Hey Friend!
It's CUT TIME! And I have a lot of celebrations to share today!
First and foremost is that I’ve cleared up my claim as a gig worker to finally receive Pandemic Unemployment Assistance dating back over a year! I was able to pay back several friends for personal loans, and relieve those who just gave me money, including my dear Bass Mom Barbara VanDusen. After 10 years of steady support, I was able to thank her by composing and performing Romance Indeed, a new romantic work, at All Seasons Birmingham with dozens attending (picture at top).
In March the famous Orpheus Chamber Orchestra in NYC invited me to create a new arrangement of Haydn’s Seven Last Words for string orchestra, oboe and horn for a streamed performance with a social justice theme by theologian Dr. Keri Day. The hour-long video is here and is quite moving. Tickets are $5 and up.
My first job was principal bass for 3 years at the Canton Symphony Orchestra of Ohio back in the 1980s. Not only is the beloved music director Gerhardt Zimmermann still there, but he has been trying to schedule a performance of my debut work, Essay No. 1 After Sibelius, for 10 years now. That day should arrive February 13, 2022,
and I will be on hand to set context and some balances. Meanwhile, the
CSO invited me to speak on their pioneering podcast series
“Orchestrating Change,” which is now available here,
about my experience of inequities in the industry and how we can move
forward, possibly with the help of CutTime® attitudes, methods and sheet
music publications.
I also spoke to their initial class of Summer Leadership Program.
It feels like a great homecoming to teach eager students around
Cleveland.
Another such homecoming was to make my compositional debut in Colorado by the National Repertory Orchestra performing my popular Pork ‘n Beans
in Breckenridge recently. I attended this summer training orchestra in
1982, and began working closely with its long-time music director Carl Topilow
at the Cleveland Institute of Music for conducting and audition
classes. I could not travel to the concert; nor was it streamed. So I
look forward to having an archival recording soon.
Our ProMusica of Detroit concert with CutTime Simfonica® and interview continues to draw attention, inc. a written review. We even aired a follow-up interview recently. If you want to skip the rambling interview segments, here is the YouTube playlist featuring just the musical tracks (6) featuring Michigan Opera Theater Orchestra Concertmaster Eliot Heaton! These are now our best videos
to showcase my work arranging, composing and building new pathways for
classical music to belong to everyone. I remain ever grateful.
Healthwise, I have been cycling strongly again this year, as well
as subbing into Michigan Philharmonic and Detroit Symphony, despite some
stubborn lower back issues. Requests for CutTime ensembles did not
materialize this summer, so I took the time to heal, and had a
breakthrough POP 10 days ago! Barring another virus surge in Michigan, I
hope to produce a well-rehearsed, full concert this fall premiering
FOUR new works from last year, plus the haunting, unrecorded Idyll for English horn and strings. We’ll fundraise for this concert and a video release to share freely online. I will have also polished Essay No. 2 Never Forget, and will start sending scores out to conductors.
Speaking of whom, I want to remember a very beloved, indefatigable conductor-pianist-teacher who recently passed away. Byron Hanson (pictured below) was an Interlochen legend,
having worked tirelessly with its founder Joe Maddy. He was everywhere
on campus, knew every music student, gave extra time to any who asked,
and passed on his addiction for musical details and history to most of
us. He accompanied me on three recitals, two concerto competitions, took
me to Flapjack Shack, and even offered to teach me to CONDUCT the
Interlochen Arts Academy orchestra in a reading of Shostakovich’s Fifth
Symphony. (I stuck with just playing.) Alas, I never had his gifts for
teaching. But his modeling of preparedness, precision and passion remain
with me. Thank you Byron!
And thank YOU friend for reading, caring and referring CutTime for classical music entertainment.
Stay SAFE out there!
- Rick Robinson
Artistic Director, CutTime Productions
