"Celebrating Lukas" a concert of 5 works by Lukas Foss and a collection of short pieces written by his students, including my 60-second piece GURU

ALEA III, Boston University Chamber Chorus
Theodore Antoniou, conductor, Ann Howard Jones, conductor, Kathleen Boyd, flute, Yukiko Shimazaki, piano, Justin Blackwell, piano

Elegy for Anne Frank, Echoi, For Toru, The Prairie, Behold! I Build an House
plus Eighteen Epigrams (a new work written by Lukas Foss’ students in honor of their teacher
Mark Berger, Ramon Castillo, Michalis Economou, Sunggone Hwang , Jakov Jakoulov,
Panos Liaropoulos, Ivana Lisak, Pedro Malpica, Margaret McAllister,
Apostolos Paraskevas, Mauricio Pauly, Matt Van Brink, Jeremy Van Buskirk, Paul Vash,
Ronald G. Vigue, Julian Wachner, John H. Wallace, Po-Chun Wang.)

FREE
Tsai Performance Center
Boston University

Performing on accordion and keyboard with Gamelan Galak Tika.

THE ANIMAL ESTATES HOME BUYERS' TOUR, a 30-minute musical for children featuring irascible singing animals and kazoos.

The Animal Estates Home Buyers' Tour
Book by Jennifer Greene & Matt Van Brink
Music & Lyrics by Matt Van Brink
Based on Fritz Haeg's "Animal Estates"

Shortened Attention Span Musical Festival
The Players Theater
115 MacDougal St, New York

The students of Concordia Conservatory's chamber music program will premiere a new song cycle of mine commissioned by the Conservatory with support from the ASCAP Foundation.

FREE
Sommer Center, Concordia College, Bronxville, NY

Sybarite5 will perform my arrangement of Perapaskero's Turceasca on three concerts at The Cell. Also includes music by Deborah Barnekow, Tom Osborne, Led Zeppelin, Dave Brubeck, and Radiohead.

"Explore/Innovate/Advance"
The Cell Theatre
338 West 23rd St. NYC
Tickets $20/$15

... music directing and playing Joelle Lurie's show "This Time Tomorrow."
The Metropolitan Room
34 West 22nd St., NYC
Tickets: Thursday, Saturday.

Polkastra’s debut album Apolkalypse Now (iTunes LINK) includes my polkafied arrangements of Strauss, Smetana, Beethoven, Wagner, and a traditional Romanian tune. And yes, there will be contrabassoon. $20, Le Poisson Rouge, New York
New York Times Review

Faculty Flute and Clarinet Duo Dr. Lisa Jelle and Dr. Gail Zugger perform SHABU SHABU
Huntington Recital Hall, Capital University
Columbus Ohio LINK

Noah Getz's competition repertoire will include the first movement of my SONATA FOR SAXOPHONE. Good luck, Noah!

Haverhill Sinfonia Soloist Competition
Haverhill Arts Centre, Haverhill UK

With Eddie Whalen, guitar and vocals, I'll be singing and playing accordion in a set filled with
bluegrass, old-time and Appalachian songs, gospel songs from Kentucky Harmony and songs by American songwriters from Stephen Foster and Henry Clay Work to Lead Belly and Hank Williams.
Osilas Gallery at Concordia College, Bronxville, NY

An evening of cabaret songs and excerpts from shows in development with lyrics by Charlie Sohne. Including "I've Got Hope" and "Shine" two songs from our show CLEANER! FASTER! STRONGER!. Also music by Chris Wade, David Gaines, and Tim Rosser.

CAST includes Celina Carvajal (Tarzan, Toxic Avenger and Legally Blonde: The Search for the Next Elle Woods), Sevan Greene (Betrayed), Amy Justman (Company, White Christmas), Jed Resnick (Rent Tour, Avenue Q), Jodi Stevens (Urban Cowboy, Jekyll and Hyde), Mariand Torres (Giant). Music Director: Micah Young, Associate Producer: Donald Butchko

UPDATE: VIDEO 1 "Shine" & VIDEO 2 "I've Got Hope"

Laurie Beechman Theater, 407 W 42nd St NYC
Tickets $10 + $15 food/drink minimum.
Reservations 212.695.6909
LINK (Broadway World)

Sharilyn Spickall, violin and Irina Albig, piano performing UP, UP, and UP
Indiana State University New Music Festival
Center for Performing and Fine Arts

Three of my songs from A SINGLE WINTER'S DAY feature in Concordia Conservatory's musical review "Ten Years of Holiday Magic."

Schoenfeld Hall
Concordia College
Bronxville, NY
Tickets $20/$10
(914)-337-9300 x2431

Performing on accordion with flutist Paul Dunkel. Program includes arrangements of Bach's (attributed) C Major flute sonata and Piazzolla's solo flute sonata. With pianist Peter Basquin.
Christ & St. Stephen's Church
120 West 69th Street, NYC

... music directing and playing Joelle Lurie's Christmas cabaret "The First Joelle.'
with Sean Hackett, guitar & Connor Meehan, drums
The Metropolitan Room
34 West 22nd St., NYC
Reservations: (212) 206-0440

The indomitable Polygraph Lounge perform with members of the Cleveland Orchestra, using my orchestrations of their songs and medleys.
Severance Hall, Cleveland

Music at Concordia Gala Concert. Matt Van Brink & George Francois, pianos.
Sommer Center, Concordia College, Bronxville NY

"Celebrating Lukas" a concert of 5 works by Lukas Foss and a collection of short pieces written by his students, including my 60-second piece GURU

ALEA III, Boston University Chamber Chorus
Theodore Antoniou, conductor, Ann Howard Jones, conductor, Kathleen Boyd, flute, Yukiko Shimazaki, piano, Justin Blackwell, piano

Elegy for Anne Frank, Echoi, For Toru, The Prairie, Behold! I Build an House
plus Eighteen Epigrams (a new work written by Lukas Foss’ students in honor of their teacher
Mark Berger, Ramon Castillo, Michalis Economou, Sunggone Hwang , Jakov Jakoulov,
Panos Liaropoulos, Ivana Lisak, Pedro Malpica, Margaret McAllister,
Apostolos Paraskevas, Mauricio Pauly, Matt Van Brink, Jeremy Van Buskirk, Paul Vash,
Ronald G. Vigue, Julian Wachner, John H. Wallace, Po-Chun Wang.)

FREE
Tsai Performance Center
Boston University

Noah Getz will perform my SONATA FOR SAXOPHONE AND PIANO at the Phillips Collection Sunday Concert Series along with other works with piano, and for saxophone solo.

Concerts are included in museum admission for the day of the performance.
The Phillips Collection Music Room
1600 21st Street, NW, Washington, DC

Performing on accordion in Ramon Castillo's Agak Agak. Gamelan Galak Tika with Ensemble Robot
October 18 at the Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC) in Troy, NY, then
October 30 at Berklee College of Music David Friend Recital Hall, Boston, and
November 22 at Broad Institute Auditorium, Cambridge PHOTOS

Rachel Ciraldo will perform SHABU SHABU with with Linda Cotter, flute on November 7 at at the Louisiana State University Recital Hall, Baton Rouge, LA ... and with Meredith Rouse, oboe (!) on November 13 at Pottle Auditorium, Southeastern Louisiana University, Hammond, LA

Noah Getz will perform my SONATA FOR SAXOPHONE AND PIANO at the Stella Adler School's Harold Clurman Concert Series along with other works with piano, and for saxophone solo.
FREE
with Ann Kang, piano
The Stella Adler School
31 West 27th Street, New York

Hofstra Chamber Singers, directed by David Fryling will perform
A THOUSAND TENDER PASSAGES. Coveting thy neighbor's wife? Presidentially scandalous!

Cathedral of the Incarnation
Cathedral Avenue, Garden City, NY
Tickets $15 / Free for kids & Hofstra community

My arrangements and orchestrations of Robert Honeywell's Lord Oxford... opens on October 23 and runs through November 22, Thursday-Saturday 8pm. I will be joining the band on accordion for the first two shows. The show imagines a revolution against the British in 2008, the colonists having lost the first one back in the 1770s.

With Gyda Arber, Lynn Berg, Audrey Crabtree, Rasheed Hinds, Robert Honeywell, Iracel Rivero, Alyssa Simon. Arrangements and orchestrations by MVB. Developed with Sue Morrison. Written and composed by Robert Honeywell. Directed by Moira Stone

With musicians Maria Dessena, Benjamin Ickies & Abe Pollack.

Tickets & Info
Brick Theater
575 Metropolitan Avenue, Brooklyn

The Ibuki Trio performs my arrangement of Ravel's LE TOMBEAU DE COUPERIN on the Conway Hall Sunday Concert Series
Conway Hall, London UK

This year's Holiday Community Music at Concordia Conservatory is my own, A Single Winter's Day. After writing several 30-minute musical theater pieces for their Summer Musical Theater Workshops, I am excited to have written a new 50-minute work. The musical was commissioned by the Conservatory, with support from the ASCAP Foundation, and will be offered as part of its tuition-free community outreach program, intended for students age 6-18.

PHOTOS
MP3 ("A Winter Town in the Winter Time")

Schoenfeld Campus Center
Concordia College
Bronxville, NY
Tickets $20 / $10

... including the premiere performance of INITIAL ASCENT, for two pianos.

Stephanie Ho & Saar Ahuvia DUO play works by New York composers. Music by Richard Rodney Bennett, Philippe Bodin, Charles B. Griffin, Jay Anthony Gach, Denise Broadhurst, and MVB. PODCAST @ Queens College site

Samuel J. and Ethel LeFrak Concert Hall
Aaron Copland School of Music
Queens College CUNY
Flushing, NY

The Florida State University College of Music will present my SEXTET during its New Music Festival, January 29-31.

Florida State University
Tallahassee, Florida

I am music directing and accompanying a run of shows for singer Joelle Lurie, including this one, as well as two evenings at the Metropolitan Room.
Vagabond Theater Company Cabin Fever @ Medicine Show Theatre
549 West 52nd St., 3rd floor
Tickets $10

UPDATE: Moved to 14 March

Jennifer Greene, Rami Vamos, Joelle Lurie, and I will present THE ANIMAL ESTATES HOME BUYERS' TOUR, a 30-minute musical for children featuring irascible singing animals and kazoos. Jenn Greene and I developed it last summer in a performance in a version for 24 screaming elementary school-aged kids. This new version reworks the show for 4 mostly non-screaming adults.

The Animal Estates Home Buyers' Tour
Book by Jennifer Greene & Matt Van Brink
Music & Lyrics by Matt Van Brink
Based on Fritz Haeg's "Animal Estates"

Shortened Attention Span Musical Festival
x
Harlem School of the Arts
Gathering Space
645 St. Nicholas Avenue, New York

... music directing and playing Joelle Lurie's new show "This Time Tomorrow."
The Metropolitan Room
34 West 22nd St., NYC
Tickets

I will be giving notation workshops for composition students and presenting a lecture of my music at UNLV.

Nextet will also perform CONTROL ROOM
7:30 PM at Paul Harris Theater, UNLV.

Concordia Conservatory's remarkable student chamber music program will feature not one but two concerts this year. The evening concert will include a performance of my 6-hand piano piece WASHING MACHINE performed by young students from the conservatory. I coached a rehearsal last week and these kids rock. FREE, Sommer Center, Concordia College, Bronxville, NY

CSUN Symphony concert... including the premiere performance of Sic Semper Nobis (“Ever Thus to Us”).  Northridge Composition Prize performance. Plaza del Sol, Tickets $10/$7/$5

The extraordinary Educational Bridge Project hosts cultural exchanges for artists in USA & Russia. My SARABANDE (for six guitars), and PRELUDE MINIATURES will be performed in St Petersburg on May 13 & 14, and I will sing and play two songs from my musical A Single Winter’s Day on May 15 at a reception and concert at the US Consulate. The festival also features music by Ramon Castillo, and music by Russian composers Svetlana Nesterova, Anton Tanonov, Nikolay Mazhara, Ekaterina Blinova, Olga Bochihina, Nikolay Khrust and Vladimir Gorlinsky.

VIDEO (after the jump)

Continue reading "Sarabande for 6 guitars, Prelude Miniatures, Songs from A Single Winter’s Day" »

Lydia Miller will perform my arrangement of LE TOMBEAU de COUPERIN for violin and piano on...
Saturday, May 16, 3:00PM, Macalester Plymouth United Church, St. Paul, MN
& Sunday, May 17, 3:00PM, Bethany Lutheran College, Mankato, MN

Robert and Vladimir had the notion of my turning J.S. Bach's aria ICH HABE GENUG into a piece for cello and piano.  The arrangement works very well, and they will give its first performance in their recital at Mannes. Also on the concert: BEETHOVEN Sonata in D Major, Op. 102 No. 2 | BARBER Songs | BARBER Sonata Op. 6. FREE, Mannes College of Music, 150 W 85th St., NYC

Nancy Reycraft became the music teacher at Bellerose Avenue when I was a student there in 3rd grade. So I am tickled that in her last concerts there in this year of her retirement, she will lead the Chorale (which I sang in, too, of course) in performances of SPRING MORNING. They will perform at the Bellerose Spring Concert II on May 20

FREE, Bellerose Avenue Elementary School, East Northport, NY

The Ansonia Trio performs my arrangement of LE TOMBEAU de COUPERIN
Greenwich House Music School
46 Barrow St., New York
Tickets

Including the premiere performances of LOST! and LOOK BEFORE YOU EAT, two new 25-minute musicals for kids written in collaboration with Claire Simard. FREE, Sommer Center, Concordia College, Bronxville, NY

Previously: 2008 Workshops | 2007 Workshops | 2006 Workshops.

... music directing and accompanying Joelle Lurie's evening of song at the Triad. She really rocks, so if you're in the neighborhood, or in a neighborhood near the neighborhood, drop in with $5 and your ready ears.
with Bob Bowen & Adam Christgau
The Triad Theatre
158 West 72nd Street (Btwn Bway & Columbus)
New York, NY
Tickets $5 via Smarttix or at the door.

UPDATE: VIDEO (after the jump)

Continue reading "Joelle Lurie at the Triad" »

... in a recital including a performance of SONATA FOR ALTO SAXOPHONE and PIANO.
Music at Our Saviour's Atonement (MOSA)
Our Saviour's Atonement Lutheran Church
178 Bennett Avenue, New York City
(one block west of Broadway&189th)
Tickets $8-$12

... presenting a lecture performance of the three compositions commissioned for this year's Student Chamber Concert at Concordia Conservatory. Free!

Concordia Conservatory
Stein Hall
Concordia College, Bronxville, NY

As part of artist Fritz Haeg's Animal Estates prototype installation at the Whitney Biennial, I will be leading a family program for kids age 8-12 and their parents. The program will take place within the installation of animal habitats and we will channel the animal inhabitants through original song and movement. I will be playing accordion, accompanying new songs written especially for this project. Two sessions run on Saturday 3 May 2008 from 10am-12pm and 1pm-3pm. For further information and registration, call (212) 671-5300.

UPDATE: MP3 links for the songs Big Brown Bat and Beaver Dam

... including performances of three new compositions for student ensembles: PRELUDE AND FUGHETTA (flute, violin and cello), MICROWAVE POPCORN, (piano six-hands) and SPRING MORNING (voice, violin, cello & piano). The students will also be performing BLOCK PARTY! (piano six-hands), a piece written for the Spring 2005 concert, as well as new pieces by fellow faculty Rami Vamos.
UPDATE 5 May: View photos of the concert by board member and faculty member Claudia Amboss HERE

Concordia Conservatory
Sommer Center
Concordia College, Bronxville, NY
MAP

... including a performance of A Thousand Tender Passages.
VocalEssence Essentially Choral reading session for new choral music

The Music Room
SPCO Center, Third Floor
408 St. Peter Street
St. Paul, Minnesota
Free - no ticket required

Gamelan Galak Tika with Ensemble Robot @ International Festival of Arts and Ideas
World Stage, New Haven Green, New Haven, CT
I will be joining Galak Tika on accordion as they once again team up with Ensemble Robot for a Balinese - Electronic extravaganza! Don't miss this outdoor concert with rocking gamelan, electric guitars, and circuit-banging robots!

UPDATE: Here is a short video with lots of good footage of the show: LINK

... including the premiere performance of The Animal Estates Home Buyer's Tour &
Always Call Your Parents

Sommer Center
Concordia College
Bronxville, NY
FREE

Continue reading "Concordia Conservatory Musical Theater Workshops | Animal Estates & Always Call Your Parents" »

... performing on accordion
KURT WEILL The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny
Erik Nielsen, conductor
Fully-staged production, sung in English
Tanglewood Music Center Theater
Lenox, Mass.

... presents a benefit concert entitled "New Beginnings." The concert features the premiere performance of FOR THE BROTHERS, three songs on poems of Hannah Senesh.
performers include the Miró Quartet, Hazzan Neil Blumofe, tenor and guitarist Matthew Hinsley, and saxophonist Harvey Pittel.
Congregation Agudas Achim
Dell Jewish Community Campus
7300 Hart Lane, Austin, Tex.
Tickets $18 / $36
Reception to follow
Preconcert reception $136
contact Rochelle Kraus
(512) 388-2398

I am thrilled to be writing a piece for this concert, organized by Rachel Ciraldo. The piece (for baritone voice, violin, cello, harp and guitar) sets short poems in Hebrew by Hannah Senesh. The selected poems reflect the "new beginnings" theme of the concert.

... including the premiere performance of my arrangement for piano trio of Ravel's LE TOMBEAU DE COUPERIN.
Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall
57th Street & 7th Avenue, New York
Tickets $24 / $10

... in a recital including the premiere performance of SARABANDE.
Directed by Nicholas Ciraldo
Marsh Auditorium
University of Southern Mississippi
Hattiesburg, Miss.
FREE

... in a late show at Waltz Astoria. Grab a beer and enjoy a concert including my arrangement of Ravel's LE TOMBEAU DE COUPERIN. The concert also includes trio by Novak, Brahms, and Cassado. Stella Trio: Jannina Barefield, violin; Laura Metcalf, cello; Monica Chung, piano
Ditmars Boulevard beetween 23rd and 24th Streets (N,W to Ditmars Blvd/31st Street)
$10 cover

... in a faculty recital including a performance of PRELUDE MINIATURES, which Nick has also recorded for an upcoming CD.
Marsh Auditorium
University of Southern Mississippi
Hattiesburg, Miss.
FREE

including the premiere performances of two works for young ensembles: WASHING MACHINE, for 6-hands piano and PRELUDE, DIALOGUE & GUNBATTLE for piano, bass, guitar & drums.
Sommer Center
Concordia College
Bronxville, NY
FREE

I am so proud of Concordia Conservatory's Chamber Music program. In addition to their regular lessons at the school, students have the opportunity to play chamber music with other students of similar ability. And when an oddball instrumentation bubbles to the surface, director Kathleen Suss turns to her composers to fill the bubbles. Both writing this music and coaching the ensembles are big, big fun.

... in a program of music for flute and guitar including BIRTHDAY WISH. Performed by Franco Capri, guitar, Stefano Cogolo, flute
also on the program:

Alvin Curran - da “Saltando in padella”
Ak2deru - II/III
Cristiano Vecchi - Anello di Saturno n°
Ak2deru - Capriccio n°1
Cristiano Vecchi - Anello di Saturno n°2
Ak2deru - Capriccio n°2
Cristiano Vecchi - Anello di Saturno n°4
Giovanni Guaccero - Flute Dance
Emmanuel Louis - I don't know how, but the doctor found a bicycle inside of my thumb

Dal Suono Sommerso (From Submerged Sound) is dedicated to the diffusion and the production of new compositions, especially that of young composers, both in Italy and in other countries. Through a series of initiatives, and in particular through concerts, it explores alternative methods of diffusing the “Young Music,” individualizing new spaces for encounters with the public and creating a network of contacts that favors cultural exchange among different countries.

... including the first performance of Pollinated! The Musical and a revue of new songs for middle schoolers.
Sommer Center
Concordia College
Bronxville, NY
FREE

... including a performance of SHABU SHABU for flute and clarinet
with Jeremy Reynolds, clarinet
National Flute Association Annual Convention
Albuquerque Convention Center
Albuquerque, New Mexico

Nova Chamber Artists
a concert of chamber music including my STRING QUARTET
Tenri Cultural Institute
43A West 13th Street, New York

In recitals including DAL DOSAI and also including a new work by Tamar Muskal

20 April 2006 @ New Jersey City University
23 April 2006 @ Congregation Emanu-El of Westchester
1 May 2006 @ Christ & St. Stephen's Church, New York

in concerts including THE LOWER LEAVES OF TREES

San Francisco Choral Artists presents "Slightly Cloudy with a Chance of Song," a concert featuring intriguing works celebrating nature and the natural landscape.

Sunday 11 June 4:00 PM @ St, Paul's Episcopal Church, Oakland
Saturday 17 June 8:00 PM @ St, Mark's Episcopal Church, Palo Alto
Sunday 18 June 4:00 PM @ Church Of St. Gregory Nyssen, San Francisco

in concerts including THE LOWER LEAVES OF TREES

San Francisco Choral Artists presents "Slightly Cloudy with a Chance of Song," a concert featuring intriguing works celebrating nature and the natural landscape.

Sunday 11 June 4:00 PM @ St, Paul's Episcopal Church, Oakland
Saturday 17 June 8:00 PM @ St, Mark's Episcopal Church, Palo Alto
Sunday 18 June 4:00 PM @ Church Of St. Gregory Nyssen, San Francisco

San Francisco Choral Artists presents "Slightly Cloudy with a Chance of Song," a concert featuring works celebrating nature and the natural landscape, including THE LOWER LEAVES OF TREES

Sunday 11 June 4:00 PM @ St, Paul's Episcopal Church, Oakland
Saturday 17 June 8:00 PM @ St, Mark's Episcopal Church, Palo Alto
Sunday 18 June 4:00 PM @ Church Of St. Gregory Nyssen, San Francisco

... including the premiere performances of two new 30-minute musicals for kids: The Hidden Kingdom of Kindness and The Musical Comedy of Errors

Sommer Center
Concordia College
Bronxville, NY
FREE

in a Gala Concert including DAL DOSAI
34th National Flute Association Convention
David Lawrence Convention Center, Pittsburgh