Faculty Composers Concert
with special guest
Eric P. Mandat
composer and clarinetist
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
7:30 pm
Recital Hall, Music Building
Program
Cetacean Rhapsody (2011) Patricia Gray, music
8:00 Roger Payne, recordings
Brandon Cole, images
Mark Engebretson, alto saxophone
Patricia Gray, piano
digital media
City of Webs (2009) Alejandro Rutty, music
22:00 Michael Basinski, text
Eric P. Mandat, clarinet
Mark Engebretson, baritone saxophone
Alejandro Rutty, piano
digital media
interval (scene change)
Folk Songs (1986) Eric P. Mandat
13:30
I. Spirited; as if from a distant Appalachian hill
II. Heavily, with a breathy, fuzzy, unfocused tone
III. Expansive; as if hurtling through space – Earthy, funky
IV. With devotion, like a prayer
V. Like a Flamenco dancer with St. Vitus Dance
Eric P. Mandat, clarinet
Nocturne for Alto Flute/C Flute and Marimba (2002) Gregory Carroll
7:00
Deborah Egekvist, flutes
Kevin Estes, marimba
Sharpie (2010) Mark Engebretson
7:30
Kelly Burke, clarinets
Steve Stusek, saxophones
Ināra Zandmane, piano
Program Notes
Cetacean Rhapsody for Whales, Saxophone, and Piano
With the establishment of the Music Research Institute (MRI) in the School of Music in
2004, UNCG committed to the development of an expanded research role in understanding
music and its role in all living things. In 2005, the BioMusic Program at the National
Academy of Sciences in Washington DC that I led since 1986, was invited to establish itself
within the MRI and to help realize the MRIʼs mission. Since then, noted whale song scientist
and BioMusic researcher, Roger Payne, designated the MRI recipient of his lifetimeʼs work
of whale song recordings with the expectation that they will be used for BioMusic research
and for launching new artistic interpretations. Because we humans have powerful reactions
when we hear these songs, Roger understands that musicians can help convey the beauty
and magnificence of these animals to people who may never see a whale in person. Over
the years, heʼs worked with Judy Collins, Paul Winter, Alan Hovhaness, and George Crumb
to include whale songs in musical performances. As a result, the killing and eating a whale
now is perceived as killing and eating a ʻmusicianʼ, and thatʼs how the “Save-the-Whale-
Movement” was launched.
I composed this setting in that spirit by using an excerpt of a Humpback Whale song
slowed down to one-quarter speed. Believing that the Humpback Whales should be visually
included with the human musicians, I contacted Brandon Cole, a full-time professional
wildlife photographer who specializes in whales, dolphins, and sharks to include his
photographs for this performance.
City of Webs
Michael Basinskiʼs work defies the traditional definition of poetry. For him, a poem needs be
a living entity, which often incorporates text and other symbols, but also needs a performer
capable of weaving all of those elements into a convincing presentation.
The text of City of Webs consists of words, phrases, symbols and graphic elements on a
page, but the poem takes a new life once Basinski reads it. His reading incorporates those
words and symbols, but it expands it with musical utterances, interpolated commentaries on
the text, stories relevant to understanding of the text, and other external elements that force
their way into the performance, such as supermarket coupons, or Greek mythology.
Composer Alejandro Rutty recorded Michael Basinski reading City of Webs, and composed
an electronic track ʻenhancing the soundʼ of the poet, somewhat like making an orchestral
version of a piece for solo instrument. For this performance, three live performers will ʻsync
upʼ with the electronic track and the recorded voice, adding one more layer of meaning to
the text, mirroring Basinskiʼs own procedure.
Nocturne for Flute and Marimba is a rather atmospheric composition in an arch-form
shape. It grows out of silence to a dynamic climax, and then returns back to silence. This
shape is aurally reinforced through changes in timbre--the darker quality of the alto flute is
followed by the brighter-sounding C-flute, only to return to the alto flute--and with the
waxing and waning of pitch density and harmonic tension in the marimba accompaniment.
Exotic scales in the flute part are put in relief against long drones in the marimba.
Sharpie was written for and is dedicated to the Thelema Ensemble of Belgium. The title
reflects a fascination with those common, ubiquitous and absolutely essential implements
that we find all around us (i.e., Sharpie markers). Not only useful, Sharpie markers are
prized for their strong, clear lines and, having expanded from the original black, a brilliant
and beautiful kaleidoscope of colors.
People
Kelly Burke joined the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 1989.
She is currently the principal clarinetist of the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra and bass
clarinetist of the Eastern Music Festival Orchestra. Equally at home playing Baroque to
Bebop, she has appeared in recitals and as a soloist with symphony orchestras throughout
the United States, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, Australia, and Russia. An avid
chamber musician, Burke is frequently heard in concert with the Mallarmé Chamber
Players, for whom she plays both clarinet and bass clarinet, the East Wind Trio d'Anches,
Middle Voices (clarinet, viola and piano), and the Cascade Wind Quintet. Burke's
discography includes several recent releases with Centaur Records: The Russian Clarinet,
with works by Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Glinka, Melkikh, and Goedicke; Middle Voices:
Chamber Music for Clarinet and Viola, featuring works by several American composers;
and Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: Chamber Music featuring the quintet and nonet. She has
also recorded for Telarc, Albany and Arabesque labels. Burke has received several
teaching awards, including UNCG's Alumni Teaching Excellence Award, the School of
Music Outstanding Teacher Award, has been named several times to Who's Who Among
America's Teachers, and was recently honored with the 2004 UNC Board of Governor's
Teaching Excellence Award. She is the author of numerous pedagogical articles and the
critically acclaimed book Clarinet Warm-Ups: Materials for the Contemporary Clarinetist.
She holds the BM and MM degrees from the Eastman School of Music and the DMA. from
the University of Michigan. Burke is an artist/clinician for Rico International and Buffet.
Gregory Carroll, is an Associate Professor in the School of Music at the University of
North Carolina at Greensboro, where he teaches courses in theory, music history and
literature, music appreciation and composition. He holds a B.A. in music from St. Johnʼs
University (MN), and the M.M. and Ph.D. in Composition/Theory from the University of
Iowa. Prior to coming to UNCG in 1981, he taught at The University of Iowa and Indiana
State University. His compositions have been performed at national and international
conferences, including Canada, Alaska, Sweden, Hungary, Japan, and Australia.
He has frequently served as a judge for state, regional, and national composition contests,
has published theoretical articles in state and national journals, and is frequently sought
after as a guest lecturer. He has been the recipient of state and national composition
commissions, was first winner of the Outstanding Teacher Award in the School of Music at
UNCG, and recently the first winner of the Excellence in On-line Education Award. Dr.
Carroll is a past President of the Southeastern Composers League, and is currently
Secretary/Treasurer of the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the College Music Society.
Deborah Egekvist earned the BM from Lawrence University, the MM at the Eastman
School of Music, and the DM at Florida State University. She has taught at Marshall
University, and the University of Oklahoma. Active as a soloist, chamber musician, and
clinician, Egekvist has performed throughout the United States, Germany, Canada, and the
Asian South Pacific. She has appeared as soloist with the Minnesota Orchestra, Green Bay
Symphony, West Virginia Symphonette, Aurora Symphony, and the Huntington Chamber
Orchestra. She has also performed as principal flute of the Huntington Chamber Orchestra,
Greensboro Symphony, and the EastWind Quintet at UNCG. In June 1989, Egekvist made
her New York debut at Weill Recital Hall in Carnegie Hall. She was Artist-Residence for six
seasons at the Bay View Music Festival and the Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute. She has
performed locally with the Elena Eckemoff Ensemble and in many other venues on campus
and regionally.
Mark Engebretson, Associate Professor of Composition and Electronic Music, has
recently undertaken composing a series of high-powered solo works entitled “Energy Drink”
and writing music for large ensembles. He was previously a freelance composer and
performer in Stockholm and Vienna, earning numerous commissions from official funding
organizations. His music has been presented at many festivals, such as Wien Modern
(Vienna), Gaida Festival (Vilnius, Lithuania), Ny Musikk (Bergen, Norway), Indiana State
University New Music Festival (Terre Haute, Indiana), the Florida Electroacoustic Music
Festival and ISCM Festivals (Tirana, Albania and Baku, Azerbaijan). Recent performances
include presentations by the Wroclaw Philharmonic Orchestra and the Jacksonville
Symphony. His work “She Sings, She Screams” for saxophone and digital media has been
performed countless times worldwide and has been released on three compact disc
recordings. As a performer, he has appeared as a soloist and chamber musician
worldwide, and he is a former member of the Vienna Saxophone Quartet. Dr. Engebretson
has taught at the Eastman School of Music, the University of Florida and at the State
University of New York, College at Fredonia. He holds the DMA degree from Northwestern
University, and also studied at the University of Minnesota and the Conservatoire de
Bordeaux. His teachers include Michel Fuste-Lambezat, Ruben Haugen, Frederick L.
Hemke, Jean-Marie Londeix, M. William Karlins, Pauline Oliveros, Marta Ptaszynska,
Michael Pisaro, Stephen Syverud and Jay Alan Yim.
Kevin Estes is currently living in Greensboro, North Carolina, studying and teaching
percussion as the graduate assistant of the percussion studio at University of North
Carolina at Greensboro. During his time in Greensboro he has performed with the UNCG
Wind Ensemble, Symphony Orchestra, and Winston Salem Symphony Orchestra. Kevin
has also served as a participating member of the Casella Sinfonietta and Eastern Music
Festival.
Prior to attending University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Kevin graduated from Virginia
Commonwealth University where he earned a Bachelor degree in Music Performance.
While living in Richmond, Kevin made solo percussion and chamber performance
appearances at Project Percussion, Longwood University, University of Richmond, and
Virginia Commonwealth University. Kevin also performed with Virginia Commonwealth
Universities top musicians as the principle percussionist in the Wind Ensemble when they
performed at prestigious venues such as the Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall. He also
served as the principle timpanist for the Virginia Commonwealth University Orchestra for
three seasons. Kevin has studied with Dr. Michael Schutz, Rares Calesuriu, Paul Norris
and is currently studying with Dr. Kris Keeton.
Patricia Gray holds degrees from the Oberlin Conservatory (BM), the University of
Wisconsin/ Madison (MM), and from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (DMA).
She is the Artistic Director and Pianist of National Musical Arts (NMA), for 21 seasons the
resident ensemble at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington DC, and the
founder and Director of NMA's BioMusic Program. As pianist, she has performed at The
White House, is the recipient of the prestigious Franz Liszt Commemorative Medal from the
government of Hungary, a soloist with leading orchestras, and has collaborated in
performances with renowned composers and performers. Dr. Gray is a Baldwin Artist. As
Executive Producer, she created and produced international concerts with 18 foreign
Embassies, a companion concert for an international art exhibition, and productions with
the National Broadcasting Company, Inc., the Motion Picture Association, ASCAP, the
Recording Industry Association of America, the Smithsonian, the Getty Conservation
Institute, and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. As Director of NMA's
BioMusic Program, Dr. Gray leads a team of distinguished scientists and musicians that
explores the musical sounds in all species. She was the lead author of a BioMusic article in
the journal, Science, and represented the Biomusic Program in articles for: NYTimes, BBC,
CBC, Discovery Channel, National Geographic Channel, The Boston Globe, London Daily
Telegraph, Muse Magazine, and newspapers in Latin America. Dr. Gray served as Principal
Investigator (PI) for a NSF funded Planning Grant and is Co-PI for a multi-year grant from
the National Science Foundation for the development of a BioMusic national exhibition for
informal science centers nationwide. In 2002, Dr. Gray was appointed Senior Specialist by
the Fulbright Program, the Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department
of State, and the Council for International Exchange of Scholars to serve as a special
consultant to foreign institutions and organizations worldwide. She joined the UNCG faculty
in 2004 and is Clinical Professor and Senior Research Scientist of BioMusic.
Clarinetist and composer Eric Mandat is internationally recognized for his groundbreaking
contributions to contemporary clarinet music. As stated in the Chicago Reader, "Mandat is
exploring new worlds, with a unique combination of virtuosity and a creative use of
multiphonics...he uses them to create highly personal and expressive compositions
that...are loaded with musical meaning." The Village Voice notes the "suave physicality" of
his presence as a performer, and finds his style to be "riveting.”
Mandat tours world-wide as a soloist and chamber musician, presenting lectures and
recitals featuring new American clarinet music as well as traditional repertoire. He has
premiered his works at international conferences in Chicago, Stockholm, Tokyo, and
Vancouver and has appeared as soloist with the Latvian National and Chicago Chamber
Orchestras and the Cleveland Chamber Symphony. His group, The Transatlantic Trio, has
concertized in the United States, Asia and Europe and recorded trios by Brahms and d'Indy
(4tay-CD 4008) that Fanfare finds "easily rank with the best." Mandat is also a member of
the Chicago Symphony's MusicNOW ensemble, which recently performed works by Elliott
Carter and Bruno Mantovani under the direction of Maestro Pierre Boulez.
Mandat is also a member of Tone Road Ramblers, an eclectic sextet specializing in
improvisation and experimental music. They perform at such venues as Merkin Hall in New
York and new music festivals nationwide, and are presented by such organizations as the
World Music Institute. Their CD, Intersections & Detours (Einstein 007), is described by
Option magazine as "filled with wit, joy and creative sparkle." Their latest CD, Dancing With
the Ramblers (Einstein EIN-018) features Mandatʼs Dark Energy, together with extended
works by Morgan Powell and John Fonville.
As a composer, Mandat focuses primarily on solo and chamber works for clarinet. His
compositions utilize extended techniques within a framework largely influenced by jazz and
traditional music of non-Western cultures. The Clarinet finds that his "process at writing and
playing is bound to leave any listener in awe" (One) "is constantly challenged and surprised
by gorgeous tone color changes, exciting rhythmic action and 21st century clarinetistry."
Mandat is a recipient of the 2000, 2005, and 2009 Illinois Arts Council Artist Fellowship
Awards for composition. Of his latest CD of his compositions for clarinet, Black Swirls
(Cirrus CMCD001), The Clarinet raves, “Mandat provides tremendous musical interest with
his impressive display of tonal colors, dynamic control…rhythmic variety and groove, and
imaginative playing.” His music is featured in concerts and recordings by clarinetists
throughout the world.
Mandat received his education at the University of North Texas (B.M.), the Yale School of
Music (M.M.), and the Eastman School of Music (D.M.A.). His principal teachers included
Richard Joiner, Lee Gibson, Keith Wilson, Stanley Hasty, and Charles Neidich. He is
Professor of Music and Distinguished Scholar at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale,
where he teaches clarinet and graduate courses in musical analysis.
Eric Mandat is a Buffet-Crampon USA performing artist and clinician.
Born in Argentina, composer Alejandro Ruttyʼs output includes orchestral, chamber,
mixed-media music, and arrangements of Argentine traditional music. Ruttyʼs compositions
and arrangements have been played by the Minnesota Symphony Orchestra, National
Symphony Orchestra of Argentina, National Symphony Orchestra of Brazil, Boston Modern
Orchestra Project, and Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, among other groups. Recordings
of his music have been released by Capstone Records, Arizona University Recordings, and
ERM Media. An All-Rutty CD (Navona Records) with large ensemble and orchestral music
is scheduled to appear in Fall of 2011.
Founder and Artistic Director of the Hey, Mozart! Project, Alejandro Rutty is currently
Assistant Professor of Music at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Steve Stusek has earned an international reputation for virtuosic performances of standard
and new works for the saxophone as well as for his engaging master classes and clinics. A
founding member of both the acclaimed Red Clay Sax Quartet and the UNCG Quatuor
dʼAnches, he has won the prestigious Dutch Chamber Music Competition as part of the
saxophone-accordion duo 2Track with Dutch accordion player Otine van Erp. Along with
degrees from Indiana University (BM, DM) and Arizona State University (MM), Stusek has
studied at the Paris Conservatoire and the Conservatoire de la Region de Paris, where he
earned the Prix d'Or à l'Unanimité in saxophone performance. He is also founder and host
of the Carolina Saxophone Symposium, a day-long conference held at UNCG each Fall,
and dedicated to the highest level of saxophone performance and education. The CSS is
open to all saxophonists at no charge. In addition to being performing artist for the
Vandoren and Selmer companies, Stusek is on the faculty of the Blue Lake Fine Arts
Academy.
