On Saturday, January 30, at 7:30pm, the New Music Circle will host a benefit concert at the Kranzberg Arts Center, 501 N. Grand for Zimbabwe Nkenya.  Zimbabwe, one of our community’s most beloved and respected musicians, suffered a stroke last Fall. We hope that by taking voluntary donations at the door we will be able to aid in the payment of his medical expenses and his physical recovery, 100% of the proceeds going to support this cause.

Zimbabwe Nkenya http://www.myspace.com/zimbabwenkenya has pursued a musical career as one of the more accomplished and adventurous double bass players, but his aspirations were never limited to instrumental performance. Before coming to St. Louis in 2007, he spent 20 years in New Mexico as an educator of young children, clinician, visual artist and radio announcer. His tireless devotion to community projects has led him to collaborate with a wide variety of musicians, poets and even visual artists.

So…. now it’s our turn to show him that we can rally together in his time of need and come out as the strong community that we are!

Performers at the benefit will be myself, Jim Hegarty and Deb Summers, representing NMC; Baba Mike Nelson, Bobo Shaw, Dave Cheli’s group “Tribal Chicken”; percussionists, Thomas Zirkle & Matt Henry; poets, Michael Castro and K. Curtis Lyle and others TBA. To stay up do date, visit the New Music Circle website: http://www.newmusiccircle.org

To help SAVE KFUO! scroll down 4 entries.

For those of you who ask where the new cutting music will be coming from in the next decade, look no further than the St. Louis New Music Circle! Our opening concert for the ’09 – ’10 season was the (apparently)  quite controversial Larry Ochs Sax and Drumming Core. An article from the 12/13/09 New York Times describes an encounter with the group by a man who probably thought he was living on the edge just because he happened to be a jazz fan. I’ll quote, enjoy:

“Is contemporary music grounds for arrest? An angry purist attending the Sigüenza Jazz Festival in Spain called the police last week to protest the appearance of the Larry Ochs Sax and Drumming Core, the Guardian of London reported. His doctor had told him that listening to anything but jazz was ‘psychologically inadvisable’. The Civil Guard showed up, armed, and passed the complaint along to a judge. The festival director, Ricardo Checa, told the newspaper El Pais that the jazz purist didn’t get a refund. ‘The question of what constitutes jazz and what does not is obviously a subjective one,’ Mr. Checa said, ‘but not everything is New Orleans funeral music.’ “

I just heard a fabulous new jazz (jazz/fusion) trio last night, led by guitarist and recent St. Louisan, Matthew Von Doran with Steve Davis on drums and Ben Wheeler on acoustic bass. This is music on such a high level of spontaneous interaction that ideas could come from anywhere at anytime. Then add to that arrangements with frequent meter and tempo changes, and you may or may not require the full variety of coffees offered at the Broadway Bean.

As individuals, all three are technically advanced and stylistically broad ranging, so a set will explore at least two or three genres and more often than not, combine them. Matthew may easily run between three or four different guitars on a set, from acoustic to solid body w/”overdrive”. Steve plays a standard kit but with frequent use of brushes and mallets and is constantly exploding with rhythmic ideas and textural colorations. Ben has great melodic ideas, he’s always strong and employs the bow whenever it fits in.

Steve told me that he and Matthew are planning to record a CD together next week, so we’ll definitely want to keep an eye out for that release! Meanwhile, enjoy Matthew’s site http://www.matthewvondoran.com/home.htm, and here’s a link to Steve’s: http://www.stevedavisdrums.com/ Check out the “video & sound” page. He’s got some great sounding clips!

I’ll try to let you know when and where their next trio gig will be, but it will be posted on Matthew’s site, also.

I hope you will join me this coming Wednesday, the 18th, 7:30pm, at the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts (http://www.pulitzerarts.org/events/concerts/urbanalchemy-kurtag/), where  you can see great art and listen to great music all in the same experience! Woodwind quintets by Ligeti and György Kurtág and the Béla Bartók sonata for solo violin will be the sounds; and the sights will be a new installation, called “Urban Alchemy/Gordan Matta-Clark”, all woven together and integrated with commentary by music director, David Robertson. Try it, you’ll love it!

On Friday, Nov. 20, I will be performing with Dave Cheli’s group (woodwinds, piano, drums, guitar) at the St. Charles Coffee House at 8:00pm. Dave is a quite accomplished multi-woodwind player, and his own music combines free improv., swing and rock. I’ll be supplying one of the pieces, but all of the music requires lots of creative input from all the players. Come and enjoy!

I’m sure that some of you have heard about the pending sale of KFUO-FM, here in St. Louis. The demise of classical music on radio has become widespread, but the situation in our St. Louis community is particularly dire, because we have relied upon KFUO to give us concert announcements, interviews with local arts presenters and even “live” broadcasts of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. Below, I have copied a letter from the SLSO, which some of you may have already received, explaining the situation quite clearly and supplying you with links and phone #s at the bottom for writing and phoning in your opinions. Also, here’s a link to a recent article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch by Sarah Bryan Miller with an even more pointed and detailed accounting.: http://www.stltoday.com/blogzone/culture-club/culture-club/2009/10/lcmskfuo-noemi-neidorffs-letter/ As I have done, I hope you will all express yourselves and help me take action on this matter!

The sale of St. Louis’ only classical music station was announced this morning, Tuesday, October 6, 2009. KFUO-Classic 99 (99.1FM), which is owned by the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, was sold to Gateway Creative Broadcasting, which plans to change the station to JOY FM, a contemporary Christian music station. The sale is pending approval from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). You may read the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s report on the sale here.

KFUO-Classic 99 has been providing classical music to the St. Louis community for over 60 years. The Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra has a long and valued relationship with KFUO. During the 2009-2010 season, Saturday night orchestral concerts have been broadcast live on Classic 99. The SLSO is one of only a handful of orchestras in the United States to offer live broadcasts.

The SLSO, along with many of its fans and friends in the local artistic community, believes the loss of KFUO-Classic 99 would diminish the cultural diversity of the St. Louis community. With the loss of KFUO, the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, one of the cultural jewels of the city, would lose a vital advocate. The sounds of classical music over the region’s airwaves would be silenced.

We suggest that you express your opinion on the pending sale of KFUO. You may contact the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod via its website or e-mail its Board of Directors: bod@lcms.org. Or you may reach the Synod by phone 1-888-THE-LCMS (843-5267).

This Saturday, 10/3, the New Music Circle will begin its 51st season at the Mildred E. Bastian Theatre with a concert of interactive media (piano, electronics and video) presented by James Hegarty (Visit http://www.newmusiccircle.org for all details). I attended one of his concerts last season and was nothing short of amazed at how effortlessly and tastefully he is able to blend various electronic sounds and media with his highly virtuosic level of pianism. http://www.jimhegarty.com

As if to take “Multi-media” as a possible theme for this season’s events, other examples would be: Craig Hultgren – cello, synthesizer & poetry; Robert Voisey (“60X60” Dance) – recorded music by new composers & ‘live’ dance; Van McElwee – new video & ‘live’ music. These are only three of the ten concerts on our season, so for all the personnel and details, visit: http://www.newmusiccircle.org/calendar.htm

Also starting this week (what a week!) will be the opening chamber concert of the Pulitzer Series on Wednesday, 09/30. Directed by David Robertson, his pre-concert introduction, relating the music to art works surrounding you at the Pulitzer Foundation, along with historical anecdotes about the composers, insures that your experience will be communicative and intimate. The opening concert on Wed. will feature works by Elliott Carter, Salvatore Sciarrino and Jonathan Harvey. For more details: http://www.pulitzerarts.org/events/concerts/idealdisplacements-harvey/

And of course, The St. Louis Symphony has just opened its new season with lots of new music being presented! Just scroll down 3 entries on this blog to read my entry from a while back.

I just wanted to let you all know about a sensational group, called Dances of India. I saw them perform last season, and the level of rhythmic intricacy and choreography in the dancing is amazing. Their elongated metric patterns make our little 7/8s & 5/4s look like child’s play! But most importantly, the precision and elegance in the dancing makes the presentation a thing of beauty to behold.
They are performing this Friday & Saturday – 7:00pm; and Sunday – 3:00pm at the Edison Theatre.
Here’s a link to their site if you want to learn more about their whole season:  http://www.dancesofindiastlouis.org/

Hi Everybody, I hope you had a good summer. I used part of mine to record a new solo flute piece, called “Solo Extensions”. It’s the latest in a series of flute pieces which employ extended techniques (harmonics, multiphonics, sing/play and a few sounds that I make up on my own and don’t have a name for yet) but each one is in a different setting. A previous work, “Voices”, which is # 3 on my MP3 Player, combines flute sounds with synthesizer, and while the new piece is unaccompanied, it develops through a wide range of moods and tempos.
I hope you enjoy it and get back to me with your opinions and suggestions.

Here’s the link to my MP3 Player with “Solo Extensions” at the top of the playlist: http://www.tompkinsjazz.com/jukebox

Since the pieces on the player are NON downloadable, I have also added “Solo Extensions” to my Amie Street site, where the sound samples are short, but if you liked what you heard on my MP3 Player and decide that you want to upload it to your iPod and take it jogging, you can download the whole piece (It’s an MP3 file.) for free. On Amie Street, after a number of people have downloaded a piece, the cost gradually goes up in small increments. (If you want to learn more, click “How It Works”  when you get there.) Here’s the link to the page on my Amie Street site with “Solo Extensions”:
http://amiestreet.com/music/fred-tompkins/ , then scroll down past “Top Songs”.

Now that we’re talking about extended techniques, a few other collaborations  come to mind – my work with French Hornist, John Clark and Bb clarinetist, Bryant Hayes. Most of that work will be released on upcoming CDs, but right now you should check out a piece called “Waltz Variations”, featuring Bryant Hayes (a specialist in extended techniques). It’s included on a CD of the best of my ’70s & ’80s work, called “Cécile”, available here on my site (Click on the “CDs” link at the top of this page.)

A final heads up: In case the first piece on the MP3 Player still shows “Textures” instead of “Solo Extensions”, just empty the cache in your browser. That should clear things up.

Enjoy the music and don’t be shy about leaving your comments, pro or con.

ST. LOUIS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Now that the season is winding down for many of the series which feature new music, it’s time to start thinking about some of those wonderful new works which will be featured by the St. Louis Symphony in ’09-’10, and take a look into their upcoming programs: http://www.slso.org/

If it’s not too contradictory to employ the term “familiar modern works”, then certainly a few of my absolute favorites should be mentioned as highlights of the new symphony season: Bela Bartok’s “The Miraculous Mandarin Suite” comes with a fascinating narrative and colorful, wildly percussive climaxes; Samuel Barber’s “Violin Concerto” is rich in beautiful melodies but solid in tight construction, with one of the most exciting and virtuosic final movements you’ll ever hear! Other classic works are so enduring that they deserve to be restated every so often, i.e.: Barber’s “Adagio”, Copland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man”.

Slightly less familiar composers to be highlighted in the new season will be Osvaldo Golijov (“Azul”, a cello concerto, performed by the Symphony’s own Daniel Lee); Tan Dun (Remember his opera, “The First Emperor”, shown last season at the Art Museum in video simulcast from the Met? In fact, “Water Concerto” is entirely different, but it happens to be featured in one of the more intriguing programs of the new season, called Powerful Percussion); Christopher Rouse (Actually, quite familiar to St. Louis audiences, his new work, “Rapture”, is a bright piece filled with rhythmic energy.); Others in this general category might be Roy Harris, Gustav Holst, Györgi Ligeti (“Violin Concerto” is one of his late works but one of his finest.) and John Adams (“Doctor Atomic – symphony” – If you missed the opera version, recently simulcast “live” from the Met, an interesting video has just been released which documents the production of the opera and its main theme, the Manhattan Project.)

In the category of “composers that even Fred has barely heard of” would be: Magnus Lindberg (a Finnish composer – I know and love his “Clarinet Concerto”, so if  “Parade” is half as good, we’re in for treat.); Luca Francesconi; Connesson and Bernd Alois Zimmermann.

So, if you’re like me and you get excited when you see unfamiliar names that you have a hard time spelling, and equally excited by more familiar names like Janacek (but obviously have no idea how to make the accents on the keyboard) or the standard repertory, there will be plenty to savor in the St. Louis Symphony’s 2009-2010 season!