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OVER
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Music
Of 100
Guitars
To Fill
The
Community
Arts
Center |
On
Friday,
May
23rd,
the
students
of
the
Uptown
Music
Collective
in
Williamsport,
Pennsylvania,
and a
cast
of
avant
luminaries
and
present-day
torch-bearers
will
be
conducted
by
Rhys
Chatham
in
the
performance
of
the
world
premiere
of
his
new
composition
for
100
guitars:
Les
100
guitares:
G100.
The
performance
will
be
held
at
the
beautiful
and
historic
Community
Arts
Center
in
downtown
Williamsport.
This
will
be
the
first
time
Chatham
has
brought
one
of
his
100
guitar
orchestra
performances
to
the
United
States.
Rhys Chatham is a classically trained minimalist composer
from
New
York
who
now
lives
in
Paris.
Since
the
late
1970s
he
has
been
composing
minimalist
pieces
for
electric
guitar.
Among
the
musicians
who
played
his
pieces
early-on
were
Thurston
Moore
and
Lee
Ranaldo
(who
would
go on
to
form
Sonic
Youth)
and
Rhys'
early
collaborator
Glenn
Branca.
In
1989
Rhys
composed
his
first
piece
for
100
guitars,
and
he
has
been
working
in
Europe
with
these
orchestras
on
and
off
now
for
20
years.
An
epic
and
successful
idea
from
the
start,
Rolling
Stone
proclaimed
his
first
composition
for
100
guitars,
An
Angels
Move
too
Fast
to
See,
as
"Surging
phosphorescence...
Uplifting."
"Les 100 guitares will not be about brutal intensity,
but
rather
about
the
fantastic
sonority
that
only
an
ensemble
of
100
electric
guitars
can
achieve,"
says
Chatham.
"It
will
be
about
the
sheer
beauty
and
sensuality
of
the
electric
guitar."
For the performance of Les 100 guitares: G100, the
student
orchestra
will
be
joined
by
members
of
Akron/Family,
Megafaun,
San
Agustin,
Town
and
Country,
USA
is a
Monster,
as
well
as
original
Swans
drummer
Jonathan
Kane.
The
fifth
movement
of
Les
100
guitares:
G100,
a
rearrangement
of
Chatham's
influential
composition
Guitar
Trio,
will
be
accompanied
by
the
Robert
Longo's
Pictures
For
Music,
a
film
first
shown
during
Chatham's
1970s
Guitar
Trio
performances.
The Uptown Music Collective is a 501(c)(3) non-profit
school
of
music
founded
and
run
by
guitarist
Dave
Brumbaugh.
The
Collective’s
students,
teachers
and
alumni
will
make
up
the
vast
majority
of
the
guitar
orchestra
for
this
performance.
Brumbaugh,
a
Williamsport
native
and
Berklee
College
of
Music
graduate,
started
teaching
guitar
in
Williamsport
after
college
and
eventually
expanded
to
teaching
summer
workshops
and
theory
lessons
out
of
his
home.
The
school
has
grown
over
the
last
ten
years
from
theory
lessons
in
Brumbaugh's
kitchen
into
the
premier
source
of
music
education
in
the
Central
Pennsylvania
area.
Offering
private
lessons
at
all
levels
on
guitar,
bass,
drums,
keyboards
and
vocals,
as
well
as
classes
and
workshops
in
music
theory,
songwriting,
and
styles
such
as
the
Blues,
Jazz,
Classical
and
Rock.
"It is rare to find in such a small town as Williamsport
so
many
maniacally
devoted
guitar
players,"
says
Akron/Family
member
Seth
Olinsky,
"and
it
isn't
long
before
you
realize
that
they
can
all
trace
their
devotion
back
to
this
one
source."
Uptown
MusicCollective
members
and
alumni
can
be
found
all
around
central
Pennsylvania
playing
jazz
in
galleries,
teaching
at
colleges,
playing
hardcore
at
the
local
Elk
club,
or
putting
on
theatrical
performances
of
Pink
Floyd's
The
Wall.
The idea to collaborate with Rhys was originally conceived
by
Akron/Family
member
and
White
Nebula
Falls
founder
Seth
Olinsky,
an
early
guitar
and
kitchen-theory
student
of
Dave's,
after
Seth
had
gone
to
visit
his
old
teacher.
It
only
took
a
little
imagination
to
envision
busy
students
droning
and
tremolo'ing
minimally
on
stage
together,
conducted
by
Rhys.
With
the
combined
generosity
of
the
Community
Arts
Center,
local
sponsors,
and
Rhys'
team
(traveling
from
Paris,
Chicago,
and
New
York),
Williamsport
will
be
the
happy
home
of
the
very
first
Rhys
Chatham
100
guitar
performance
in
America.
For more information, please visit
www.frontporchproductions.org,
or
for
tickets
and
scheduling
please
go to
www.pct.edu/commarts. |
|
|
Blair
To Do B21
With
Songs &
Soul |
With
exuberance
and
melodious
sounds,
"Singer
at
Large"
Johnny
J.
Blair
will
perform
at
B21,
1100
Washington
Boulevard
in
Williamsport
on
Saturday,
May
17th.
Music
begins
at
8PM.
Neo-soul
singer
and
Williamsport
Idol
winner
Warren
Shand
will
be
sitting
in.
"Passion makes you vivid," said Blair, who is said to
perform
with
so
much
energy
that
people
say
"he
feels
like
a
full
band."
He
was
called
"a
white
James
Brown"
by
Brown's
legendary
drummer,
Clyde
Stubblefied.
Earcandy.com
called
Blair
"a
delightful
entertainer."
Blair
said,
"Here's
my
job
description:
Play
songs
that
feed
the
soul
and
play
them
with
passion.
I
hope
to
pass
some
of
that
on to
the
audience."
With an innovative brand of "pop music with a twist"
Blair's
music
is a
fast-paced
mix
of
old
school
soul/r'n'b,
psychedelia
and
punk/new
wave.
Spotlight
Magazine
dubbed
Blair
"the
Harry
Houdini
of
rock'n'roll"
for
his
ongoing
"escape
from
typecasts."
For
over
20
years,
Blair
has
issued
acclaimed
recordings-
from
the
"new
wave
concept
album"
DOOR
IN
THE
WATER,
to
the
soulful
masterwork
FIRE,
to
the
bare-knuckled
acoustic
agitpop
of
TREADMARKS.
His
music
has
been
issued
in
comic
books
and
documentaries,
and
he
has
collaborated
with
and
produced
a
variety
of
artists.
His
admirers
include
surf-guitar
icon
Dick
Dale,
Larry
Norman,
and
Brian
Wilson
(Beach
Boys)-who
called
Blair
"a
virtuoso."
Blair's live set includes originals and wide-ranging
covers
from;
glam
rock
to
Motown
to
spirituals.
He
has
shared
the
stage
with
Howie
Day,
The
Dead
Kennedys,
Bob
Geldof,
The
Go-Gos,
Chris
Isaak,
Stephen
Stills
and
Davy
Jones
of
The
Monkees-with
whom
Blair
frequently
records
and
tours
with.
"I've
learned
loads
of
stagecraft
from
him,"
Blair
said.
Urban humor, abstract romance and bittersweet spirituality
are
images
in
Blair's
lyrics,
informed
by
The
Bible,
classic
comedy
(Charlie
Chaplin,
Marx
Brothers)
the
poetry
of
T.S.
Eliot
and
the
writings
of
Raymond
Chandler,
Graham
Greene
and
John
Steinbeck.
While
Blair
trades
in
"hardscrabble
and
noir,"
he
also
has a
"sunny
and
hopeful"
persona.
There will be a $3.00 cover. For more information phone
(570)
601-1400.
Sound
clips
are
available
at
www.johnnyjblair.com. |
|
|
Symphony
To Do
Sabre
Dance |
Flashing
sabres
and
whirling
dancers
are
the
vision
in
Khachaturian's
Sabre
Dance,
one
of
the
highlights
of
The
Williamsport
Symphony
Orchestra's
May
13th
concert,
A
NIGHT
IN
RUSSIA.
The
WSO
will
celebrate
music
from
Armenia
and
Russia,
with
guest
trumpeter
Rolf
Smedvig
and
guest
conductor
Tomasz
Golka.
Music
starts
at
7:30PM.
The
May
13th
concert
also
marks
the
final
round
in
the
WSO's
conductor
search.
Sabre Dance
is
from
Khatchaturian's
GAYANE
ballet,
a
tale
of
discord
in
the
lives
of
married
people
against
the
backdrop
of
the
Soviet
Union.
Because
of
its
exciting
rhythmic
energy
and
catchy
melodic
edge,
Sabre
Dance
has
cut
its
own
swath
in
symphonic
literature.
It
has
been
adapted
for
bluegrass,
jazz
(Woody
Herman),
vocal
groups
(The
Andrews
Sisters)
and
many
times
for
progressive
rock.
Besides
being
the
theme
song
of
the
Buffalo
Sabres
hockey
team,
Sabre
Dance
has
been
used
to
liven
up
movie
characters
(THE
HUDSUCKER
PROXY,
ONE
TWO
THREE)
and
is
often
used
to
accompany
circus
acts.
The WSO will also perform Tchaikovsky's famed "1812
Overture"
and
Arutiunian's
Trumpet
Concerto
featuring
Rolf
Smedvig-former
WSO
music
director
and
one
of
the
greatest
trumpeters
in
the
world.
Fanfare
Magazine
says
"Smedvig's
playing
is
absolutely
spectacular,
with
hair-trigger
control
and
high-wire
acrobatics
aplenty."
Born in Seattle, Smedvig was thirteen when he made his
debut
as a
soloist
with
the
Seattle
Symphony.
At
the
age
of
nineteen,
Smedvig
was
appointed
Assistant
Principal
Trumpet
of
the
Boston
Symphony
by
Seiji
Ozawa,
becoming
the
youngest
member
of
the
orchestra.
As a
founding
member
and
first
trumpet
of
the
Grammy-winning
Empire
Brass
Quintet,
Smedvig
has
toured
thirty-five
countries
around
the
world.
The
quintet
is
acclaimed
as a
chamber
group
and
it
also
performs
with
major
orchestras.
The
EBQ
frequently
appears
on
national
radio
and
television
programs.
A NIGHT IN RUSSIA will be conducted by thirty-year old
Tomasz
Golka.
Since
winning
First
Prize
at
the
2003
Eduardo
Mata
International
Conducting
Competition,
Golka
has
appeared
in
performances
of
over
one
hundred
major
works
with
orchestras
around
the
world.
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