the music video below: