WMV Music Web Log

We dropped by the Ratner Museum to visit Marcy yesterday - there are big changes there: visiting shows will be on the ground floor, and Phil Ratner's biblical sculptures are upstairs now. Thelma's 7 foot Baldwin is in the center of the museum surrounded by Phil's Ellis Island maquettes and supporting a gorgeous Ratner menorah. The museum will be open to the public daily, instead of just Sundays.

We are scheduled to perform there on Tuesday March 22 (David Teie, Sally McLain, Rhonda Buckley, and me). The Museum is looking so inviting with the piano out in the middle, and my CDs playing through the PA, I began to think about a denser series of more frequent concerts there. A bunch of related ideas: a sign out in front of the museum facing Old Georgetown Rd saying "Musica Viva Concert Tonight" on the day of the events, maybe magnetic so we could place another sign over it that says "Musica Viva Concert Tomorrow" or "Musica Viva Concert March 22". Mail out just one announcement for a series of 4 or 6 concerts (saves more than $300 per concert). Survey the romantic chamber music literature, like a mini-festival.

The main challenge is to get the concerts to pay for themselves - that way we could play as many concerts as we are capable of performing well. Whereas, if every concert requires a fresh infusion of donated money, one tends to schedule fewer of them in order to conserve the money. Many ways to approach this problem: if musicians play the same program more than once, they will often play for slightly less per concert. So a second performance, either at the museum or elsewhere, would be helpful. Fewer musicians of course helps too, but since that limits programming flexibility, I would tend to mix small and large ensemble programs. Filling the hall is good - the more tickets sold the better, up to about 100 seats at the museum. Over 100 is possible, but a little nerve-wracking, worrying about do we have enough chairs and will paying audience members have to stand, and can everybody see OK, etc.

Theoretically, we could raise the ticket price, institute tiered ticketing, sell series tickets; but with all this we still run up against a pretty thin edge of break-even. There are just a few major costs - the musicians, the publicity, museum rental, scores, and piano tuning. Fewer musicians and full season publicity are the only real cost-cutting possibilities. It is amazing how often I am asked if the musicians on my programs are paid. I wouldn't ask musicians to volunteer their time to provide music to the public, even if they would do it. People need to understand that artists work. Just because we love our work and have fun doing it doesn't mean we shouldn't be paid! Another thing most people don't seem to understand (except for a few): the fact that we play in unconventional venues does not mean we aren't "world class"!

Other developments: I spent the Christmas holidays producing a demo CD with excerpts from Musica Viva's performances from this season. There was a tremendous amount of great stuff to choose from. It will go out to people who donated $100 or more. One thing that was striking was how much laughter there is at WMV performances, and I kept some of it. Some of Karyn's songs from the Czech programs are on there, and one of Gary's Bolcom cabaret songs - I put Gary's picture on the cover. Excerpts from two Quintet performances, La Revue de Cuisine, and two poets - Michael Glaser and Chris Conlon - are included. I like it a lot.

"Atonal" music is not really atonal insofar as there is no scale; it is just a different scale, like a different "mode". We know about major and minor and what they express and how they combine to produce subtle meaning. You know, major ("happy"), minor ("sad") - there are other scales, and they make emotional sense. To express a broader palette of contemporary ideas, major and minor are just not enough, and they are not the only game in town. George Walker's viola sonata, for instance, does not appear to make use of the conventional chord relations, and yet it is a powerful evocation of complex feelings. However, it must be performed well; the audience will not bear the burden of filling in the blanks of a wooden performance, because the scale and harmonies are unfamiliar.

I feel like I am missing something - I had the image this morning of a caged animal whose cage has been opened but has not yet realized that there is no wall anymore and still runs around in the same circles. Even my own thoughts seem repetitive and boring, following the same well-worn channels. It is definitely time for a change!

There are probably obvious new directions that I cannot yet see, and I need to interact with other people just to jostle my thinking. It's not that I don't have projects - dozens of them - it's that I worry that I may be failing to imagine the really big ones, and settling for modest half-portions. And there is the other side to it, that there is a "background" thinking that understands perfectly well what the realities and opportunities and desires are, and is working in its own quiet way to bring things to fruition.

Today I meet with Karren Alenier - that may be helpful. She introduced me to the music of Scott Wheeler, whose CD I will return to her. She is doggedly pursuing the production of her opera "Gertrude Stein Invents a Jump Early On" with composer William Banfield, and it looks like it will succeed through sheer force of will (not his, hers).

Listened in the car (only place I listen, really) to Nicholas Maw's piano trio - a great work, it makes me salivate! Big, romantic, heroic, and contemporary. There is really nothing stopping me from programming it - I've got the score and the people and the audience. I just need the money and some new venues. We worry, Mar and I, that too many people will show up on February 5 - a program of poetry and contemporary chamber music that may be TOO popular! How astonishing - and promising.

New stuff: Astor Piazzolla's Histoire du Tango with saxophonist Anders Lundegard. He sent me a transcription for piano and sax of the original flute/guitar version. I ordered a CD with violin and guitar to find out what it is supposed to sound like. There are problems. The main point is that transcription of guitar to piano is tricky. I read through the piano part over and over, and thought something is very wrong here. Then I listened to the guitar version. Well, the chords are wrong in several places, the doublings and registers are ill-advised, the dynamics make no sense, and altogether the transcription is a botched job. So what do I do? Well, theoretically, this is why I bought Sibelius and Photoscore: I could simply scan in the part and change it to my heart's content. (The original guitar version seems to be unavailable in this country - at least my music supplier does not list it). However, it might take me a week with Sibelius, being that it's only my second project. I have some broad white out tape, and I'll start with that.

George Walker's Viola Sonata - there is some beautiful writing! It is completely atonal, and yet every time I play a wrong note it is glaring. The piece is meticulously and logically composed. He sent me a tape of a performance, which is very helpful, because I can listen to it for just the feeling of what the piece is about. It is an emotional work, and Kim will play it spectacularly.

I may be jumping the gun - seven days left to work, and I wake up thinking about PR pictures, practising, household chores, and blogging. I fully expect my next big idea to come in a dream. Marilyn says now I will have no excuse to neglect my body. Hmm, maybe yoga and long walks - but I'm too impatient right now.

From today's NY Times: "My music is not modern, just played badly." Arnold Schoenberg.

The fundraising campaign is going well! This too is a new challenge, experiencing and expressing gratitude, understanding that people are giving support to WMV to feed it and make it grow. It is significant when a community of people support an idea like Washington Musica Viva, something bigger than we completely realize yet. Mar and I are working on the thank you notes, struggling with computer mishaps and arguing about words and formatting. Ah, togetherness!

Poet Paul Grayson sent a poem about BannerArts with his contribution:

"We shall park here
Between this shed and the water pipe -
And in this warehouse,
Our footsteps grinding in the gravel,
Is where we enter.
Abandon doubt,
The muses are at home here,
Between the trucks and the railroad track."

December 6, 2004

These are exciting times - yesterday I attended a fundraising workshop at the Cafritz Foundation. As executive director of a non-profit, I was in the company of people who run organizations that care for the aged, preserve the health of street walkers, provide services for formerly incarcerated women, run theaters, dance companies, choruses, and do a number of other things that I don't begin to understand. And we all must raise money to pay for our programs, our infrastructure, our development, and our staff. It wasn't at all depressing - everybody was pretty upbeat. But clearly, an extroverted personality is required for this business. Obviously I cannot spend full-time fundraising because that would defeat the purpose, at least personally speaking. Half-time might not be so bad, however. That would still leave me more time to practise and rehearse than I have had up to now. Our board met Thursday night - it was quite exhilarating: these people actually believe we can accomplish our goals! And are providing powerful support to make it happen.

Yesterday I spoke/emailed with three composers who were born in Washington DC: George Walker, Stephen Jaffe, and Scott Wheeler. It was very exciting to speak with Dr. Walker, whom I have admired for a long time and some of whose music we have already performed. Kim Buschek and I plan to play his viola sonata on February 5. Karren Alenier introduced me to Scott Wheeler's work through a perfectly lovely CD on which was a Sonata, a Trio, and "Dragon Mountain" for piano quartet. I really really want to play Dragon Mountain - it is fresh and naturey and Zen. So he will send it to me. Stephen Jaffe has an exciting catalog of chamber music, including some ensemble works with mezzo soprano (mmm, Karyn Friedman) and some works on Jewish themes. So even though the Museum of the District of Columbia is gone, the DC composers project lives on.

The folks at the Czech Embassy were very happy with our program December 9, so I am inspired to start thinking about future Czech repertoire. I have asked David Teie to bring back some more scores from Prague - he is going there next week. I may need to go back myself sometime, which wouldn't be so bad, would it?

February 5 is our next performance at BannerArts: a premiere of Ulf Grahn's new Trio for alto saxophone, viola, and piano is the centerpiece. This is a fairly ambitious trio, although in one movement and very sparingly constructed. It is in no way derivative; it seems to have a new sound to it. You know, the alto saxophone and the viola have the same range and some of the same overtones, and when they play together I bet it will be hard to always know which is which. We will see in our first rehearsal more of what this Trio is all about. Anders Lundegard is the saxophonist, a Swede, appropriately enough, since Ulf is a Swedish composer, though he has lived in this area for many years. Anders also introduced us to Astor Piazzolla's "Histoire du Tango", which he and I will perform on this program. And among the many tangos that Michael Strand has sent me, one beauty ("Pasos Gatunos") is for saxophone and piano, so that will be on the program as well. If Kim and I can master it by then, we will perform George Walker's great Viola Sonata (dedicated to the memory of his father, a well-respected Philadelphia physician) on this program - if not, then later in the spring. Anders has another piece called "Lost City" by Belgian composer Stefan Meylaers which looks too interesting to pass up, so we will squeeze it in. We haven't yet nailed down the literary side of the program; we were thrilled that Holly Bass agreed to read, but then she had a conflict with a residency and has asked to do the May program instead. I have some ideas.

The fundraising is proceeding well - many people are sending donations, and some have sent quite substantial contributions (including my mom & dad!). I am getting more comfortable with the notion that people are voting with this money, making their preferences known for the kind of cultural life that they wish to have and sustain here. They are investing in a better quality of life for themselves and for all of us in the Washington area.

Mike Strand writes:
"Your plans for Feb. 5 look exciting. A Swedish composer, and also Astor Piazzolla! If you think it would be of any benefit, I might come to a rehearsal you might have for Feb. 5 and be available to offer suggestions. Tango tends to combine pride, passion, and often sadness. While the tempo is quite slow, it can sound full of tense energy that is barely restrained -- like riding powerful horse that is not quite fully tamed and barely keeping it from breaking into a full gallop or frenzied bucking. In sad passages, it may evoke weeping/wailing that is barely kept from the brink of chaos or collapse. Or am I exaggerating? - maybe a little."

Mike's own tango, "Pasos Gatunos", for sax and piano will be on that program.

WMV has commissioned local composer Masatoshi Mitsumoto to compose a trio for flute, viola, and piano. He says he has completed one movement of five so far, and has also arranged his "Elegy" for viola and piano. I am thinking of programming Masa's trio with David Diamond's Quintet for flute, string trio, and piano, and a Stephen Paulus work for the same quintet ensemble. It will be a dynamite program!

I am thrilled about the review of the December 9 concert in the Washington Post! For good reason, Washington musicians revere Joseph McLellan as a great friend. Getting this review from him was like receiving a bouquet of roses. Yes, we played a good concert, and he clearly enjoyed and appreciated it; his review will help us play more programs like this in days to come.

I have this weird feeling because I have not yet blogged about leaving my day job. It feels as if I have been keeping a secret from a friend. Sorry! but now it's out: December 31 is my last day as an employee of the federal government, and then it's wake up in the morning as a musician/arts administrator, serving Washington Musica Viva fulltime. Now I can work out all the various fascinating consequences of this change of status in my mind and in "public," blogwise. You just can't keep secrets from your own blog, I guess!

All the old projects, ideas, and dreams are bubbling up:
A chamber music coffee house/gallery in a dedicated space with weekly events.
Musica Viva on the road (small town tour).
Production and distribution of WMV recordings.
Free children's concerts.
New works composed just for us.
A full season booked in advance.
Collaborations with dance companies and visual artists.
Concerts in interesting venues, like Dance Place.
A Brahms and Faure mini-festival - six concerts in 3 days.
A series devoted to Washington area composers, past and present.
Collaborations with jazz and rock musicians.
A WMV video. A New York event.
Penetration into some "legit" venues.
NPR coverage. Press, press, and more press.
A small salary!