Classical Music is Dead
Picture a piano placed at the center of an oblong room in the basement of a Tribeca gallery space.  From the white walls steps forth a vibrant set of neon paintings, revealing a mixture of contemporary and historic images of New York City.  Out walk musicians who model fashion harkening back to the 1930’s and proceed to indulge an eager audience in a total-art experience, breaking boundaries and kindling sparks – igniting a wild fire of classical music resurrected.

This was our impression when we were first introduced to The Nouveau Classical Project through their first event of the 2010 season, February’s ‘form /figure’.  Attracting a hip downtown crowd, the NCP offers a new experience with style, and dare we say it – FUN.  Taking music outside the traditional concert setting, the Nouveau Classical Project is dedicated to promoting classical music to new audiences and exposing the art form’s relevance to today’s audiences.  What kind of “out of the box” experience will their next event ‘Visions’, at WMP Concert Hall on June 24th bring? We’re on the EDGE of our seats.

Founded in 2007 by pianist Sugar Vendil, The Nouveau Classical Project creates events that connect classical music to fashion and visual art. “I think part of what’s killed classical music is that people want to keep it in a ‘certain place,’” Vendil says. Instead, she is succeeding in breathing new creativity and life into the classical scene in New York City, or as some in the city are calling it, the “nouveau classical scene.”  NCP’s slogan, “Classical Music is Dead,” is a tongue-in-cheek catch phrase – one that often evokes a feeling of rebellious urgency to the genre’s many aficionados who see it on T-shirts across the city.

form/figure
Each of the organization’s four yearly programs is centered on a unifying concept that serves as a focal point around which the music, fashion, and art are curated.  The NCP’s kickoff event for the 2010 season was form/figure, held at ‘Space on White’ in Tribeca on February 19th, was a vibrant success.

Centered on the concept of resurrecting older established artistic forms approached from a contemporary standpoint, form/figure combined a contemporary composition based on a Handel passacaglia written by Johan Halvorsen, based on themes by Handel and works by NY-based artist Christopher Rini, and designers Gigi Burris and Edward Lorenz who are both graduates of Parsons School of Design.

The program included a new work for piano, violin, and cello by New York based composer Danielle Schwob as well as a selection “44 Duos for Two Violins” by Béla Bartók.  The Schwob trio, written in 2009, was the newest piece on the program.  Entitled “Music for Releasing Ghosts”, it without a doubt lives true to its name.  The violin and cello, through shrieks and cries, take the lead role in what seems to be the release of one’s own inner demons, while the piano supports and reinforces this emotional exorcism.

Bartók’s reinvention of gypsy folk music for two violins shined as a programmatic contrast to the Schwob piano trio.  Kiersten Cunningham and Nolan Robertson offered a performance that was absolutely beyond stellar.  Totally nailing the gypsy folk tuning of Eastern Europe and not missing a note, the couple resurrected Bartók’s voice with amazing integrity.  Soprano Amanda Hick contributed another outstanding performance.  Singing “5 Canciones populares Argentinas”, Argentine folk music written 20th century, her stunning voice and amazing use of facial expressions brought this stunning song cycle by composer Alberto Ginastera into a different light.

Nutz and Bolts
The Nouveau Classical Project has seen a challenging, but rewarding three years.  It started from scratch as small organization doing open bar fundraising events to get the ball rolling.  Branding its mission through events and it merchandise, such as the evocative tee-shirt with their slogan “Classical Music is Dead*” written on the front, it is growing into a revenue-generating organization.  NCP has also utilized kickstarter to gain support.  Consisting of a full board of directors and a core performance ensemble of seventeen players, NCP receives its fiscal sponsorship through Fractured Atlas, as the registration to its own non-for-profit status is on its way to completion.

Acting as both president and creative director plays, Vendil plays a key role in all aspects of NCP’s events.  She personally curates the music, art, and fashion for each program, a task that can be quite painstaking as Sugar will not program a piece unless her scrupulous ears and eyes are certain it is consistent with the program’s concept.  Other roles Vendil plays are performing as a core ensemble member; all graphic design for the organization; and taking control of administrative duties, tasks which she says are very challenging but can be quite rewarding in the end.

We asked how she keeps up her energy going during this preparatory process.  “It’s not as much about my work as much as it is for the people,” Vendil responded.  “I feel like we’re doing something people really appreciate and that helps me stay motivated.  I also have the privilege of working with some very dedicated and talented musicians. None of this would happen without their willingness, enthusiasm, and support of the project.”  She then added, “I think a lot of us are just sick of it [classical music] being so one-dimensional, and we’re adding new opportunities, not just for us to play, but for people to experience it.”

Sugar Vendil

‘Visions’ for the Future
The unifying concept for the NCP’s upcoming event, ‘Visions,’ is dreamlike states of consciousness.  Vendil has always been enamored of surrealism and feels the concept of imaginative, dreamlike spaces has provide her with a source of inspiration for programming the concert, especially since there is such a rich palate of musical selections from which to choose.

Featured on the program will be New York based composer Trevor Gureckis’s piece, “Unsound Grounds” for solo piano.  Quite a treat for Vendil to have him on her program, as Gureckis regularly assists Philip Glass on major projects.  Glass’s “Changing Opinion” will also be featured along with Lowell Liebermann’s “Piano Trio No. 1″, all performed by Nouveau Classical Project musicians.  ‘Visions’ can be experienced at 8pm in WMP Concert Hall on June 24th.

Vendil seeks to steer Nouveau Classical’s toward new and uncharted musical and artistic territory.  We asked Sugar if NCP would ever be open to electro-acoustic classical pieces.  “Absolutely.  We’re open to everything,” she said.  “That’s part of keeping classical music alive.  You have to keep up with the forward-moving aspect of it.”

What lies ahead for this fledgling organization remains open, but one thing is for sure, The Nouveau Classical Project will remain a vibrant and vital member of New York’s musical ecosystem.  The city eagerly awaits what is to come next. – Jeffrey DiLucca

‘Visions’ will be performed at 8pm in WMP Concert Hall on June 24th. For tickets and more information visit http://www.nouveauclassical.org.

Gary Chester

You’ve heard of film and video game scores being tracked in Prague, but going that route requires contacts, experience and general know-how beyond the scope of many composers and music producers.

This is exactly the scenario recording engineer Gary Chester (A Bronx Tale, Dead Man Walking) had in mind when he created PragueRecording.com, which connects people/productions with everything they need to outsource orchestral scores to the Czech Republic, saving the film company thousands of dollars in costs.

How much can you save by recording scores in Prague? “I would say it’s 1/3rd the cost,” Chester attests.

In Prague, the score can be laid down as a non-union job, which means no royalties or other fettered costs need to be paid to the orchestral players. In addition, the recorded music can be used for an indefinite number of times, for an indefinite amount of time, and for any purpose the owner chooses — without exception. In film deals, the film company usually owns the music, but in the case of albums, which Chester has also recorded in Prague, this royalty free package is extremely advantageous.

The first score Chester recorded in Prague? Witness to the Mob (1998), with composer Stephen Endelman.

What film companies and film composers have loved about Chester is that he assumes full responsibility of the job overseas. He books the travel. He books the hotel. He books the hall.  It’s like an all-inclusive package, although he admits he occasionally cuts back on some of the work on booking travel and hotels as engineering the sessions is a gargantuan task in and of itself.

Chester, a seasoned expert having worked on such films as Dead Man Walking, The Butterfly Effect, and most recently Last Chance Harvey, started out his career mastering albums for the United Artists label. He then moved into recording bands like The Belmonts in his own space called Mayfair, at United Artists. Gary started recording TV commercials at Mayfair and eventually broke away to his own business ventures: Counterpoint Studios and The Edison.  These recording studios are where Gary really pulled in a lot of work, engineering commercials at first, but eventually moving on to film scores.

CZECH TECH: LOGISTICS AND TECHNICAL ISSUES OF RECORDING IN PRAGUE
As we chatted in NYC studio The Den, located within Manhattan Center, Chester enlightened me on the various technical aspects of recording in Prague.  To start, European concert halls, for example, have acoustics that are far superior to typical large American recording rooms.

Alternative seating arrangements in concert venues offer another advantage over  studios. In a studio environment, Chester must seat the loudest instruments, such as the brass, in front to isolate the sound as much as possible.  A concert venue in Prague affords Gary the unique option of seating the players as one would a traditional symphony orchestral.

Sometimes Chester will manipulate the arrangement of the violin sections or choir to get a different sound as well. He finds that a more dramatic effect may be achieved if the 2nd violins are moved to stage left to create a stereo sound. Gary may also recommend to situate the choir in distinct sections, the traditional SATB arrangement, or mix up the voice parts to achieve a more blended sound.

In these situations, I wondered…does he use a click-track? “An orchestra sounds best, in my opinion, when there’s only a conductor, no prerecords, no click track, no headphones, because the orchestra actually hears the sound in the room,” Chester explained. “Dynamically, they hear themselves, and they follow something that is not so metric as a click track. But, that can only be done on very few projects.”

Most often, Chester is engineering a session that involves pre-recorded material such as a piano track, rhythm section, or MIDI material that has been bounced to an audio file. Composers almost always prepare this ahead of time, and have the timing of cues locked down before the live session. This means click track is a must.

Czech orchestras tune to A443 rather than A440 of American ensembles.  This raises an issue when pre-records are involved in the live session. According to Chester, classically trained musicians of Europe may be set in their ways and not tune down, so this pitch discrepancy is solved simply by sliding the pitch of the pre-records up in Pro Tools.

MENTORING & CURRENT PROJECTS
Chester also enjoys advising up-and-coming film composers. He recently mentored an NYU film-scoring student, providing business coaching on contracting and technical issues to get his score recorded at NYC’s Clinton Studios.  Last summer, he engineered and lectured at the ASCAP-NYU Film Scoring Workshop in Memory of Buddy Baker.

Chester’s latest film project, Brooklyn’s Finest, was released earlier this month and features a score by Marcelo Zarvos. Gary has also recently returned from Prague recording the score of Discovery’s new show called, Life.  Narrated by Oprah Winfrey, Life’s premier episode aired on Sunday, March 21 and drew in  walloping 11.8 million viewers.

– Jeffrey DiLucca

Darren Solomon. Photo by Bob Krasner

A Clio award winner, Solomon is a stellar TV ad composer who tackles all genres (rock, pop, hip-hop, jazz, and techno) with great authenticity. Whether it’s writing music for ads or developing personal projects that go viral on the web, like “In B-Flat 2.0,” Solomon seems never to fall short of producing interesting and intriguing work.  This is the unique kind of creative intuition, personality, and good old-fashioned soul Darren brings to his work at Big Foote Music on a daily basis.

Benign Beginnings and Big Breaks
Growing up with a father who listened to jazz and classical music, Darren’s musical mind was nurtured at a young age. “I was a snob,” he explains. “I thought all other kinds of music were inferior.” This at ten years old! Being too small for the upright bass, Solomon started playing cello in elementary school, but eventually switched to bass in middle school.

“My brother, who’s older, would always have good music blasting in his room, stuff that I liked,” Solomon recalls. “I remember Earth, Wind & Fire was probably the first thing that wasn’t jazz or classical that I got into.

“When I got my electric bass, which was probably in eighth grade or something like that, all I wanted to do was play along with Earth, Wind, and Fire.  And that’s basically how I learned electric bass, just playing along.”

A simple enough start. His first big break would follow years later at the end of his sophomore year at NYU, when one door opened just as he was closing another. “I was moving out of the dorm and the last trip I made to the dorm was for my answering machine,” he explains.  “I had left it plugged in, and when I came back it was blinking.  I hit ‘play’ and it was Ray Charles saying that he had heard my (demo) tape and inviting me out to LA to audition for him. I was just over-the-moon delighted.

“I called Ben & Jerry’s, ‘cause that’s where I was working to make a little pocket money.  I told them I wasn’t gonna be in the next day, because I had to go audition for Ray Charles.  That’s a great phone call to make.  I highly recommend that phone call, if you can ever make that.”

Solomon got the gig, and toured with Ray Charles for two years.  The first year he took off from college, but followed up by balancing college and gigging during his third year of school.  “I think half of my teachers didn’t believe me,” says Solomon.  “I would tell them, ‘I’m going to play a show in Tokyo this weekend,’ and they would kind of chuckle.”

“That was definitely my education.  That was the first time I realized ‘I can make a living at this.’” [See Darren perform with Ray Charles on The Tonight Show in 1990.]

Solomon finished touring with Ray Charles, graduated and began another two years of touring with Barry Manilow. During his free time he built a home studio and began scoring films, and then got some good advice from his wife, an animator, who encouraged him to contact Ray and Sherman Foote of Big Foote Music.

It was the year 2000. A look and listen to his film score reel got Solomon’s ankle in the door, with bass-playing gigs and commercials demos quickly resulting. Six months later he made full-time staff composer at Big Foote, and the plaudits have followed in step.

In 2005 Darren won a Clio Award for his outstanding music on an M&M commercial, featuring Megan Mullally of “Will and Grace.” Another of his acclaimed spots is the dreamy “Buried Treasure” for State Street:

Science for Girls and “In B-Flat”
As much as he enjoys working with advertising clients, Solomon also seizes the opportunity to express his own creativity through other projects, such as his electronica group Science for Girls.  Their self-titled album was released in 1997 and gained a following amongst the “chill” community. Stream the Science for Girls songs “Northern Lights”: Northern Lights and “You’ll Never Know”: You’ll Never Know

“In B-Flat 2.0”  is a project that Solomon launched from a blog entry featuring six YouTube videos all imbedded into one post.  Five videos featured Darren playing different instruments, all in the key of b-flat, while the sixth featured a spoken-word video.  This is mad interactive, yo — the user can start each video at will to create a musically unique multimedia experience (try it, you’ll like it).  For worldwide connectedness, Darren eventually chose submissions from the global music community as well as some friends to take part in the project.

“In B-Flat” proved to be an attention getter, going live in May of 2009 and immediately receiving a lot of coverage that’s led to some heavy traffic: to date, most of the videos have received somewhere between 500,000-700,000 hits.  Solomon gets excited about the fact that musicians from all around the world have jammed to in B-Flat in their live shows, but he also insists on keeping it real — when approached with an advertising offer, Solomon turned it down.

What Lies Ahead?
The future is looking bright for Solomon.  He has written most of another Science For Girls album and is anxious to produce it this year while he looks forward to utilizing the rich musical and cultural palate available, both in the New York City scene and the global community.  To this multidimensional composer, tools like the Internet are a vehicle, canvas, and source for creativity and imagination.

“I find myself getting really excited about what’s going on in music right now,” Darren Solomon says.  “I feel like we’re living in such an exciting time, musically, that I’m just happy to be making music in the year 2010!” – Jeffrey DiLucca