Rick Robinson writes:
November 30, 2018
Dear Friends,
It's been awhile since I wrote to you. CutTime® had a rather wild
August followed by a disappointing 4th quarter. Upcoming gigs and some
new plans promise to make us irresistible if a bit less public next
year.
Thanks to grants from ArtOps to some Highland Park (MI)
non-profits, CutTime Simfonica was invited to perform more than a few
times in my hometown with our new project partners, the Urban Requiem Project.
My compositions, and some improvisations based them, dramatically
supported the street poetry of Claretha (Peace) Bell and Kevlar Afrika.
Live
music and spoken word knock classical music into the Highland Park! We
performed for Literacy in the Park, Nandi's Knowledge Café, Detroit
Repertory Theatre, the Boys and Girls Club and 333 Midland art gallery.
URP Founder Virgil Taylor caught some great video. Watch Can You Hear Me Now and Art As a Weapon.
By GK Photo
My hopes ran even higher when Bedrock Detroit and Library Street Collective invited CutTime Players to perform for the launch of the colorful new light display of artist Phillip K Smith on the Detroit Skybridge. We were asked to play mostly slow classical to enhance the slowly-changing colors of the display.
For
the occasion I composed two short, new works; a deep, colorful,
breathing meditation, plus a rather exhilarating prelude about Henry
Ford (Model-T Magic) cranking up the very
first car engine and flying off into the future (since the theme was
reinvention). Sadly, it drizzled most of the first hour we were to play
on Spirit Plaza downtown. The sound system malfunctioned as a result and
our shortened concert was missing critical bass and percussion.
In September, CutTime Simfonica finally debuted in Ann Arbor, at U Mich Hospital's main lobby for the Thursday lunchtime series, Gifts of Art. They gave us some video I've been posting on our YouTube channel, and invited us back for Valentine's Day at noon.
Specially requested to return, the weather prevented us from playing October's Open Streets Detroit event in Corktown/Mexicantown. It was slightly too cool to play under the train overpass at Michigan Depot. At 60-degrees, it's neither fun nor healthy to play strings with cold fingers. Here's a cool video, however, from the year before.
While
we made the final round, the Urban Requiem Project ultimately lost a
Knight Foundation Arts Challenge grant this month. Our grand proposal
was to compose a full-length, URBAN REQUIEM
commemorating the industrial century of Detroit (and Highland Park) with
our poets, classical and soul musicians, gospel choir and old footage
of Detroit's people, factories and life. Numerous community and popup
concerts would have led up to and inspired the process. On to plan C.
In December, CutTime Simfonica plays its 3rd annual Noel Night (Dec. 1) at the Mediterranean restaurant La Palma 4:30-5:45 featuring
lots of Baroque favorites, Charlie Brown music and MOT Concertmaster
Eliot Heaton. The food is great and you might as well get a table if
you're around.
And CutTime Players returns to Rocky River Senior Center Auditorium (near Cleveland) for its 2nd Christmas concert on Thursday Dec. 6 at 7:30. This is our 4th
CutTime concert there in 2 years; they love CutTime® so much! For
Players, I recruit and rehearse Cleveland freelancers there. For
Simfonica lately, I've been bringing my A Team from Detroit, as we will
again March 24 (Su) 3p to Rocky River Presbyterian.
Besides a number of private bookings so far, in 2019 around Detroit, Simfonica will play a full-length public concert at Birmingham Unitarian Church on Feb. 8 (Fr) 7:30.
Other related events are the orchestration premiere of my Elegy (2009) by Colour of Music Festival Orchestra in Pittsburgh (PA) on Feb. 13, and that of Highland Park, MI: City of Trees by Michigan Philharmonic in Canton (MI) Apr. 6.
With
the repeated failure of my efforts to work the edges of the non-profit
world, I'm resigning myself to hit more commercial buttons in 2019,
adding visual projections, songs, a dancer and some "purple cows."
Have a great holiday season and stay tuned for surprises in the next newsletter. It's time to cut classical music loose!
Yours,
- Rick Robinson (Mr. CutTime)
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