Opening Nights Performing Arts Spring 2015 Program

Performing Arts

2014-

2015 Season

Spring 2015 | Vol. III | Issue III

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Contents

Spring 2015

Joshua Bell

Miloš Karadaglić Danú 2 0 th A n n i v e r s a r y T o u r

Raisin’ Cane: A Harlem R e n a i ss a n c e O d y ss e y

Itzhak Perlman, violin Rohan De Silva, Piano

Steep Canyon Rangers & Della Mae Diana Krall

Cover Photo Courtesy Lars Borges, Mercury Classics 2015 Spring Program 5

LET YOUR PRIDE TAKE CENTER STAGE Display your pride in Florida State University with the purchase of an FSU license plate. Proceeds from plate sales are applied to the university’s general scholarship fund to support need- and merit-based scholarships for Florida State students.

Rebates for first-time buyers, as well as gift certificates and information on purchasing your FSU license plate is available online at fsu.edu/mytag.

Florida State University John Thrasher, President Office of University Relations Kathleen Daly, Interim Vice President for University Relations Opening Nights Performing Arts Staff Christopher Heacox, Director Ashley Kerns, Operations & Engagement Coordinator Chrys Goodwyne, Development Officer Pat Campbell, Event Coordinator Bethany Atwell, Administration Manager Mary-Margaret Dale, Community Engagement Manager Nathan Grater, Production Manager Wade Jennings, Arts Administration Assistant Erin Hollen, Graphic Designer Opening Nights Performing Arts Advisory Board Mike Pate, Chair Ruth Akers, Ph.D. Carmen Butler Gus Corbella Johanna Money Nan Nagy Michael Obrecht John Schultz Susan Stratton Marjorie Turnbull Wendy Walker Ed West Rep. Alan Williams Florida State University Office of the President College of Arts and Sciences College of Motion Picture Arts College of Music College of Fine Arts Fine Arts Ticket Office Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography University Communications University Relations

Welcome to the Spring 2015 season of Opening Nights Performing Arts at Florida State University It has been over twelve years since violinist Joshua Bell has performed in Tallahassee with the Florida State University Symphony Orchestra. We are excited to have him back on campus performing under the baton of Alexander Jiménez on February 28th.

Two international artists join us in the first half of March. Irish ensemble Danú from historic County Waterford and Montenegrin classical-guitarist Miloš Karadaglić will both perform to sold-out audiences in our community. Violinist Itzhak Perlman returns in 2015 having braved our January 2014 ice storm. This recital with collaborative pianist Rohan De Silva will be well worth his thirty-one year Tallahassee hiatus. Triple-threat Jasmine Guy brings Raisin’ Cane: A Harlem Renaissance Odyssey to campus March 26th. Along with the performance, Ms. Guy will be conducting scene studies with Florida State acting students. Rounding out the season in April is the bluegrass superstar co-bill the Steep Canyon Rangers & Della Mae, and the Tallahassee debut of Diana Krall on her Wallflower World Tour.

In your continued support of Opening Night, please consider a sustaining gift for the great programs and presentations in the performing arts. Your generosity assists in the continuing mission of presenting exceptional artistic and educational experiences on campus and in our community.

Thank you again for your support of Opening Nights. Enjoy these outstanding performances and look out for the 2015-2016 season announcement on August 4th.

All the best,

Christopher J. Heacox Director, Opening Nights Performing Arts Florida State University 2015 Spring Program 7

2014-2015 Members As o f 1 / 2 0 / 2 0 1 5 Producer’s Circle

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10

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2015 Spring Program 11

Our Offers Will Be

Music

Ears.

To Your

3800 W. Tennessee St. Tallahassee, FL LegacyToy.com 850-575-0168

Joshua Bell with the University Symphony Orchestra Alexander Jiménez, Music Director & Conductor Saturday 2/28 | 7:30 p.m.

Ruby Diamond Concert Hall Albert Roussel (1869-1937)

Padmavati Suite No. 1

Matthew Bishop, conductor Claude Debussy (1862-1918)

La Mer I. “From dawn to noon on the sea” II. “Play of the waves” III. “Dialogue of the wind and the sea” Intermission Scottish Fantasy for Violin in E Flat, Op. 46 I. Introduction; Grave, Adagio cantabile II. Scherzo; Allegro III. Andante sostenuto IV. Finale; Allegro guerriero

Max Bruch (1838-1920)

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)

Tzigane

Continued on pg. 27

Sponsored by

Marc Holm 2015 Spring Program 13

Michael Sheridan & Judy Wilson Sheridan Sponsors of DanĂş Proudly support Opening Nights and the performing arts in the Tallahassee community

Sponsors of the Billy Jonas School Tour We support arts and education for students of all ages Walmart.com

John D. Kelly

Danú

20th Anniversary Tour Monday 3/2 | Opperman Music Hall | 7:30 p.m.

M u i r e a n n N i c A m h l a o i b h Lead Vocals, Flute & Whistles

B e n n y Mc C a r t h y Button Accordion

O i s i n McA u l e y Fiddle & Backing Vocals E a m o n D o o r l e y Irish Bouzouki D o n a l C l a n c y Guitar Lead & Backing Vocals M a r t i n O ’ N e i l l Bodhran (Irish Drum) Special Guests L i a m F l a n a g a n Banjo & Fiddle, and I v a n G o f f Uillean Pipes, Flute & Whistles

H

ailing from historic County Waterford, Danú is one of the leading traditional Irish ensembles of today. Recognized the world over for their standing room only appearances, their concerts are true events featuring high-energy performances and a glorious mix of ancient Irish music and new repertoire. The 2014-2015 season marks this extraordinary ensemble’s 20th anniversary, and the March 2015 American tour/celebration will include two heralded former members of the ensemble. With the addition of these two guests, the band grows to eight players, and the dramatic sound and vibrancy of the performance increases exponentially.

Continued on pg. 31 Sponsored by

Michael Sheridan & Judy Wilson Sheridan 2015 Spring Program 15

Miloš Karadaglić Monday 3/16 | 7:30 p.m.

Goodwood Museum & Gardens Introduction and Variations on a Theme

by Mozart, Op. 9 Rêverie, Op. 19

Fernando Sor (1778-1839) Giulio Regondi (1822-1872)

Danza No. 2, Oriental

Enrique Granados (1876-1916)

Chaconne BWV 1004

J. S. Bach (1685-1750)

Intermission Danza del Molinero (arr. Michael Lewin) Homenaje Danza Española No. 1 (arr. Michael Lewin) Invocation and Dance (homage to De Falla) Girl From Ipanema

Mas Que Nada (arr. Assad)

Manuel de Falla (1876-1946)

Jauquín Rodrigo (1901-1999) Antônio Carlos Jobim (1927-1994) Jorge Ben Jor (b. 1945) Carlo Domeniconi (b. 1947)

Koyunbaba

Continued on pg. 35

Sponsored by

Lars Borges, Mercury Classics 2015 Spring Program 17

Itzhak Perlman, violin Rohan De Silva, piano Thursday 3/19 | 7:30 p.m.

Ruby Diamond Concert Hall

U

ndeniably the reigning virtuoso of the violin, Itzhak Perlman enjoys superstar status rarely afforded a classical musician. Beloved for his charm and humanity as well as his talent, he is treasured by audiences throughout the world who respond not only to his remarkable artistry, but also to his irrepressible joy for making music. Having performed with every major orchestra and at venerable concert halls around the globe, Itzhak Perlman was granted a Kennedy Center Honor in 2003 by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in celebration of his distinguished achievements and contributions to the cultural and educational life of the United States. He has performed multiple times at the White House, most recently in 2012 at the invitation of President Barack Obama and Mrs. Obama, for Israeli President and Presidential Medal of Freedom honoree Shimon Peres; and at a State Dinner in 2007, hosted by President George W. Bush and Mrs. Bush, for Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh. In 2009, Mr. Perlman was honored to take part in the Inauguration of President Obama, premiering a piece written for the occasion by John Williams alongside cellist Yo-Yo Ma, clarinetist Anthony McGill and pianist Gabriela Montero, for an audience of nearly 40 million television viewers in the United States and millions more throughout the world.

Continued on pg. 39

Sponsored by

Lisa Marie Mazzucco 2015 Spring Program 19

Gudrun Stone for NBAF

Raisin’ Cane:

A Harlem Renaissance Odyssey Thursday 3/26 | Richard G. Fallon Theatre | 8:00 p.m.

Starring J a s m i n e G u y & T h e A v e r y S h a r p e T r i o

A v e r y S h a r p e Double Bass D i a n e M o n r o e Violin K e v i n S h a r p e Drums, Percussion, Vocals Written & Conceived by H a r r y C l a r k Adaptation by J a s m i n e G U y Original Score by A v e r y S h a r p e Directed by D a n G u e r r e r o Production Design by G r e gg B e l l o n Projection Design by R . D a n i e l F o s t e r Produced by J a d e E n t e r p r i s e s , LL C Inspired by the classic 1923 Jean Toomer novel “Cane,” & works by the musicians, composers, poets, & actors of the Harlem Renaissance.

I

t was an exceptional time. It was our time. 1920s. Harlem, New York, USA. In the American Black community, during the years leading up to the Harlem Renaissance, there was a sense of building artistic expression. Outlets and avenues for its poets, musicians, novelists, artists, and actors were few. But in 1918, as the first great World War concluded and thousands of African-American soldiers returned home victorious, this mountain of artistic expression was now ready to explode. The words and thoughts of Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, Zora Neale Hurston, W.E.B. Du Bois and many others, became the voice of a new generation of African-Americans, looking forward but still struggling with the past and present. These thoughts, songs, and images are woven into a panoramic experience that spans this extraordinary outpouring of artistic endeavor. Raisin’ Cane is a window on this critical point in our history.

Continued on pg. 45 Sponsored by

2015 Spring Program 21

Carlton Fields Jorden Burt is pleased to sponsor the 2014-2015 season of Opening Nights Performing Arts Series and Festival.

We celebrate the arts as an essential cornerstone of creativity and innovation.

www.CFJBLaw.com Atlanta • Hartford • Los Angeles • Miami • New York • Orlando Tallahassee • Tampa • Washington, D.C. • West Palm Beach Carlton Fields Jorden Burt practices law in California through Carlton Fields Jorden Burt, LLP

For information about our firm, scan the QR code

CFJB_2014 Opening Nights ad_HalfPgHoriz.indd 1

8/13/2014 12:15:38 PM

Ken Kato and Nan Nagy and

Charles and Amy Newell Proud sponsors of The Hot Sardines

Dave McClister

Steep Canyon Rangers & Della Mae Monday 4/6 | Ruby Diamond Concert Hall | 7:30 p.m.

Steep Canyon Rangers M i k e G u gg i n o mandolin N i ck y S a n d e r s violin G r a h a m S h a r p banjo C h a r l e s H u m p h r e y III bass W o o d y P l a t t guitar Della Mae J e n n i L y n a G a r d n e r mandolin K i m b e r L u d i k e r fiddle C e l i a W o o d s m i t h guitar C o u r t n e y H a r t m a n guitar S h e l b y M e a n s bass Continued on pg. 53 Sponsored by

2015 Spring Program 23

Supporter of the arts at Florida State University and in the Tallahassee Community

Bryan Adams

Diana Krall

Wallflower World Tour Wednesday 4/8 | Ruby Diamond Concert Hall | 7:30 p.m.

M

usically speaking, Diana Krall is no wallflower. By any standard this five-time Grammy® winning jazz pianist and vocalist is one of the most accomplished and distinctive musicians in the world today. Respected far and wide as a wildly successful recording and performing artist, Krall remains a true musical force. At any given moment she could be producing Barbra Streisand’s new album, serving as musical director and arranger for Paul McCartney, or hitting the road for a good cause with Neil Young. As the record shows, Diana Krall has already done all that and much more. Along the way Krall has sold more albums than any other female jazz artist of the last 30 years, establishing herself as one of the best-selling and most beloved performers of her generation, one whose recordings thus far have earned her nine gold, three platinum and seven multi-platinum albums. On Wallflower, Krall’s stunning and surprising new album for Verve Records, this world-class player has consciously chosen to hand over a little control to sixteen-time Grammy® winning producer David Foster in order, once again, to do something unexpected.

Continued on pg. 59

2015 Spring Program 25

Joshua Bell

ed release of his Bach album recorded with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields.

Continued from pg. 13

Joshua Bell is one of the most celebrated violinists of his era. His restless curiosity, passion, and multi-faceted musical interests have earned him the rare title of “classical music superstar.” Recently named the Music Director of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields (ASMF), Bell is the first person to hold this post since Sir Neville Marriner formed the orchestra in 1958.

Equally at home as a soloist, chamber musician, recording artist, and orchestra leader, Bell’s 2014 summer highlights include performances with the Indianapolis and Detroit Symphonies and the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl. Appearances at Aspen, Festival del Sole Napa, Ravinia, Verbier, Salzburg, Mostly Mozart, Tanglewood, and two concerts with the New York Philharmonic in New York’s Central and the Bronx’s Van Cortland Parks round out the summer. Bell kicks off the new season at the New York Philharmonic, Toronto, and National Symphony Orchestra galas. A U.S. and European recital tour with pianist Alessio Bax, a week with the New York Philharmonic, and a tour with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields are just some of this year’s highlights.

Bell and the Academy’s previous release of the Beethoven 4th and 7th symphonies debuted at #1 on the Billboard charts. Recent releases include Bell’s holiday CD, Musical Gifts From Joshua Bell and Friends, featuring collaborations with Chris Botti, Chick Corea, Gloria Estefan, Renée Fleming, Plácido Domingo, Alison Krauss, and others. Other releases include French Impressions with pianist Jeremy Denk, featuring sonatas

by Saint-Saëns, Ravel, and Franck, At Home with Friends, Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, The

Trip Home with composer and double bass virtuoso Edgar Meyer, as well as a recording with Meyer of the Bottesini Gran Duo Concertante. Bell also collaborated with Wynton Marsalis on the Grammy-winning spoken word children’s album, Listen to the Storyteller, and Béla Fleck’s Grammy Award winning recording, Perpetual Motion. Highlights of the Sony Classical film soundtracks on which Bell has performed include The Red Violin, which won the Oscar for Best Original Score, the Classical Brit-nominated Ladies in Lavender, and the films, Iris and Defiance.

Seeking opportunities to increase violin repertoire, Joshua Bell has premiered new works

by Nicholas Maw, John Corigliano, Aaron Jay Kernis, Edgar Meyer, Behzad Ranjbaran, and Jay Greenberg.

Bell also performs and has recorded his own cadenzas to most of the major violin concertos.

The sound just flows from that fiddle, as close to perfection as anything on earth. Bell’s tone is a thing of rare beauty, and he plays with such warmth and refinement that you wish the phrases would last longer.

The year 2015 commences with European tours with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields and with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe as well as a U.S. and Canadian recital tour with pianist Sam Haywood. Spring guest soloist performances with orchestras include The Munich Philharmonic, Ochestra Nacional d’Espana, and three Czech chamber music concerts at London’s Wigmore Hall with cellist Steven Isserlis and pianist Jeremy Denk.

An exclusive Sony Classical artist, Bell has recorded more than 40 CDs since his first LP recording at age 18 on the Decca Label. In October 2014, HBO aired the documentary special, Joshua Bell: A Young Arts Master Class, to coincide with the eagerly anticipat-

– The Seattle Times Tchaikovsky Concerto with the Berlin Philharmonic, as well as The Red Violin Concerto, The Essential Joshua Bell, Voice of the Violin, and Romance of the Violin which Billboard named the 2004 Classical CD of the Year, and earned Bell the Classical Artist of the Year. Bell received critical acclaim for his concerto recordings of Sibelius & Goldmark, Beethoven & Mendelssohn, and the Grammy Award winning Nicholas Maw concerto.

His Grammy-nominated Gershwin Fantasy premiered a new work for violin and orchestra based on themes from Porgy and Bess. Its success led to a Grammy-nominated Bernstein recording that included the premiere of the West Side Story Suite as well as the composer’s Serenade. Bell appeared on the Grammy-nominated crossover recording Short

In 2007, Bell performed incognito in a Washington, D.C. subway station for a Washington Post story by Gene Weingarten examining art and context. The story earned Weingarten a Pulitzer Prize and sparked an international firestorm of discussion. The conversation continues to this day, thanks in part to the September 2013 publication of the illustrated children’s book, The Man With the Violin

by Kathy Stinson and illustrated by Dušan Petričić from Annick Press.

Bell has been embraced by a wide television audience with appearances ranging from The Tonight Show, Tavis Smiley, Charlie Rose, and CBS Sunday Morning to Sesame Street.

In 2012, Bell starred in his sixth Live From Lincoln Center Presents broadcast titled: One Singular Sensation: Celebrating Marvin Hamlisch. Other PBS shows include Joshua Bell with Friends @ The Penthouse, Great Performances – Joshua Bell: West Side Story Suite from Central Park, Memorial Day Concert performed on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol, and A&E’s Biography. He has twice performed on the Grammy Awards telecast, performing music from Short Trip Home and West Side Story Suite. He was one of the first classical artists to have a music video on VH1, and he was the subject of a BBC Omnibus doc2015 Spring Program 27

University Symphony Orchestra A l e x a n d e r J i m ĂŠ n e z Conductor

Violin I Jenny Lee Vaughn, concertmaster Jia-Rong Gan, assistant concertmaster Marianna Cutright Patrick Lin Jared Starr Brent Taghap Alexandra Matloff Tania Moldovan Lucas Brown Jennifer George Pio Molina Megan Lineberry

Will Whitehead Ivan Ugorich Chelsea Cook Veronica Cieri

Cellos Meghan Carey, principal Ashlee Booth Alex Winter Deanna Remus Jennifer Pittman Edward Scully Maggie Thompson Jordan Galvarino Ryan Snapp

V i o l i n II

B a ss

Sophia Han, principal Melissa Ho Rachel Grubb Price Sukhia Madeleine Klee Rebekah Morgan Elaine Bastos Preston Griffith Greg Perrin Ben Maynard

Alex Horton, principal Alex Mayweather Creed Miller Sherie Spangler Josh Rowland DK Issitt

Viola

Celesta

Razvan Berindean, principal Maxwell Thompson Joseph Koeferl Charlie Alves Allyson Royal Rachel Ace Oana Potur

Allyson Carroll

M a t t h e w B i s h o p Assistant Conductor

P i cc o l o

Trombone

Alyssa Borell

Robert Parker, principal Kyle Schaefer

Ob o e Christina Gavin, principal James Asher Kelly Stefanie Cohn Siobhan Ciulla

English Horn Siobhan Ciulla

Clarinet Jackie Glazier, principal Ashley Holder Natalie Szabo Larkin Sanders

B a ss o o n Patrick Broder, principal Aurel Garza-Tucker Taylor Shorey Nathaniel Huhta

B a ss T r o m b o n e Andres Lopez

Tuba Michael Casey

P e r c u ss i o n Ben Fraley, principal Catherine Cole Glenda Lopez Nick Stevens Ben Tomlinson

Orchestra Manager Bryan McNamara

Librarians Matthew Bishop Rachel Grubb Sophia Han

H a r ps

Horn

Agnes Hall Catherine Mullins

Kristin Woodward Jonathan Walton Kiirsi Maunula Maureen Young

Eq u i p m e n t Manager

Trumpet

Administrative Ass i s t a n t

Flute Laura Clapper, principal Laura Pappit Jenna Taylor Catherine Pedulla

Matt Anderson Nick Ciulla Jim Johnson Derrick Montgomery Joe Nibley

Veronica Cieri

Bethany Atwell

2015 Spring Program 29

Dr. Cynthia Tie and

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umentary. Bell has appeared in publications ranging from The Strad and Gramophone to Time, The New York Times, People Magazine’s 50 Most Beautiful People, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, GQ, Vogue, and Reader’s Digest, among many.

Growing up with his two sisters in Bloomington, Indiana, Bell was an avid computer game player. He placed fourth in a national tennis tournament at age 10 and still keeps his racquet close by. At age four, he received his first violin after his parents, both mental health professionals, noticed him plucking tunes with rubber bands he had stretched around his dresser drawer handles. By 12, he was serious about the instrument, thanks in large part to the inspiration Josef Gingold, his beloved teacher and mentor. Two years later, Bell came to national attention in debut with Riccardo Muti and the Philadelphia Orchestra. His Carnegie Hall debut, an Avery Fisher Career Grant, and a notable recording contract further confirmed his presence.

In 1989, Bell received an Artist Diploma in Violin Performance from Indiana University where he currently serves as a senior lecturer at the Jacobs School of Music. His alma mater honored him with a Distinguished Alumni Service Award; he has been named an “Indiana Living Legend” and is the recipient of the Indiana Governor’s Arts Award.

Bell has received many accolades: In 2013 he was honored by the New York Chapter, The Recording Academy; in 2012 by the National YoungArts Foundation, in 2011 he received the Paul Newman Award from Arts Horizons and the Huberman Award from Moment Magazine. Bell was named “Instrumentalist of the Year, 2010” by Musical America and received the Humanitarian Award from Seton Hall University. In 2009 he was honored by Education Through Music and received the Academy of Achievement Award in 2008. In 2007 he was awarded the Avery Fisher Prize and recognized as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. He was inducted into the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame in 2005.

Bell serves on the artist committee of the Kennedy Center Honors and the Board of Directors of the New York Philharmonic.

He has performed three times under the patronage of President and Mrs. Obama and returned to the Capital to perform for Vice President Biden and President of the People’s Republic of China, Xi Jinping.

Bell performs on the 1713 Huberman Stradivarius violin and uses a late 18th century French bow by François Tourte. Mr. Bell records exclusively for Sony Classical.

Joshua Bell appears by arrangement with: IMG Artists LLC 7 West 54th Street New York, NY 10019 joshuabell.com

Alexander Jiménez Alexander Jiménez serves as Professor of Conducting, Director of Orchestral Activities, and String Area Coordinator at The Florida State University College of Music.

He has served on the faculties of San Francisco State University and Palm Beach Atlantic University. He has degrees from Baylor University (B.M.) and Florida State University (M.M., M.M.E, and D.M.). Jiménez studied with Phillip Spurgeon, Michael Haithcock, and the late Anton Guadagno. As a former percussionist and timpanist, he studied with Gary Werdesheim, Larry Vanlandingham, Keiko Abe, and Cloyd Duff.

Under his direction the FSU Orchestras have continued their long tradition of excellence. Both the undergraduate University Philharmonia and the University Symphony Orchestra under Dr. Jiménez have championed new music and collaborated with such composers as Krzysztof Penderecki, Martin Bresnick, Anthony Iannaconne, Christopher Theofanidis, Ellen Taafe Zwilich, Chen Yi, Zhou Long, and Ladislav Kubik. In 2007 the USO was featured in the PBS special Peanuts Gallery® which was awarded Best Performance of 2007 by the National Educational Telecommunications Association. Jiménez has recorded with the Mark, CBC/Ovation, Col Legno, Neos, and Naxos labels.

Jiménez is active as a guest conductor, teacher, and adjudicator throughout the United

States and Europe, where he has appeared in Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, and Italy.

Since 2009 he has served on the international jury panel of the European Festival of Music for Young People in Neerpelt, Belgium, and in 2013 was named International Festival Ambassador. Dr. Jiménez is in demand conducting honor and all-state orchestras throughout the U.S. In Tallahassee, he appears regularly as guest conductor of the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra and has served as the music director of the Tallahassee Youth Orchestras since 2000.

Dr. Jiménez is a past president of the College Orchestra Directors Association. He holds memberships in the College Orchestra Directors Association, the National Association for Music Education, the Florida Orchestra Association, and the League of American Orchestras. alexanderjimenez.net

Danú Continued from pg. 15

Biography and Program For two decades, Danú’s virtuosi players on flute, tin whistle, fiddle, button accordion, bouzouki, and vocals (Irish and English) have performed around the globe and recorded nine critically acclaimed albums. Their live DVD, One Night Stand, was filmed at Vicar St. Dublin. Winners of numerous awards from the BBC and Irish Music Magazine, Danú has toured throughout the United Kingdom, Europe, the Middle East, and North America with stops at venues such as The Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, Cal Performances, Stanford, the Krannert Center, Notre Dame, and Symphony Space in New York City. Danú’s popular recordings are available on the Shanachie label and live performances are frequently broadcast on NPR, the CBC, and the BBC. Baylin Artists Management Inc. 721 Hyde Park Doylestown, PA 18902 2015 Spring Program 31

Danú 20th Anniversary Tour Repertoire will be selected from the following and announced from the stage

Ballydesmond Slide / Paddy Cronin’s / John Doherty’s / Scott’s Favourite, Instrumental Beir Mo Dhúthracht, Song

Traditional, Arranged by Danú Composed by Pádraig Ó Siochfhradha, Arranged by Danú

The New House / Brown-Eyed Bridget / The Humours of Holliston, Instrumental

Composed by Paddy O’Brien / O.McAuley / O.McAuley, Arranged by Danú

Lord Gregory, Song

Traditional, Arranged by Danú

Willie Crotty, Song

Composed by Robbie O’Connell, Arranged by Danú

Merle’s Tune / Murtough Molloy / The Flags of Dublin, Instrumental

Liz Carroll / Traditional / Traditional, Arranged by Danú

Caisleán Rathanáin / Mairseáil na Conrach, Instrumental

Composed by O.McAuley & D.Clancy, Arranged by Danú

Pósadh Do b’Fhearr Liom Ná Bacfainn É / Muirisín Deas Is Nóra, Song

Traditional / Composed by Seán Ó Duinnshléibhe, Arranged by Danú

Passage West, Song

Composed by J.Spillane, Arranged by Danú

Tuamgraney Castle / The Broken Pledge / The Braes of Busby, Instrumental The Willow Tree, Song

Traditional, Arranged by Danú Composed by Pádraigín Ní Uallacháin, Arranged by Danú

p r o g r a m s u bj e c t t o c h a n g e T h e r e w i l l b e a n i n t e r m i ss i o n

2015 Spring Program 33

Photo by Jon Nalon, courtesy of The Tallahassee Ballet.

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Program Notes Ballydesmond Slide (Traditional), Paddy Cronin’s (Traditional), John Doherty’s (Traditional), Scott’s Favourite (Traditional), Trad arr. Danú. A meeting of two very different regional styles from two musical counties, Kerry and Donegal!

Beir Mo Dhúthracht (Pádraig Ó Siochfhradha), Arr. Danú. Amhrán in ómós do Chorca Dhuibhne, a chum an scríbhneoir Pádraig Ó Siochfhradha, nó ‘An Seabhac’ mar ab fhearr aithne air, a mhair ó 1883-1964. A song in honour of West Kerry, composed by the famous writer Pádraig Ó Siochfhradha who was also known by the pen-name ‘An Seabhac’ (The Hawk), and lived from 1883-1964.

The New House (Paddy O’Brien), BrownEyed Bridget (Oisín McAuley), The Humours of Holliston (Oisín McAuley), Arr. Danú. The first jig of this set is composed by the great accordion player Paddy O’Brien from Nenagh, County Tipperary. Our own Oisín McAuley composed the 2nd and 3rd jigs.

Lord Gregory (Traditional), Arr. Danú.

Sometimes known as the Lass of Roch Royal, Muireann first heard this moving Child Ballad from the singing of Elizabeth Cronin of County Cork.

Willie Crotty (Robbie O’Connell), Arr. Danú A new ballad written by Dónal’s cousin Robbie O’Connell, about the legendary Waterford outlaw Willie Crotty who lived in the 18th century and was a Robin Hood type, stealing from the rich to give to the poor.

Merle’s Tune (Liz Carroll), Murtough Molloy (Traditional), The Flags of Dublin (Traditional), Arr. Danú. The first reel of this set was composed by the great Chicago fiddle player Liz Carroll. We heard it played by Paddy O’Brien from County Offaly on his solo album ‘Stranger at the Gate’.

We found ‘Murtough Molloy’ in O’Neill’s collection of Irish Music. The last reel ‘The Flags of Dublin’ is a tune associated with the legendary piper Séamus Ennis.

Caisleán Rathanáin (Oisín McAuley), Mairseáil na Conrach (Dónal Clancy) Arr. Danú. Two tunes that were composed by Oisín and Dónal after a lovely week’s rehearsal in West Kerry last May. It seems the place inspired them!

Pósadh Do b’Fhearr Liom Ná Bacfainn É (Traditional), Muirisín Deas Is Nóra (Seán Ó Duinnshléibhe), Arr. Danú. Dhá amhrán aerach ó Chiarraí Thiar. Two light-hearted songs from West Kerry, the second composed by the Blasket Island poet Seán Ó Du-

innshléibhe (1824-1889). We’d like to dedicate these songs to our children.

Passage West (John Spillane), Arr. DanúD. Lunny. A poignant song from the great Bard of Cork.

Tuamgraney Castle (Traditional), The Broken Pledge (Traditional), The Braes of Busby (Traditional) Arr. Danú. The hornpipe Tuamgraney Castle is from East Clare. This unusual version of ‘The Broken Pledge’ came from master piper Liam O’Flynn. We heard this particular version of ‘The Braes of Busby’ from the playing of another great piper, Ronan Browne.

The Willow Tree (Pádraigín Ní Uallacháin), Arr.Danú. Muireann learned this beautiful song from the singing of its composer, Pádraigín Ní Uallacháin.

Miloš Karadaglić Continued from pg. 17

The last six years have been dizzying times for Miloš Karadaglić, the young classical guitarist from Montenegro launched by Deutsche Grammophon in 2011 with his 2015 Spring Program 35

2014

Where Memories are Made

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most exciting and communicative classical guitarists today.”

Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez has featured predominantly in Miloš’ recent touring and has seen him make important debuts with the world’s finest ensembles including the Chicago Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Cleveland and Philadelphia Orchestras. The 2014-15 season kick starts with a gala event at London’s Royal Albert Hall and is followed by tours across three continents, including solo and orchestral appearances in Lisbon, Madrid, London, Paris, Rome, Milan, Miami, Atlanta, Tokyo, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Seoul.

Lars Borges, Mercury Classics first commercial solo album,” wrote the Sunday Times in February 2014. “It topped the UK classical charts and won awards, making Karadaglic, at 30, probably the biggest classical-guitar phenomenon since John Williams in the 1960s and Julian Bream a decade below.” Whilst 2011 was the breakthrough recording year which brought Miloš Karadaglić immediate international recognition, it was the 2012-13 season that earned him acclaim as a live performing artist with tours which took him across Europe, North America, Asia and Australia. “Part of the reason Karadaglić has such a large following,” commented The Western Australian, “is his ability to straddle both hardcore classical and pop classical camps.” This was echoed by the London press following his celebrated Royal Albert Hall recital debut of which The Guardian commented, “More extraordinary by far, however, was the way a single guitarist, playing an intimate and understated set, and equipped with a single microphone and some clever lighting, could shrink the Hall’s cavernous space into something so close.”

The Independent concluded: “Defying its many critics to offer a dramatic and rounded evening of classical music, the guitar itself was the breakout star here – a sleight of hand

that makes Karadaglić not only a magician, but a serious and accomplished musician.”

Miloš’ passion for the guitar is matched with an intuitive sense of how to bring the instrument across to his public, whether it is for an audience of thousands in the Royal Albert Hall or an intimate chamber music performance for 100 people. He enjoys performing in the major concert halls as much as in non-traditional venues such as New York’s Le Poisson Rouge, London’s Camden Roundhouse (iTunes Festival), and Deutsche Grammophon’s Yellow Lounge club nights in London, Berlin, Amsterdam, Madrid, New York, LA, Miami, and Seoul.

For his third album, which was released earlier this year on Mercury Classics/Deutsche Grammophon, Miloš Karadaglić takes Rodrigo’s iconic Concierto de Aranjuez as the starting point for a journey across the Spanish landscape, paying tribute to the great music and musicians that placed the modern classical guitar firmly on the international stage.

Recorded with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the album has sealed Miloš’ star status oversees with comments such as France’s Figaro Magazine: “Milos, the new king of Aranjuez,” and The New York Times: “one of the

This autumn sees the launch of a new exclusive watch which Miloš has designed for the luxury Swiss watchmaker, Raymond Weill, with proceeds from the special edition going to Miloš’ chosen charity, the Mladost Orphanage in Bijela. Montenegro’s only orphanage, Mladost cares for up to 160 children aged between one month and 18 years old from different backgrounds; including those who were orphaned during the Balkan upheaval.

In addition to his charitable work, Miloš is a passionate supporter of music education and acts as a Patron of the Mayor of London Fund for Young Musicians and Awards for Young Musicians. He recently recorded the soundtrack for the animated movie released by world-famous Studio Ghibli in Japan and co-presented the television broadcasts for the 2014 BBC Young Musician competition.

Born in Montenegro in 1983, Miloš Karadaglić first started playing the guitar at the age of 8. When he was 16 he successfully applied for a scholarship to study at the Royal Academy of Music and moved to London where he continues to live while keeping close ties with his family and homeland. He plays a 2007 Greg Smallman guitar, kindly lent to him by Paul and Jenny Gillham.

Miloš Karadaglić records for Deutsche Grammophon. Mr. Karadaglić appears by arrangement with: IMG Artists, LLC 152 W. 57th St. 5th Floor New York, NY 10019 212.994.3500 2015 Spring Program 37

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Itzhak Perlman Continued from pg. 19

Born in Israel in 1945, Mr. Perlman completed his initial training at the Academy of Music in Tel Aviv. He came to New York and soon was propelled to national recognition with an appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1958. Following his studies at the Juilliard School with Ivan Galamian and Dorothy DeLay, he won the prestigious Leventritt Competition in 1964, which led to a burgeoning worldwide career. Since then, Itzhak Perlman has established himself as a cultural icon and household name in classical music.

Mr. Perlman has further delighted audiences through his frequent appearances on the conductor’s podium. He has performed as conductor with the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Boston Symphony, National Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the symphony orchestras of Dallas, Houston, Pittsburgh, Seattle, Montreal, and Toronto, as well as at the Ravinia and Tanglewood festivals. He was Music Advisor of the St. Louis Symphony from 2002 to 2004 where he made regular conducting appearances, and was Principal Guest Conductor of the Detroit Symphony from 2001 to 2005. Internationally, Mr. Perlman has conducted the Berlin Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, London Philharmonic, English Chamber Orchestra, and the Israel Philharmonic.

The 2014-15 season takes Mr. Perlman to both new and familiar major centers around the world, including two special and much-anticipated appearances in New York.

In Fall 2014, he performs opening-gala concerts with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Gustavo Dudamel in a tribute to John Williams, with the National Arts Centre Orchestra of Ottawa and Pinchas Zukerman, and with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and Jaap van Zweden. He makes recital appearances with pianist and longtime collaborator Rohan De Silva in Boston, Toronto, San Francisco, and Los Angeles and especially looks forward to returning to Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center for his first New York recital appearance in seven years. His

conducting appearances include the Israel Philharmonic with Daniil Trifonov as soloist, Houston Symphony, and Seattle Symphony. Mr. Perlman continues to celebrate the rich tradition of Jewish and klezmer music this season with a 20th anniversary return of his highly popular In the Fiddler’s House program in a much-anticipated appearance at Carnegie Hall in March 2015.

Further to his engagements as violinist and conductor, Mr. Perlman is increasingly making more speaking appearances. Recent and upcoming engagements including the Salk Institute in San Diego on the centennial anniversary of Dr. Salk’s birth, Orlando at Rollins College, Greensboro at Guilford College, Palm Beach at the Society of the Four Arts, and Chicago with the Jewish United Fund.

A major presence in the performing arts on television, Itzhak Perlman has been honored with four Emmy Awards, most recently for

the PBS documentary Fiddling for the Future, a film about Mr. Perlman’s work as a teacher and conductor for the Perlman Music Program. In 2004, PBS aired a special entitled Perlman in Shanghai that chronicled a historic and unforgettable visit of the Perlman Music Program to China, featuring interaction between American and Chinese students and culminating in a concert at the Shanghai Grand Theater and a performance with one thousand young violinists, led by Mr. Perlman and broadcast throughout China. His third Emmy Award recognized his dedication to klezmer music, as profiled in the 1995 PBS television special In the Fiddler’s House, which was filmed in Poland and featured him performing with four of the world’s finest klezmer bands.

Mr. Perlman has entertained and enlightened millions of TV viewers of all ages on popular shows as diverse as The Late Show with David Letterman, Sesame Street, The Frugal Gour-

Lisa Marie Mazzucco 2015 Spring Program 39

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met, The Tonight Show, and various Grammy Awards telecasts. His PBS appearances have included A Musical Toast and Mozart by the Masters, as well as numerous Live From Lincoln Center broadcasts such as The Juilliard School: Celebrating 100 Years. In 2008, he joined renowned chef Jacques Pépin on Artist’s Table to discuss the relationship between the culinary and musical arts, and lent his voice as the narrator of Visions of Israel for PBS’s acclaimed Visions series. Mr. Perlman hosted the 1994 U.S. broadcast of The Three Tenors, Encore! live from Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. During the 78th Annual Academy Awards in 2006, he performed a live medley from the five film scores nominated in the category of Best Original Score for a worldwide audience in the hundreds of millions. One of Mr. Perlman’s proudest achievements is his collaboration with film composer John Williams in Steven Spielberg’s Academy Award-winning film Schindler’s List, in which he performed the violin solos. He can also be heard as the violin soloist on the soundtrack of Zhang Yimou’s film Hero (music by Tan Dun) and Rob Marshall’s Memoirs of a Geisha (music by John Williams).

Orchestra under Lawrence Foster (EMI) and Marita and her Heart’s Desire, composed and conducted by Bruce Adolphe (Telarc). Further recordings over the past decade have included a live recording with pianist Martha Argerich performing Beethoven and Franck Sonatas (EMI); Cinema Serenade featuring popular hits from movies with John Williams conducting (Sony); A la Carte, a recording of short violin pieces with orchestra (EMI) and In the Fiddler’s House, a celebration of klezmer music (EMI) that formed the basis of the PBS television special. In 2004, EMI released The Perlman Edition, a limited-edition 15-CD box set featuring many of his finest EMI recordings as well as newly compiled material,

and orchestral performances. This visit was captured on a PBS documentary entitled Perlman in Russia, which won an Emmy. In 1994, Mr. Perlman joined the Israel Philharmonic for their first visits to China and India.

Over the past decade, Mr. Perlman has become more actively involved in music education, using this opportunity to encourage gifted young string players. Alongside his wife Toby, his close involvement in the Perlman Music Program has been a particularly rewarding experience, and he has taught full-time at the Program each summer since its founding in 1993. Mr. Perlman currently holds the Dorothy Richard Starling Foundation Chair at the Juilliard School.

Here’s a violinist so seasoned that he knows everything and so accomplished that he can play anything.

In 2008, Itzhak Perlman was honored with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award for excellence in the recording arts. His recordings regularly appear on the best-seller charts and have garnered sixteen Grammy Awards. Mr. Perlman’s most recent releases include Eternal Echoes: Songs & Dances for the Soul (Sony), featuring a collaboration with acclaimed cantor Yitzchak Meir Helfgot in liturgical and traditional Jewish arrangements for chamber orchestra and klezmer musicians; a recording of Mendelssohn Piano Trios (Sony) with cellist Yo-Yo Ma and pianist Emanuel Ax; and a recording for Deutsche Grammophon with Mr. Perlman conducting the Israel Philharmonic. Other recordings reveal Mr. Perlman’s devotion to education, including Concertos from my Childhood with the Juilliard

– The New York Times and RCA Red Seal released a CD titled Perlman Rediscovered, which includes material recorded in 1965 by a young Itzhak Perlman.

Mr. Perlman has a long association with the Israel Philharmonic and has participated in many groundbreaking tours with this orchestra from his homeland. In 1987, he joined the IPO for history-making concerts in Warsaw and Budapest, representing the first performances by this orchestra and soloist in Eastern bloc countries. He again made history as he joined the orchestra for its first visit to the Soviet Union in 1990 and was cheered by audiences in Moscow and Leningrad who thronged to hear his recital

Numerous publications and institutions have paid tribute to Itzhak Perlman for the unique place he occupies in the artistic and humanitarian fabric of our times. Harvard, Yale, Brandeis, Roosevelt, Yeshiva, and Hebrew universities are among the institutions that have awarded him honorary degrees. He was awarded an honorary doctorate and a centennial medal on the occasion of Juilliard’s 100th commencement ceremony in May 2005. President Reagan honored Mr. Perlman with a “Medal of Liberty” in 1986, and in December 2000, President Clinton awarded Mr. Perlman the “National Medal of Arts.” His presence on stage, on camera, and in personal appearances of all kinds speaks eloquently on behalf of the disabled, and his devotion to their cause is an integral part of Mr. Perlman’s life.

Mr. Perlman records for EMI/Angel, Sony Classical/Sony BMG Masterworks, Deutsche Grammophon, London/Decca, Erato/ Elektra International Classics, and Telarc.

Mr. Perlman appears by arrangement with: IMG Artists LLC 7 West 54th Street New York, NY 10019 2015 Spring Program 41

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Rohan De Silva Continued from pg. 19

Rohan De Silva’s partnerships with violin virtuosos Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman, Cho-Liang Lin, Midori, Joshua Bell, Benny Kim, Kyoko Takezawa, Vadim Repin, Gil Shaham, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Julian Rachlin, James Ehnes, and Rodney Friend have led to highly acclaimed performances at recital venues all over the world. With these and other artists he has performed on the stages of Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall and Alice Tully Hall, the Kennedy Center, Library of Congress, Philadelphia Academy of Music, Ambassador Theater in Los Angeles, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Wigmore Hall in London, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, the Mozarteum in Salzburg, La Scala in Milan, and in Tel-Aviv, Israel. Mr. De Silva’s festival appearances include Aspen, Ravinia, Interlochen, Seattle Chamber Music, Manchester, Schleswig-Holstein, Pacific Music Festival, and the Wellington Arts Festival in New Zealand. He has performed chamber music in Beijing with the American String Quartet and has appeared in recital worldwide with Itzhak Perlman. Alongside Mr. Perlman, he has performed multiple times at the White House, most recently in 2012 at the invitation of President Barack Obama and Mrs. Obama for Israeli President and Presidential Medal of Freedom honoree Shimon Peres; and at a State Dinner in 2007, hosted by President George W. Bush and Mrs. Bush for Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh.

In 2014-15, Mr. De Silva will appear with Mr. Perlman in cities across North America, including New York, Boston, Hartford, Toronto, Nashville, San Francisco, La Jolla, and Los Angeles, among others.

Mr. De Silva, a native of Sri Lanka, began his piano studies with his mother, the late Primrose De Silva, and with the late Mary Billimoria. He spent six years at the Royal Academy of Music in London as a student of Hamish Milne, Sydney Griller, and Wilfred Parry. While in London, he received many awards including the Grover Bennett Scholarship, the Christian Carpenter Prize, the Martin Music Scholarship, the Harold

John Beebe Craxton Award for advanced study in England, and, upon his graduation, the Chappell Gold Medal for best overall performance at the Royal Academy. Mr. De Silva was the first recipient of a special Scholarship in the arts from the President’s Fund of Sri Lanka. This enabled him to enter the Juilliard School, where he received both his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees, studying piano with Martin Canin, chamber music with Felix Galimir, and working closely with violin pedagogue Dorothy DeLay. He was awarded a special prize as Best Accompanist at the 1990 Ninth International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, and received the Samuel Sanders Collaborative Artist Award as presented to him by Itzhak Perlman at the 2005 Classical Recording Foundation Awards Ceremony at Carnegie Hall.

Mr. De Silva joined the collaborative arts and chamber music faculty of the Juilliard

School in 1991, and in 1992 was awarded honorary Associate of the Royal Academy of Music. In 2001, he joined the faculty at the Ishikawa Music Academy in Japan, where he gives masterclasses in collaborative piano. Mr. De Silva additionally has served as a faculty member at the Great Wall International Music Academy in Beijing, China, and at the International String Academy in Cambridge, UK, since 2011. He was on the faculty of the Perlman Music Program from 2000-2007. Radio and television credits include PBS’s Live from Lincoln Center and the Colbert Report with Itzhak Perlman, The Tonight Show with Midori, CNN’s “Showbiz Today”, NHK Television in Japan, National Public Radio, WQXR and WNYC in New York, Berlin Radio, and the 2000 Millenium Grammy Awards. Mr. De Silva has recorded for Deutsche Grammophon, CBS/SONY Classical, Collins Classics in London, and RCA Victor.

2015 Spring Program 43

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Raisin’ Cane: A Harlem Renaissance Odyssey Continued from pg. 21

Poems/Short Stories To Usward (1924) Hatred (1926) Nothing Endures (1929) I Want to Die While You Love Me (1928) Goodbye Christ (1932) The Negro Speaks of Rivers (1921) I, Too (1925) O Southland (1922) If We Must Die (1919) The Tropics in New York (1920) Kabnis, Cane (1923) Georgia Dusk, Cane (1923) Cotton Song, Cane (1923)

Gwendolyn Bennett Gwendolyn Bennett Countee Cullen Georgia Douglas Langston Hughes Langston Hughes Langston Hughes James Weldon Johnson Claude McKay Claude McKay Jean Toomer Jean Toomer Jean Toomer

Literature Excerpts The Souls of Black Folk (1903) “Returning Soldiers,” The Crisis, XVIII (May, 1919) Criteria of Negro Art (1926) The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain (1926) The New Daily News (Summer 1924) Speech at the Atlanta Exposition (September 18, 1895)

W.E.B. Dubois W.E.B. Dubois W.E.B. Dubois Langston Hughes George Schuyler Booker T. Washington

Music All music composed and arrangements by Avery Sharpe, with the exception of: “Here Comes My Daddy Now” (1917) “Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child” “The Moochie” (1928) “I’m Just Wild About Harry” (1921) “There’ll Be A Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight” (1896) “Charleston” (1923)

Arthur Francis Collins Traditional Negro Spiritual Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington Eubie Blake Theodore August Metz & Joe Hayden, Adapted by Bessie Smith James Price Johnson

2015 Spring Program 45

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A Few Thoughts About Raisin’ Cane

Louis Armstrong and many more were powerful figures during the 1920s.

I’ve had the pleasure to know and work with Avery Sharpe for many years. During this time he has written several classical-jazz works for cello and various combinationsalways nudging this dyed-in-the-wool classical white guy toward a bit more improv and flexibility. One day he suggested that I write something that he could compose an original score for. I thought this a terrific idea, but what? Well, I did scads of reading and was bowled over by Jean Toomer’s Cane. Cane is nearly always mentioned as the seminal work that started the sparks of the Harlem renaissance flying. As I progressed further, I realized it was going to be a panoramic view that would give expression to the pent up explosion of prose, poetry, politics and music of African-Americans.

The words and thoughts of Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, George Schuyler, Zora Neale-Hurston, Claude McKay, W.E.B. Dubois, Gwendolyn Bennett, Father Divine, Georgia Douglas Johnson and many others are given their due with a large selection of the work dedicated to the brilliance of Toomer’s Cane.

I am most fortunate to be a continuation of the powerful music known as jazz. I am even more fortunate to have been asked to give my interpretation of the music from that era.

After I showed Avery an early draft, he asked who I had in mind to handle such a task. I had no one in mind. “Do you know Jasmine Guy?” Avery asked, and I answered, “I do, but not personally. I’ve known her for many years,” said Avery, smiling as he answered. Lucky for us, Jasmine loved the period, the script, and Avery’s music, and so we were rolling.

The work has played in small and large venues-churches, concert halls, theaters and most fittingly the Apollo! – Harry Clark

Note From the Composer The influence and impact musicians from the Harlem Renaissance had on the world still reverberates around the universe. American music would not have the extraordinary sonorous qualities it possesses if not for the creative geniuses of this fruitful period.

Composers and musicians like Thomas “Fats” Waller, Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington, James “Fletcher” Henderson, Eubie Blake,

The music I composed for Raisin’ Cane is indicative of the 1920s. I also wrote music which is more modern and beyond, because I felt the subject matter of the poems was timeless. The music is performed by a slightly different trio composed of violin, bass and drums/percussion.

People often think of the instrumentation for this period in Jazz as being piano, trumpet, reeds and trombone. I chose violin because violin has a rich history in Jazz from its beginning. Precursors to the modern violin can be found in ancient Africa. This might explain why Africans were able to adapt to the instrument they were introduced to in America during plantation times. Violin was easily adopted into Jazz at its formation.

A vital ingredient which distinguishes Jazz from other forms of music in its early stages was rhythm and improvisation. The rhythms Africans brought with them as slaves to this country were incorporated into the music and instruments they adapted to. My brother, Kevin Sharpe, brings a rich understanding of the function of the drums and rhythms from the Harlem Renaissance and beyond.

The bottom or “Bass” is essential to all music and I am a bass player. When Jazz was first played in its early formation, it was often performed by marching bands and small combos of New Orleans. The bass was usually performed by sousaphone or tuba.

When Jazz began to move indoors and into more intimate urban settings, players began to switch from tuba to string or double bass.

One such bassist who made this transition during the 1910s-1920s was George Murphy “Pops” Foster. (You will note some of my slappin’ on the bass during the performance compliments of Mr. Foster from nearly 100 years ago, but modernized and advanced on by me). The bass wouldn’t move from a supportive role to a more front or dominant role until the 1940s, thanks to bassist Jimmy

Blanton with Duke Ellington and later Charles Mingus in the 1950s.

– Musically yours, Avery Sharpe

Director’s Notes Raisin’ Cane was first brought to me by the playwright Harry Clark, an old friend from Tucson. The idea of a piece about the Harlem Renaissance intrigued me, although I sheepishly admit to knowing very little of that important time in our nation’s history. I read it, and I was hooked.

But the path from page to stage is a tricky one and often littered with the corpses of broken shows and shattered dreams. This path however was blessed. I had all the right elements to make magic. The glorious Jasmine Guy brought the script to life as only an incandescent artist could, and the music from the Avery Sharpe Trio made it fly.

“A labor of love” is a much overused phrase in our business, but it suits “Raisin’ Cane” perfectly. There’s lots of love in this performance, for the piece and between all the creative team. You’ll get your share when the house lights dim and you travel back in time with Jasmine, Avery and the many names and faces of those pioneers that created what became known as the Harlem Renaissance. Enjoy! – Dan Guerrero

Biographies Jasmine Guy Actor-dancer-director Jasmine Guy has enjoyed a diverse career in television, theater and film. She began her professional career at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York City. Jasmine starred on Broadway in the original productions of Beehive and Leader of the Pack, and reprised hit productions of Grease, The Wiz and Chicago (as Velma Kelly). After years on Broadway and touring the globe, Jasmine landed the role of Whitley Gilbert on the Cosby Show spinoff A Different World. She won six consecutive NAACP Image Awards for her portrayal of the pretentious but funny southern belle.

Her other television performances include: Melrose Place (with Heather Locklear); 2015 Spring Program 47

We’re Hiring k a y e sc h o l e r . c o m

NYPD Blue (with Jimmy Smits); Fresh Prince of Bel Air (with Will Smith), and Living Single (with Queen Latifah).

One of her favorite roles was that of Roxy, the grim reaper meter maid on Showtime’s hit series Dead Like Me (with Mandy Patinkin). Her most recent role, recurring as Grams on the popular series Vampire Diaries, can be seen on the CW Network.

Jasmine has also worked with these great performers and directors in the following films and mini-series: Spike Lee’s School Daze; Eddie Murphy’s Harlem Nights; Alex Hailey’s Queen and Debbie Allen’s Stompin’ at the Savoy. She received stellar reviews for her work on the film October Baby.

Jasmine has worked extensively in theater with Kenny Leon, Susan Booth, Andrea Frye and Pearl Cleage. She has starred in or

directed many productions, including: for colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow is enuf; Miss Evers’ Boys; Blues for an Alabama Sky; The Colored Museum; The Fourposter; The Nacirema Society; Brokeology; Fool For Love, and most recently, God of Carnage at Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre, where she also directed the world premiere of the opera I Dream, celebrating the life and journey of Martin Luther King, Jr. In 1991, she released her self-titled album on Warner Bros. Records featuring the hit single Try Me. Try Me was produced by Full Force and features Xcape with Candy Burgess. The song shot up the R&B charts quickly to Gold status and fueled the success of the album’s second and third chart singles Another Like My Lover and I Just Wanna Hold You. In 2004, Jasmine penned the biography Evolution of a Revolutionary (Atria Books), which chronicles the life and journey of

Afeni Shakur – Black Panther, activist, and mother of slain rapper Tupac Shakur.

As a frequent motivational public speaker, Jasmine is called upon to share her story openly with those who may benefit from her trials and triumphs. Her ongoing desire to blend balance and discipline with ambition and service continues to fuel her passion for the arts. She has traveled throughout the U.S. and appeared at more than onehundred speaking engagements, addressing diverse audiences at colleges, universities, conventions, corporations, affinity groups, churches, high schools, and countless charitable and fundraising events.

I am grateful for my journey.

It has been interesting, fun, and exhilarating.

I’ve learned a lot, but I am still growing, changing, exploring, and learning.

That’s what makes life truly exciting.

– Jasmine Guy Avery Sharpe Honesty. Clarity. Dignity. These are words that come to mind when you listen to the music of bassist-composer Avery Sharpe. In an age of ephemeral pop stars and flavorof-the-month trends, Sharpe is a reminder of the lasting value of steadfast dedication and personal integrity. As the title of one of his tunes asserts, “Always Expect the Best of Yourself.”

Sharpe was born in Valdosta, Georgia and his first instrument was the piano. “I started playing when I was eight years old,” he recalls. “My mother was a piano player in the Church of God in Christ, and she gave lessons to everybody in the family, I’m the sixth of eight children, but it didn’t stick until it got to me.” He moved on to accordion and then switched to electric bass in high school.

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Avery teamed with Classical cellist and writer, Harry Clark, to compose the music for Raisin’ Cane. Avery and Harry first worked together in the 1990s when Sharpe 2015 Spring Program 49

was commissioned by Chamber Music Plus of Hartford, CT, to write three extended works for Clark’s Classical group Fideleo.

in a concert-hall performance that featured Sharpe’s quintet and a gospel choir backed by the Springfield (Mass.) Symphony Orchestra.

Sharpe’s credits also include sideman stints with many other jazz greats, from Dizzy Gillespie to Pat Metheny, as well as leading his own groups. His first recording as a leader was the 1988 album “Unspoken Words” on Sunnyside Records, which was praised by critic Jim Roberts as “a diverse, challenging record that rewards repeated listening.” In 1994, he recorded “Extended Family,” the first CD of a trilogy that includes “Extended Family II: Thoughts of My Ancestors” (1995) and “Extended Family III: Family Values” (2001). His recording “Dragon Fly” on JKNM Records, was released 2005, and features Winard Harper and Onaje Allan Gumbs, with special guest Jeri Brown and Chico Freeman. “Legends and Mentors” -the music of McCoy Tyner, Archie Shepp and Yusef Lateef , released in 2008, features: John Blake, Joe Ford, Winard Harper and Onaje Allan Gumbs. It was followed by a 2009 trio recording, Autumn Moonlight.

Avery Sharpe Trio Live released in April 2010, features Avery’s Trio with Winard Harper and Onaje Allan Gumbs and Running Man, released April 2011 featuring Onaje Alan Gumbs, Yoron Isreal, Craig Handy, Duane Eubanks, and Maya Sharpe.

In 2006 Avery was commissioned by the Springfield Symphony Orchestra to write a Jazz Concerto for Jazz Trio and Orchestra.

The performance premiered in 2007. The trio featured “Jay Leno’s Tonight Show” musical director Kevin Eubanks-acoustic guitar, Marvin “Smitty” Smith-drums and Avery on Acoustic Bass.

All of these recordings were released on Sharpe’s own label, JKNM Records. His latest recording is “Sojourner Truth-Ain’t I a Woman” with Onaje Alan Gumbs, Yoron Isreal, Craig Handy, Duane Eubanks and Jeri Brown. All of Sharpe’s recordings feature his distinctive original compositions, which draw from the full range of his musical background. “The most important thing is depth,” he says. “You have to seek out what was happening before and try to understand it. In my music, I do things that are a little older as well as things that are contemporary.

If I try to do just one type of music, that limits me. But the more bases I cover—the more experience I have in my life—the further I can go.” He is equally adept at songs and longer compositional forms. In 1989, he wrote and conducted the soundtrack for the movie An Unremarkable Life, starring Shelly Winters and Patricia Neal. A decade later, his sixmovement piece America’s Promise debuted

Diane Monroe Diane Monroe, former first violinist of the Max Roach Double Quartet and a Curtis Institute of Music graduate, now enjoys a musical life performing in and composing for her jazz sextet and quartet, violin/vibraphone duo with Tony Miceli, and other collaborative and educational projects. She has also recently performed with saxophonists Steve Wilson and Bobby Zankel, pianists Bruce Barth, Renee Rosnes, Tom Lawton, guitarist Monette Sudler, bassists Tony Marino, Lee Smith, Avery Sharpe and Gerald Veasley, and drummer/ percussionists Rogerio Boccato and Arturo Stable. Ms. Monroe’s quartet appeared at the 2012 Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz festival at the Kennedy Center. She led the Steve Wilson’s String ensemble at the 2012 Dupont Clifford Brown and Detroit Jazz festivals. Monroe has just completed music to “The Self Evident Poem” from the book Quilting the Black Eyed Pea by poetess/ activist Nikki Giovanni that was premiered at Virginia Tech University.

Kevin Sharpe Multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Kevin Sharpe began his musical career at the age of seven singing gospel in his church choir. By age eleven he was playing drums for that same choir and eventually became one of the primary drummers for the Church of God in Cist in the region. Later in college, Sharpe studied classical percussion, arranging and choral conducting. The Springfield, Massachusetts native also studied voice with Dr. Horace Clarence Boyer and improvisation with Yusef Lateef.

Since graduating with degrees in Music Education and Jazz Performance he has

performed with jazz artists Archie Shepp, Charles Greenlee, Avery Sharpe, and Steve Turre. He’s done recording with John Blake, Fellowship, soul diva Betty Harris, and others.

He was the conductor of the orchestral work “A Celebration of Family, Community, and the Life of Primus Mason” for the Springfield Arts Festival, and guest conductor of the Springfield Symphony Orchestra’s Holiday Pops concert. He’s toured Europe as a vocalist and instrumentalist. He’s been a choral director for Dartmouth and Smith Colleges, and he has also worked for several years as a writer, music director, and vocalist in the contemporary gospel group “Fellowship.”

A 2007 winner of New England Urban Music award, Kevin is currently the leader of the modern Gospel ensemble The Kevin Sharpe Group (drummer/percussionist and arranger in the K. Sharpe Project), a jazz based instrumental group; bassist with the Unorthodox Groove Band; workshop leader for and producer and engineer at SwingHigh Productions. Mr. Sharpe uses Noble & Cooley drums, Vic Firth sticks and La Bella strings.

Harry Clark Harry Clark’s career as a cellist and playwright is a rare combination. He started playing the cello at age 10. Years later, his performance in Carnegie Hall was described by the New York Times as, “A first rate cellist, the sort who can make his instrument interesting for anybody.” Clark and his partner-wife, Sanda Schuldmann, have appeared as a duo on every important musical stage in America and abroad, having premiered and recorded some five dozen works by this country’s most prominent composers.

In 1980, Harry and Sanda, living in Connecticut, co-founded Chamber Music PLUS. Thirty years later, much of their dream has been realized with state, regional and national awards for distinguished performance and programming. They have maintained this tradition with their move back to Harry’s hometown, Tucson, and now present series in Scottsdale, Chandler, and the Old Pueblo.

With this desire for distinctive programming, Harry began his first efforts writing portraits 2015 Spring Program 51

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of composers, this body of work nearing forty scripts, is now entitled Rhythms Of Life, fusions of theater and music. Rhythms Of Life have become the signature programming of Chamber Music PLUS, and over the past decade audiences from coast-to-coast have taken to it with enthusiasm.

Darfur at the Los Angeles Theatre Center, The Arabesque: Arts of the Arab World concert event at the Kennedy Center Opera House, the 2008 and 2009 United States Artists Fellows Celebration at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, and The Broad Stage in Santa Monica, respectively.

Harry’s had the great fortune and pleasure to work with a who’s who of film, television, and stage actors in Rhythms Of Life. The roster includes Jill Clayburgh, Theodore Bikel, Edward Hermann, Barbara Feldman, Mason Adams, Keir Dullea, Phillip Bosco, Haley Mills, Harvey Fierstein, Caroline Kava, Rosemary Prinz, Sandy Duncan, Tovah Feldshuh, Jessica Walter, Michael Learned, Ron Leibman, Sharon Gless, Jean Marsh, Elke Sommer, Kathleen Chalfant, Katherine Helmond, Stephanie and Efrem Zimbalist, Jasmine Guy, Talia Shire, Jenny Sterlin, John Rubinstein, Margot Kidder, Robert Picardo, Armin Shimerman, Shirley Knight, Lou Gossett, Jr., Bob Clendenin, John Schuck, and Lynn Redgrave.

Guerrero also co-produced and co-wrote Lalo Guerrero: The Original Chicano, an award-winning documentary on his late father, Chicano music icon Lalo Guerrero.

The film aired nationally on PBS stations and included a DVD/CD release. It has also screened at national and international Film Festivals including the Turks & Caicos International Film Festival where the film garnered awards for Best Documentary, Best Director and Best Song.

Dan Guerrero Dan Guerrero began his entertainment career in New York where he was a successful theatrical agent with clients in the original casts of countless Broadway musicals in the years from A Chorus Line to Cats. He returned home to Los Angeles for an equally successful time as a casting director for stage and television before turning his talents to producing and directing.

He has long been acclaimed as a highly creative independent producer of diverse programming for network and cable television including NBC, HBO and PBS. More recently, he has specialized in producing and directing non-broadcast international arts and culture events and plays at such prestigious venues as the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, the National Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque, and the Cite de la Musique in Paris, France.

Live productions include the world premiere of Concierto para Mendez for the Los Angeles Opera at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion; a celebrity staged reading of the play In

R. Daniel Foster R. Daniel Foster has served as director, shooter, and editor for a variety of domestic and international productions. His projection design has been featured by the LA Opera, Center Theatre Group, the Los Angeles Theatre Center, Renberg Theatre, Walker Art Center, Dupont Theatre, Cornerstone Theater, and PBS. Foster’s short film, Airborn, was awarded Best Experimental Film by the International Festival of Cinema and Technology.

His extensive work in SE Asia includes Balinese and Thai travel shows and the feature documentary, USS Cooper: Return to Ormoc Bay, which received a “Best Documentary” nomination from the Asia First Film Festival in Singapore. He has also created films for Novica, in association with National Geographic, in Africa and SE Asia.

He is also a writer, publishing in the Los Angeles Times, Details, Esquire, the Harvard Business Review, NPR, and other outlets. He has taught writing at UCLA extension, Santa Monica College and California University Long Beach and Northridge. fosterimage.com Gregg Bellon Gregg Bellon is a performer, director, writer, designer, and production manager.

Recent Off-Broadway credits: Stuffed & Unstrung (Prod. Mgr, Union Square Th;

Henson alternative/Westbeth ent.); American Hwangap (Prod. Mgr., Wild Project, Play CO./Ma-Yi TC); Wild Thing (Director, Theater at PCC, New Acting Co.) Soul Samurai (Prod. Mgr. HERE Arts, MaYi/ Vampire Cowboys TC); Spiegelworld (Prod.

Mgr. Spiegel LP); Eddie Izzard Stripped (Prod. Mgr. US Nat’l Tour, Westbeth Entertainment); Frankenstien: A New Musical (Prod. Mgr./Tech Dir., 37 Arts, Goehring Evans Prod., Dir Bill Fennelly); Margaret Cho’s Sensuous Woman (Prod. Mgr. Zipper Theater, Westbeth Ent., Dir. Randall Rapstine). National Tours: Cinematic Titanic (Prod. Mgr., US, 2009); Eddie Izzard Stripped (Prod. Mgr., US/UK, 08-present); Billy Connolly’s Too Old to Die Young (Tour/ Prod. Mgr. North America 06-present); Jasmine Guy’s Raisin’ Cane featuring the Avery Sharpe Trio (Lighting Design/Por, Mgr. US, 2008-present). Festival Technical Supervisor; The New York International Fringe Festival. Artistic Director, Hudson Exploited Theater Company. Founder and Director of Production Consolidated; a fullservice production company dedicated to a holistic approach to theater production. As always, for Nick. productionconsolidated.com Baylin Artists Management, Inc. 721 Hyde Park Doylestown, PA 18902

Steep Canyon Rangers and Della Mae Continued from pg. 23

Steep Canyon Rangers When the time came for the Steep Canyon Rangers to record the follow-up to 2012’s Nobody Knows You, they headed north to Woodstock, NY, to Levon Helm’s famed studio with Grammy-winning producer Larry Campbell and engineer Justin Guip.

This was a departure from their previous albums, where they chose co-producers from within the bluegrass community. Instead of having Campbell co-produce, the 2015 Spring Program 53

band gave him full control. Over the months before they started to record Tell The Ones I Love, they sent him several dozen new songs to consider. While the Steep Canyon Rangers were certainly open to recording songs by other composers, or to dip into traditional material, Campbell ultimately had them record all original tunes, based both on the strength of the songs and the band’s arrangements.

This seems fitting for a band whose stellar reputation is based on performing original material, and who had just won the Best Bluegrass Album Grammy Award for Nobody Knows You. There’s a backstory here, too: last year, the band played Levon’s Midnight Ramble, and impressed Helm enough that he invited them to come back and record at the barn. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen before his untimely passing, but they still felt his joyful, creative spark and subtle influence while working in his studio.

The band wanted Tell The Ones I Love to reflect the spirit of their concerts—an original, freewheeling, high-energy approach to bluegrass that rests mainly on the songwriting of Graham Sharp and Charles Humphrey. They recorded the album almost entirely live, using few overdubs. “We wanted it to be different from our last album,” explained banjo player Graham Sharp, “and create something more raw and immediate.”

Guitarist Woody Platt added that they headed into recording with “more confidence and momentum” from both their Grammy win and their unrelenting touring schedule.

Campbell, a highly sought after musician and producer (Bob Dylan, Levon Helm), was often down on the floor with the band so he could feel what was being performed.

His strategy to have the music sound organic–“where you can hear the environment of the barn”–fit well with the band’s performances. Sharp praised Campbell for being “exactly what we needed in a producer.

Larry took us through arrangements from a little different perspective.”

Tell The Ones I Love actually is the first bluegrass album Campbell produced, although as a big bluegrass fan, he has heard, in his estimation, “20 million bluegrass bands.” When

he saw the Steep Canyon Rangers play at the Ramble, Campbell was attracted to how they respected bluegrass without being constrained by its conventions. Getting into the studio with the band enhanced Campbell’s appreciation of their collective and individual talents.

He admired that they “held on to the essence of what makes bluegrass viable, and subtly reinvented it to make their thing unique.”

The [Steep Canyon Rangers] held on to the essence of what makes bluegrass viable, and subtly reinvented it to make their thing unique.

– Larry Campbell, Producer One way that the band stretched bluegrass boundaries was with their use of drums and percussion on Tell The Ones I Love.

“We didn’t want something that was just a bluegrass track with drums laid on it like an afterthought,” said Sharp. “We wanted something that was really integrated.” They enlisted Jeff Sipe (Leftover Salmon, Susan Tedeschi, Aquarium Rescue Unit), whom Sharp described as “one of the best drummers around.” His propulsive playing helps

to drive the title track as well as injecting some funky rhythms into “Camellia.”

Tell The Ones I Love showcases the Steep Canyon Rangers’ myriad talents—nimble instrumental agility, tight harmony vocals, and inventive songwriting. The 12-song set ranges from full-band workouts like the title track to the haunting, tight “Hunger.”

On “Las Vegas,” the band displays jazzy touches while Mike Guggino’s instrumental “Graveyard Fields” is a bluegrass tour de force. Tell The Ones I Love, in fact, affords each Ranger opportunities to shine, whether it’s Graham Sharp’s expressive banjo intro on Charles Humphrey/Philip Barker’s plaintive “Bluer Words Were Never Spoken,” Nicky Sanders’s soaring fiddle on “Boomtown,” or Humphrey’s walking bass that anchors his “Mendocino County Blue.” “It’s a record that doesn’t stay on the same plane,” Platt, who contributes dynamic lead vocals on nine of the songs, explained. “It has interesting contours, like our shows.”

These days, it’s hard to talk about the Steep Canyon Rangers without mentioning Steve Martin. After meeting at a party and clicking immediately, Martin invited the band to tour and record with him. 2011’s collaboration Rare Bird Alert was nominated for a Grammy, and later that year, they won IBMA’s Entertainer of the Year Award. They average about 50 dates a year together, touring as Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers, and most recently with the addition of spe2015 Spring Program 55

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cial guest Edie Brickell. What has emerged is a real collaboration of seven consummate musicians—creating music that they are passionate about, and blending it with humor to form a sophisticated show. They are proud that it has exposed legions of new fans to the bluegrass genre. These collaborations have stretched the Steep Canyon Rangers musically, and definitely broadened their horizons and experiences, which include recent appearances on Austin City Limits, the Late Show with David Letterman, and the Today Show, and performances at Carnegie Hall, the Grand Ole Opry, MerleFest, Neil Young’s Bridge School Benefit, as well as their own Mountain Song festival and Mountain Song at Sea cruise.

The release of Tell the Ones I Love finds the Steep Canyon Rangers in a unique situation, and one they don’t take lightly: “It took a lot of work for us to nose our way into the bluegrass world and become a de facto representative,” Sharp acknowledges, “and we think it’s a real responsibility.” With this new record, “we can be a bridge between the bluegrass crowd and a wider audience that may not be die-hard bluegrass fans.” Yet.

Della Mae In a relatively short period of time, Della Mae has become a sensation in the music world.

Commanding a powerful collective chemistry with vocal, instrumental, and songwrit-

Dave McClister

ing talent to spare, the Boston-based combo mines time-honored elements to create music that’s unmistakably fresh and contemporary. The group quickly won an enthusiastic following through their high-energy live performances at festivals around the country.

The band expanded its reputation with their self-released first album, 2011’s I Built This Heart, which won an impressive amount of attention for a D.I.Y. release.

The identity that we’ve developed as a band is a melting pot of our different personalities and backgrounds.

– Kimber Ludiker, fiddle This World Oft Can Be, Della Mae’s second album and Rounder debut, shows that like the Avett Brothers, Lumineers, and Punch Brothers, these five multitalented young women are respectful of American musical tradition but not restricted by it, combining centuries’ worth of musical influences with an emotionally tough, undeniably modern songwriting sensibility.

This World Oft Can Be’s 12 songs—including such engaging originals as “Empire,” “Pa-

per Prince,” “Maybeline,” and the feisty title track—showcase the fivesome’s world-class instrumental abilities, lilting harmonies, and subtly commanding lead vocals. Although the musicians’ sublime skills have already won them numerous individual honors, the album’s focus is squarely on the band’s emotionally potent songs and spirited, effortlessly expressive performances.

“The identity that we’ve developed as a band is a melting pot of our different personalities and backgrounds,” asserts founder, Kimber Ludiker. After having the idea at a summer festival, Kimber hand picked musicians from all over the country: singer Celia Woodsmith comes from a blues/rock background, guitarist Courtney Hartman studied at Berklee College of Music, bassist Shelby Means played with various bands in Nashville, and mandolin player Jenni Lyn Gardner was schooled in traditional bluegrass. Della Mae’s members hail from all over the United States, and the five women each bring impressive musical résumés amassed in their previous ventures.

Della Mae recorded This World Oft Can Be at Cash Cabin Studio, Johnny Cash’s former recording base, in Hendersonville, Tennessee, with noted guitarist Bryan Sutton in the producer’s chair. (Artists who have recorded at Cash Cabin over the years include Rosanne Cash, Elvis Costello, Emmylou Harris, Merle Haggard, and George Jones).

In addition to absorbing the studio’s inspirational vibes, Courtney Hartman played June Carter Cash’s vintage 1933 Gibson L5 Round Hole guitar on “Some Roads Lead On,” while Ludiker had the honor of borrowing John Hartford’s custom carved fiddle on “Letter From Down The Road.” The album was mixed by Paul Q. Kolderie, whose production resume includes albums with the likes of Hole, Radiohead, and Dinosaur Jr. “The whole band had a big part in arranging the songs, most written by Celia and Courtney, and together we molded them into what you’ll hear on the album,” Ludiker notes, adding, “The vibe at Cash Cabin Studio is incredible, and we did a lot of live recording. We overdubbed vocal harmonies and solos here and there, but it’s basically just us playing together in the same room. ‘Some 2015 Spring Program 57

Roads Lead On’ was captured on one microphone, in one take.”

In addition to playing festivals and clubs throughout the United States, Della Mae recently expanded the scale of its touring efforts after participating in the U.S. State Department’s American Music Abroad program. Selected as cultural ambassadors, the band spent 43 days traveling in Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, where they collaborated with local musicians, taught educational programs for children, and played concerts for local audiences.

“It’s been a life-changing experience for us, individually and as a band,” Ludiker says of the tour. “A cool thing about playing music in Central Asian countries is in the lack of distinction their audience places between musical genres. We found that if music is played with feeling, all people connected to it. They find themselves smiling and relating without even understanding the language.”

Indeed, Della Mae demonstrates how effectively music builds bridges and transcends artificially constructed borders, whether they’re national or genre-based. Ludiker concludes, “All five ladies are individually driven, and we are working towards the same goal. This band definitely feels like a calling, a labor of love.”

Diana Krall Continued from pg. 25

On the new album she has recorded a collection of songs from the Sixties to present day, showcasing her considerable gifts as a vocalist in a bold and beautiful way. Krall sings a set of songs that include familiar popular classics like The Mamas and the Papas’ “California Dreaming” and the Eagles’ “Desperado,” as well as favorite vintage songs by Krall’s musical heroes Bob Dylan (he inspired the album’s title track “Wallflower”) and Elton John (“Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word”). The album also features more recent gems like Crowded House’s “Don’t Dream It’s Over” and a wonderful new composition

from Paul McCartney (“If I Take You Home Tonight”). Recorded in Los Angeles and New York, Wallflower is a tremendously refreshing and collaborative effort that reflects Krall in a gorgeous new light.

“I have to give a lot of the credit for this album to David,” Krall says. “He’s always said, `Let’s work together’ and finally the timing was right. I was ready to work with David and let him do what he does best. He did all of the arrangements and played a lot of the piano. He blew me away. I always knew David was good but I gained an even further appreciation for his talents as a producer and as a musician.” That feeling proved to be extremely mutual.

“Working with Diana was fantastic,” says Foster. “I always wondered what it would be like working together. I never thought this would happen because I live in this `pop’ world and Diana lives in this `jazz’ world— or at least that’s how it’s perceived. But one of the many great things about Diana, after knowing her for 25 years, is that she’s truly an outstanding pop singer. Her ability to cross over into pop was a fabulous discovery for me. I’m sure Diana secretly knew about it all along. She tends to be way ahead of the rest of us.”

In making Wallflower Krall says, “it was a genuine pleasure to focus on my time in the vocal booth and let David really produce me.

I thought, let’s make the kind of pop record David really knows how to do. I definitely gave my input about the songs and the musicians but for the most part I gave up the piano and the arrangements to him because I wanted this experience to be different–and it was.”

“I wouldn’t even pretend to go up against Diana as a musician because she is so talented,” Foster explains, “but she did allow herself to be produced, with a lot of input of course.

She knows what she wants and doesn’t want to do. She runs so deep in the jazz world that she leaves me at the gate as a piano player and musician, there’s no argument there. The fact that she responded to my input was so exciting. We kind of fed off of each other.”

Foster says that he particularly loves the songs on Wallflower where he convinced Krall to

play piano solos. “On songs like `California Dreaming’ and ‘I Can’t Tell You Why,’ Diana plays beautiful, simple, solid, picturesque piano solos filled with melody. They are almost sing-able. That’s part of who Diana is as a musician. Her solos have a real arc. Like a lot of the great jazz musicians she sees the end of the solo before she starts. That’s what separates the good from the great.” Foster adds “I pride myself on getting great vocals out of people and that’s what I think we’ve done here. Diana has made a lot of incredible records and her success speaks for itself.

But this time I really drilled down on the vocals, finding the exact right key for her voice to get the maximum out of her. I go into every project with the false notion that I’m going to get a better vocal out of the artist than anyone ever has, before or since. Now that may be a false notion but it’s been my mantra. I told her that when you leave me that open canvas you’ll get the best of me.

As Krall puts it with a laugh “When I work I like to give people the freedom to do what they do. I’m not a lint picker. I believe in letting people play the way they play and then tweak from there. I followed David’s direction but stood up when necessary. We had normal disagreements but it was a very smooth process for me, especially after I threw him out on the street a few times. But seriously, we both grew up in the same part of Canada and there’s a kind of understanding there, a common ground.”

That connection even helped inspire some of Wallflower’s song selection. “If you think about anyone growing up, even if someone has an extraordinary talent in one area of music, that doesn’t mean that’s all they listen to,” Foster says. “Diana grew up on Vancouver Island just like I did, listening to pop music on Top 40 radio like every other teenager. The songs we’re doing on this album are songs she’s loved since childhood, and she sings the hell out of them. Diana is a very musical person, and she has a great feel for these songs. Wallflower is a just another amazing extension of who she is and what she can do.”

“A lot of the songs on Wallflower are ones I grew up loving on the radio and on vinyl, songs I heard at home. These are songs I’ve 2015 Spring Program 59

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been singing to myself for years. I just needed the lyric sheet to make sure I wasn’t singing the wrong words all this time. I got the 45 for “I’m Not In Love” by 10cc. I listened to Bryan Adams all the time. My parents and I both loved Linda Ronstadt, who was my inspiration to sing ‘Desperado.’ I even had a Peter Frampton poster on the wall. I was just a typical teenager hanging out with friends, not just listening to jazz.” When Krall hears “Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word,” she can still remember the musical Christmas gift that keeps on giving, a prized copy of her hero and mentor Elton John’s album Blue Moves. “My biggest influence beside Oscar Peterson is Elton John,” Krall says. “I have a picture somewhere of Christmas morning when Elton’s Blue Moves album came out. I wanted that album so badly. The photo is of me when I was 16 with my mom and my dad holding that album. I used to listen to it downstairs on my record player. I had a Rhodes down there so I could play along.

Over the years Elton has become like family.

A while back we sang ‘Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word’ together on my husband Elvis Costello’s TV show Spectacle. So many Elton songs mean so much to me but that one in particular is special.”

“I love Bob Dylan like crazy,” says Krall. “I’ve only met him a few times. I told him I love the way he plays piano. He said, ‘Well, you’re a piano player, so you should know.’ Dylan’s music runs so deep. From the moment I heard the demo version of “Wallflower” with Bob singing his song along with a dog barking in the background, I have loved this song. I’ve been performing ‘Wallflower’ for a year and a half now with my band, and I just had to record it here.” Wallflower is a standout track featuring one of Krall’s most affecting vocals ever and some outstanding guitar work

from acclaimed guitarist Blake Mills. “This is a song that I feel very connected to,” Krall explains. “I’m a bit of a method actor, and ‘Wallflower’ is a part I really wanted to play.”

Says David Foster admiringly, “Diana can be a wallflower but she can be fierce too. She is a genuinely great and introspective artist in the studio and then a day later you see her onstage cutting loose, being hysterical, the life of the party. Diana is someone who can go to all extremes beautifully, and she’s proves that over and over again.”

Recalling Neil Finn’s “Don’t Dream It’s Over,” Krall remembers “lying on my floor when I had a little tiny apartment in Pasadena, California, listening to that song over and over. I just loved it. That song has been going around in my head since I was about 22, and I really wanted to get it right. The lyrics still feel just right for the world today.”

Krall first heard Paul McCartney’s beautiful “If I Take You Home Tonight”, a previously unrecorded composition, when she was working closely with him on his 2012 Kisses on the Bottom album. “That experience will stay in my life and my music forever,” explains Krall. “When I asked Paul about recording the song, because he knew I loved it, he said ‘Sure.’ We talked about switching the lyrics around because of the gender but I generally like to keep the words the way they are, so in the end we didn’t change a thing.

Finally, Wallflower’s title track is a relatively unknown Bob Dylan composition that has become a personal favorite of Krall’s.

Bryan Adams

...the mood she creates – one of sadness shading into happiness – stays with you long after the music has stopped playing.

– Herald Sun, Australia 2015 Spring Program 61

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