The Santa Barbara Symphony followed a fickle boy with a funny name on a musical quest this February, presenting the world premiere of Cody Westheimer’s orchestral adaptation of the children’s book The Remarkable Farkle McBride, written by actor John Lithgow. Music Director Nir Kabaretti led two performances, which were attended by 3,000 schoolchildren as part of the orchestra’s Concerts for Young People. The roles of narrator and Farkle McBride—the young musical genius who cannot decide on a favorite instrument—were played by Dos Pueblos High School students Sarah Lee and Logan Michaels. Westheimer is the composer of Bamboo Leaves for Japanese flute and orchestra (2001); the scores for the films Smile (2006), Cattle Call (2006), and UltraMarathon Man (2008); and the music for the video game The Golden Compass (2007), based on the Philip Pullman novel.
David Bazemore
Santa Barbara by the Book
The Santa Barbara Symphony’s world premiere of The Remarkable Farkle McBride featured high school students Sarah Lee (narrator) and Logan Michael (Farkle).
Bookshelf
SAM works closely with presenters, orchestras, and festivals to deliver excellent musicianship that meets their programming and budgetary needs. Soloists rieko aizawa
Duos misha & cipa dichter
piano
Chamber Ensembles antares
piano duo
piano-clarinet quartet
violin
duo prism jesse mills & rieko aizawa
violin-piano duo
harlem quartet, a sphinx ensemble
juan-miguel hernandez
carter brey & christopher o’riley*
carter brey with harlem quartet
misha dichter piano
elena urioste
viola
efe baltacigil cello
carter brey cello
eileen strempel soprano
cello-pian0 duo
Chamber Orchestras & Conductors piotr gajewski
string quartet
string quintet
misha dichter with harlem quartet piano quintet
conductor
sphinx chamber orchestra 2010 tour
Contact Marianne Sciolino
212-721-9975 www.samnyc.us info@samnyc.us *By arrangement with California Artists Management
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Biographies of two high-profile conductors lead the latest batch of music-related book releases. Osmo Vänskä: Orchestra Builder (Kirk House Publishers, 2009; 135 pages; $45), by former Star-Tribune music critic Michael Anthony, follows the Minnesota Orchestra music director’s artistic development, from clarinetist to conductor; his work in Minnesota; and his views on music. Thomas D. Saler’s Serving Genius: Carlo Maria Giulini (University of Illinois Press, 2010; 256 pages, 21 photographs, $34.95), meanwhile, chronicles the conductor’s personal life and career, including his appointments at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Vienna Symphony, and Los Angeles Philharmonic. Both books feature an incredible amount of detail—from snippets about Vänskä’s clarinet mouthpieces to Giulini’s exact time of birth—though the large, horizontal orientation and glossy color photographs of the Vänskä volume make it more coffee-table-friendly. Equally eye-catching is Theaters 2: Partnerships in Facility Use, Operations and Management (Images Publishing, 232 pages, $75), which profiles multi-use performance venues at 42 schools and performing arts centers around the country, accompanied by 228 full-color photographs. Another book addressing the prominent role space can play in performance is Kyle Gann’s No Such Thing As Silence: John Cage’s 4’33” (Yale University Press, 2010; 272 pages, $24), about the influences and cultural implications of one of the defining works of indeterminism. symphony
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