Tomorrow, February 5th, 2013, the Mercer Island High School Wind Ensemble will perform the first movement of Lauda at the Pacific Northwest Invitational Wind Band Festival. The Festival will be held at Meany Hall, The University of Washington. Thank you to Mercer Island High School for including Lauda on their program, and best of luck to them at this festival! Find out more about the Mercer Island High School Wind Ensemble here, and the Pacific Northwest Invitational Wind Band Festival here.
"This World Alive" - Coming Soon!
The new winds & film consortium piece that I have mentioned many times before is complete! The music and film are done and everything is about to be sent out to the 27 consortium members. We are thrilled with the response and support that this project has received, and we thank all of the consortium members for helping make this work possible! You can view the full list of schools and read the new program note for the piece here. In the program note I explain the inspiration for the title that we chose - This World Alive.
In the coming months, I will be providing updates here as the performances of this new piece are scheduled. After seeing the beautiful film produced by Cuyler Bryant on my little computer screen, I can't wait to experience the complete work with live film projection and wind ensemble. Stay tuned for more!
"Goodnight, Goodnight" Performance Today - Arkansas Music Educators Association
The Hot Springs Concert Band will be performing Goodnight, Goodnight this evening at 7:00pm at the Arkansas Music Educators Association Fall Professional Development Conference in Hot Springs, AR. You can see a full program of the conference here. Thank you to Dr. Craig Hamilton and the Hot Springs Concert Band for including my work in their performance!
A Wonderful Consortium Group!
It has been a few weeks since I last posted here - things have been busy! I have been working hard on the new piece for winds and film, and the consortium has been growing! We now have a wonderful group of 22 schools signed up (see the list here)! Thank you to those supporters who are making this exciting project possible! There are still a few spots left if you or someone you know is interested.
Goodnight, Goodnight for Band - Winner of the 2012 Hot Springs Concert Band Music Composition Award
I'm excited to announce that my work Goodnight, Goodnight for band has been named the winner of the 2012 Music Composition Award by the Hot Springs Concert Band in Hot Springs, AR. This wonderful ensemble will perform Goodnight, Goodnight on Sunday October 21st at 3:oopm and I will be in attendance! Who: Hot Springs Concert Band performs Goodnight, Goodnight When: October 21st, 3:00pm Where: Woodlands Auditorium, Hot Springs Village, AR
World Youth Wind Symphony Video Recording!
Slight correction from my last post: The World Youth Wind Symphony was the ensemble that performed Lauda at Interlochen under the baton of Gary Green. You can watch the wonderful video recording of the performance below. These are some very talented young people (high school students) who played my piece (and the whole concert) beautifully. Thanks to the World Youth Wind Symphony, Gary Green, and Interlochen! Bravo!
Lauda at Interlochen Tomorrow! Watch via Webcast!
My wind ensemble work Lauda will be performed tomorrow, Saturday July 14th by the Interlochen Symphony Band conducted by the incomparable Gary Green. Interlochen will be streaming live video of the concert at the link below. Check it out if you can! Who: Interlochen Symphony Band conducted by Gary Green When: Saturday July 14, 2012 - 7:00pm Where: Kresge Auditorium, Interlochen Center for the Arts, Interlochen, Michigan Webcast: Live video streaming here
Lauda at Texas Tech on Monday!
Lauda will be performed by the Texas Tech University Concert Band, directed by Duane Hill on Monday May 7th at 8pm. They are doing a really interesting program called "The Great Outdoors" and students in the ensemble have prepared visual slide shows and videos to play along with the music - very cool! Best wishes for a great performance! When: Monday May 7th, 8:00pm Where: Hemmle Recital Hall, Texas Tech University
Magnolia Star - Score & Full Recording
Magnolia Star, my newest work for wind ensemble which I discussed in my last post here, now has a page on my website. On that page you will find the full midi recording, PDF score, program notes, and a link to purchase the score and parts. Enjoy! Here is the full midi recording:
[audio http://www.stevedanyew.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Danyew_Magnolia_Star_midi.mp3]
Magnolia Star - Inspiration and Audio
Here is a midi sample of the first 3 minutes of Magnolia Star for Wind Ensemble (the full work is a little over 6 minutes): [audio http://www.stevedanyew.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Danyew_Magnolia_Star_midi_sample.mp3]
And here are the program notes for the piece:
When I was playing saxophone in my middle school jazz band, we started every rehearsal the same way – with an improvisation exercise that our director created. It was a simple yet brilliant exercise for teaching beginning improvisation and allowing everyone in the band a chance to “solo.” As a warm-up at the opening of each rehearsal, the whole band played the blues scale ascending, resting for one measure, descending, and resting for another measure.
During the measures of rest, each member of the band took turns improvising a solo. Looking back, this exercise not only got the band swinging together from the start of rehearsal, but it made improvisation, a daunting musical task to many, seem within everyone’s abilities. This experience was my introduction to the blues scale, and I have long wanted to write a piece inspired by this group of pitches. In Magnolia Star, I explore various ways to use these pitches in harmonies, melodies, and timbres, creating a diverse set of ideas that will go beyond sounds that we typically associate with the blues scale. I didn’t want to create a “blues” piece, but rather a piece in my own musical voice that uses and pays homage to the blues scale.
Nearly all of the pitches used in Magnolia Star fit into the concert C blues scale. It is interesting to note that embedded within the C blues scale are both a C minor triad, an Eb minor triad, and an Eb major triad. I explore the alternation of these tonal areas right from the start of the piece, and continue to employ them in different ways throughout the entire work.
When I first started improvising ideas for this piece based around the blues scale, I began to hear the influence of driving rhythms and sonorities which reminded me of trains. The railroad became a important second influence of this piece alongside the blues scale.
The American railroad not only provides some intriguing sonic ideas, but it also provides an intimate connection to the growth of jazz and blues in America. In the late 19th century, the Illinois Central Railroad constructed rail lines that stretched from New Orleans and the “Delta South” all the way north to Chicago. Many southern musicians traveled north via the railroad, bringing “delta blues” and other idioms to northern parts of the country. The railroad was also the inspiration for countless blues songs by a wide variety of artists. Simply put, the railroad was crucial to the dissemination of jazz and blues in the early 20th century.
Magnolia Star was an Illinois Central train that ran from New Orleans to Chicago with the famous Panama Limited in the mid 20th century.