PROGRAM INFORMATION

 

YOSHIO HACHIMURA 八村義夫 (1938 – 1985)
"Breathing Field" Op. 15 for flute, clarinet, harp, percussion, and piano (1981/82)
 

Program note: ''Breathing Field'' deals largely on individual timbres, examined in a chain of solo cadenzas and duets. Composed for the Sound Space Ark ensemble.
 

Yoshio Hachimura, born in Tokyo, was a Japanese composer of contemporary music. In 1957 he entered the composition department of the Tokyo University of the Arts, and while still a student, "Lent and Allegro for Orchestra" won the 3rd prize at the 29th Music Competition. He studied under Yuzuru Shimaoka and graduated from Tokyo University of the Arts in 1961.  From 1967 he taught at Toho Gakuen University and later at Tokyo University of the Arts. His "Logic of Confusion" for piano and orchestra was awarded the Fukuyama Prize in 1976, and was a selected work by the International Association for Contemporary Music in 1980. From 1977 to 1978, he stayed in New York and Paris as a grantee of the Agency for Cultural Affairs. After returning to Japan, he pioneered a new world of sound with "Dolchisima Mia Vita," which used only metal percussion instruments. In 1985 he won a Kenzo Nakajima Music Award and the 23rd Record Academy Special Section. Yoshio Hachimura's style is often described as hyper-expressionism and romanticism. Regarding his early work, Hachimura himself says that he was heavily influenced by Schoenberg's expressionism. After that, Hachimura's writing was strongly influenced by Italian music of the 1960s, especially Silvano Bussotti. It can be said that such a style, in which the opposite polarities of frenzy and silence are simultaneously established on paper, is unique among Japanese composers. He also favored the Italian Renaissance composer Carlo Gesualdo. Between Gesualdo's chromatic, somewhat abnormal sound world and Hachimura's sensuously dark, cohesive, and manneristic sound sequences, there is a close sense of beauty and beauty. During his lifetime, 20 works were completed.
ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/八村義夫


TORU TAKEMITSU 武満 徹 (1930 – 1996)

“Rain Spell” for flute, clarinet, harp, percussion, and piano (1982)

Program note: Scored for flute, clarinet, harp, piano and vibraphone, and running about 10 minutes in duration, "Rain Spell" is one of the composer's pieces expressing his fascination with rain and the random flow of water (Rain Coming, Water-Ways, Riverrun, Waterscape, Rain Tree, Garden Rain, etc.), a theme also shared by one of Takemitsu's main influences Claude Debussy. Written for the Sound Space Ark in Tokyo, "Rain Spell" opens with isolated arpeggios and gentle flutterings like splashes of water. Strange multiphonics sound like electronic insects. The melodies become longer and more full of eerie effects accompanied by muted harmonics on harp and piano. These describe the deep "spell" woven by the rain more than the sound of falling rain itself, and that is the genius of Takemitsu's spiritual insight expressed in his art.

Toru Takemitsu was born in Tokyo on 8 October 1930. He began attending the Keika Junior High School in 1943 and resolved to become a composer at the age of 16. During the post-war years, he came into contact with Western music through radio broadcasts by the American occupying forces – not only jazz, but especially classical music by Debussy and Copland and even by Schoenberg. Although Takemitsu was essentially a self-taught composer, he nevertheless sought contact with outstanding teachers: Toshi Ichiyanagi acquainted the composer with the European avant-garde of Messiaen, Nono und Stockhausen, and Fumio Hayasaka introduced Takemitsu to the world of film music and forged contacts to the film director Akira Kurosawa for whom Takemitsu produced several scores to film plots. In 1951, the group “Experimental Workshop” was co-founded by Takemitsu, other composers and representatives from a variety of artistic fields.

“I can well imagine Toru Takemitsu travelling through Japan, not to capture different aspects of the moon, but let’s say to experience the wind whistling through different trees, and returning to the city with a gift. This gift consists of the transformation of nature into art.” (John Cage)
https://www.schott-music.com/en/person/toru-takemitsu

 

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JOJI YUASA 湯浅譲二 (b. 1929)

“A Winter Day” – Homage to Basho - for flute, clarinet, harp, percussion, and piano (1981)

Program note: "A Winter Day” incorporates two different characteristics and it refers not only to my incessant concern with temporal structure in music but also to an extension of my interest with semiological survey in music. This would particularly be affected by the creative performers' cooperation. All the pitches in this work are precisely notated. However, the vertical relationship among the performers is not strictly given. At one particular section even the temporal structure is being constructed by the performers. The title of the work is connected with the Haiku Anthology "Winter Days" by Basho, the greatest Haiku poet. While composing this piece, I imagined a cold winter day in Toronto.

Joji Yuasa, born on August 12, 1929, in Koriyama, Japan, is a self-taught composer. He first became interested in music while a premedical student at Keio University, and in 1952 turned to music full time when he joined a young artists’ group, the Experimental Workshop in Tokyo. Since then, Yuasa has been actively engaged in a wide range of musical composition, including orchestral, choral and chamber music, music for theater, and intermedia, electronic and computer music. His works, including film and television scores, have won several prizes; among them the Jury’s Special Prize of the 1961 Berlin Film Festival, the Prix Italia (1966, ’67), the San Marco Golden Lion Prize (1967), the Otaka Prize (1972, ’88, ’97, 2003), Grand Prizes at the Japan Arts Festival (1973, ’83), the Hida-Furukawa Music Grand Prize (1995), the Kyoto Music Grand Prize (1995), the Suntory Music Prize (1996), the Medal with Purple Ribbon (1997), Education Minister’s Art Encouragement Prize (1997), the Imperial Prize (1999) and the Japan Art Academy Prize (1999), etc. He has been commissioned by the Serge Koussevitzky Music Foundation, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Japan Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Canada Council, Suntory Music Foundation, IRCAM and National Endowment for the Arts of the U.S.A., among others. His music has been widely performed throughout the world at such festivals as the ISCM World Music Days, Warsaw Autumn, and Venice Biennale. From 1981 to 1994, Yuasa was actively engaged in music research and education at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). Presently, he is professor emeritus at UCSD and Nihon University and an honorary member of ISCM.
https://www.schott-music.com/en/person/joji-yuasa
 

The Hachimura, Takemitsu, and Yuasa works were composed for the “Sound Space Ark” ensemble: Hiroshi Koizumi, flutist; Ayako Shinozaki, harpist; Yoshiaki Suzuki, clarinetist; Aki Takahashi, pianist, and Yasunori Yamaguchi, percussionist.

 

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RAM COMPOSERS
 

GILBERT GALINDO
“Where are you, Spirit Most High” for flute, clarinet, harp, percussion, and piano (2022) (World Premiere)

Program note:
“Mystery, loneliness, and supplication. Let us cry out.”

Gilbert Galindo, composer Powerful - Kinetic - Rhapsodic - Intriguing Award-winning composer Gilbert Galindo writes “richly rendered music” (Thought Catalogue) of “undeniable power” (The Kansas City Star) with an intriguing palette of colors. A Tejano upbringing in west Texas combines with a love of modes, blues, and jazz to inform Galindo’s rhapsodic abstract lyricism. The result is music that is “densely saturated [with]... sinuous, expansive solos… a pleasure [to be left] reverberating in the memory.” (Chicago Classical Review) Galindo’s experience in New York’s electronic music scene as a DJ and producer also adds a unique level of kinetic and kaleidoscopic depth to his writing. Festivals and series that have featured his music include American Composers Alliance, Concept Lab, Cortona Sessions for New Music, Etchings Festival, Queens New Music Festival, Festival of New American Music, Make Music New York, and Tokyo to New York. Recent commissions include new works for: the Queer Urban Orchestra, in celebration of Pride 2021, New York City, NY; Sound of Silent Film Festival by Access Contemporary Music; Quintet of the Americas; the Chicago Fine Arts Society; and the Chicago Composers Orchestra. Currently the Executive and Curatorial Director of NYsoundCicuit, Galindo was a former Artistic Director of Random Access Music and the Queens New Music Festival. With degrees from Northwestern University (BM) and the Cleveland Institute of Music (MM), Galindo has studied as a Fellow at the Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music, the Bard Conductors Institute, the Brevard Music Festival, and the Freie Universität International Summer University Composition Course (Berlin). His music is available from Galindo Musix (BMI). http://www.gilbertgalindo.com/

 

 

MASATORA GOYA
“Deep Dive” for flute, clarinet, harp, percussion, and piano (2022) World Premiere

Program Note:

“Deep in the sea, universe, or mind, the bottomless abyss invites you to further dive down.”

After chasing a rugby ball and studying sociology in Japan, Masatora finally turned to performing arts as his true calling and relocated to the United States. Trained as a vocal performer first, he explores the musical landscape of drama, space, and emotion where hidden memories and indescribable feelings dwell. Described as a "composer of cultural crossroads" by American Composers Forum, his unique eclecticism has attracted many musicians performing in nontraditional chamber ensembles. Filmmakers and visual artists also frequently seek collaborations for his creative vision in music. Masatora is the recent recipient of the American Prize in Composition. https://www.masatoragoya.com/

 

FRANCES WHITE
“Phases of the moonflower” for flute, clarinet, harp, percussion, and piano (2022) World Premiere
1. Rainshine; 2. Night; 3. Petal shower
 

Program note:
1. Rainshine — The sun and the rain awaken the seed.

2. Night — At night, all kinds of hidden processes take place. Plants breathe differently in the darkness

than they do in the light. This secret undertaking allows for growth.

3. Petal shower — The moonflower opens at dusk, and for one night its beauty glows. But as the petals

fall, I witness the fragility of its beauty, pointing to the transience of everything I love.

Composer Frances White's work has been called "stunning" (American Record Guide) "moving" (Fanfare), "spectacularly beautiful", and "so atmospheric and sensuous it is almost fragrant" (Musicworks). Her music conveys intimacy and immediacy, with a tactile and expressive approach which derives from a sincere belief in the transformative nature of sound. A 2004 Guggenheim fellow, she has received awards, grants, residencies and commissions from organizations such as

the the Fromm Foundation, the MAP Fund, the NJ State Council on the Arts, the Ditson Fund, Prix Ars Electronica, the Copland Fund, the International Computer Music Association, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, The Crossing Chamber Choir, The Dale Warland Singers, the Composers Guild of NJ, the MacDowell Colony, the Djerassi Resident Artists Program, the Puffin Foundation, New Music USA, and the Bang On A Can Festival, among many others. www.rosewhitemusic.com
 

RAM PLAYERS

TENGKU IRFAN - Piano
Tengku Irfan, Malaysian pianist, conductor & composer, praised by the New York Times as “eminently cultured” and possessing “sheer incisiveness and power”, made his debut at eleven performing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto WoO4, improvising his own cadenzas with Claus Peter Flor and the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra. He has performed as soloist with orchestras worldwide under conductors Neeme Järvi, Kristjan Järvi, David Robertson, Robert Spano, Osmo Vänskä, among others. He won the 2013 Aspen Music Festival Prokofiev Piano Concerto No.2 Competition and served four consecutive years as pianist for the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble. Irfan is a proud recipient of a Kovner Fellowship at The Juilliard School, and appointed as Youth Ambassador of the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra.
https://www.tengkuirfan.com/

LISH LINDSEY – Flute
Alicia “Lish” Lindsey is the principal piccoloist with Capital Philharmonic Orchestra, the principal flutist with the Eastern Wind Symphony, contrabass flutist with Centre Park Flute Ensemble, flutist with the Exit 4 Wind Quintet, and director of the Columbia Gagaku Instrumental Ensemble of New York. Notable performances include Josh Groban, Sarah Brightman, Sarah McLaughlan, Evanescence, Hanson, violinist Lindsey Stirling, Il Volo, Tokyo to New York Concert Series, and as a regular flute substitute with the Broadway musical Finding Neverland. Lish is an applied flute/music professor at Columbia University, Brooklyn College, NJ City University, and Wilkes University. www.Lishlindsey.com

TOMINA PARVANOVA LYDEN - Harp
New York-based, versatile harpist Tomina Parvanova Lyden is one of the most in demand musicians in her field. She has appeared with such world-class orchestras as the Boston Symphony, New Jersey Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, and Boston Ballet. She is a four-time winner of the Radio City Christmas Spectacular principal harp chair, and performs regularly On and Off-Broadway. A harp fellow at the prestigious Tanglewood Music Center, Tomina performed under the baton of such world-renowned conductors as Jaap van Zweden, Kurt Masur and Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos. As a great collaborator in contemporary music, she has premiered and recorded works by Charles Wourinen, Gunther Schuller, Aaron Jay Kernis, Martin Boykan and George Tsontakis. Tomina has performed with new music groups, including Boston Modern

Orchestra Project, Sound Icon, Ludovico Ensemble, and has taken part in IFCP (International Festival for Contemporary Performance), NYC. www.tominaparvanova.com

JOSH PERRY – Percussion
Percussionist Josh Perry is a passionate advocate for contemporary music and interdisciplinary performance mediums. Acclaimed by the New York Times as a "creative percussionist," Perry is an ensemble member of Iktus Percussion, ensemble mise-en, and Hotel Elefant. Recently, Perry has been a featured soloist at the Kroumata Percussion Center in Stockholm, Sweden, the Transplanted Roots Symposium in Guanajuato, Mexico, Audio Trading Manual in Seoul, South Korea, and at the Tokyo Opera City Recital Hall in Tokyo, Japan. Festival appearances include Donaueschinger Musiktage, NIME 2021, SEAMUS, June in Buffalo festival, MATA festival, New Voices-New Music at Carnegie Hall, and the Bang on a Can Marathon. Perry received his Doctorate from Stony Brook University.  joshperry-music.com

THOMAS PIERCY – Clarinet, RAM Artistic Director
Thomas Piercy, based in NYC and Tokyo, is a critically acclaimed musician with appearances throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. Described by The New York Times as “Brilliant...playing with refinement and flair…evoking a panache in the contemporary works.” A versatile artist defying categorization, he has premiered compositions written for him by some of the most outstanding composers of today, including Ned Rorem (Pulitzer Prize, Grammy Award), Jennifer Higdon (Pulitzer Prize, Grammy Award), Sir Richard Rodney Bennett (Academy Award nomination), Fernando Otero (Grammy Award, Latin Grammy Award), and Shoichi Yabuta (Geneva Prize).  A frequent performer of new music, Mr. Piercy has premiered over 300 compositions composed for him. The composers have ranged from 10 to 99 years of age and come from all walks of life and experience: from elementary and university students to university professors; from self-taught composers to composers with PhDs; from emerging composers to composers that have won prominent awards. Studied at the Juilliard School and Mannes School of Music. Clarinet studies: Gervase De Peyer, Stephen Johnston, Leon Russianoff, Kalmen Opperman. Recordings for Albany, Capstone, DGI, Changing Tones, NJST, Tonada Records and more. Official Rossi Clarinet, Forestone Reeds and Silverstein Artist. www.thomaspiercy.com