plus, feature SNM’s 2021 NY Fed. Of Music Clubs Israel Winner Katie Jenkins.
Syracuse, NY, November 30, 2021 – The Society of New Music will present the Premiere of SNM’s NEA commissioned work “Migrants” by Octavio Vazquez (on the faculty of Nazareth College in Rochester, NY) on Sunday, December 5th at 3:00 pm at Park Central Presbyterian, located at the corner of E. Fayette and Townsend St. in downtown Syracuse. The program includes works by Reza Vali, Katie Jenkins, and Derek Bermel.
Vazquez was born in Galicia, Spain, while composer Vali was born in Iran (Persia) and Jenkins in Wales. All three have lived in the US for years, but their music resonates with their respective heritages. Derek Bermel’s work was inspired by the NASA Mars missions.
Vazquez’ multi-movement work reflects on migrations and how it effects future generations. Vazquez’s great-grandfather immigrated to NYC in the early 1900’s, where he spent 30 years before returning to the Galician Highlands. Historically Upstate NY has been shaped by many waves of migrants.
The music of Octavio Vazquez has been performed throughout the US, Europe, and Asia, in venues such as Carnegie Hall, the National Auditorium of Spain, Cologne’s Philharmonie, and the Big Hall of the St. Petersburg Conservatory. He has also written for film and collaborated with world-music artists as an arranger, orchestrator and producer, most notably with Grammy winner Cristina Pato. Vazquez is a graduate of the Adolfo Salazar Conservatory, the Royal Conservatory of Music of Madrid, the Peabody Conservatory, and earned his doctorate at the University of Maryland.
The string quartet by Persian-born Reza Vali, “Ashoob” 2014, Calligraphy # 14, uses the tuning of an ancient Persian scale. Reza’s music has been widely performed and recorded by renowned orchestras and chamber ensembles. SNM has championed Reza’s music since early in his career. He earned his doctorate at Pittsburgh University after studying at Tehran Conservatory and in Vienna. He has done extensive research on modes and tunings used in traditional Persian music and has incorporated these into his recent works. Dr. Vali is on the faculty at Carnegie Mellon University.
The program also features music by one of SNM’s most successful former Israel winners, Derek Bermel. His Nine Revolutions (2019) for string quartet and electronics also includes video. Derek writes: “As I watched the InSight lander touch down on Mars in 2019, I felt awe at the feat of human achievement in pursuit of knowledge about the universe. At the time I was serving as composer-in-residence for the Seattle Symphony. I decided to create a work inspired by the journeys of the Mars missions that have spanned my lifetime and delivered to the human species some of the most powerful images from our neighbor planet. The work cycles through a series of chords, each iteration adding to the harmonic progression. In entirety it completes nine revolutions. The accompanying film for Nine Revolutions was created by Mike Gurfield.” (Derek Bermel, SNM’s Israel winner in 1997, was nominated for a Grammy in 2020.)
Completing the program is Monologue (2019) for vocalizing cellist by Katie Jenkins, SNM’s 2021 NY Federation of Music Clubs/Israel Prize winner for this piece. Monologue went on to win 2 other prizes for Ms. Jenkins, who is now based in New York City. Her music can be identified by its unique way of weaving together tapestries of sounds and layering textures with a touch of Celtic flair as she draws on her Welsh roots. Jenkins engages in projects that encompass many forms of music making for the concert hall, multimedia environments, dance and film.Jenkins’ music has been performed across Europe and the US, including performances at National Sawdust where she held a fellowship, Juilliard, BBC Hoddinott Hall and music festivals in Bulgaria and Serbia. Jenkins is a 2021 Artist in Residence with the Dordor Gallery, Brooklyn. Her work featured in Vogue Italia, March 2021 Edition.
Musicians performing in this concert include violinists Noemi Miloradovic, David Fulmer, Jonathan Hwang, Amy Christian, Liviu Dobrota, violists Mia Chen and William Ford-Smith, cellists Zachary Sweet and Lydia Parkington, and double bassist Spencer Phillips. Composer Vazquez will conduct the Premiere of his “Migrants.”
For more information, please contact snm@societyfornewmusic. Tickets and reservations available on www.societyfornewmusic – are $20 adults, $15 students/senior citizens, 18 and under free. Reservations are encouraged. Free masks available at the door for those who forget to bring one.
Based in Syracuse, NY, the Society for New Music commissions, performs, and records new works by regional composers, catalyzes artistic connections across Central NY, and expands the audience for new music.
