for moreOAKLAND EAST BAY SYMPHONY TO HOST “WORDS
& MUSIC COLLABORATIONS SYMPOSIUM”
FEATURING RENOWNED COMPOSERS & WRITERS SATURDAY, SEPT. 20; OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
Featured guests include Ishmael Reed, Paul Dresher, Jake Heggie & Carman Moore
Oakland, Calif., Sept. 5, 2003—Oakland East Bay Symphony (OEBS), Michael Morgan, Music Director and Conductor, will present the “Words & Music Project Collaborations Symposium,” sponsored by The James Irvine Foundation on Saturday, Sept. 20 at Oakland’s Kaiser Center Ballroom, 10 Tenth Street, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Admission is free but space is limited; the public is encouraged to register in advance by calling OEBS at 510/444-0801 or visit www.oebs.org.
The all day event will offer a lively discussion on how composers and writers
collaborate to create new works for the concert stage. Featured speakers to
date include renowned novelist and writer Ishmael Reed, respected Bay Area music
critic Joshua Kosman, and award winning composers Paul Dresher, Jake Heggie
and Carman Moore. The afternoon panel sessions will include performances of
works by collaborators Reed and Moore, and Heggie, and will be performed by
Bay
Area musicians Kristin Clayton and Cheryl Keller, soprano; Zheng Cao and Tina
Harrington, mezzo-soprano; Wendell Brooks, bass; and Peter Grunberg, piano.
Nationally recognized arts administrator Ben Krywosz and OEBS Music Director
Michael Morgan will serve as the moderators for the various panel sessions.
A key component to the “Words & Music Project” is the commissioning of three to four works to be performed over the next few years by Oakland East Bay Symphony. California-based composers and writers were solicited to apply to this new approach on commissioning new works for the symphonic stage. Ten emerging composers and writers were identified, and they will meet on Sunday, Sept. 21 in a closed-door session aimed at matching up suitable composers and writers. While the end result is unknown, it is anticipated that several new works will be forged and subsequently performed.
The participating artists for this collaborative process include composers: William Ludtke, Erling Wold, Guillermo Galindo, John Thow, Melissa Hui, Kathrynn Lyle, Michael Kaulkin, James Carr, Ronald Hess, and Ernie Mansfield. The ten writers are: Dima Hilal, Susan Maeder, devorah major, John Champlin, Mas Masumoto, Linda Norton, Albert Flynn De Silver, Blake More, Dan Bellm, and William Seymour.
Oakland East Bay Symphony’s 15th Anniversary Season begins Nov. 14, with
the Bay Area debut of flutist Elena Durán in the Zyman Concerto for Flute
and Small
Orchestra, in addition to a world premiere by Mason Bates, and works by Beethoven
and Dvorák. For concert tickets, call 510/625-8497.
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