Chamber Music America has awarded twelve new jazz commissions through its New Works: Creation and Presentation Program for composers and their ensembles. The program is part of CMA's service to the jazz community and is made possible with funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.
An independent panel of jazz composers and performers selected this year's recipients from a group of 164 applicants. The following composers and their ensembles will receive awards of up to $15,000: Peter Apfelbaum, Roland Barber, James Carney, Rebecca Cline, Jim Gailloreto, Geoffrey Keezer, Steve Lehman, Miles Okazaki, Bob Rodriguez, Adam Rudolph, Brad Shepik, Doug Wamble. (Details on the composers' ensembles and brief descriptions of the proposed works appear below.)
Since the program's inception in 2000, New Works: Creation and Presentation has awarded more than $1,000,000-resulting in 105 works by composer-led ensembles. Commissioned groups typically range in size from two to ten members, from the classic jazz piano trio to diverse combinations of winds, percussion, brass, and strings.
Chamber Music America's CEO, Margaret M. Lioi, commented, “Through the generosity of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, many exciting new ensemble works-some of which represent experimental, extended forms and unique instrumental combinations-will be commissioned. We are honored to recognize the outstanding musicianship and creativity of these composers and their ensembles."
Chamber Music America, the national service organization for the ensemble music profession, was founded in 1977 to promote artistic excellence and economic stability within the field, and to ensure that chamber music, in its broadest sense, is a vital part of American life. With a membership of over 8,000, including musicians, ensembles, presenters, artists' managers, educators, music businesses, and advocates of ensemble music, CMA welcomes and represents a wide range of musical styles and traditions. In addition to its funding programs, CMA provides its members with consulting services, access to health and instrument insurance, conferences, seminars and several publications, including Chamber Music magazine and a website.
Established in 1996, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation seeks to improve the quality of people's lives through grants supporting the performing arts, environmental conservation, medical research and the prevention of child maltreatment, and through preservation of the cultural and environmental legacy of Doris Duke's properties. More information about the foundation's grantmaking programs and properties is available online.
2007 Chamber Music America New Works: Creation and Presentation Grant Recipients
Peter Apfelbaum and the New York Hieroglyphics
Brooklyn, NY
proposed work: Aural Histories, a suite based on the lives of the 10 members of the ensemble, half of whom have been members since the ensemble's inception in 1977
Roland Barber Quintet
New York, NY
proposed work: A series of musical portraits exploring personal and universal moments of life and family
James Carney Group
Brooklyn, NY
proposed work: Ways and Means, an extended work, inspired by film music, using musical “tale and plotline"
Rebecca Cline and Enclave
Jamaica Plain, MA
proposed work: Clay, Iron, Water, a three-movement work inspired by Afro-Cuban Yoruba ritual song cycle
Jazz String Quintet
Chicago, IL
proposed work: Still American, a musical narrative by Jim Gailloreto, exploring American archetypes
Geoffrey Keezer Trio
San Diego, CA
proposed work: Inspired by the works of Bach, the composer will expand the melodic possibilities of the classic jazz trio (piano, double bass and drums), adding an electric bass, bass clarinet and French horn
Steve Lehman Quartet
Brooklyn, NY
proposed work: An extended suite for the composer's ensemble (alto saxophone, bass, drums and vibraphone) plus tenor saxophone, trumpet, tuba and trombone, combining contrapuntal writing with a driving rhythm
Miles Okazaki Group
Brooklyn, NY
proposed work: The second volume of a three-album trilogy accompanying visual artwork by the composer
Bob Rodriguez and Creative Opportunity Orchestra
Austin, TX
proposed work: An extended work for piano, layered with woodwinds, brass and soprano voice, and highlighting the composer's penchant for bitonality
Adam Rudolph's Moving Pictures Octet
Venice, CA
proposed work: Using his own music/letter grids and language themes, the composer will notate Indian ragas and original song forms for a combination of Western instruments and hand drums, oud, sintir, shakuhachi and other flutes
Brad Shepik Trio
Brooklyn, NY
proposed work: A 12-movement suite titled Human Activity--Sounding a Response to Climate Change. Individual movements, meditations on the possible effects of climate change worldwide, will incorporate elements of indigenous music from each continent
Doug Wamble Quartet
New York, NY
proposed work: An exploration of the contradictions and dichotomies in the life of an intellectual rooted in down-home elements of the South. Inspired by the fiction of William Faulkner
An independent panel of jazz composers and performers selected this year's recipients from a group of 164 applicants. The following composers and their ensembles will receive awards of up to $15,000: Peter Apfelbaum, Roland Barber, James Carney, Rebecca Cline, Jim Gailloreto, Geoffrey Keezer, Steve Lehman, Miles Okazaki, Bob Rodriguez, Adam Rudolph, Brad Shepik, Doug Wamble. (Details on the composers' ensembles and brief descriptions of the proposed works appear below.)
Since the program's inception in 2000, New Works: Creation and Presentation has awarded more than $1,000,000-resulting in 105 works by composer-led ensembles. Commissioned groups typically range in size from two to ten members, from the classic jazz piano trio to diverse combinations of winds, percussion, brass, and strings.
Chamber Music America's CEO, Margaret M. Lioi, commented, “Through the generosity of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, many exciting new ensemble works-some of which represent experimental, extended forms and unique instrumental combinations-will be commissioned. We are honored to recognize the outstanding musicianship and creativity of these composers and their ensembles."
Chamber Music America, the national service organization for the ensemble music profession, was founded in 1977 to promote artistic excellence and economic stability within the field, and to ensure that chamber music, in its broadest sense, is a vital part of American life. With a membership of over 8,000, including musicians, ensembles, presenters, artists' managers, educators, music businesses, and advocates of ensemble music, CMA welcomes and represents a wide range of musical styles and traditions. In addition to its funding programs, CMA provides its members with consulting services, access to health and instrument insurance, conferences, seminars and several publications, including Chamber Music magazine and a website.
Established in 1996, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation seeks to improve the quality of people's lives through grants supporting the performing arts, environmental conservation, medical research and the prevention of child maltreatment, and through preservation of the cultural and environmental legacy of Doris Duke's properties. More information about the foundation's grantmaking programs and properties is available online.
2007 Chamber Music America New Works: Creation and Presentation Grant Recipients
Peter Apfelbaum and the New York Hieroglyphics
Brooklyn, NY
proposed work: Aural Histories, a suite based on the lives of the 10 members of the ensemble, half of whom have been members since the ensemble's inception in 1977
Roland Barber Quintet
New York, NY
proposed work: A series of musical portraits exploring personal and universal moments of life and family
James Carney Group
Brooklyn, NY
proposed work: Ways and Means, an extended work, inspired by film music, using musical “tale and plotline"
Rebecca Cline and Enclave
Jamaica Plain, MA
proposed work: Clay, Iron, Water, a three-movement work inspired by Afro-Cuban Yoruba ritual song cycle
Jazz String Quintet
Chicago, IL
proposed work: Still American, a musical narrative by Jim Gailloreto, exploring American archetypes
Geoffrey Keezer Trio
San Diego, CA
proposed work: Inspired by the works of Bach, the composer will expand the melodic possibilities of the classic jazz trio (piano, double bass and drums), adding an electric bass, bass clarinet and French horn
Steve Lehman Quartet
Brooklyn, NY
proposed work: An extended suite for the composer's ensemble (alto saxophone, bass, drums and vibraphone) plus tenor saxophone, trumpet, tuba and trombone, combining contrapuntal writing with a driving rhythm
Miles Okazaki Group
Brooklyn, NY
proposed work: The second volume of a three-album trilogy accompanying visual artwork by the composer
Bob Rodriguez and Creative Opportunity Orchestra
Austin, TX
proposed work: An extended work for piano, layered with woodwinds, brass and soprano voice, and highlighting the composer's penchant for bitonality
Adam Rudolph's Moving Pictures Octet
Venice, CA
proposed work: Using his own music/letter grids and language themes, the composer will notate Indian ragas and original song forms for a combination of Western instruments and hand drums, oud, sintir, shakuhachi and other flutes
Brad Shepik Trio
Brooklyn, NY
proposed work: A 12-movement suite titled Human Activity--Sounding a Response to Climate Change. Individual movements, meditations on the possible effects of climate change worldwide, will incorporate elements of indigenous music from each continent
Doug Wamble Quartet
New York, NY
proposed work: An exploration of the contradictions and dichotomies in the life of an intellectual rooted in down-home elements of the South. Inspired by the fiction of William Faulkner
For more information contact All About Jazz.
