River Oaks Chamber Orchestra

The libretto of “Maternity” begins with the narrator singing to her child “You are here because of me.”  The narrator then begins to reflect back on her maternal line, paying homage to twenty-one mothers, stretching far back in time.  

 The music is organized as a theme and variations on a lullaby, introduced under the opening text.  What follows are twenty-one, short musical scenes in which the lullaby is transformed to depict each generation: for the mother who dies in childbirth, it is an agonized plea; for the mother who could calm her tribe, it is peaceful; for the amphibious mother, flowing.  When the mothers ignore their offspring or have a rough time protecting them, the lullaby is distorted or covered over; but its essence remains, carried all the way through. 

The narrator eventually looks back all the way to the very first mother.  Then, to accompany the text “She carries the first draft of a genetic handbook based from female to female,” the music rapidly rewinds through the generations in a massive orchestral rush.  Back in the present, the narrator sings a final version of the lullaby to her child: “Because of all of us, you are here.”

–Anthony Brandt, composer

ROCO will perform the world premiere of Maternity on Saturday, April 21, at The Church of St. John the Divine. More…

From Anthony Brandt, composer of Maternity:

Today, the federal government published the census data from 1940, enabling us to trace our parents and grandparents at a crucial moment in US history.  Where were they?  What were they doing?  It is that curiosity about our heritage that animates in the libretto of “Maternity.”  The text is adapted from David Eagleman’s short story “The Founding Mothers: An ode to my matriarchs—every last one.”  In David’s original story, the narrator celebrates Mother’s Day by spending “ five seconds thinking about each woman in the proud line of matriarchs who brought me here…”  David invented a special ancestral notation: great²grandmother, great³grandmother, etc.  Eventually, the narrator’s thoughts are carried back millions of generations, to the first female in history, the “moment when gender splits into being.” 

Turning David’s ode into a libretto, we made a few immediate decisions.  Instead of using Mother’s Day as the jumping off point, we decided the narrator was singing to her child.   Thus, the libretto begins “You are here because of me.”  We reasoned that the “five seconds” limit wouldn’t be musically plausible, so that was dropped from the text.  Asking the soloist to sing the ever-expanding matriarch notation–great^88,299,894grandmother, great^334,281,202grandmother—would have been too cumbersome and inadvertently humorous.  So we decided that the notation would be projected in synch with the music.   Once those decisions were made, work on “Maternity” began…

to be continued…

ROCO will perform Maternity on Saturday, April 21, at The Church of St. John the Divine. More…

From Anthony Brandt, composer of Maternity:

Hear the world premiere of Maternity on Saturday, April 21, at The Church of St. John the Divine. Anthony Brandt and David Eagleman will present a Pre-Concert Composer Talk at 4 p.m. The concert begins at 5. Learn more and buy tickets.

Bel Canto, the 2001 winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, by author Ann Patchett, follows the story of an evening of opera gone horribly awry. The book takes place in an unknown South American country, during a party in which the star attraction is a beautiful American Soprano. In the midst of the celebration, a rebel group storms in and takes the entire party hostage. What ensues is a story which blends the beauty of music with the brutality of terrorism, and the complex relationships that form in the midst of these powerful emotions.

Taking both the passion of music and the drama of a hostage situation which suffuse the pages of Bel Canto, composer Dr. Elena Ruehr has created a concert for string quartet which mirrors the narrative and musical spirit of the book. Dr. Ruehr chose Bel Canto as her inspiration for her newest string quartet composition because it is both contemporary in style and traditional in its connection to music. Both the book and Ruehr draw from classics like Vissi D’arte of Puccini’s Tosca and Song to the Moon to Dvorak Rusalka. Ruehr explains her working process: “I wrote music that played with those songs, sometimes quoting them, sometimes playing them out in more modern ways. It is a piece that moves between the music of Puccini and Dvorak with mixes of Latin American dance rhythms (the book is set in South America) and a slightly more modernist veneer.”

This love letter to the book brings the music from the pages alive and will surely be a unique and exciting experience. Taking place in the Cullen Hall at the University of St. Thomas, 7pm on April 21st, the event will contain readings from the book by Justin Doran along with Elena Ruehr’s composition. For more information, click here.

ROCO violinist, Maureen Nelson, will present a chamber concert on Sunday afternoon, March 4th, 4:00pm, at Gremillion & Co. Fine Art, 2501 Sunset.

Maureen keeps a busy touring schedule with engagements both across the US and abroad. She is a founding member and first violinist of the Grammy-nominated Enso String Quartet, which formed while Maureen earned her Master’s degree at Yale University. A two-time winner of the Greenfield Competition, Maureen appeared as soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra both in 1990 and 1991, and has since enjoyed international success as a chamber musician,  soloist and orchestral player.

Maureen talks to us about this concert:
I’m super excited about Sunday’s recital. Being busy with quartet and chamber music, it’s been a long time since I’ve performed some solid violin repertoire– so I chose a program with some of my favorite violin-y pieces! First, I’ll start with Rochberg Caprice-Variations for solo violin (written in 1970). They are based on Paganini’s 24th Caprice and there are 50 Variations–that would total about 1 hour of music! Needless to say, I’ve pared it down a bit. I’ll do ten of them (Rochberg gave permission for performers to choose selections).  Next will be a couple of “showtunes”: William Bolcom’s Graceful Ghost (which is a sort of nostalgic rag) and Sarasate’s Romanza Andaluza (pure violin fun!!) I’ll end the program with the Franck Sonata, one of the most beautiful violin/piano sonatas in existence. I realized that I studied the Franck in school but had never actually performed it. This Sunday will change that!

I will be joined by the spectacular pianist Melissa Marse. She and I were both at Yale and enjoyed playing in a trio together. I found out recently that she settled in Houston just last year and have been looking for an opportunity to join forces with her again! If you want to get to know her a little more, here is her website: www.melissamarse.com

Hope to see some of you on Sunday….and I’m looking forward to sampling (post-recital for me) this ROCO-tini I’ve heard all about!

This event is FREE and open to the public.

Filmed in 1916, the silent movie Deschutes Driftwood will be given new life by composer Dr. Elena Ruehr in our ROCO String Quartet Concert on February 23rd. The film follows the life of a traveling a hobo by the name of Weak Knees Walter, who travels the rails along the Deschutes River in Oregon. The score was commissioned by the National Film Preservation Foundation which restores “orphaned” early films, and with the help of Elena Ruher , the film has been given a new vitality. Inspired by Railroad songs performed in the early folk tradition, Ruher’s composition mirrors both the churning sounds of the railroad and also the melodies of the people who rode them. Also featured is the poetry of Berton Braley, whose words are featured in the film, and which Ruher has transformed into a folk ballad. This score will be featured in the DVD of the film, but this will be a unique opportunity to hear the score performed live along with a screening of the movie.

Elena Ruher’s string quartet compositions have been featured by the Cypress, Biava, Borromeo, Lark, ROCO, and Shanghai String Quartets, and will have a new CD released in April 2012 of her complete works for chorus and orchestra, featuring the Trinity Choir under the direction of conductor Julian Wachner. Dr. Ruehr was composer-in-residence with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project from 2000 – 2005 who premiered her orchestral works Ladder to the Moon and Sky Above Clouds as well as her acclaimed opera Toussaint Before the Spirits.

Dr. Ruher will be available after the concert for a Q&A session. Don’t miss it! For more information, click here.

The complex and storied history of Pierrot has spurred a canon of works, from music to poetry, upon which Composer Paul English was able to express his unique voice as a composer. One way English achieves this is by employing a distinctive vocal technique called Sprechtimme which lies somewhere between singing and speaking in German. It has notated rhythms and pitches, but the singer is required to leave each pitch as soon as it’s been sounded. Having orchestra members sing in such a fashion will be a first for ROCO, and will be an interesting accompaniment to the music they play.

We are delighted to have Maestro Kazem Abdullah join us for our February concert. Quickly becoming one of the most sought after young conductors on the classical scene and named #4 on the Daily Beast’s list of “Young Rock Stars of the Conducting World.”, Maestro Abdullah has conducted all over the world, including with the Metropolitan Opera and Orquestra de São Paulo. Recently, Abdullah had the honor of winning the Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award as well as conducting with the Sinfonieorchester Aachen, Napa Valley Symphony, Elgin Symphony Orchestra, and the Atlanta Opera. In the coming months he will become the Generalmusikdirector of the city of Aachen, Germany, but before he takes his talent overseas he will  join ROCO on February 18^th and 19^th to conduct Schubert Symphony No. 4, Haydn Cello Concerto, performed by soloist Richard Belcher, and the world premiere of Paul English’s Lumière Lunaire.

With the diverse line-up featured in our concert, this is a great opportunity to see the Masestro work his dynamic and confident skills with the world class musicians at ROCO.

I am very excited about our premiere by Paul English.  Many Houstonians know him as a fabulous jazz pianist. He is a brilliant musician, no matter the genre. 

When I asked him to write ROCO a piece, I gave him carte blanche.  I did, however, give him a book of poetry by Jo Ann Falletta, a great conductor who has collaborated with ROCO numerous times.  She wrote beautiful poems about her conducting experiences with people and pieces and places.  One piece called to Paul. This year 2012, is the 100th anniversary of Pierrot Lunaire, an iconic work by Schoenberg that changed the coarse of chamber music composition in the early 1900′s.  Joanne wrote a great poem about the piece and Paul has now set this poem to music.  One of the many surprises in the work, entitled Lumière Lunaire in deference to the homage, is that the orchestra members get to sing during the piece.  In fact, five of us get to wear lavaliere mics and speak in German (actually Sprechstimme, a singing way of saying German). 

I really look forward to the piece, and especially to our audiences reaction to something this interesting and dramatic. See you February 18th or 19th!

Best,
Alecia

River Oaks Chamber Orchestra (ROCO) continues its 2011-2012 season, “a fusion of cultures and generations,”  by welcoming Kazem Abdullah, who will conduct Schubert Symphony No. 4, Haydn Cello Concerto, performed by soloist, Richard Belcher, the world premiere of Paul English’s Lumière Lunaire, plus a surprise or two. 

Maestro Kazem Abdullah has become one of the most watched young American conductors on the scene today and in August of 2012 will become Generalmusikdirector of the city of Aachen, Germany. His predecessors in this tradition-rich post include Fritz Busch, Herbert von Karajan and Wolfgang Sawallisch. This season Maestro Abdullah appeared with Michigan Opera Theater, Sinfonieorchester Aachen and the Rochester Philharmonic.  He will also appear with the Nuremburg Philharmonic and Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra.

Richard Belcher is ROCO’s principal cello. A New Zealand native, Richard has performed as a chamber musician and in solo settings across the USA and internationally. He has been a regular performer for Music in Context, often collaborating with series founder Sergiu Luca, and is cellist and a founding member of the Grammy-nominated Enso String Quartet.

ROCO commissioned outstanding jazz pianist and composer, Paul English, to create a new piece especially for this concert. Inspired by a poem written by conductor Jo Ann Falletta, Paul created Lumière Lunaire, a 23-minute symphony that celebrates the 100-year anniversary of the famous Arnold Schoenberg melodrama, Pierrot Lunaire, which means “Moonstruck Clown.”  In both the Schoenberg and Paul English compositions, narrator voices deliver the poem in the Sprechstimme style, which is spoken text with instrumental accompaniment. In this special piece, the narrator voices are the musicians! The result is a lively contemporary piece that will fascinate as it entertains.  As a complement to this piece, Space Center Houston will present an exhibition of Lunar art and artifacts at a reception following the Saturday performance.

Performance Dates/Times:

• Saturday, Feb 18, 2012, 5pm, at The Church of St. John the Divine, 2450 River Oaks Blvd.
  With ROCOrooters music education/childcare (reservations required)
  Tickets are $25, $10 for students with valid student ID
• Sunday, Feb 19, 2012, 5 pm, Concert with Dinner at The Houstonian Hotel, 111 North Post Oak Lane
  Tickets are $95 and include the concert and a 4-course gourmet dinner. Cocktails and wine will be available for purchase before the concert and at the dinner.

Program

Paul English Lumière Lunaire World Premiere
Joseph Haydn Cello Concerto
Franz Schubert Symphony No. 4 in C Minor “Tragic”