Thursday, October 14, 2010

Ursula Oppens in N.Y. Premiere of Alvin Singleton's 'BluesKonzert' at Carnegie Hall Oct. 15



[TOP: The Singing Rooms; PraiseMaker; TelArc. CENTER: Alvin Singleton. BOTTOM: Ellington & The Modern Masters; BluesKonzert; Detroit Symphony Orchestra; Neeme Järvi and Leslie B. Dunner, conductors; Ursula Oppens, piano; DSO-1003 (1999)]

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As one of the many highlights of his 70th birthday year in 2010, Alvin Singleton sees his BluesKonzert debut in New York City on October 15 in Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall with the American Composers Orchestra led by George Manahan. A 17-minute concerto for piano and orchestra, BluesKonzert was composed in 1995 following the death of Singleton's long-time friend and noted jazz saxophonist and composer Julius Hemphill. Dedicated to Hemphill, BluesKonzert was commissioned by a consortium of the Houston Symphony Orchestra, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and the Kansas City Symphony for Hemphill’s long time companion, pianist Ursula Oppens.

“Oppens recorded the work live in 1999 for the Orchard label with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and Leslie B. Dunner during Singleton’s residency there. Jack Sullivan writing in American Record Guide comments on the recording: 'The most beautiful and original piece [on the disc], Alvin Singleton’s BluesKonzert floats on a mysterious impressionist cloud. A delicate piano solo played hypnotically by veteran pianist Ursula Oppens sings and trills high above dreamlike orchestral chords that gradually fade into infinity. It's a haunting and elegant piece…'

“Singleton’s work is regarded as an eloquent fusion of contrasting compositional elements, a style fully evident in BluesKonzert. The Brooklyn native seamlessly welds jazz with contemporary technique, uniquely exploring both harmony and structure within the realm of his concerto. Composer Carman Moore writes on BluesKonzert: 'Very carefully-crafted, the work presents a series of contrasting sections and mood changes, leading inexorably one into the other, each intensifying in its own way—sometimes through dogged repetition, sometimes by subtle instrumental and harmonic additions... but the listener is always kept in rapt tension, wondering “what’s coming?”'

“Singleton's 70th birthday has been celebrated all around the country this season and last with events that include: the Carnegie Hall debut of his 2008 work Brooklyn Bones for tenor, chorus and ensemble; the world premiere of Almost A Boogie by the Walden Chamber Players; and composer residencies at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Columbia University for their first ever Jazz Composers Orchestra Workshop.

“This fall Alvin Singleton’s monumental work for chorus and orchestra PraiseMaker was released on a new Telarc recording by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus conducted by Robert Spano: '[PraiseMaker] is homophonic but uses that simplicity as a virtue, building up a raw and concentrated spiritual intensity, with flashes of rage. Singleton’s music here makes a potent impact from a limited palette.' – Pierre Ruhe, Atlanta Journal Constitution 'The real choral winner is Alvin Singleton’s PraiseMaker, a piece of extraordinary depth and emotion. The work intends on being a universal secular celebration of accomplishments and learning. This it indeed does, and I found it enthralling from first to last…' – Steven Ritter, audiophileaudition.com

For more information on the New York premiere of BluesKonzert, visit http://www.americancomposers.org. Learn more on Alvin Singleton at
http://www.schott-music.com and http://www.alvinsingleton.com.
Purchase the Telarc CD here.

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