Pipe-dreams of the 21st C.

“Pipe-dreams of the 21st C.”

Jane Rigler, composer/flutes
Taylor Irelan, flutes
Abe Minzer, piano

Come Enjoy an Evening of Music by Award-Winning
Flute Virtuosos Jane Rigler and Taylor Irelan
 

Please RSVP early – Space Is Limited   
 

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Program

Three small pieces (2002) by Frances White
for two flutes and prerecorded part
    I: The sound of the bell as it leaves the bell
    II: Interlude
    III: Rose pogonia
        
Music for Sarah by John Fonville
flute solo (Jane)

Honami by Will Offermans
flute solo (Taylor)

Two Seaming (1998) by Jane Rigler
for two flutes

Deep Blue by Ian Clarke
for flute (Taylor) & piano

the calling (2013-) by Jane Rigler
flute (Jane) and electronics

Red (2001) by Jane Rigler
solo piccolo (Jane)

Ecstatic Dance (1990) (2nd movt.) by Ross Edwards
for two flutes

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Program Notes

Three small pieces (2002) by Frances White

           The sound of the bell as it leaves the bell
The title of this piece comes from a poem by Buson. The bell used in the electronic part is a meditation bell, and the music concerns itself primarily with sustained breath and with tuning.

             Interlude
This piece does not have an electronic part. It is short and simple, at times almost like a memory of a folk-song.

          Rose pogonia
The Rose pogonia is a beautiful and rather rare rose pink orchid native to the New Jersey Pine Barrens. I saw one once in the Lebanon State Forest on a hot day in July in a very remote area. The place was so isolated that it seemed likely that no other human being had been by that day. Every summer, I now think about the Rose pogonia blooming by the stream, unseen by human eyes.

 
Music for Sarah (1980) by John Fonville

I.        Emergence. This movement is indebted to Nyozan Miygawa’s composition Ajikan for shakuhachi flute (a vertical bamboo flute, often played by Buddhist monks in the 18th C. and is still currently played by many other people around the world). The movement is an exploration of sound patterns inherent in the unusual fingerings. This is a work about timelessness. The tube is gradually pushed to the limits of air acceptance.

II.      Transformational Dance. Rim fingerings, and polymetric patterns are used to simulate a bamboo flute. Eventually the flute sound stops while the two hands play in opposition…moving into another state of exultation.

III.    Chant. This movement owes its inspiration to Tibetan Chant. The movement explores the interactions of the harmonics between the voice and the stopped/plugged flute.

IV.   Whirling Dance. Flute and voice alternate (hocket) in an ostinato pattern. The differences in timbre (between the flute & voice) create constant shifts in meter. The voice is mostly ingressive singing so as to not stop to breath. The work is directly influenced by a young woman from a pygmy tribe in the Central African Republic.

V.     Song of Acceptance. With the headjoint removed, this movement simulates a Japanese shakuhachi. The scale produces might be associated with a Javanese musical scale. The two different vibratos (manual vs. moving the flute) are in opposition.

VI.   Cantalena. A self-reflecting system of Italian origin enjoys a luau.

 
Honami (1994) by Wil Offermans

“Ho” meaning an ear of produce, and “nami” meaning wave, this piece takes listeners through the rice fields of Asia. Offermans spent many years studying the indigenous musics of Asia, and was especially inspired by the shakuhatchi. He wrote this piece for silver flute, with the goal of bringing this beautiful traditional style of playing to Western flutists. While there are virtually no “traditional” techniques or sounds in this piece, the piece is still very programmatic. Honami tells its story through the manipulation of air, much like the variations in consistency and strength in nature and the rice fields.

Two Seaming (1998) by Jane Rigler

The ambiguity of the piece begins with the title (to seeming?). I wrote this piece with the Inuit women’s vocal games in mind, where two women face each other so closely that the mouth cavity of one is the resonator for the other.  While using a frying pan or other such device to help resonate their vocalizations, each begin to breathe, sing and vocalize gestures into the other’s face. This spectacular game ends when the first person begins to laugh, she, then, becoming the loser of the game.

 
Deep Blue (2012) by Ian Clarke

This piece was originally written by Clarke as film/television music, and has aired on popular shows such as the Oprah Winfrey Show. Inspired by a video of whales, Deep Blue submerges listeners into the depths of the oceans filled with whale song. Sounds of whales on the flute intertwine with lush textures on the piano.

the calling (2013- ) by Jane Rigler

In this work, the flute and live sound processing are threaded together seamlessly to create a dense texture of multiple sonic stories, performed by a single performer on stage. The composer/performer recorded all the sounds from many parts of the world: street vendors in Kyoto, an ancient On-Matsuri festival in Nara, construction sites, coffee shops, the Humpback whales of Alaska as well as glaciers calving are manipulated by the flutist in real-time.  This open-structured work reinvents itself in every new performance and recording.

 
Red (2001) by Jane Rigler

In English this word refers to a vibrant color. Throughout different cultures in the world this color could represent: blood, wine, danger, war, violence, the devil or love, embarrassment, happiness, good luck, purity, joy, etc… In the Spanish language red means “network” or “net”.

 
This piece is a non-stop-circular-tight-rope-balancing-act which investigates the in-between patterns within patterns resulting in a kind of “Morse Code”, eventually tripping and almost falling into the depths but eventually recovering and reaching to the ultimate peak in which the piccolo and the voice join in unity.

 
Ecstatic Dances (1990) (2nd movt.) by Ross Edwards

The second dance, radiant and insistently melodic, will be familiar to some people in its arrangements for string duet, string quartet or string orchestra (Enyato I) and full orchestra (Enyato III).

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Bios

Flutist, composer and educator Jane Rigler (Assistant Professor of Music at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs) has performed nationally and internationally as a soloist and in ensembles in contemporary music festivals premiering new works and compositions written especially for her. She has been granted numerous awards and residencies nation-wide for her compositions that center on community building, stretching the boundaries of musical performance and audience interaction. Through her works and her manual The Vocalization of the Flute she has become known for innovations in flute performance, techniques and musical vocabulary. Rigler’s multi-disciplinary interactive electronic works explore the relationship between sound, language, space, movement and visual art. Deeply committed to collaboration, In 2009-10, Jane received the Japan United States Friendship Commission Fellowship and has since returned to Japan several times to premiere her sound installations and performance projects. Her website contains more info about her experiences in Japan, Spain, New York and other places: http://www.janerigler.com

 
Taylor Irelan is an American flutist with a diverse international career. He has served as the principal piccolo of the London Graduate Orchestra and has performed with the London Symphony Orchestra, Pueblo Symphony Orchestra, Kensington Philharmonic Orchestra, Guildhall Symphony Orchestra and other British and American orchestras. His live solo and chamber performances have been broadcast on NPR and BBC Radio. A strong advocate of contemporary music, Taylor has premiered many works for the flute, most recently recording and premiering a flute concerto in the Milton Court Concert Hall in London. He has worked alongside composers such as Thea Musgrave, Ian Clarke, and Wil Offermans. Taylor is also the founder and principal instructor of the Flute Insanity summer flute course, and has presented masterclasses across the United States and abroad. He received a Master of Music Performance in Orchestral Artistry from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. http://www.taylorirelan.com/

Pianist Abe Minzer, earned a master’s degree in Piano Performance from the Peabody Conservatory, a doctorate in music at West Virginia University, and has taught at Goucher College in Baltimore, MD. He plays concerts throughout the US, and has appeared as piano soloist in Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Major with the Pittsburgh Symphony.

Currently, Abe Minzer teaches piano, music history and music theory at University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.  Also, Dr. Minzer is on the faculty at Pikes Peak Community College where he teaches Private Piano, Group Piano, Music Theory, and serves as staff pianist/accompanist.  Dr. Abe Minzer often performs works of living composers, including world premieres of compositions by Jorge Cardoso, Jim Bosse and Ofer Ben-Amots. For more information, please visit: http://ClassicallyAlive.com  For more information on Abe Minzer – CDs, samples, reviews and comments, please visit: http://abeminzer.com

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Under the sponsorship of the Pikes Peak Arts Council, Classically Alive hosts over 60 musicians and other artists, and features diverse monthly at-home music/arts salon concerts which include dinner and drinks. Founder, director, and pianist, Dr. Abe Minzer performs along with many top musicians of the Pikes Peak region, as well as renowned visiting artists on the national and international scene.  Classically Alive hosts a wide range of styles including classical, contemporary, popular styles, jazz, and world music.
For more information, please visit: http://ClassicallyAlive.com
 
Classically Alive is thrilled with the recent acquisition of a 9-foot Bechstein concert grand piano, an instrument of highest quality.  A tremendous thank you goes to both Elvie Davis and Diane Petersen for making the opportunity possible.  Also, a special thank you goes to Fisher Piano Movers and their caring team for their most expert and professional work in moving the Bechstein to its new Classically Alive home.

As of January 2015, Classically Alive is partnering with Weltklassik to bring the finest German pianists, world-class musicians, to the Classically Alive venue on the  THIRD Thursday at 7:00 PM of the every month through December 2015.

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