The CUNY Graduate Center

Composers' Alliance

Sequence #2Dan Blake, saxophone

Dan Blake

TodesfugeDennis Tobenski, tenor

Mia Elezovic, piano

Casey Hale

Sonata in DI. Distant Fanfares

II. Dance

III. Barcarole (Im Spreewald)

IV. March

David Salvage, piano

David Salvage

Number 17Dan Blake, saxophone

David Salvage, pianoCasey Hale, laptop

Paul Vidal

The Ph.D./D.M.A. Programs in Music

Tuesday, May 12th, 2009, 7:30 p.m.

Baisley Powell Elebash Recital Hall

Please switch off your cell phones and refrain from taking flash pictures.

Program Notes

Sequence #2

This is part of a larger work in progress for solo saxophone, which charts a path

through an uncharted area of the instrument. Tonight's performance focuses on

multiple tones, or multiphonics, which offer a rich array of harmonic, melodic, and

textural possibilities. – Daniel Blake

Paul Celan's Todesfuge (Death Fugue) is one of the best-known poems on the

holocaust. It was written shortly after Celan himself was freed from internment in

a Romanian forced labor camp in 1944, though its imagery is drawn from accounts

of the death camps in Poland. the translation provided below is somewhat my own,

though largely indebted to the efforts of Michael Hamburger, Karl S. Weimar and

John Felstiner. – Casey Hale

Sonata in D

Movements one and two of the Sonata in D were written in 2003 and 2004;

movements three and four were written this year. After writing a number of pieces

in what I regard to be a cerebral, “high” style, returning to the Sonata after five

years offered me a chance to relax and write music that is thoroughly accessible

and traditional.

The third movement bears some elaboration. The music narrates in sound a canoe

trip my girlfriend and I took in Germany in August of 2007. About two-thirds of the

way through, we heard a sound that seemed to be a cross between a train whistle

and some cowbells. After a few peals, it stopped, and we rowed our way through

the quiet waters back to the livery.

The Sonata’s duration is around 23 minutes. – David Salvage

Number 17 takes as its starting point a realization of a keyboard harmony exercise

from Paul Vidal's "Basses et Chantes Données," as passed down by his student

Nadia Boulanger and her student Narcis Bonet. – Casey hale

Composer Bios

Dan Blake has been featured as a composer and saxophonist throughout Europe,

South America, and the United States. He has appeared on recording and in

performance with Kenny Werner, Herbie Hancock, Danilo Perez, and many others.

His compositions have been performed by Duo Diorama, redfish bluefish ensemble,

and The Cygnus Ensemble, among others. For his work as a composer, Dan Blake

was awarded the John Lennon Songwriting Contest’s Grand Prize, ASCAP’s Young

Jazz Composer’s award, and City University’s 2008 Morton Feldman Composition

Award. Since February 2007, Dan Blake co-founded and co-curates the “Defacto

Series,” a concert series dedicated to experimental multi-media and improvised music

in Brooklyn.

He is Currently pursuing a Ph.D. in composition at the City University of New York

Graduate Center, where he also serves as adjunct lecturer in music history. He

currently studies composition with Robert Dick. Past teachers include Steve Lacy,

John McDonald, Tania León, and Jason Eckardt.

Casey Hale is a composer and guitarist. Called by the Cleveland Plain Dealer "a

skilled craftsman with a keen ear for colorful and yearning sonic possibilities," he

has worked primarily in the context of orchestral and chamber music, and has

written for the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra, the Orchestra of St. Luke's

Chamber Ensemble, the Woodstock Chamber Orchestra, the American Symphony

Orchestra, the Da Capo Chamber Players, and the Cygnus Ensemble, among others.

As an instrumentalist, he has performed repertoire from the 15th century to the

present in a broad range of styles, playing guitar and lute as a soloist and with

ensembles both small and large. His composition teachers have included Joan

Tower, Margaret Brouwer, Tania León, David Del Tredici, Zhou Long and Lee Hyla,

and he has studied guitar with Luis Garcia-Renart, Gregory Dinger and David

Leisner. He received his BA from Bard College and his MM from the Cleveland

Institute of Music; he currently lives in New York City, where he is pursuing his PhD

at the CUNY Graduate Center and teaching at Brooklyn College. For more

information, please visit www.caseyhale.com.

David Salvage is the composer of over thirty works for a wide variety of ensembles.

His compositions have received prizes from ASCAP, the Society for New Music, the

National Foundation for Advancement of Arts, and the Music Teachers National

Association. His compositions have been played by the Cygnus Ensemble (NYC), the

Newark-Granville Symphony Orchestra (OH), the Lost Dog Ensemble (NYC), the

Harvard Bach Society Orchestra, and the Arcturus Chamber Ensemble (Boston),

baritone Thomas Meglioranza, among other musicians and groups. He is a Senior

Editor of one of the Internet’s most-trafficked new-music websites,

Sequenza21.com. He holds degrees from Harvard, Manhattan School of Music,

and the City University of New York and is a two-time alumnus of the Conservatoire

Americain in Fontainebleau, France. He has been in residency at the Atlantic Center

for the Arts and taught composition at Brooklyn College. Currently at work on a

piece for clarinet and orchestra for the principal clarinetist of the Columbus

Symphony Orchestra, he will be an Assistant Professor of Fine Arts at Hampden-

Sydney College in Virginia beginning this fall.

Performer Bios

Born on April 18, 1982, Dennis Tobenski grew up in Kankakee, IL. In 2004, he

graduated from Illinois State University, where he studied Vocal Performance and

Music Theory. After finishing his Bachelor's degree, Dennis studied privately in

New York with composer Daron Hagen. He will complete his graduate studies in

composition at the City College of New York this May, where he is a student of

David Del Tredici.

With composer Jeff Algera, Dennis founded the Tobenski-Algera Concert Series,

which is devoted to the presentation of new works by young and emerging

composers.  In 2007, he sang the premiere of the piano-vocal version of David Del

Tredici's song cycle Gay Life with tenor Rob Frankenberry and Del Tredici at the

piano. Dennis will also sing the role of Stanley in the premiere of Roger Zahab's

opera Hegemony later this year.

Dennis has received fellowships from the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, the

Prairie Center of the Arts, the Ucross Foundation, and the Staunton Music

Festival.

Current and recent commissions include: echoes (2008) for soprano and piano on

poetry by Mark Statman, commissioned by the Staunton Music Festival in Staunton,

VA; at least a moment (2008-09) for soprano and harp, on poetry by Kenneth Koch,

commissioned by harpist Megan Sesma and soprano Patricia Schuman; a new work

for piccolo trumpet and string quartet, commissioned by David Glukh; a duo for

violin and piano, commissioned by Roger Zahab; and two new works for choir,

commissioned by Dr. Karyl Carlson and the Illinois State University Concert Choir.

Dennis currently resides in New York City.

Todesfuge by Paul Celan

Schwarze Milch der Frühe wir trinken sie abendswir trinken sie mittags und morgens wir trinken sie nachtswir trinken und trinkenwir schaufeln ein Grab in den Lüften da liegt man nicht engEin Mann wohnt im Haus der spielt mit den Schlangen der

schreibtder schreibt wenn es dunkelt nach Deutschland dein goldenes

Haar Margareteer schreibt es und tritt vor das Haus und es blitzen die Sterne

er pfeift seine Rüden herbeier pfeift seine Juden hervor läßt schaufeln ein Grab in der

Erdeer befiehlt uns spielt auf nun zum Tanz

Schwarze Milch der Frühe wir trinken dich nachtswir trinken dich morgens und mittags wir trinken dich abendswir trinken und trinkenEin Mann wohnt im Haus der spielt mit den Schlangen der

schreibtder schreibt wenn es dunkelt nach Deutschland dein goldenes

Haar MargareteDein aschenes Haar Sulamith wir schaufeln ein Grab in den

Lüften da liegt man nicht eng

Er ruft stecht tiefer ins Erdreich ihr einen ihr andern singet und spielt

er greift nach dem Eisen im Gurt er schwingts seine Augen sind blau

stecht tiefer die Spaten ihr einen ihr andern spielt weiter zum Tanz auf

Schwarze Milch der Frühe wir trinken dich nachtswir trinken dich mittags und morgens wir trinken dich abendswir trinken und trinkenein Mann wohnt im Haus dein goldenes Haar Margaretedein aschenes Haar Sulamith er spielt mit den SchlangenEr ruft spielt süßer den Tod der Tod ist ein Meister aus

Deutschlander ruft streicht dunkler die Geigen dann steigt ihr als Rauch in

die Luftdann habt ihr ein Grab in den Wolken da liegt man nicht eng

Schwarze Milch der Frühe wir trinken dich nachtswir trinken dich mittags der Tod ist ein Meister aus

Deutschlandwir trinken dich abends und morgens wir trinken und trinkender Tod ist ein Meister aus Deutschland sein Auge ist blauer trifft dich mit bleierner Kugel er trifft dich genauein Mann wohnt im Haus dein goldenes Haar Margareteer hetzt seine Rüden auf uns er schenkt uns ein Grab in der

Lufter spielt mit den Schlangen und träumet der Tod ist ein

Meister aus Deutschland

dein goldenes Haar Margaretedein aschenes Haar Sulamith

Black milk of daybreak we drink it at sundownwe drink it at midday and morning we drink it at nightwe drink and we drinkwe dig a grave in the air there one lies unconfinedA man lives in the house he plays with his serpents he writeshe writes at dusk to Germany your golden hair Margaretehe writes it and steps outside and the stars are sparkling he

whistles his hounds beside himhe whistles his Jews before him has them dig a grave in the

earthhe commands us to strike up for the dance

Black milk of daybreak we drink you at nightwe drink you at morning and midday we drink you at sundownwe drink and we drinkA man lives in the house he plays with his serpents he writeshe writes at dusk to Germany your golden hair MargareteYour ashen hair Sulamith we dig a grave in the air there one lies

unconfined

He shouts stab deeper in the earth you here you others sing and play

He grabs at the iron in his belt he waves it his eyes are blueStab the spades deeper you here you others play on for the dance

Black milk of daybreak we drink you at nightwe drink you at midday and morning we drink you at sundownwe drink and we drinka man lives in the house your golden hair Margareteyour ashen hair Sulamith he plays with his serpentsHe shouts play death more sweetly death is a master from

Germanyhe shouts stroke your strings more darkly then you rise like

smoke in the airthen you have a grave in the clouds there one lies unconfined

Black milk of daybreak we drink you at nightwe drink you at midday death is a master from Germanywe drink you at sundown and morning we drink and we drinkdeath is a master from Germany his eye is bluehe hits you with leaden bullets he hits you truea man lives in the house your golden hair Margaretehe sets his hounds on us he gives us a grave in the airhe plays with his serpents and dreams death is a master from

Germany

your golden hair Margareteyour ashen hair Sulamith

UPCOMING EVENTSSpring 2009

February 9 Bonnie McAlvin, flute11 Dongmyung Ahn, chamber

music17 Concert in Honor of Terry

Winter Owens

19 Music in Midtown [1:00pm]: Chamber Music on Fifth

19 William Hakim, viola23 Yavet Boyadjiev, violin25 Naomi Perley, piano

March 3 Raymond Erickson, chamber

music 5 Music in Midtown [1:00pm]:

Imani Winds 5 Julia Biber, cello 9 Marta Bedowska, cello11 Composers’ Alliance17 City of the World: Sundar

Shor19 Music in Midtown [1:00pm]:

American Spirituals with Roy Jennings25 John Wriggle: Blue Rhythm

Fantasy

April

2 Music in Midtown [1:00pm]: Mari Kimura, violin

6 Heesun Shin, violin20 City of the World: Korean Traditional Music & Change22 Aleksandra Sarest, piano27 Judy Woo, piano27 Sun Young Park, piano [Proshansky Auditorium]28 Mirna Lekic, piano30 Music in Midtown [1:00pm]:

Orion String Quartet

May 4 Cygnus Ensemble 6 Contemporary Music

Ensemble [8:00pm]12 Composers’ Alliance14 Music in Midtown [1:00pm]:

Manhattan String Quartet14 City of the World: Mariachi

Real & The Mariachi Academy of New York

18 Emiko Sato, chamber music [Segal Theater]

Concert Office212-817-8607

Baisley Powell Elebash Recital Hall ! ! phd-dmaconcert@gc.cuny.edu

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