Carman Moore and THE SKYMUSIC ENSEMBLE
As Long Island music lovers have been learning, Huntington's cultural gem - the CINEMA ARTS CENTRE - has widened its reach to bring phenomenal professional classic and innovative music to the intimate setting of the Sky Room Café. To be sure, CAC is embracing the music community with the same highly developed, eclectic, sophisticated approach as it has film. With prices that are affordable for both old and young this grants a younger generation an opportunity of early exposure to these diverse genres of music within a warm, friendly setting. Families together can enjoy music’s unifying experience.
Cinema Arts Centre is proud to host a show of this caliber. Renowned composer & conductor Carman Moore along with his seven piece electro/acoustic ensemble will be premiering his new work HIGH HEAVENS, as well as granting some of Long Island's gifted child-musicians the opportunity to join in on one of his compositions. What a glorious spring afternoon this promises to be and, as well, a very appropriate way to celebrate Mother’s Day.
THE SKYMUSIC ENSEMBLE will be opening an active season with their appearance here on May 8th at Huntington, L.I.'s Cinema Arts Centre. This electro-acoustic Ensemble's May 8th performance will include a world-premiere work by Carman Moore entitled HIGH HEAVENS featuring its two violinists Charles Burnham and Daisy Jopling. The work opens with violins, piccolo, and keyboards "twittering" (in the old-school use of the term) and develops with solos over a series of rich chorale-like chords. New to the Ensemble's instrumentation will be electric bass played by Brian Lee. Local talented students will also have the grand opportunity to perform with THE SKYMUSIC ENSEMBLE in a piece composed and conducted by Carman Moore.
THE SKYMUSIC ENSEMBLE can best be described as ‘new music.” A world-class electro-acoustic chamber group featuring a distinctly original blend of styles from classical to jazz and ethnic music. Founded in 1980 by its conductor and principal composer Carman Moore, THE SKYMUSIC ENSEMBLE has been featured in concerts world-wide including at La Scala in Milan, Geneva’s Made-in-America Festival 1990, Washington D.C.’s Dumbarton Series, and at major venues from London to Kyoto and Ottawa, Canada. Based in New York City the group has performed for audiences ranging from the Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors Festival, the Guggenheim Museum, the United Nations, and the World Financial Center Series to the Cathedral of St. John the Divine where they and Mr. Moore were Artists-in-Residence, 1988-2000. The Ensemble performed at Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors in August of 2007 in a memorial concert for Leroy Jenkins and Mark Heinemann. This world-famed Ensemble last performed in spring 2010 as feature musicians on choreographer Elaine Summers' concert at St. Marks-in-the Bowery Church.
THE SKYMUSIC ENSEMBLE is:
CARMAN MOORE Director Carman Moore’s compositional credits include performances by the New York Philharmonic, the Cleveland Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. His musical THE SORCERER’S APPRENTICE (with Oyamo and Donald McKayle) was given 80 performances recently by the Seattle Children’s Theatre. Moore’s highly-acclaimed intermedia opera RASUR, GOD OF PEACE was premiered in March 2002 in San Jose, Costa Rica. His gospel opera with librettist Ishmael Reed GETHSEMANE PARK was produced at San Franciso’s Hansberry Theatre and was the feature production at the Nuyorican Poets Theatre in the summer of 2000. And his THE MYSTERY OF TAO was commissioned and premiered by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in 2001. Mr. Moore’s MASS FOR THE 21ST CENTURY was commissioned and premiered at Lincoln Center Out of Doors in 1994 before audiences of thousands. The MASS was also performed in Cape Town, South Africa for the 1999 Parliament of the World’s Religions. Moore's SHE (AN APPRECIATION) honors the women of the world and receives(ed) its New York premiere on May 1, 2011 at Continuum Ensembles 45th Anniversary concert at Merkin Concert Hall. Mr. Moore has completed his CONCERTO FOR ORNETTE AND ORCHESTRA for jazz legend Ornette Coleman, which will have its premiere at Ornette’s next orchestral performance.
Added as well to Carman Moore’s credits are music critic and columnist. Carman has written for the Village Voice along with contributions to The New York Times, The Saturday Review of Literature, Vogue, and Essence among others. His newly completed autobiography titled CROSSOVER: AN AMERICAN BIO---CARMAN MOORE will be available May 1st as an e-Book through Amazon with a June 1st paperback version release date. www.skymusicensemble.com.
CHARLES BURNHAM The passion and fire of Charlie Burnham's violin has graced the work of many: Cassandra Wilson, James Blood Ulmer, Steven Bernstein, Susie Ibbara, Peter Apfelbaum, Henry Threadgrill, String Trio of New York, Ted Daniel, Medeski, Martin & Wood, and many, many others. But armed with a whole new book of originals and a stellar new band, Burnham's step into the spot light has long been coming. Worldly and other-worldly sounds can be heard from Burnham's musical and personal journeys as his soulful voice and violin lead you down some open roads and dark alleys, and bring you to some spots you may not have known even exist.
DAISY JOPLING Violinist Daisy Jopling was born in London, and now lives in NYC. She has spent the last 12 years living in Vienna and touring the world with the creative string trio “Triology”, with whom she has recorded 4 CDS, 2 with BMG RCA Victor. Her Solo work has included playing a concerto at the Royal Albert Hall in London at the age of 14, and playing before 30,000 people at the opening of the Vienna Festival in May 2004 and 2005. She has performed and toured with some of the world's leading musicians, including Joe Zawinul, Bobby McFerrin, Omara Portuondo, Julian Rachlin, Janine Janson, Boris Grebenshikov, Shubha Mudgal and Wolfgang Muthspiel. Daisy has performed in many of the major Festivals and concert halls throughout the world, including Carnegie Hall and the Lincoln Center in New York, the Musikverein in Vienna, the Salzburger Festspiele, and the Edinburgh International Festival in Scotland. She has participated in writing the music for many films, including arranging and recording with Triology the music of Hans Zimmer in Hollywood, “Spanglish” and “The Road to El Dorado”. Daisy has composed music for various ensembles which has been performed in major concert halls throughout the world, and has written the music for a puppet show in NYC, "Feathers from the Sky". Daisy recently performed at the United Nations Assembly Hall in New York alongside Akon, Gilberto Gil, Ky-Mani Marley, Salif Keita, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Phylicia Rashad, Whoopi Goldberg and Carl Lewis. She has just released her first solo album, "Key to the Classics", with the NYC producer Bojan Dugic. www.daisyjopling.com
ERIC JOHNSON Due to an unfortunate inury Eric will be replaced by guest artist Adam Klipple.
ADAM KLIPPLE Adam has been described as "a standout pianist who has gone to school on McCoy Tyner and Cecil Taylor and earned his degree." He plays piano, Hammond organ, sampler and a variety of vintage keyboards and leads three of his own groups. Drive-By Leslie, his Hammond organ quartet, explores many styles of electric jazz from the organ trio to the present. Sneak makes melodic, otherworldly songs featuring vocalist Becca Stevens. The Masters of Tashkent is his eight-piece Soul-Uzbek-Hindustani-Funk orchestra. www.adamklipple.com
ELI FOUNTAIN Besides having played for many years as percussionist with THE SKYMUSIC ENSEMBLE, Eli Fountain has been a fixture on the jazz and new-music scene in New York and America. He has been feature drummer with saxophonist James Carter, has toured as a duo with tap sensation Savion Glover, and has been a feature member of Max Roach’s own select group M’BOOM. In addition Eli has been founder and composer/director of his own PERCUSSION DISCUSSION ensemble.
BRIAN LEE A classically trained pianist, singer, saxophonist, and percussionist, Brian took up the bass guitar by necessity. In the seventh grade, his band needed a bass player, so they sold bubble-gum to classmates, using the profits to buy him a Cort bass from the Sears catalog. Teaching himself how to play, his career as a bassist began. It became apparent that being a musician/performer was not a passing phase, but a lifetime adventure.A little later down the road, Brian earned a degree in Electronic and Computer music from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. Besides musical performance, his time at the conservatory allowed him to pursue other avenues, including composition, studies in West African Music, and studio engineering/production. Many of his compositions for Solo/ensemble percussion are active pieces in academic repertoire. A long list of engineering and production projects are also to his credit, encompassing varied musical styles, from jazz to classical, heavy metal, and rap. As a bass player, composer, and a lifetime disciple of music, his playing and stage performance have a new distinct style, yet echo many of his influences: From Bootsy Collins, Rick James, Pop-daddy, and Flea to Mingus, Ron Carter, Victor Wooten, and Stanley Clarke, bits and pieces are melded together and find a unique voice. Brian is currently in production with the rock outfit "Hoodless" and "The Incredible Skyband".
LINDA WETHERILL Born in Milwaukee, Linda Wetherill graduated from the Eastman School of Music, having been awarded there the coveted Performer’s Certificate. The desire to expand her musical horizons prompted her to leave for Europe, where she became first a member of the Garbarino Chamber Ensemble in Milan, then principal flutist of the Frankfurt Radio Symphony. This prestigious position, however, did not satisfy all her evolving personal artistic needs, and two years later, when she learned that Pierre Boulez had just established the “new music” center IRCAM in Paris, Linda auditioned and was appointed solo flutist of the resident Ensemble Intercontemporain. This move from essentially mainstream chamber and orchestral playing to intensive interaction with many of the greatest contemporary composers of the world was a major turning point for her. Working directly with composers Boulez, Stockhausen, Halffter, Messiaen, Berio, Holliger and Kagel, she developed a prestigious and authoritative solo repertoire which carried her to European festivals and to NY’s Carnegie Hall to premiere Stockhausen’s Im Freundschaft as winner of East & West Artists International Competition. Linda’s desire to expand her range of aesthetic awareness led her to accept an invitation to tour extensively as a “cultural ambassador” under the auspices of the United States Information Service. That 10 year adventure took her to Turkey, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia (her performances there the first ever by a woman!), the Arab Emirates, Egypt, Bosnia (giving recitals there right at the start of its war), Macedonia, India, and Pakistan. Throughout this period, she interacted extensively with local musicians: classical and indigenous performers as well as composers. She was co-founder of the Festival of Contemporary Music in Ankara and Istanbul, while a guest of the Turkish government from 1987-91. There she worked in collaboration with Turkish, Russian, and Middle Eastern composers, and lectured at Bosphorus University as well as Middle Eastern Technical University as Professor of global and contemporary music. When the Gulf War broke out, it became dangerous for Americans to remain in that part of the world, and an invitation from distinguished flutist and teacher Samuel Baron brought her back to the States, to do graduate work at SUNY Stony Brook and serve as teaching assistant.
PREMIK RUSSELL TUBBS
Premik, a composer, arranger, producer and an accomplished multi-instrumentalist performs on various flutes, soprano, alto and tenor saxophones, wind synthesizers, and lap steel guitar. He has worked with everyone from Carlos Santana, Whitney Houston, Herbie Hancock, John McLaughlin, Ravi Shankar, Narada Michael Walden, Clarence Clemons, Ornette Coleman, Jackson Browne, Jean-Luc Ponty, Lonnie Liston-Smith, Scarlet Rivera, James Taylor to Sting and Lady Gaga just to name a few. He is equally adept in pop, R&B, jazz, world and experimental genres. www.premik.com www.myspace.com/premik
STUDENT GUESTS
JONATHAN BODIAN –age 13
Eighth Grade - West Hollow Middle School, Half Hollow Hills School District
Instrument: Classical Guitar
Jonathan’s passion began at age 8 with rock and folk standards. He soon transitioned to nylon strings, and has been studying classical and Latin-influenced guitar with renowned composer-guitarist Jorge Morel for the past three years. Jonathan has performed extensively at many Long Island venues, and in master classes with guitarists including Peru’s Jorge Caballero, France’s Thomas Viloteau, Cuba’s Rene Izquierdo, Brazil's Carlos Barbosa-Lima, and even blues with LI’s own Little Toby Walker. He also plays double bass and jazz guitar. On bass, Jonathan has played first chair in the Long Island String Festival (LIFSA), the Suffolk County Music Educators Association (SCMEA) and with the Gemini Chamber Orchestra.
NIKOLETTE KELLSI DEBENEDICTIS –age 16
Sophomore – Cold Spring Harbor High School, Cold Spring Harbor School District
Instrument: Violin
Nikolette Kellsi has been on the high honor roll every semester since the seventh grade. She plays the piano, viola and violin although the violin is her preferred instrument. As a violinist, she plays in both her school orchestra and chamber orchestra. She also participates in the pit orchestra for the High School musicals as well as with her school jazz band. Nikolette gives private and group lessons to her peers and younger sister. She has organized a group of female string musicians who play at a variety of nursing homes here on Long Island. Nikolette also performs with the Gemini Symphony and will be appearing for the fourth time at Lincoln Center this May. She spends her summers at CW Post where she attends the Music Festival and plays in the symphony. Nikolette was invited this summer to attend the National Student Leadership Conference in Washington DC.
MIKAH FELDMAN-STEIN – age 17
Senior - Huntington High School, Huntington School District
Main instrument: Alto Saxophone
Additional instruments: soprano sax, tenor sax, and clarinet.
Mikah has been involved in the Nassau-Suffolk jazz program for three years where he's worked under the direction of Joe Schaefer and Bill Katz. He also has been in the high school's jazz ensemble for the past four years and has been in the All-County concert band since 6th grade on clarinet. Mikah was elected to participate in the 2010 All-State festival with the Instrumental Jazz Ensemble and then played again with this same group in 2011 for the Joseph R. Sugar Day festivities. In 2011 he was selected nationally, as one of two alto saxophonists for travel to Washington D.C. to play in the MENC jazz band. As a senior, Mikah is headed to Wesleyan University next fall. He is planning to be a pre-med major with a minor in jazz performance.
And as always...EXPECT THE TRULY UNEXPECTED!!!
A wine and cheese reception will follow the music.
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