Jazz Institute featured in NPR Blog!

The week of the Jazz Composers Orchestra Institute has come to a close, but people are still talking about all of the incredible work that was done by the mentors, participants, and performers from both ACO and the Wet Ink Ensemble.
Reporter Lara Pellegrinelli attended many of the seminars and rehearsals and is blogging about the Institute over at NPR's 'A Blog Supreme'. Check out her posts here.

Let's hear from the JCOI participants...

The Jazz Composers Orchestra Institute has come to an end, and we are glad that everyone had a great time! It definitely gave many an opportunity to explore new jazz ideas, learn from the resident mentors, and also enjoy the two concerts by Wet Ink and the ACO. Thanks to all who contributed in their very own way to make this institute possible!

During the Institute, we chatted with some of the participants during their lunch and dinner breaks to find out how they're doing at the institute...

The youngest composer participant at the JCOI, 17-year-old Phillip Golub, who studies in Santa Monica, Los Angeles, CA.

One of the three female composer participants at the JCOI, Nicole Mitchell, from Chicago.

Composer participant Juan Zhou, from China, shares with us her experience at the JCOI.

That's all for now, stay tuned for more webcam interviews from the institute!

First Day at the Jazz Composers Orchestra Institute!

Here at Columbia University's Dodge Hall, where fellow composers and musicians gather to share their ideas on jazz and contemporary music composition. Attending seminars, workshops.. not forgetting high tea.. and most importantly meeting and interacting with new people!

Director at the Center for Jazz Studies at Columbia University, George Lewis and Program Director at the Center for Jazz Studies, Dan Beaudoin, tell us what JCOI is all about!

 

Also, resident composers Derek Bermel and Tania León share with us what jazz means to them and how it has impacted their musical life...





More chats with participants and resident composers at the JCOI coming up! Watch this space.

Underwood Readings in the New York Times!

In case you haven't opened the paper yet today... just had to share that Steve Smith gave us a nice write-up in the New York Times for the Underwood Readings this past weekend:
"Behind the polished veneer of any orchestral premiere there lies a process of familiarization and toil, a process made unusually transparent by the American Composers Orchestra in its annual Underwood New Music Readings. The program, designed to give young composers access to an orchestra as well as crucial feedback from experienced colleagues, offers an invaluable glimpse behind the curtain, allowing audience members to witness firsthand the labor that goes into bringing new symphonic works to the stage."
You can read the entire article here.
Congrats again to our seven composers!

Romaneiro Ringtones... Ricardo wins the Audience Choice Award!

At the close of this weekend's Underwood Readings, the audience got a chance to pick their favorite composer, awarding him or her a commission to create an original ringtone to be distributed by ACO.
The ballots were cast and counted and the winner was announced at the after-party:
Ricardo Romaneiro won the Audience Choice award!
Congrats Ricardo! We're all looking forward to your hand-crafted ring. I hope to hear it buzzing from the phones of music fans all over the city... but hopefully not in the middle of a concert...
Here's a link to his website so you can hear some of his other tunes.

Xi Wang talks about the inspirations for her piece Symphony No. 1

Participant composer Xi Wang takes a break between sessions to talk about the inspirations behind her work Symphony No. 1.

Hannah Lash and Matti Kovler talk Elevator Speeches

Composers Hannah Lash and Matti Kovler talk about their experience with the Underwood Readings, including the sessions on self promotion and learning how give a 30 second "elevator speech"

Ricardo Romaneiro checks in after his first feedback session

Ricardo Romaneiro checks in briefly after the first feedback session with the mentor composers. His piece "Sombras" is receiving its first reading at the 2010 Underwood New Music Readings.

Eric Lindsay gives a samba lesson - video blog entry

Check out our first entry from composer Eric Lindsay. Coming to you from Bloomington, IN before his flight to NYC, he talks about his work Samba Koocho Hairy Boocho, which will be read by ACO this weekend.

2010 Underwood Readings are underway!

Hello all! After putting out a call for scores, receiving well over 100 submissions, selecting seven composers, and going through all the prep work of production schedules, parts preparation, travel booking etc. etc. etc...
The 2010 Underwood Readings are happening this weekend! All of the composers collect tomorrow evening to begin an intense weekend of readings and feedback sessions with mentor composers, conductors, and ACO musicians.
They'll also be checking in with our fans here on the SoundAdvice blog with short video diary entries to talk about their music and their experiences working with ACO.You can also follow one of our composers (Tamar Muskal), the conductors (Jose Serebrier and George Manahan), and ACO musicians Danielle Kuhlman on the NewMusicBox site.
I hope to see you at the readings on Friday morning and Saturday evening at Miller Theater at Columbia U, and feel free to leave comments and questions on the upcoming posts!

-John Glover, Ops Manager