Winter 2004

Steppin' Out

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Eve Beglarian to write music to accompany U.S. Poet Laureate Stanley Kunitz. The work was premiered at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City on October 19 and October 20, 2003.

Sonny Burnett by the Frederick (Maryland) Flute Choir to compose a work in honor of the ensemble's long-time music director, Jennings Glenn. In addition, Burnett's Flute Fantasia was premiered at the Columbia Flute Festival in Falls Church, Virginia on November 22, 2003.

Tim (T.W.) Carpenter to arrange and score three gospel songs for the Babelberg Film Orchestra during their "Sclossernacht" celebration held in Berlin. Carpenter also recently performed at the Krefeld Gospelmusik Festival in Krefeld, Germany and was a guest conductor for that event, which had an attendance of 43,000. He is currently working on an original musical entitled The Apostles' Reward.

Steven L. Rosenhaus by the flute quartet Fluke Cocktail to compose a work to be featured at the group's first recital at New York City's Weill Recital Hall in March 2004.

Jonathan Leshnoff for the Germantown, Tennessee-based IRIS Chamber Orchestra to compose a work for a March 2005 performance. The piece will be conducted by IRIS Music Director and Principal Conductor Michael Stern. Additionally, the Columbus Symphony Orchestra and the Buffalo Symphony Orchestra have commissioned Leshnoff to compose a violin concerto for CSO Concert- master Charles Wetherbee for performance in the 2005-2006 classical subscription series with JoAnn Falletta conducting.

William Owens' In Joyful Celebration, a work for concert band commissioned by the James Russell School Band of Chicago, IL, Carmen Rivera Kurban, Director. The piece is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Ben Stoller, longtime music educator, Chicago Public Schools.

Scott Wheeler's opera Democracy: An American Comedy by the Washington Opera. Democracy, to be performed in the 2004-2005 season by members of the Domingo-Cafaritz Young Artist Program, is set in 1875 and is based on the Henry Adams novels Democracy and Esther.

Orianna Webb by Guitars International. Webb recently won the SCI/ASCAP Student Commission for 2003 and the work for Guitars International is for guitar, saxophone, piano and percussion.

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Josh Archibald-Seiffer's Christmas CD on a top Classical Radio Station. Josh, an Idaho teen pianist and composer, was heard on the station's young artists showcase program which aired on Christmas Eve.

Mary Ehlinger's two songs in the 2003 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade broadcast: "When Hope Was There" (a tribute to Bob Hope), performed by 100 members of Camp Broadway and the USO; and "Santa Knows" sung by Harvey Fierstein.

Brian Meece's "Tomorrow's Best" at the Turkey Shoot Independent Music Video Festival in Los Angeles. This songwriter also had another video, "Playground," featured at the DV in LA, which showcased the industry's most technically innovative films shot in digital domain. "Playground" also won the Telly Award in 2003 for music production.

Sidney Mobell's songs "Atsa' Nicea'," "Tomorrow," "The Myth of Joe Smith" and "No One To Blame But You" on the KQED PBS documentary, One of a Kind: The Jeweled Art of Sydney Mobell on October 23, 2003.

Dave Morgan on NCL's Nowegian Dawn cruise ship out of New York City. This dynamic solo guitarist and vocalist worked with Rick Nelson, Bo Diddley, Chubby Checker, The Outlaws and Freddie Cannon. Go to drrock@raex.com.

Paola Prestini's music by members of the Corigliano String Quartet as part of the American Vanguard Festival. Prestini had a residency at Dickinson College where the festival takes place.

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David M. Bailey for being named the 2003 Kerrville New Folk winner. He was also a 1999 finalist. His recordings have received many songwriting awards. David's story is one of the tenacious faith and gentle passion. On July 4, 1996, doctors told David he had a malignant brain tumor and he would be dead by Christmas. Seven years later, following this diagnosis, David returned to the stage in what has become a dynamic career.

Carol Barnett for being awarded the 2003 Nancy Van de Vate International Composition Prize for Opera by Vienna Masterworks for the chamber opera Snow based on a short story by Konstantin Paustovsky.

Chris Brubeck, Vivian Fung, Edward Green, William Kraft, John Mackey, Philip Rothman, Peter Schickele, and Roberto Sierra with the Music Alive Orchestra Composer Residencies from Meet the Composer. Each of these composers will have a two to four week residency with a different orchestra in the United States during the 2004-2005 season.

Unsuk Chin for winning the 2004 Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition for her Concerto for Violin and Orchestra. Her four-movement concerto was described as a "synthesis of glittering orchestration, musical puzzles and unexpected turns." The Deutsches Symphonie Orchester, who commissioned the piece, premiered the work in Berlin in 2002.

Charles Fitts as the first winner of Foundation Orchestra's International Composition Competition for "COBA," which is about a vision that he had while traveling through the partially excavated Mayan ruins in Coba, Mexico.

Craig S. Harris for winning the Composer Award at the Bessie Awards for "Brown Butterfly."

Mark Coniglio and his wife, Dawn Stoppiello, a choreographer, for winning the first annual Time Out New York Audience Award at the Bessie Awards.

Tudor Dominik Maican for winning several competitions in 2003: 2nd place in the Young Composers Award at Hartford University; 1st place in the National Federations of Music Club's John and Margaret Person Award; winner of the North/South Consonance Inc. Composition Competition for Orchestra; winner of the Annual Foundation Orchestra Association Competition Award in Nevada; semifinalist in Deuxieme Concours International de Composition Musicale in Belgium, and winner of MTNA Composition Competition in New York State.

Gabriel Mann for winning the Overall Grand Prize at the 2003 USA Songwriting Competition for his song "Lighted Up." Mann has had his songs placed in film and television as well. He has also toured and opened for the Rolling Stones. Jenn Adams won Overall Second Prize as well as first prize in the lyrics category in the same competition.

Zola Moon for "Blues Artist of the Year" and "CD of the Year" (all genres) for her sixth album, Tales of Love and Desperation, at the South Bay Music Awards. In the past, the San Jose-born Moon has been asked to perform at the Playboy Jazz Festival Pasadena Concert, and has been honored by websites such as Femmusic.com and Musicdish.com. For more information, go to ZolaMoon.com.

Joe Riposo for being inducted as a mentor into the Liverpool Fine Arts Hall of Fame June 8, 2003 for his outstanding contributions to the Fine Arts Program. He served as Director of Music Education for Liverpool Central Schools for 31 years and was the founder of many programs.

Damien Rice for winning the Shortlist music prize for artistic achievement. The Shortlist concert, presented by MTV2, featured live performances by eight of ten Shortlist finalists.

Ned Rorem for being awarded the Ordre des Artes et des Lettres at the French Embassy in New York by the French Cultural Counselor on January 12, 2004.

William Gunther Sprecher by being inducted into the American Biographical Institute Awards Hall of Fame, recognizing outstanding achievement in Service to Humanity and Music.

Eric Swanson, a recent graduate of ASCAP's Film Scoring Workshop, won the Marco Island (Florida) Film Festival's Dale Melbourne Herklotz Award for outstanding original music in a feature-length film for his score for The Last Place on Earth with Director James Slocum and Producer Barrie M. Osborne. The cast includes Tisha Campbell-Martin, Brock Peters, Billy Dee Williams, and Dana Ashbrook. The film and its music have also been honored at the Houston Film Festival, and Pocono Mountains Film Festival.

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Mark Gould & Pink Baby Monster’s Afterlife at Renee Weiler Concert Hall, at the Greenwich House in NYC on December 4, 2003. The subject matter of the songs expanded beyond politics and into many other cultural topics. This piece began as a one-time recording project for an art installation and later evolved into a band.

John M. Kennedy’s Smoking Mirrors: Symbia IIa in its European premiere at Ibsen- huset and Galleri F15, Norway, in a series of concerts by Norwegian clarinet soloist Roger Arve Vigulf in January, 2004. Kennedy has also been commissioned by the Miller-Lowry Duo of Charlotte, North Carolina for his Four Antiphons for Trumpet and Organ, premiere set for July 2004.

Frederick Koch’s Duplicity for string quartet and oboe on September 14th at Cleveland State University for the Cleveland Composer Guild. He also gave a lecture on his music at Baldwin Wallace Conservatory on November 21 and repeated this lecture at Principia College in Elsah, Illinois January 7, 2004.

Paul Moravec's Songs of Love and War on Saturday, February 7, by the Millikin-Decatur Symphony Orchestra and the Millikin University Choir with Michael Luxner, conductor, Michael York, baritone, at Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois.

Judy Pancoast’s Kid Pop! Family concert at this year’s Kids-for-Kids Carnival in New York City to benefit the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric Aids Foundation. The show was also set to perform at Cumberland County Civic Center, Portland, ME; Somersworth International Children’s Festival Portsmouth, NH, Albany First Night, Albany, NY, The Austin Public Library & branches, Austin, TX and The Amador Theater Pleasanton, CA in addition to other venues.

Barry Schrader’s Five Arabesques for clarinet and electro-acoustic music at the Electronic Music Midwest Festival on October 31 at the University of Missouri in Kansas City. Five Arabesques was also presented on November 21 by noted clarinetist William Powell, for whom the work was composed, in a concert at CalArts in Valencia, CA. The piece was then broadcast and webcast on November 19 on KXLU, Los Angeles on Bonnie Barnett’s Trilogy.

Joe Utterback, a pianist and composer, in a recent high-visibility gig during the Christmas season playing afternoons in New York’s Empire State Building Lobby. Utterback attracted singers, dancers, and holiday revelers.

Irving Weiser’s music in the musical There I Go: A New Hit Parade, which was produced by his grandson, Adam Kreiselman. The late Weiser was a songwriter who composed numerous tunes in a variety of styles, including Big Band, Swing, Blues and Ballads. The show was performed November 7 at the 92nd street Y Weill Art Gallery, November 13 at The Dramatics Guild and Novem-ber 15 at the Theater Row Studios.

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Harold Blumenfeld's Songs of Cassis, a cycle for baritone and piano, on January 29th at the Fowler Center, Arkansas Sate University, Jonesboro, AR.

Gunnar Madsen and Joy Gregory's new musical, The Shaggs: Philosophy of the World, this past fall at “Inside the Ford” in Los Angeles, setting box office records and winning Best Original Score from both Entertainment Today and Backstage West. A new production opens at Chicago's Looking Glass Theatre in May.

Chris Brubeck’s second trombone concerto in Prague in January. Brubeck’s US Army Field Band commission toured throughout the fall.

Tan Dun’s The Map Concerto for Orchestra and Cello. The world premiere performance of the work was featured on the Boston Symphony Orchestra's Online Conservatory. The Conservatory drew 500,000 visitors to the interactive website. Wynton Marsalis was also featured on the site. The Online Conserv- atory is educates visitors about music and musicians.

Noel Goemanne’s No Room in the Inn for SATB and organ/flute at Christ the Knight Church pre-service concert on December 24, 2003 in Dallas, Texas.

Daron Hagen’s “SUSURRUS” by the National Symphony Orchestra and conducted by Leonard Slatkin.

Steve Horowitz’s music in Super Size Me. The film won the documentary award at the Sundance Film Festival. The film was most requested by audiences and sold out before all other films. Super Size Me has been sold to A&E with theatrical rights to be announced. In addition to the original music Horowitz wrote for the film, he also writes for high profile TV shows like “I Bet You Will” on MTV as well as running the audio department at Nickel- odeon online.

Steven L. Rosenhaus’ “Symphony for Band (“Academy”)” at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland on October 10, 2003 by the U.S. Naval Academy Band (LCDR Donald Keller, Jr., leader) and conducted by the composer. Symphony for Band was commissioned to celebrate the U.S. Naval Academy Band’s 150th anniversary.

Barry Schrader’s Ravel for piano and electro-acoustic music on December 1 on SCREAM 2003 (Southern California Resource for Electro-Acoustic Music) at the new REDCAT (Roy and Edna Disney/Cal Arts Theater) in the Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. Ravel is based on materials taken from the works of Maurice Ravel, and was performed at this concert by pianist Vicki Ray, for whom the work was composed.

Alvin Singleton’s Helga, his most recent composition for violin, viola and cello, at Spivey Hall in Atlanta on November 18, 2003.

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Daniel Adams's CD entitled Shadow on Mist for percussion solo, percussion ensemble, and percussion with winds on Capstone Records. The CD features performances by the McCormick Percussion Ensemble, The New Music Tampa Symphonic Wind Ensemble, and soloists Robert and Kim McCormick. For more information, visit the Capstone Records website at www.capstonerecords.org.

Angels of Venice’s Sanctus, their fifth release, featuring former Windham Hill harpist Carol Tatum. Sanctus is a relaxed, exotic, percussion based album of Christmas songs. Its unique Instrumentation includes harp, cello, percussion, synth, church bells, temple bells, violin, and more. Violinist Eric Gorfain plays on the release.

Marie Bellet’s third collection, Lighten Up, on her own Elm Street Records, speaks of finding joy and beauty while balancing modern and traditional values in family life from a musical perspective. While not signed to a commercial label, this mother of eight has pressed over 40,000 copies of her CDs for an audience eager to hear her message.

Marco Benevento’s Darts. Marco is half of the organ & drum duo Benevento/Russo. His impressive Hammond B-3 organ playing is captured here with his band mate, Joe Russo, on the their second release, a live album recorded in New York City that features five original instrumental compositions. This jazz/rock duo produces a remarkably full sound that can easily fool the listener as Marco plays the bass lines on his organ. “The Duo,” as they are known to their fans, have been steadily building a reputation around the country for experimental, high-energy concerts. For more info, go to www.OrganandDrums.com.

Cheryl Bentyne Talk of Our Town in January. The album features Don Alias and a slew of other famous jazz players. Bentyne brings a sexy, compelling vocal style to a collection of standards from the great American songbook, including “They Can’t Take that Away From Me.” This veteran member of the multi-Grammy-winning Manhattan Transfer adds another chapter in her equally vibrant solo career with this captivating album.

John Bucchino’s On Richard Rodgers’ Piano, an album of Richard Rodger’s music featuring a dozen Rodgers standards performed by Bucchino on the legendary composer’s own piano.

Glen Burtnik’s solo debut, Welcome to Hollywood. Burtnik has written songs for Marshall Crenshaw, Randy Travis, Styx, Patty Smyth and Don Henley. The New Jersey based songwriter received an ASCAP Pop Award in 1993 and an ASCAP Country Award in 1999.

Cherry Lane Music's The Erroll Garner Anthology, a sheet music collection containing 35 Garner compositions, arranged for piano by Sy Johnson.

The Contes' new album, Bleed Together (Thunderdog Recordings). Brothers Steve and John Conte, formerly Crown Jewels, are well known for their recording and touring work with other artists including David Bowie, Joan Osborne, Paul Simon and Maceo Parker, just to name a few. Bleed Together marks their third independent release since leaving Mercury Records in 1992. Their previous two releases were under the name Crown Jewels, one of Billboard Talent Net’s “Most Outstanding New Acts of 1999.” Tracks from their albums have been used on Bravo, WB, Fox and NBC network shows.

Greg Cooper’s Down To The Wire. The guitarist recently released this 10-song instrumental CD. Cooper is the author of the book Melodic Lines For The Intermediate Guitarist and is on the summer faculty of National Guitar Workshop.

Maura Fogarty’s Every Now and Then. Her second album features some of Nashville’s top musicians and includes twelve original songs, two traditional Irish songs -– which show her cultural roots -– and three covers. “Under My Skin” from her previous album, Color of My Heart, was featured on the 100th episode of WB’s “Dawson’s Creek.”

Michael Ghegan’s self-titled debut album. Michael follows his own voice to a place where it’s all about neo-soul grooves and contemporary jazz flavor. He has performed with the likes of Chicago blues legend Otis Rush, Keiko Matsui, Marc Anthony and Patti Labelle.

Robert Lamm’s Subtlety & Passion. While still constantly touring worldwide with Chicago, this album was recorded over the past two and half years and co-produced with Hank Linderman (America, Eagles, Timothy B. Schmit).

Mary Lamont’s How Lucky. Eight of the ten tracks on the album were written by Mary and her husband, Jim Marchese. The single, “Ontario,” received airplay on European radio stations. This international alt-country star is an ASCAP Plus Award winner three years running and she was named singer/songwriter of the year by the New Jersey Country Music Association.

Omeil’s Reggae Sweetheart, her debut album. Its single, “Hot Girls,” is receiving solid radio play. Omeil’s sweet personality and beautiful soul are captured in her unique sound. The release mixes of reggae riffs, sentimental moods, and party tracks in a hip-hop/reggae manner.

Mark Perreault’s Testing LP. with the score of a composer whose music has been called “appealing as hell” by Broadway legend Charles Strouse (Annie). Testing, the musical, is a modern treatment of a classic story about a man who asks his best friend to test the virtues of his girlfriend. The CD is available at Amazon.com.

Marc Ribot’s Scelsi Morning and Soundtrack II on John Zorn’s Tzadik record label. Scelsi Morning is an eclectic collection of Marc's most powerful compositions for chamber ensemble. The album touches on Ayler and Morton Feldman in the ritualistic spirit of the Italian Composer Giancento Scelsi. Soundtrack II is the second compilation of pieces Marc composed for a number of independent films.

Rushlow’s first single, “I Can’t Be Your Boyfriend.” This was the group’s first hit, going to the top 15 at Country radio and showing amazing longevity. Rushlow are some of the finest up and coming musicians in country music.

Dale Wasserman’s The Impossible Musical: The Man of La Mancha Story. This book is a lively account of the career of the musical play which has touched the hearts and minds of million. The book contains the complete television play, I, Don Quixote, which is the first form in which Man of La Mancha appeared.

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