Peace Symphony World Premiere: Q & A with DJ Spooky

Posted on December 1, 2015 by maestrobeats

Many musicians are eager to separate their art from current events, whether it’s from a desire not to get entangled or a wish to seem timeless. But Paul D. Miller, better known as DJ Spooky, is eager to do the complete opposite. This year, Miller has chosen to ruminate on some of the most wrenching moments in U.S. history, from Abraham Lincoln’s assassination to the rise of the Ku Klux Klan.

The composer, multimedia artist, and trip-hop DJ’s latest project takes on an even more controversial topic: the U.S. government’s decision to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, in 1945, a move that killed 120,000 people and effectively ended World War II. Miller’s work, Peace Symphony, weaves together evocative music, historic recordings, and present-day interviews with eight survivors from that day 70 years ago.

Miller’s piece gets its world premiere at Cornish Playhouse this Friday, December 4, at 8pm, where he’ll be joined by musicians from the Nouveau Classical Project. You can buy tickets here for only $20 when you use discount code CORNISH.

This week, the music chair of Cornish College of the Arts caught up with DJ Spooky and asked him a few questions about Peace Symphony. You can read the Q & A below.

Tom Baker: First of all, how in the world do you find the time for all that you do as a creative artist? And secondly, do you find the time to notice the rhythm of the space between things with what must be an incredibly busy life?

Paul D. Miller: I would say everyone is feeling that they never have enough time in the 21st century. For me, music, art, and literature are all simply reflections of the same creative impulse. It’s a core issue in the 21st Century. Capitalism forces our attention span to be framed by the huge array of commercial advertising that inundate us. I guess you could say that I use my art and compositions to create more time and space to think about all the issues facing us, and distill it all in one form. Music is the language we all speak.

TB: This new piece, Peace Symphony, draws on a dramatic and profoundly disturbing time in world history. I know that you were artist-in-residence for Peace Boat (an international non-governmental and non-profit organization that works to promote peace, human rights, equal and sustainable development and respect for the environment). Was that experience an inspiration for this piece?

PDM: Japan and Germany took radically different routes after World War 2. Japan has an amazing group of peace activists and so does Germany, but Japan has a very different relationship to its collective memory of the war. I wanted to talk about memory with the survivors to see what could be done with their story. It’s a story we Americans never get a chance to actually hear. That’s what this project bears witness to: it has to be about purple to people shared experiences. Anything else is government propaganda. I try make this as much about humanity as possible.

TB: Your work encompasses so many disparate pathways, though there always seems to be singular vision at play, even in the midst of intertwined collaboration. How do you reconcile these diverse adventures and creative work into an aesthetic focus?

PDM: Inter-disciplinary art is the legacy of some of my favorite composers – from John Cage on one hand and Nam June Paik on the other. Aesthetics in the 21st century is one of the most complex forces because it encompasses everything about what it means to be a creative person in this Era. DJ culture is a kind of template because it’s always about searching for new ways to reconsider history. That’s what a good mix does. It gives you a good idea of what is possible.

Listen to the Girls: Q & A with Angelique Poteat

Posted on November 13, 2015 by maestrobeats

by Jill Kimball

Composer Angelique Poteat. Photo: Hayley Young

We in the world of music are often thankful for this increasingly digital world. It allows us to access new music from all over the globe, to communicate with musicians and music appreciators who live thousands of miles away, and to find inspiration in countless eras, countries, and languages.

But for many young women, globalization has its drawbacks. It allows us to obsessively compare ourselves with other women, some of whom we know and others whom we’ve never met. It invites anonymous bullying in comment forums and objectification in the media. And for many teenagers, it turns the schooltime popularity contest into a 24/7 battle.

“We have this global access, so we can see what’s going on all over the world,” says Seattle-based composer Angelique Poteat. “When you hear about women in the media, you can see that people are constantly expecting more from women. You’re expected to do it all…family, work, et cetera.”

Poteat wanted to know how teen girls felt about society’s high standards for them, both online and in real life. She surveyed a handful of teens who sing in the Northwest Girlchoir, and the answers she got were so stunning that she set the words to music with the help of grants from the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture and 4Culture.

On Wednesday, November 18, members of the Northwest Girlchoir get to do something they’ve probably never done before: sing a piece set to words they wrote themselves. The Girlchoir premieres Poteat’s five-movement work, Listen to the Girls, alongside the Seattle Collaborative Orchestra at Seattle’s University Christian Church. You can buy tickets right here.

I asked Poteat a few questions about the project, and her answers are below.

Where did you get the inspiration for Listen to the Girls?

I noticed that all this stuff kept coming up in the media about young women and self esteem and unrealistic standards that girls are being held up to. Rather than take the media’s word for it, I wanted to get the girls’ opinions. I came up with a questionnaire and gave it to Seattle-area middle and high school girls. I asked things like, “Who are your role models? Do you have a fear of failure? Where does it come from? How does criticism influence the decisions you make? What are the pros and cons of using social media?” I used all of this information and came up with text for a piece of music. I scored it for large orchestra with a girlchoir, so I could have girls actually singing the words of girls.

Members of the Northwest Girlchoir.

What kinds of things did the girls say in the survey?

You’ll be able to hear it all in the piece. In the first movement, you’ll hear their responses to the question, “Who are you?” They answered, we’re redheads, nerds, geeks, we like contact sports, we’re adopted, we like film and anime. Stuff you’d hope young women would be interested in.

In the second movement, we find out who their role models are. You’ll see that it’s women who are strong, kind, smart and honest, who inspire and change, who fearlessly speak their mind and stand up for their beliefs.

The third and fourth movements are about doubt and social media. There’s an internal conflict here: the girls want to know what their friends are doing, they never want to miss out on anything. But they also feel like they have to stand up to the expectations of their friends, they have to change the way they look or behave to get approval.

In the last movement, they sing about the pressure to succeed in a competitive world where value is placed on perfection. But what is perfection? Are we supposed to be attractive or smart? Can’t we be both? It ends really triumphantly. The girls are determined to say they’re not a stereotype, they’re not objects, they’re working harder for people to accept them as they are.

What does it sound like?

I wanted to write something that was more relevant to the girls, so it’s got a bit of an energetic, perhaps lightly pop-ish feel to it. The first movement is really fiery, with fast stuff weaving in and out. There’s a moment with a grooving bass line. Second movement is kind of an off-kilter waltz. The third movement is mostly an orchestra movement, with long lines, rich harmonies, and changes in mood. The fourth movement is about social media, so it’s kind of mechanical, almost like you’re sitting at a computer and you’ve got this frantic energy. In the last movement about societal pressure, it’s very march-like and strict, and then there’s a very grand conclusion.

What will be different about this new generation of women?

Today we have global access, so we can see what’s going on all over the world. And because of that, we can see that women are so completely varied. These girls feel like it’s okay to be an individual, but they also see that people are expecting more from them than before. I think it’s really hard to deal with that pressure. We’ve all felt it.

Of all the classical music performed today, only 14 percent is composed by women. How does it feel to be in the minority?

I don’t know what it feels like to be a male composer, but it does feel curious to be a certain minority in my field. I always feel really weird when I get programmed for one of those concerts showcasing female composers, because you’ll never see a program called “Music of Male Composers.” Luckily, if you’re listening to the music and you don’t know who wrote it, it’s just music. I’ve never felt that being a woman is really holding me back.

What kind of music do you usually compose?

Music for large orchestra is my main focus right now. Earlier this year, the Seattle Symphony premiered a piece I wrote, and that was so exciting for me. I’ve always been influenced by jazz, rock and roll, and 20^th century masters like Bartók and Messiaen. All those old dead guys used to write music inspired by whatever was popular in their day, and I think it’s wonderful that composers are trending toward that again.

What did you want to communicate by calling your piece Listen to the Girls?

There are so many places on the internet and in real life where people try to guess what girls and women are thinking. Instead of guessing, why don’t we just listen? Open up your ears, get rid of the biases and expectations, and just hear what these women have to say.

concert preview: Q&A with Dorothy Chang

Posted on October 30, 2015 by maestrobeats

by Maggie Molloy

In the world of classical composition, women who write music are far outnumbered by their male peers—and this imbalance is a sensitive issue for composers, musicians, and concert programmers alike.

Fortunately many music organizations are taking steps forward to break down assumptions and stereotypes within the music industry by highlighting the works of contemporary female composers. One such organization is Seattle’s own North Corner Chamber Orchestra (NOCCO).

Known for their dynamic performances and adventurous programming, NOCCO’s 2015-2016 season features works by three different American women composers. The first concert, taking place this weekend, features a performance of Dorothy Chang’s eclectic and expressive Virtuosities.

Second Inversion sat down with Dorothy to ask her five questions about Virtuosities, female composers, and NOCCO’s upcoming season.

Second Inversion: What is the story or emotion behind Virtuosities, and how would you describe this piece?

Dorothy Chang: Virtuosities for string orchestra was commissioned by the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra in 2012 in honour of its 40^th anniversary season. Given the occasion, I was inspired to write a work that celebrates music history and tradition while also embracing the new and innovative. Virtuosities seeks to draw connections between the music of the past and present, either through points of intersection or through sharply contrasting juxtaposition.

In the first movement, “To dream, perchance to fly,” a lightning-fast tempo and continuous, overlapping rising figures are meant to create a breathless, whirlwind energy, referencing elements of Baroque virtuosity within a contemporary context. Beginning in B minor, the movement quickly becomes tinged with chromaticism, with juxtaposed layers of contrasting material, as if creating one big swirl of musical activity combining the old and the new.

The second movement, “Souvenir,” is intimate and lyrical, inspired by the slow movement of Vivaldi’s Violin Concerto in A minor. In Vivaldi’s movement, I’m struck by how a simple texture achieves such poignancy and expressivity. Similarly, in my own second movement, I tried to feature the beauty of a simple melody-and-chordal texture, enriched with an expanded sound palette of distinct colours and timbres.

In the final movement, “Mechanica,” an energetic walking bass serves a constant driving pulse over which a hodgepodge of various short musical quotes and other musical references are spliced, layered and woven together.

SI: How is this piece similar to and/or different from your other compositions?

DC: This piece is different from my other compositions in that it uses quotation, and it references Baroque and Classical music in a way that I haven’t done before in my other works. The mixing of tonality and atonality is something I do explore often in my music, though in this work the two languages are presented more as a dichotomy rather than the blended mixture that I might use more typically.

Also, this piece is in three movements; the multi-movement form is typical of most of my compositions. When starting a piece, I usually find I have a number of ideas I’d like to explore, and I’ve found the multi-movement form a good way to incorporate contrasting characters and materials within a single work. I’m also drawn to exploring larger structures that can be built through the succession of multiple movements, and to shape the dramatic arc they form, as if creating a musical or emotional journey.

SI: What composers, artists, or styles of music most influence your work?

DC: I am inspired by and influenced by different types of music that I’ve heard, performed or studied from my childhood to the present. My first exposure to classical music was from learning piano, so the influence of Romantic music, particularly piano repertoire, is strong. Although my music might not sound very much like Brahms, Rachmaninoff or Schumann, there is a strong emphasis on melodic lyricism, sweeping Romantic gestures and rich harmonies.

The influence of popular music and, in certain works, Chinese music is also present. Once I became aware of contemporary music, the composers whose music influenced me most included Debussy, Stravinsky, Lutoslawski, Takemitsu and Ligeti. More recently, the music that inspires me is wide-ranging, and could include anything that happens to catch my ear, be it contemporary, popular, world music, etc. The influences may not be immediately apparent in my music, but I am always consciously aware of their presence in my work.

SI: Three out of the four NOCCO programs this season feature American women composers’ works. Why do you think this is a significant programming decision?

DC: It looks like a great season, and I’m delighted to be in such good company! The issue of women composers and programming continues to be a rather sensitive one (I remember becoming acutely aware of the issue as the only female in my graduate composition program years ago), and I have to say that I look forward to the day when the programming of music by female composers is something that happens spontaneously through the programming of good music, period.

I do think this is happening more and more, though one still comes across contemporary music concerts that include no music at all by women composers. In this day and age, with so many talented women composers writing exciting, engaging, and unique music, it does perplex me how this is even possible.

As for NOCCO’s season: I’m thrilled to see such diverse and innovative programming. I honestly don’t know if the programming was done specifically with the intention of featuring women composers, though I’m certainly excited that important and influential voices such as Laura Schwendinger and Joan Tower are included. If the listener hasn’t had the opportunity to hear the music of these composers, it’s wonderful for NOCCO to bring it to a new audience.

SI: What do you hope audiences will take away from listening to Virtuosities?

DC: Virtuosities was written as a work that would bring together various old and new elements, and each movement reflects on this theme in its own way. My hope is that the audience will connect with the music and the emotion and intention behind it: the breathless energy and excitement of the opening movement, intimate lyricism broadening into lush gestures in the second movement, and the rhythmic drive and quirky turns of phrase in the closing movement. This is a celebratory piece that I hope will engage the audience, and perhaps inspire them to hear both traditional and contemporary elements in a new context.

Performances are Saturday, Oct. 31 at 2 p.m. at University Christian Church in the University District and Sunday, Nov. 1 at 7:30 p.m. at the Royal Room in Columbia City. In addition to Dorothy Chang’s Virtuosities, NOCCO musicians will also be performing Alfred Schnittke’s Concerto for Piano and Strings (featuring pianist Cristina Valdés), Jacques Ibert’s Three Short Pieces for Wind Quintet, and Mozart’s Symphony No. 29. For additional information and tickets, visit NOCCO.org.

“Migration Series”: Q&A with Derek Bermel

Posted on October 29, 2015 by maestrobeats

In anticipation of Seattle Symphony’s first Sonic Evolution series concert, “Under the Influence Of Jazz,” we had a chance to talk to Derek Bermel about his piece, “Migration Series,” which will be part of a star-studded program. The concert is tonight, Thursday, October 29 at 7:30pm at Benaroya Hall. Be sure to stop by the KING FM/Second Inversion table and grab some swag!

poc4

Second Inversion: Do you think the fusion of genres in Seattle Symphony’s Sonic Evolution series is a good strategy to expand and diversify the audience?

Derek Bermel: Absolutely. I think when you can give audiences a hook to come see something they’re familiar with and then you hit them with something they’re not so familiar with, it’s a gentle way of exposing way them to music they might not know about. I think it’s truly a groundbreaking series – I’ve been following what Seattle Symphony’s been doing for the last four or five years. Ludovic Morlot and Simon Woods are looking at music and art holistically as it effects peoples’ lives and they’re looking at what’s going on locally and trying to build in pathways for people who are not normally familiar with symphonic music to get into the vibe.

Roosevelt High School Jazz Band, who will perform “Migration Series” with Seattle Symphony

SI: The title of tonight’s show is “Under the Influence of Jazz.” How has jazz influenced your composition style as a whole?

DB: I grew up listening to and playing a lot of jazz, so there was a lot of influence right from the start. I was and still am a huge fan of Thelonious Monk and I remember walking into the record store as a kid and seeing a bright red record in the bargain bin and spending my allowance on it. That record, “It’s Monk’s Time,” really blew my mind and changed my life. It coincided with the time in my life when my grandma bought me a small, “honky tonk” piano and I immediately started imitating Monk’s playing on this piano. It really worked on this piano because it had some keys that didn’t go down all the way and it went out of tune quickly, but I really got that stride and feel by imitating Thelonious Monk. I also played clarinet and saxophone in the jazz band and was listening to a lot of Bill Evans, Charlie Parker, Coleman Hawkins, Duke Ellington.

Jacob Lawrence

SI: And how about the visual artistic influence of Jacob Lawrence? Tell us about your experience with his set of paintings “The Migration Series,” and how it influenced this composition.

DB: I first encountered the paintings when I was young, going into the city (New York) with my mom and saw the exhibit. There was something about them that struck me in such a deep way. I think it was my connection to African American music and my friends and I saw something in the paintings that felt like music and felt like dance. They jump off the page and they’re very evocative of gesture, shapes, colors, and movement. I was very drawn to these pictures and they stayed in my mind for many years. When I started to write this piece, there was something about the form and the way I was writing that had kind of a mosaic quality. I wanted musical themes, approaches, and rhythms to come back during the piece, and for the piece to ebb and flow with this mosaic quality.

I’ve been lucky enough that the Seattle Symphony and Maestro Morlot are interested in having the images displayed along with the show. It’s an idea that’s been brought up before, but this time it’s actually going to happen! I’m very excited see how the piece will play with the images. For me, the thrill is to introduce more people to this artwork as well. It feels very powerful as an artist to be able to make a tribute to another artist that you admire so much and to let people know about it. A lot of people have gotten to know Jacob Lawrence’s work through my piece, so that’s very gratifying for me as an artist.

And for a taste of the piece and Derek’s insights about the structure of the piece, take a listen!

ALBUM OF THE WEEK: Life is Endless Like Our Field of Vision (Huck Hodge)

Posted on November 10, 2014 by maestrobeats

by Maggie Stapleton

Here at Second Inversion we aim to “Rethink Classical,” but the array of sounds on Huck Hodge’s new album, “Life is Endless Like Our Field of Vision,” steps beyond that mantra. “Rethink Sound,” perhaps? The four pieces offer a varied textural output and alternation of pieces without and with electronics – chamber ensemble (Talea Ensemble under Jim Baker), piano with computer-realized sound, chamber ensemble (ditto Talea/Baker), string quartet (JACK Quartet) with live processed melodica, performed by Hodge.

Alêtheia (roughly translated as “truth”), composed in 2011, opens the disc. Alêtheia is based on Hodge’s reconciliation of two opposing philosophies of truth, particularly as noted by Parmenides, who sees truth as a fixed and unchanging reality, and Heraclitus, offering the notion that reality is in constant flux. The music reflects this juxtaposition of truth in the musical form of time – many sections of the piece have simultaneously still, static, fixed ideas (e.g. a single harmony lasting 30 seconds) but with rapidly changing timbres. Melody also portrays this opposing force of truth; the piece is strongly rooted in melody, represented as a fixed element. Fragmented and textural moments with a style marking of “Disjunctly lyrical” counteract the fixed nature of the melody. The US Premiere of this piece is this Saturday, November 15 at 8pm, performed by the Seattle Modern Orchestra!

Moving along, Pools of shadow from an older sky is in five movements for live-processed bent piano, computer-realized sound and video projection. While we don’t get the visual stimulation in this recording, there is no lack of richness for the sense of sound, performed here entirely by Huck Hodge. The piece was commissioned by the American Academy in Rome in 2011 (while Hodge was in Rome celebrating his receipt of the Rome Prize) in commemoration of Galileo’s first telescope demonstration. The premiere was on April 11, 2014, exactly four hundred years afterward. While Alêtheia dealt with juxtaposition of truth interpretations, Pools of shadow from an older sky displays a past vs. present negotiation. Hodge weaves church bells and hymns of Roman cathedrals with present sounds from Rome (sirens and street noise), all the while with a clear homage to Galileo. Piano twinkling stars and intergalactic radio wave sounds create a soundscape that is truly otherworldly. Close your eyes as you listen – I hope you’ll feel as transported as I do!

Continuing with the theme of “this or that,” re[(f)use] can be interpreted in many ways. First, there’s the world “refuse”:

ref·use /rəˈfyo͞oz/ v. indicate or show that one is not willing to do something

ref·use /refˌyo͞os/ n. matter thrown away or rejected as worthless; trash

…but also within the word there are many other words: fuse (noun & verb), use, reuse. Each shade of meaning has something to do with the piece. re[(f)use] uses a lot of “junk” sounds – cell phone noise, speaker hums, cell phone ringtones. The aesthetic here is an attempt to reverse the hierarchy of “beauty” to which many composers and musicians often strive. Rather than taking something that’s already beautiful, like a violin melody, and transforming it into something less beautiful (perhaps in attempt to question its beauty), re[(f)use] takes sounds which are inherently ugly and transform them into something beautiful. Hodge performs on live processed melodica along with the (amplified) JACK Quartet.

It’s always a pleasure to feature Seattle-based artists here on Second Inversion. Huck Hodge has received more accolades before the age of 40 than many of the world’s greatest composers have achieved in their entire life, including the Rome Prize, Guggenheim Fellowship, Gaudeamus Prize, and the Aaron Copland Award.. Alêtheia and another one of Hodge’s works, Zeremonie, will be featured on the upcoming Saturday, November 15 Seattle Modern Orchestra concert. PS, Tune in to The Takeover on Wednesday, November 12 at 3pm to hear SMO Co-Artistic Director Jeremy Jolley share some of the music from the upcoming season.

You can purchase the disc from New World Records here. Enjoy!