Happy New Year!

So here we are in the brave new world of 2011, and it's been a couple of months since my last posting. Paul Fowler, Bora Yoon, and I have been writing music and creating the structure for our next project: the vast ARCO. At this point, the score is almost finalized, and the three of us are a little giddy with anticipation. As you can see on our website, this concert attempts to translate into music the course of a human life. I know, I know...you're thinking, who does something like that? It's a staggering undertaking, and one that has certainly humbled us as we went about doing it. I suppose you could even say IT did US, rather than the reverse. On the flip, if you're looking for inspiration in an artistic undertaking, well...what better subject to delve into than the raw human experience?

It's amazing to me that this is actually happening. We're going to be in the Armory's cathedral-like Drill Hall, with a 53-member orchestra, a bevy of phenomenal singers, a production team to die for, with our vision laid out on the table. Enormous. Can. Not. Wait.

Some things that are going to happen:

• orchestra members will be playing together and separately from everywhere (and I mean everywhere) in the Drill Hall - balconies, über-balconies, stairwells, interior rooms. You name it, we'll be using it.

• pieces will be played where the singer is singing backwards. That's right, like those old LP's where some message reveals itself when you spin the record player backwards. You know what I'm talking about if you're an old man like me.

• you will hear, at key points, 3 or even 4 pieces played simultaneously, layered over one another.

And that's just for starters. More to come, of course, but hopefully this gives you a hint of what's in store.

We've been busy...

Sympho has been busy cooking something up over the past, oh, 5 months. Co-conspirators Paul Fowler, Bora Yoon, and I have been dreaming up something on a previously unimagined scale. Picture, if you will, a performing space that takes up an entire city block, with multiple performing levels and galleries. Now, add to that an orchestra twice the size of any Sympho has ever used before. That's all I'm going to say for now, but this is going to be tremendous. We cannot wait to share this with you. Stay tuned...

The Cubes

From Paul Fowler: This year I'm using my new favorite toy for the laptop work that I'm doing. They're called Audiocubes and they're made by Percussa - www.percussa.com. They're an extremely intuitive performance interface for the computer. Through the use of infrared sensors on 4 of the sides, controller information and note information are sent to the computer. There's much more to it, but this is the gist of how I'm using them in the concert.

I sought these out after doing a fair amount of live laptop work in which the performance aspect, when compared to a violinist's or percussionist's movement, was extremely weak — if not completely uninteresting — "Yeah, I play faderbox!" Ha! With the cubes, the audience can see how the sound is being shaped while they hear it... For example, if I strike one side of the cube and then move my hand back, a sound is triggered and then gets quieter and the color of the cube becomes lighter. It's as if one could carry around a computer screen with all the sound wave and volume graphics and then use their hands to shape the sound.

Despite the parlor trick attractiveness, I am astounded by the usefulness of these little cubes and look forward to exploring more ways of playing with them....

At Last

From Paul Fowler: Once the contest songs were in, I chose to arrange At Last...you know, the Etta James tune that Beyonce performed at our president's inauguration, and Christina Aguilera performed regularly during one of her tours. That song that gets hollered through a Martini laden mic at karaoke — just about every torch singer on the planet has done it. It's one of those tunes that everyone knows, even if they don't know: they know. And that sort of cultural saturation is the beauty of the "standard." We've all got some emotional history with the song, and it makes for a richer, more saturated, communal experience.

In my years as a jazz pianist I'm sure I've played this tune hundreds of times and it's been requested way too often. I can count on the audience singing along, or the mental vinyl spinning the original recording. So I didn't want to obscure the melody. And due to the fact that it's nestled between the quartet from Verdi's Rigoletto and an amazing aria by Monteverdi, it seemed most fitting to take advantage of it's placement...it became a mashup of sorts. The final chord of Verdi's quartet is resampled throughout the piece, as a kind of memory that forces it's way into the sentiment. The bassoon "sings" the famous aria during the trumpet's second statement of the tune. When the bridge hits, the arrangement weasels it's way out of the Verdi and the final recap of the tune is strong and perhaps too bold, with the classic 12/8 piano riff a la 1950 played by the winds and thick arpeggios from the strings. I hope the piece has a kind of humor and richness.... As that seems to be my experience with standards. We mustn't take ourselves too seriously for too long.

WNYC Soundcheck on Thursday!

Paul Haas and Emeline Michel will be interviewed in advance of the Tweetheart concert this Thursday, May 20 at 3pm by John Schaefer on WNYC's Soundcheck program. Emeline will also sing with members of her band - check it out!

It's heavy...

The magic moment has arrived. I'm holding the full score for Tweetheart in my hands, just printed. It's 11x15 inches, about 3/4 inch thick. Weighs a pound, maybe a pound and a half. Very exciting. 24 pieces in total, the longest of which are 7-8 minutes in duration. Most are shorter.

The singers and I started working together about a week ago. The orchestra meets for the first time this Wednesday, which is the day that all the lighting and video production equipment gets delivered to Church For All Nations. Special thanks to the Park Avenue Armory for letting us rehearse there.

It's a 32-piece orchestra, which is fairly standard for us. Unique instruments abound, including a bass theorbo and multiple laptops. Harp too.

Can't wait for the performance. Get your tickets by clicking here.

Student Tickets Available

Student tickets for Tweetheart are now on sale - $10 each. You can buy them here. Please note: you will be asked to show your valid student ID at the door.