As one half of the upcoming September 26th, 2019Interpretations Series 31st season opener at Brooklyn’s Roulette, composer and pianist Rocco Di Pietro has curated an evening of compositions that span his whole career.
With a setlist comprised of selections that Di Pietro wrote himself, one special piece makes for an exception: “Hail Mary” by the late Julius Eastman. A dear friend and colleague, Eastman composed the piece especially for Di Pietro. As such, it is more than appropriate to be included in this retrospective, and will be performed in an arrangement by Di Pietro on piano and Robert Dick on flute.
Watch a 2017 performance of Eastman’s “Hail Mary” at OSU Urban Arts
with Rocco Di Pietro (keyboard), Larry Marotta (guitar),
and David Nelson Tomasacci (recitation).
Of the piece, Di Pietro had this to say:
Julius Eastman’s “Hail Mary” was written for me in 1984 after a concert he had set up for us at the Clocktower in NY fell apart. He had commissioned me for a two piano work we were to play together. He was having a very hard time in NY, and he thought I was much too isolated in Buffalo. He wrote the “Hail Mary” as a consolation for my meditation, in which everything would be all right.
He admired me because I was still writing music with few opportunities, while he was giving up music altogether. It was a misunderstanding, as I wrote music to protect myself from reality. Julius did not like this Giacometti-like stance.
I buried the work for 32 years. I found it one day when the Guardian newspaper called and asked me about Julius in 2016. It was first performed in London at the LCMF in 2017, and I performed it myself in Berlin in 2018 at Savvy Contemporary Berlin.
I may have played it myself in New York in 2016 in an early non sequenced version at Spectrum, but I can no longer remember without checking past programs. Since then, Luciano Chessa told me he has performed it in NY at Mannes and in San Francisco.
As a special tie-in, Di Pietro will offer copies of his new book, Memoir of Julius Eastman, at the Roulette performance.
Although the book is not for sale, donations will be accepted to cover the cost of the galley and the book.
Following the performance, the book will be given away online and at dipietroeditions.com.
For more information about Interpretations’ 31st season opener,click here.
The Interpretations Series is pleased to announce its 31st season, which begins Thursday, September 26th, 2019.
From September 2019 to May 2019, Interpretations will continue its tradition of playing host to composers, interpreters, and improvisers — artists of both local and international scale, with myriads of approaches to music. Held at Roulette, 509 Atlantic Ave, Brooklyn, NY, tickets are $20 for adults / $15 for students & seniors, and available on Roulette.org and Interpretations.info.
On the heels of last year’s acclaimed 30th anniversary, the Interpretations Series is dedicated to nurturing the relationship of innovative composers with the growing community of new music virtuoso performers.
“When we started, this was a real need, especially for the more experimental new music,” says Founder and Artistic Director Thomas Buckner. “Now we are experiencing a blossoming of new music groups and solo performers, which makes the series necessary in a new way. There are so many exceptional composers and performers who need a great place to perform.”
The season begins with sets from composer/performer Ben Neill, and composer/pianist Rocco Di Pietro.
Rocco Di Pietro, a composer, pianist, author, and teacher whose music crosses multiple disciplinary boundaries, celebrates his 70th Birthday with a multi-decade curation of his works, including worldpremieres of Interrupted Dance(2019), and String Quartet (Imaginal Listening) (2012-17). Other works include In Ringings (from Four Preludes, 1974), The Staircase and The Safe Harbor (from Two Pastels for Lukas Foss (In Memoriam), 2009), and Wave (from Acoustic Poems, 1972). The program will also feature a special performance of the late Julius Eastman’s Hail Maryfrom 1984, with Di Pietro on piano. (With Mivos Quartet, strings; Joseph Kubera, piano; Kathleen Supové, piano, recitation; Larry Marotta, guitar; and Robert Dick, flute.)
Also featured is the world premiere of Ben Neill’s Fantini Futuro: a new audio-visual performance work with interactive video projections, written for countertenor (Ryland Angel), Baroque keyboards (Gwendolyn Toth), and the mutantrumpet v4.0 (the debut of the newest rendition of Neill’s self-designed electro-acoustic instrument). The piece is based on the music and life of early Baroque trumpeter/composer Girolamo Fantini, who was responsible for bringing the trumpet indoors from the hunt and the battlefield to the realm of art music. The narrative depicts Fantini as a traveler through time and space, from the 17th century to the future, and reflects on the transformative power of current technology using the history of the trumpet as a metaphor. Fantini Futuro has been supported by the Nokia Bell Labs Experiments in Art and Technology program, and is a joint force with NYC early music ensemble ARTEK. (With Bob McGrath, director; Rachel Budin, lighting design; Liz Prince, costume design; Carl van Brunt, animation.)
Other performances slated for the season include:
※ THURSDAY NOVEMBER 7, 2019: JD PARRAN | AMIR BEY JD Parran’s Harlem Reunion, a music/spoken word quartet, perform original improvisational compositions. With Alexis Marcelo (piano); Larry Roland (poet and bass); Jackson Krall (percussion). / Amir Bey & JD Parran present Elevated Moon: a ‘ritualistic happening’ with a combination of sound, movement, visual vibrance, and light projections. With Soundrhythium Michael TA Thompson (drums & percussion); Bill Toles (light-magic); Chihiro Cute-Beat Kobayashi (movements and poses). ※ THURSDAY DECEMBER 5, 2019: MOMENTA QUARTET + ELIZABETH BROWN, FRANCES WHITE The Momenta Quartet joins forces with composers Elizabeth Brown and Frances White in a multimedia evening fusing Western contemporary music with Japanese aesthetics, literary references, and a video/sculpture installation by artist Lothar Osterburg. ※ THURSDAY APRIL 9, 2020: THOMAS BUCKNER Baritone Thomas Buckner presents his 31st annual concert of newly commissioned pieces with works by Earl Howard, Pauline Kim, JD Parran, and Buckner himself. With performers Soo Yeon Lyuh (haegeum, a two-stringed Korean bowed instrument); Andrew Drury (percussion); Earl Howard (synthesizer and saxophone); JD Parran (reeds). ※ THURSDAY MAY 7, 2020: MÉLANIE GENIN | ENSEMBLE L’ART POUR L’ART Mélanie Genin performs new music for harp by Christian Dachez, Michael Greba, Saad Haddad, Pauline Kim Harris, Mantovani, and Ricardo Romaneiro. / Ensemble L’Art Pour L’Art perform works by Matthias Kawl, Stephan Streich, Killian Schwoon and others. With Matthias Kawl (percussion); Astrid Smelik (flute). Michael Shorder (guitar); plus special guest Thomas Buckner (baritone voice).
A documentary film about the Station was made, titled Ocean Keeper. Interviewing the Carmichaels and others, and integrating great archival footage, the film covers the 100+ years of its rich history. It has aired on PBS as a ‘Treasure of New York’, and was an Official Selection in both the Long Island International Film Expo, and the Hamptons International Film Festival.
To quote the Ocean Keeper‘s website:
“The Amagansett Life-Saving Station has been a unique centerpiece of Long Island history since it was built in 1902. Over a period of 44 years, the dedicated men who worked at the Station saved hundreds of lives. In 1942, four Nazi saboteurs were found by Coast Guardsman John Cullen close to the Station during a nightly beach patrol.
And in 1966, the building was rescued from demolition and purchased for a dollar by Joel Carmichael whose family lived there for the rest of the 20th century. After Carmichael’s death in 2006, the house was donated to East Hampton Town for historical preservation.”
Nash Naubert, Bansuri, will perform an Indian classical flute recital on Friday, July 5, 2019, 8pm at the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, located at 57th Street and Seventh Avenue in Manhattan. Naubert, an American citizen who has been living in India for the last 20 years, will be joined on Tabla by Aditya Kalyanpur, and by dancer Gaysil Naubert.
Nash Naubert has pursued the art of Indian classical music to a high level of virtuosity which, along with his touring and volunteer work, speaks to his passion for Indian classical music. Nash will be accompanied on tabla byAditya Kalyanpur, a virtuoso of the younger generation of players worldwide. Together they will present traditional ragas that date back centuries. The concert will end with ‘Hamsa,’ a fusion piece originally composed by Nash Naubert. The piece reflects the sound of birds, and will be interpreted by Gaysil Naubert through an original Peacock dance (a ballet with Indian classical hand movements).
Program will include: Raga Bageshree Raga Kedar Hamsa
A raga or raag(literally means “coloring, tingeing, dyeing”) is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music. The raga is an old tradition, and every performer expresses the raga in their own way. All of the music in the performance is completely improvised and composed by Naubert Naubert.
In 2020, the world will celebrate Beethoven’s 250th birthday.
Libero Canto presents two intimate concerts in tribute to Beethoven
In anticipation of his sestercentennial, this coming June 26 & 28, 2019, singers Deborah Carmichael, Kinga Cserjési, Berry Jones, and Peter Ludwig, joined by instrumentalists Nikita Morozov (violin), Valeriya Sholokhova (cello), and Douglas Martin (piano), will perform some of Beethoven’s little-known vocal works, as well as familiar favorites.
Program will include various ensemble and solo works by Beethoven including: -concert aria Ah, perfido! –Mir ist so wunderbar from the operaFidelio -Piano Trio in E-flat major, Op.70, No.2: IV. Finale. Allegro -Selections from Scottish Songs, Welsh Songs, and other Lieder
On June 26th, at 7:30pm, the Beethoven concert will be held at the Hungarian House, 213 East 82nd Street, New York, NY. Tickets available at https://beethoven2019.eventbrite.com.
The concert on June 28th, 5pm is the 2nd annual benefit concert for the Amagansett Life-Saving Station (160 Atlantic Ave. Amagansett, Long Island, NY 11930). Held in the boat room,tickets are $20 per person in advance (amagansettlss.org); $25 at the door. Seating is limited and all seats are general admission.
“The Amagansett Life-Saving Station has been a unique centerpiece of Long Island history since it was built in 1902. Over a period of 44 years, the dedicated men who worked at the Station saved hundreds of lives. In 1942, four Nazi saboteurs were found by Coast Guardsman John Cullen close to the Station during a nightly beach patrol. And in 1966, the building was rescued from demolition and purchased for a dollar by Joel Carmichael whose family lived there for the rest of the 20th century. After Carmichael’s death in 2006, the house was donated to East Hampton Town for historical preservation.”
(partially cited with fromOceanKeeperTheMovie.com)
On May 17, 2007, the East Hampton Town Board designated the Amagansett Life-Saving Station a historic landmark by resolution 2007-43. The board appointed an advisory committee of residents, which then became the nonprofit U.S. Amagansett Life-Saving and Coast Guard Station Society, overseeing the six-year restoration of the Station to its original 1902 design, an undertaking guided by the comprehensive Historic Structure Report commissioned from Historic Services Director Robert Hefner.
The four singers of “The Cozy Side of Beethoven” are students and teachers of the Libero Canto approach. Libero Canto is a way of teaching and learning singing that liberates the vocal and musical potential of singers who wish to develop singing as an art form, and makes the joy of singing accessible to anyone who seeks it. The name Libero Canto comes from the phrase, “la via al libero canto,” the path to free singing. This approach was first developed by Lajos Szamosi in Budapest before the Second World War. Libero Canto is a path, a process, and an attitude toward singing and music making. It is a humanistic, holistic approach that values authentic expression and the unfolding of individual potential, and trusts that if we imagine music clearly and allow our true, vital impulses to come through, the wisdom of the body will carry us toward increasing freedom in singing.
DEBORAH CARMICHAEL studied singing with Edvin Szamosi and piano at the Mannes College of Music Extension Division. She has sung in Europe and the United States, with Lea Bracher as the Duo Delizioso, and since 2013 with Kinga Cserjési as La Compagnia Amarilli. Deborah has taught singing in New York and Vienna since 1992, including workshops in Austria, Budapest and New York. In 2012, she initiated the Il Cuore Canta workshop series for young opera singers. She produced the documentary film, “Libero Canto, Voice is Breath,” by Andrea Simon.
KINGA CSERJÉSI has a master’s degree in choir conducting and in the Kodaly method from the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music in Budapest, and a postgraduate degree in Early Vocal Music from the Fontys University in the Netherlands. She studied singing with Heent Prins and Edvin Szamosi. Kinga has sung internationally as a soloist and with various vocal ensembles and is a founding member of the Hungarian group, Bartok’s Roses. She has taught singing in Budapest and New York since 1994, and is currently living, teaching, and performing in New York City.
BERRY JONES attended the Eastman School School of Music and the Manhattan School of Music in Vocal Performance. He was a choir director and organist for nine years with various churches in the New York area, and a music educator for the Archdiocese of New York for fifteen years. He was also a teaching artist for the St. Luke’s Educational Outreach program and the Harlem School of the Arts. He has sung recitals and concerts in the U.S. as well as in Florence, Italy. Berry is currently studying singing with Sandy Goodman while transitioning from baritone to tenor.
PETER LUDWIG is a graduate of Juilliard and NYU. He has sung principal roles with Vineyard and Encompass Theaters, Pensacola Opera, Stonington Opera Arts, et al. He was a soloist at Carnegie and Weill Halls and other venues in the U.S. and Europe, and has been featured in ten world or U.S. premieres. Peter has taught singing at the 92nd Street Y and LaGuardia High School of the Arts, where he directed the Opera Workshop, as well as workshops and master classes for singers and actors in Greece. Peter now teaches singing privately in New York City.
As one half of the upcoming September 26th, 2019 Interpretations Series 31st season opener at Brooklyn’s Roulette, composer and pianist Rocco Di Pietro has curated an evening of compositions that span his whole career.
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