May 18, 2014 / 11:30am
The Players Theater / 115 Macdougal Street NYC
Youth Works
Inspiring the Next Generation
This year's Youth Works projects centered on works for chamber ensemble, investigating the question: How can a composer express intentions with a limited palate? Instead of composing for large ensemble, students wrote for solos, duos and trios.
PERFORMERS
Clara Lyon, Violin
Brad Balliett, Bassoon / Contrabassoon
Claire Bryant, Cello
Hannah Collins, Cello
LEADERSHIP
Brad Balliett, Composer / Youth Works Director
Robinson McClellan, Composer
Alexis Neophytides, TEAK Mentor
On the Program
For this collaboration with Metropolis, the ComposerCraft student composers created a suite of dances spanning music history. The idea came out of a conversation between Andrew Cyr and Robin McClellan; Robin then assigned each composer a dance form from some period in history, beginning with the medieval Estampie and ending with the current electronic dance style DbB ("Drum and Bass"). They were asked to use the distinctive rhythm and/or formal structure of that dance as an inspiration for their piece. Some of the resulting dances followed the original style closely, while others treated the original style as a jumping-off point for explorations further afield. Jesse Greenberg and Alicia Byer acted as invaluable composer mentors throughout the process.
This concert also marks the fourth 'Where I'm From' project with the academically-gifted students from the TEAK Foundation. Students wrote poems and worked closely with Metropolis musicians to design music to accompany their work. Along the way, they learned not only the vocabulary to describe their musical intentions, but also aspects of compositional design and public speaking.
About the Concert
ComposerCraft is a group of skilled composers, ages 9-14, writing fugues, klezmer tunes, electronic works, symphonies and a lot in between. Directed by composer Robinson McClellan and based at Kaufman Music Center's Special Music School and Lucy Moses School, ComposerCraft features visits from distinguished guest speakers and regular opportunities to compose for professional groups like Metropolis Ensemble and Yarn/Wire at venues such as Le Poisson Rouge and Symphony Space.
The TEAK Fellowship helps talented New York City students from low-income families gain admission to and succeed at top high schools and colleges. TEAK provides leadership training, exposure to the arts and outdoors, mentoring, and career experience.
Metropolis Ensemble's Youth Works program is sponsored by Con Edison. Major support for the Youth Works concert provided by (le) Poisson Rouge, with additional generous support from: Crosswicks Foundation, The Richard Salomon Family Foundation, NYCDCA, and NYSCA.