92Y School of Music Composing with Composers ... - 92nd Street Y

92Y School of Music Composing with Composers Syllabus Course Overview: Led by a team of dynamic composers active in today’s music scene in New York and internationally, this course will introduce the students to various approaches to music composition and performance. The course is conceived as a 12-week composition course for young adults and adults (age 12+), focusing on different composition angles, and culminating in a performance. The course will be taught by the Composers Concordance directors: Dan Cooper, Milica Paranosic and Gene Pritsker. Composers will lead 12 interactive 90 minutes sessions, concentrating on specific compositional approaches. These explorations would lead to the end-of-semester performance, unifying the explored methods. Course dates: Sundays: 3 - 4:30PM Start date: October 14th, 2012 End date: December 30th, 2012 Week-by-week syllabus: Oct 14 Rhythm I Session led by Dan Cooper (musicology) Focus: Afro-Caribbean Music in NYC Faculty opens the session together with a word of welcome and introduction. Lecture-demonstration on Afro-Caribbean music in NYC, including audio-video examples. Discussion of Rhythm as it pertains to composition. Handout: a CD with excerpts Homework assignment: Listen to the CD & select 2 favorites excerpts. Oct 21 Rhythm II Session led by Milica Paranosic (technology) Focus: Sound editing: sound examples that students have selected as their favorites will be used to explore sound editing techniques - cutting/pasting, strip silence, merging, tempo operations. Original one-bar samples will be generated and bounced. A class beat CD will be created.

Oct 28 Rhythm III Session led by Gene Pritsker (improvisation) Focus: Group improvisation based on beats generated in Oct 25th class Free improvisation - Agreeing to basic rules and creating music by listening very carefully to each other. Thematic and rhythmic concepts - focusing on a few simple rhythms; creating our own rhythms and infecting the rest of the group; using rhythms that fall outside simple divisions. Modes and ethnic scale use - experimenting with various modes and scales, as well as quarter tones, non-standard tunings, scales with very few notes, and scales that transcend the octave. Ideas from other cultures as applied to improvisation - Using Indian drones and raga scales, clave, African rhythms, Irish melody interpretations, etc.

Nov 4 Timbre I Session led by Dan Cooper Focus: The Classical Avant-Garde & Electronic Music Lecture-demonstration on music of Ives, Varese, Cowell, Cage, and others in NYC, including the early history of electronic music in the U.S., including audio-video examples. Discussion of Timbre as it pertains to composition. Homework assignment: Using a digital recorder, record the sounds of NYC, and/or the sound of playing a musical instrument in a non-traditional way. Nov 11 Timbre II Session led by Milica Paranosic Focus: Sound processing: using sounds recorded as homework, students will learn sound-processing techniques such as time stretching/compressing, flexi-time and selected plug-ins (reverb, delay, modulation) to create ambient and atmospheric sounds. New samples will be generated and bounced. A class ambient CD will be created. Nov 18 Timbre III Session led by Gene Pritsker Focus: Group improvisation based on ambient sounds generated in Nov 11th class Graphic notation – learning how to notate graphically the ambient sounds generated in the previous classes and reading each other’s scores. Imitation Improvisation – Improvise over the recorded ambient sounds by mimicking them and interpreting them on your instrument Improvisation with timbre – free improvisation with sound color only, excluding standard musical elements such as rhythm, harmony, melody, etc. Dec 2 Melody & Harmony I Session led by Dan Cooper Focus: Tin Pan Alley NYC: Songs Lecture-demonstration on music of Gershwin, Kern, Berlin, Carmichael and others in NYC, plus music of singer-songwriters including Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Stevie Wonder and others, including audio-video examples. Discussion of Melody and Harmony as they pertain to composition. Homework assignment: Choose a portion of a favorite poem or even an original text, and record yourself singing it. (Optionally: prepare to play your melody on a keyboard.) Dec 2 Melody & Harmony II

Session led by Milica Paranosic Focus: MIDI: Students’ melodies will be transcribed using Audio-to-MIDI tool or a realtime MIDI input on a keyboard. Scores will be generated and printed.

Dec 9 Melody & Harmony III Session led by Gene Pritsker Focus: song created collectively, based on students’ melodies Improvising an accompaniment – Using the melodies written in the previous classed, we will use our improvisation techniques to create an accompaniment to these musical lines. Homework assignment: Come up with a proposal of the final performance piece Dec 16 Rehearsal I Session led by all faculty Focus: Final performance proposals and discussion, and faculty demonstration of their own compositions as they pertain to subjects explored in class. Homework: prepare for final performance Jan 6 Rehearsal II Session led by all faculty Final performance rehearsal, with guest instrumentalists Homework: prepare for final performance Jan 13 Performance Final performance

Composers’ Bios: DAN COOPER's music has been noted in The Associated Press, American Record Guide, Berkshire Eagle, Boston Globe, CurtainUp, Fanfare, Greenwich Times, Metroland Albany, NMC, The New York Times, Times Union, and Time Out New York, among others - "contemporary impressionism," "inventive," "creative," "vibrant," "drawing on vernacular styles," "especially fascinating," "full of instrumental virtuosity and sly humor," "utterly charming," "incorporates blues.. into a contemporary context," "whimsical," "carefree," "acute," "daring," "well-plotted," "hauntingly beautiful," and with a "spirit of originality, verve, and humor, now being passed on to a new generation." Cooper was born and raised in Manhattan, and educated at Horace Mann, Columbia, NEC, and Princeton University. Principal teachers include John Heiss, Steve Mackey, and Paul Lansky. Cooper also studied with Barbara White, Betsy Jolas, Chen Yi, John Harbison, Kenneth Koch, Lee Hyla, Michael Gandolfi, Mindy Kaufman, Osvaldo Golijov, Perry Cook, Philip Glass, Philippe Manoury, Robert Ceely, and Toni Morrison, among others. For several years, Cooper worked as an assistant to the composer, flutist, and electronic music pioneer Otto Luening, who mentored him in composition, orchestration, and musical life in general. Cooper also completed study at the Conservatoire de Nice and Fontainebleau, where he was awarded a composition prize. The recipient of an Aaron Copland composition fellowship to Tanglewood, Cooper worked as an assistant to Louis Andriessen, and composed and produced incidental music tracks for several acclaimed Shakespeare & Company productions directed by Tina Packer and Daniela Varon: 'A Midsummer Night's Dream,' 'Coriolanus,' 'King Lear,' and 'The Winter's Tale.' In addition, Cooper's music was premiered at Tanglewood's Ozawa Hall, at a gala event featuring Mike Wallace, Jane Fonda, David Strathairn, and Marisa Tomei. As a multi-instrumentalist specializing in 7-string bass guitar and also flute with electronics, Cooper has performed all over the world, as a member of singer Ute Lemper's trio, as well as the groups Vision Into Art, Sound Liberation, Free Radicals, and Erbium, among others. Venues include Anadolu Auditorium Istanbul, Austrian Cultural Forum, Berlin Philharmonic Hall, Bohemian National Hall, Bunkamura Orchard Hall, Casino de Paris, CBGB, Chicago Theater, Davies Hall, Dom Omladine Beograda, Galapagos Art Space, Grande Auditório do Centro Cultural de Belém, Hong Kong City Hall, Irving Plaza, Joe's Pub, Koseinenkin Hall Osaka, Le Poisson Rouge, Lisner Auditorium, Massey Hall, Mercury Lounge, Munich Philharmonic Hall, Palau de la Música Catalana, Piccolo Teatro di Milano, Pori Jazz Festival, Rockefeller Center, Royal Albert Hall, Royal Festival Hall, Royce Hall UCLA, Staatsoper Berlin, Sydney Opera House, Teatro Albeniz Madrid, Teatro Cultura Artística São Paulo, Teatro Grand Rex Buenos Aires, The Blue Note, The Knitting Factory, The Stone, Town Hall, and Weill Recital Hall / Carnegie Hall, among others, plus broadcasts on NBC, BBC, Radio France, Bravo, and RAI. Cooper endorses Overwater basses of Carlisle, U.K. Cooper’s music has been recognized with various awards, commissions, premieres, recordings, showcases, and residencies from Albany Symphony, Albany Records, ASCAP, Artists International, B3+, Cary Trust, Circadia, Electro-Music, Empire State Youth Orchestra, Engine 27, Femmes Four, Fontainebleau, Imani Winds, ISC, June in Buffalo, Lumina String Quartet, Majestic Brass, Meet the Composer, NARAS, NEA, NEC, NYNME, NYYS, North River Music, Norwalk Youth Symphony, Palisades Virtuosi, Scotia Festival, ACO / Sonic Festival, Sweet Plantain, Vox Novus 60x60, Walter W. Naumburg Fund, and Zentripetal Duo, among others. In 2002, he was appointed to the faculty of the State University of New York / FIT, where he has created new SUNY General Education Requirement courses in American Music, European-Classical Music, and Latin-American and Caribbean Music. In addition, Cooper teaches music and Shakespeare classes at Greenwich House Senior Center. He is a co-director of the 501(c)(3) chamber music series and record label Composers Concordance, distributed by Naxos. http://www.dancooper.com

Photo by Jocelyn Gonzales Critically acclaimed composer Milica Paranosic has established herself as one of New York’s finest and most daring performance artists, producers, and technologists. The New York Times described her music as: “Amazing…astonishing,” and, “Like liquor-filled pralines,” by Germany’s Morgenpost; “A painter, a musical Jackson Pollack,” by SEAMUS. Milica’s works range from one-woman multimedia shows and sound installations to operatic and symphonic works. Her theatre and film soundtracks have appeared in award winning movies, released on Bridge, Electroshock, Albany and The New Sound record labels. Inspired by her travels and international collaborations, Milica ingeniously incorporates music of her Serbian homeland in addition to cross-continental muses such as Brazil and Ghana. Milica strives to create new sound worlds in which contrasting concepts vividly coexist in unique textures. Milica is co-director of Composers Concordance and has won many honors and awards including ASCAP Plus Awards, the John Erskine Prize, Meet the Composers Grant, and Whitaker New Music Reading Sessions. Her most recent award is the American Composers Orchestra's Carnegie Hall commission for a debut in the 2012-13 season. Since 1995, Milica has been on the music faculty of The Juilliard School where she co-founded and produced Beyond the Machine, Juilliard’s Festival of Electronic and Interactive Music. She has also taught and created curricula in varied settings such as Belgrade Music University, San Diego State University, and Franklin Marshall College. Adept at teaching a variety of ages, she has taught preschool through

high school in New York City public schools, Brotherhood Sister Sol, and 92nd Street Y. She maintains an active private teaching studio, working with professional musicians and beginners, ranging from 5 to 93. Furthering her deep commitment to education and outreach, Milica founded Give to Grow, an education initiative which brings music technology to developing communities in Ghana. For more information, visit www.milicaparanosic.com.

Photo by Gorazd Poposki

Composer/guitarist/rapper/Di.J. Gene Pritsker has written over four hundred compositions, including chamber operas, orchestral and chamber works, electroacoustic music and songs for hip-hop and rock ensembles. All of his compositions employ an eclectic spectrum of styles and are influenced by his studies of various musical cultures. He is the founder and leader of Sound Liberation; an eclectic hiphop-chamber-jazz-rocketc. ensemble who have released cd's on Col-legno and Innova Records. Gene's music has been performed all over the world at various festivals and by many ensembles and

performers, including the Adelaide Symphony, The Athens Camarata, Brooklyn and Berlin Philharmonic. He has worked closely with Joe Zawinul and has orchestrated major Hollywood movies. The New York Times described him as "...audacious...multitalented." Joseph Pehrson, writing in The Music Connoisseur, described Pritsker as "dissolv[ing] the artificial boundaries between high brow, low brow, classical, popular musics and elevates the idea that if it's done well it is great music, regardless of the style or genre". Raul d'Gama Rose writes in All About Jazz: "Barring the obvious exceptions, much of 21st century composition appears to be thinning in significance, but this might be about to change. Gene Pritsker is one of a very spare handful of composers effecting this change." Organizations he is associated with include: Composers' Concordance, Composers' Concordance Records, Absolute Ensemble, The International Street Cannibals and the Austrian Outreach Festival. Gene Pritsker's music is published by: Falls House Press, Gold Branch Music, Periferia Sheet Music & Calabrese Brothers music recordeds on: Col Legno, Enja, Eutrepe, Wergo, Innova , Composers' Concordance Records, and Capstone record labels. 2012 highlights: - Release of the chamber opera 'William James's Varieties of Religious Experiences' on Composers Concordance Records. - 'Cloud Atlas Symphony' will be premiered by Kristjan Jarvi and the Leipzig Radio Symphony in Nov. 2012. It will be released on Sony records in 2014 - Producing The Composers Concordance Festival . Five concerts in one week. Gene has a composition on each. - Release of the the piano concerto 'Reinventions' on Sony Records with Simone Dinnerstein and the Absolute Ensemble, K. Jarvi, conductor - Orchstrated the movie 'Cloud Atlas' directed by Tom Tykwer, Andy Wachowski and Lana Wachowski, to be released world wide in Dec. - Sound Liberation releases 2 singles from their upcoming album 'DAYS' The singles are 'Need' and 'Breath' featuring Chanda Rule on Vocals. - Sound Liberation performs at the BremenMusk Fest 2011 a set of Gene's music including the VRE Suite and selections from the hip-hop chamber opera 'Money' - The Composers Concordance Festival II - 5 concert in a one week span. Gene will have a composition on each concert including the final concert which will launch the Composers concordance Chamber Orchestra - Premiere of a new violin concerto 'Incantation' at the Saint Denis Festival in Paris with Miltos Papastamou and The Absolute Ensemble - Absolute solute Ensemble in Bremen, Germany at the BremenMusk Fest 2012. Premiere of the chamber orchestra piece '40 Changing Orbits' and a performance of 'Incantation' for violin and chamber orchestra as well as performances of various arrangements of Zappa, Zawinul etc. 2011 highlights: - 'solo-duo-trio-quartet-quintet, the chamber and electronic Music of Gene Pritsker' released in February 2011 on , Composers' Concordance Records. -The piano concerto 'Reinventions' recorded for Sony Records with Simone Dinnerstein and the Absolute Ensemble, K. Jarvi, conductor - Violinist Lara St. John premieres and records 'Russian Evening Suite' - Sound Liberation performed at the Bremen Music Festival in September 2011 - Producing many concerts with Composers' Concordance, and The International Street Cannibals Including The Composers Concordance Festival - A new ballet: 'The Report' by Henry Daniel for Di.J. (G.P.) and violinist Peter Krysa. Performedrformed at The Conference on the Conference in Vancouver, Canada. - Premiere of 'Destined' chamber orchestra and Samplestra by the Absolute ensemble at the 2011 Dresden Music Festival - Orchestrating and writing music for the motion picture Cloud Atlas. Starring Tom Hanks and Halle Berry - Release of the album 'Cello Lounge' by Noizepunk & BorisLove on Composers Concordance Records - Premiering 'Expeditions' for narrator, cello, guitar, piano, brass quintet and Di.J. at the 2011 Outreach

Music Festival in Schwaz Austria in August. Also the Cd release concert for 'Cello Lounge' by Noizepunk & BorisLove - Release of the chamber opera 'William James' Varieties of Religious Experiences' on Composers Concordance Records

(Photo by Cecilia Beltran)

Workshop ideas: Concert Production DJing with Computers Early American Music Hip Hop Lyrics History of Film Music iPad Music Apps Multimedia Music of the Great Depression Native American Music New York Styles Orchestration Recording Techniques Songs of the Sixties Songwriting Free improvisation Modes and ethnic scale use Ideas from other cultures as applied to improvisation