In June 2012 I received sad news that my dear friend George Buckbee had passed away unexpectedly at his home near Helsinki, Finland. Despite living on different continents for most of our friendship, George and I had nonetheless maintained a lively and stimulating correspondence since we met in the late 1990’s, when I was an undergraduate and he was emeritus professor and interim dean at the Conservatory of Music at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California. Whether by email or post, George never hesitated to share news, opinions, wisdom, and encouragement, to say nothing of the occasional second-hand book or score. George was also a tireless promoter of my work: he commissioned two pieces from me and frequently passed along my scores to European musicians. It was significant that George passed during the midsummer celebrations, a special time of year in his adopted Scandinavian homeland; George often sent vivid descriptions of these festive times with family and friends.

It was during this difficult time that I was also just beginning to think about this commission from Bill Staub and others, and I decided to make the piece personally meaningful by honoring the memory of a departed mentor.

As the title suggests, characteristics of the pavane, a moderately slow Renaissance dance sometimes associated with mourning, pervade the work. These aspects include the stately “long-short-short” rhythmic pattern heard frequently in the drums, and the paired but varied statements of melodic ideas. The work opens with a dirge over a descending bass line (another musical device representing grief), a short trumpet fanfare, and a simple, cantabile tune heard in first in F and later in G-flat. The piece returns to F and ends with quiet, improvised percussion figures that slowly dissipate into nothingness.

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]]> http://www.andrewardizzoia.info/?feed=rss2&p=1401 http://www.andrewardizzoia.info/?p=1395 http://www.andrewardizzoia.info/?p=1395#comments Thu, 12 Jul 2012 11:21:57 +0000 admin http://www.andrewardizzoia.info/?p=1395 I’m thrilled to announce that I’ve been commissioned to compose a new work for symphonic band and I’m helping to build the consortium, which is being led by Bill Staub and East Carolina University!  This is a wonderful opportunity for groups that haven’t commissioned before, or for groups with limited budgets, since the costs can be spread over two years.  I hope you’ll peruse the letter I recently sent out to some colleagues, which is copied below.  Please contact Bill or me if you’re interested.  We’re looking forward to hearing from YOU!

Dear Friends and Colleagues:

I hope this message finds you all well: in the middle of a relaxing summer or scattering to various corners of the world for camps, workshops and so on.  I also hope you will be able to take part in an exciting opportunity that has arisen!

I have received a request from Bill Staub and East Carolina University to compose a five to seven minute ballad for symphonic band, to be premiered in the spring of 2013.  The work will be appropriate for college ensembles as well as capable high school and community groups.  We would love to have as many friends and colleagues join our consortium as possible, and 9-12 participants would be perfect.  Participating conductors and groups will be recognized in the score, and will receive plenty of publicity via social media outlets.  Commissioning parties will also hold exclusive performing rights until May, 2014.

Bill and I are both cognizant of the fact that budgets are tight, and we have agreed on a $500 buy-in for each group and/or conductor that would like to be involved.  We are pleased that Gerard Morris at the University of Puget Sound has already joined us.

Please feel free to share this information with other colleagues who might be interested.  Contact Bill Staub (williamstaubecu@gmail.com) or myself if you have any questions or would like to take part!

Best wishes for a relaxing summer,
Andrew Ardizzoia

Post-dinner, poolside conversation...

Last night was the first of three performances here in Citta.  The Namaste Ensemble (and its individual members) gave highly committed, world-class performances of works by 7 composers including new friends Charles Nichols and Orlando Lengame.  The performers’ professionalism and stamina were put to the test since they had to play in a space that was well over 90 degrees!  Lisa Naugle’s DTM2 dance ensemble also performed with grace, energy, and control.  A special treat was getting to hear two different pieces by Mauro Porro, an Italian composer whose name was unfamiliar to me.  Prof. Porro’s works are very engaging: he he reconciles modern ideas of structure and organization with a truly heartfelt sense of lyricism.  His Fukushima Suite and Quartetto di primavera oscillated between wrenching violence and delicate poignancy to create a constantly dynamic musical experience.

Orlando Legname shares some thoughts on techno music... ;)

Sala degli Specchi, Circolo degli Illuminati (with a nod to Dan Brown!)

All of Citta di Castello comes out for a passegiatta on a summer night...

Our performance space, the “Sala degli Specchi” is right off the main piazza, which provided easy access to last night’s festa.  Businesses stayed open late, DJs played dance music, and everyone was out and about.  The Italians have made an art of seeing and being seen, and the craft of the casual greeting is one carefully honed over the centuries.  You’re excited to see your friend in the crowd but you don’t let it get out of hand; there are plenty of other things to be passionate about later in the conversation…like soccer, or wine, or gelato, or truffles, or Germans.

I gave a brief talk on my work this afternoon: putting my new piece Lingua Franca in the context of a body of work stretching all the way back to New Resources, which I composed in 1999!  I was also able to share some snippets of the Three Blake Choruses as well as Ritornelli Scuro e Sconosciuti in its entirety.  After my talk we lunched at a small trattoria near the scuola di musica.  Like all the others so far, the meal of farro salad, fried gnocchi and prosciutto was simple, unadorned and completely satisfying.

My mornings have continued to consist of blissful composing sessions in an abandoned room on the third floor of the scuola.  For three or so hours each morning it’s me, a piano, and the pigeons that are roosting on a window sill across the via.   I compose for about twenty minutes or so, then I take a little rest to poke my head out the window to watch the passersby and the little cars that go zipping down the narrow street at breakneck speed. Despite the distractions I’m making serious headway on my new piece for Bill Staub and his consortium (more on this to come!).

Looking up the Via XI Settembre (which has nothing to do with terrorism, FYI!)

Hard at work!

Giacomo keeps a careful eye on everything from his perch in the school's lobby...

I’ve also had enough downtime to be able to actually compose!  Our host institution, the Scuola Comunale di Musica “Giacomo Puccini” is situated on the top two floors of a large old building in Citta di Castello.  There are a number of rooms that aren’t being used for the conference, so I’ve staked a claim on the third floor and spent the last three mornings working on a new commission for symphonic band.

The view from my studio

It's not my fault if my music starts sounding like Puccini and Verdi.

The most important part of conferences and festivals are the communal meals and get-togethers, when we have the chance to interact with our colleagues in a very casual way.  Each evening we gather to share a delicious meal (and wine, of course) and to exchange ideas about teaching, the creative process, collaboration and the business of being an artist.   I appreciate feeling like I’m part of something bigger than myself and being reminded that the challenges we all face as teachers and artists aren’t unique to any of us!

An important part of the day...

A beautiful old building in Citta di Castello

I <3 this place!

Everything comes to a halt for a couple of hours in the afternoons; shops close and a town ordinance forbids excessive noise (especially playing music at the scuola!)  These breaks have given the participants a chance to explore this very charming town.  Of course, there are the usual churches (very big to very small!), a wide open piazza, but most of all beautiful old buildings with green shutters over all the windows, wrought iron ornamentation and window boxes overflowing with flowers.

Arianna's score for "Lingua Franca"

I’ve had two extraordinary rehearsals with Arianna Thieghi, who totally owns Lingua Franca, the piece I wrote for her earlier this year.  It’s been especially rewarding because she knows the piece so well from a technical standpoint and since we’ve been able to talk about the long-range trajectory of the piece (”intense” to “super DRAMA!!!”).  The piece is hard in a technical, moment-to-moment sense, but the real difficulty is keeping up the fever pitch that is established from the very outset.

More to come soon on travel, food, music, ideas, and new friends!

I did, however, get some press for a performance of *Some Assembly Required in Victoria, BC this last weekend.  Music in Victoria, a website devoted all things musical in the city has a review that is balanced, forthright and at times even enthusiastic (if not a bit lengthy).  The blurb on *SAR. provided adjectives such as “exuberant,” “rhythmic,” and “fascinating,” all of which will surely be making their way into my publicity materials!  The entire post may be found here.

It was a lot of fun to spend a week in Canada, but I’m also happy to be home and able to get back to composing…you know, like a composer!

That said, all the performance materials have been out of my hands for weeks, which has allowed me to tend to a commission for an up-and-coming Italian clarinetist (more on this to come), and to go into that freaky, delusional interval between finishing a work and the premiere.  It’s an awkward time: at any moment you expect the phone to ring with pointed questions from the performers about what exactly you meant in measure 27, or if you really intended for the tempo to be that fast (the answer to the latter is always “yes”).  Or worse still, the phone call that your performer has injured one appendage or another, rendering them unfit to play your piece (you’d be surprised what twisted scenarios play out in my head).  Fortunately for me and my blood pressure, I haven’t heard too terribly much from Matthew Coley (who has his hands full with an insane performing schedule), or from conductor Michael Golemo.  I think they’re saving all the real zingers for when I’m actually in Iowa, but that’s just me being paranoid.

I’ve been developing a special relationship with the music department at ISU ever since I was there for the premiere of *Some Assembly Required. back in 2010.  Since then students at the school have performed my New Resources and Three Whitman Lullabyes, and I’m looking forward to working with many of the same hard-working folks once again.  This time around I’m also giving a masterclass and taking part in the pre-concert talk.  I’m also going to do my very best to blog while I’m there, since I always seem to start those sort of documentary things and then end up too busy to follow through with them.  I’m going to have a fair amount of down time on this trip, so there’s no excuse for not writing a few words and uploading a pic every now and then.

I’m also going to have to renew my passport, since *Some Assembly will be performed at the end of May by the Victoria Civic Orchestra in British Columbia.  Mike Keddy, the conductor who’ll lead the concert, has performed a few of my other works and wrote about a year ago asking if I had an orchestra piece with “lots of percussion.”  *SAR. seemed to fit the bill nicely (the percussion part is 14 pages long!).  I made some very minor edits to the work after the premiere, and I’m curious to see how they work out.

It’s not all fun and games, however.  A good chunk of today was spent at Blue Door Studios recording the Modular Suite with Rose French and pianist Emily Helvey.  Noah Guttell runs BDS out of his own home and we were able to get a lot of music recorded in a relatively short amount of time thanks in part to his making us feel so comfortable and at ease.  Emily and I have tons of mutual friends, but we’d never actually worked together, so it was great to get to know her and her great music-making.

Recording engineer Noah Guttell and the performers!

I wrote the Modular Suite in 2009 and Rose gave the premiere of two of the five movements in Phoenix in May of 2010.  Although she’s gone on to give several performances of the piece since then, three movements were still essentially new to me since I hadn’t heard any recordings of those performances!  I was a bit nervous to revisit (let alone record) a work that was nearly two years old and of which large portions were essentially brand new to me: would there be passages I’d want to change?  Would my decisions still seem valid?  Luckily everything seemed to be just the way I’d originally intended and the performer’s musicianship made the piece seem that much more successful!

Rose and Emily layin' down phat horn tracks...

Rose and Emily play and smile beautifully all the time...even after two and a half hours of hard work.

My original reason for being in Phoenix is the premiere of the Sonatina for Violin and Piano, which happens Thursday evening.  I’m hearing the piece for the first time tomorrow evening!