Tinplay by Per Andreasson
Performed by Benni Kurz, Simon Klavzar, Stefan Landes & Alexej Gerassimez at Munich Conservatory December 18, 2010.
Poèmes pour mi by Olivier Messiaen
Last night, I was fortunate to be at the opening concert of the Zeltsman Marimba Festival at Rutgers University. The second half of the concert featured the reunion of Marimbolin, a marimba/violin duo featuring marimbist Nancy Zeltsman and violinist Sharan Leventhal. They played 4 pieces and the music they created was breathtaking and performed with a high level of musicality. I hope this was not the last time we hear from Marimbolin. (more…)
Ojai Music Festival 2015
A couple of weeks ago, Steven Schick, music director of the 2015 Ojai Festival, presented a week of music in beautiful Ojai on June 10-14, 2015. All of the events, concerts and talks were recorded and live streamed.
Steven Schick’s programing was superb. He brought together some of the tops ensembles in the US, including ICE, red fish blue fish, CalArts ensemble, Calder Quartet, and numerous performers. Luckily for us, all of the events have been put together in a playlist on YouTube. I hope you take the opportunity to check out these amazing performance.
If you missed it, check out the Ojai Online University feature Steven Schick presenting “2015 OjaiU: The Beat of The World – The Art of Percussion.”
Thank you Steve for amazing programing and thank you Ojai festival for making these available to the public!
Bloom Suite by Elliot Cole
Bloom Suite by Elliot Cole performed by Andrew Bliss. Filmed in the Sandra G. Powell Recital Hall at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, TN on January 24th, 2015. Video and Audio by Evan Chapman.
To purchase the sheet music, click here.
Benjamin Charles performs “Khan Variations”
This is by far one of my favorite marimba pieces. It is a beautiful composition and setting of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s Allah Mohammad Char Yaar. This video features Benjamin Charles performing Alejandro Viñao’s Khan Variations. This was recorded at Smith Memorial Hall, University of Illinois. I like how Benjamin uses the tools on YouTube to mark the start of the variations and key points in the piece.
There are many recordings of this piece. Another favorite would be by Ian Rosenbaum.
Steve Schick: Ojai Online University
Steve Schick, percussionist, conductor and Music Director and Conductor of the La Jolla Symphony Orchestra has been named the Music Director of the Ojai Music Festival. Founded in 1947, the Ojai Music Festival is an annual contemporary classical music festival held in Ojai, California. Along with putting together some of the top concerts in Southern California, the Ojai Festival is also passionate about providing music education to all ages.
This year, they have developed a course taught by Steve Schick called “2015 OjaiU: The Beat of The World – The Art of Percussion.” The course is made up of 4 online classes. The course is free, but you must sign up to participate.
According to the website, there are two ways to sign up.
1: Use the signup form below and you’ll get an email each Monday with a link as the new class goes live.
2: Tweet to @OjaiFestivals using the hashtag #OjaiU2015 and we’ll send you an invite.
Here’s a list of the courses:
CLASS NO. 1 – “THE BEAT OF THE WORLD”
CLASS NO. 2 – “THE PHYSICALITY OF SOUND”
CLASS NO. 3 – “STORIES IN SOUND”
CLASS NO. 4 – “HITTING THINGS: A VOCABULARY AND LANGUAGE”
The classes have been amazing and I would recommend signing up now at OJAIU.org.
SKYPE LESSONS
Skype Lessons with Dr. Gerhart