More photos of our work with composers and students
» Postcard from the Road: Harvard residency New music in development Much of the Silk Road Ensemble's repertoire leaves room for improvisation. A similar openness to many influences extends to the process of creating new music, as was the case with two pieces developed during our residency at Harvard University in September. Lev Zhurbin (Ljova) has arranged pieces for the Ensemble before and came ready to collaborate on his commissioned work. His piece "Everywhere is Falling Everywhere" (its title taken from a fragment of a poem by the 13th-century Persian poet Rumi) was conceived to be particularly flexible: the accordion could play, or the sheng; the kamancheh, or the shakuhachi. At the first read-through, he encouraged the musicians, at times, to play "whatever feels natural." The piece takes inspiration from the Arabic music of Filfel Gourgy—a Jewish Iraqi singer who left Baghdad to live in Israel—and the idea of leaving one homeland for another. It also draws on Korean pansori singing and Moroccan wedding music. At a works-in-progress presentation on September 26, Ljova was asked about his reaction to hearing "Everywhere is Falling Everywhere" performed for the first time. He considered it still developing. "Eventually it will be played not as it was written, but as it was not written," he said, "which is how it is meant to be. It needs time to evolve." Ljova discussed the breadth and depth of traditions from around the world represented in the Ensemble, noting that Korean musicians commonly play in 5/8, a time signature found less often in European traditions. "I like odd meters," he said. "That's more okay with this group than with others." The Korean influence was strong in Michael Ward-Bergeman's piece as well. "Damagomi" had begun with Michael's interest in a shamanic ceremony of the Achumawi tribe of northern California. Traditionally the Achumawi sing in four-beat cycles. Dong-Won Kim, who sang in the piece, suggested using a five-beat cycle, traditional in Korean shamanic music, which altered the sound of the melody. Michael likened the process of workshopping his piece with the Ensemble to "witnessing a form of evolution." Several more new works for the Silk Road Ensemble will be developed at a new commissions workshop at Harvard in January 2012. Work with students This residency allowed us to expand the Silk Road family by working with student musicians, who joined the Ensemble for a concert on September 27. This was also our first time working with student composers—and their first time writing for instruments they'd never seen or heard before. Three intrepid Harvard freshmen took on the challenge of developing arrangements for the Silk Road Ensemble in less than 48 hours, to be performed at the works-in-progress presentation. Cristina Pato and Sandeep Das brought Galician and Indian melodies for the students to use as starting points in this crash course in arranging. They invited the students to make them as much their own as they liked. Each Ensemble member took around 15 minutes to demonstrate an instrument and discuss the traditional musical approaches of that culture. Asked how he approached the task of mentoring in such limited time, Kojiro Umezaki stressed the importance of starting by finding common ground. He brought a PowerPoint presentation to show the arrangers notes that are better and worse for the shakuhachi, a bamboo flute revered in Japan for its asymmetrical body and varying tones. One of the student composers, Gus Ruchman, came away from the experience with a love of that instrument. Another, George Meyer, found the most reward in figuring out, with the help of the Ensemble, what would work with this particular group. "I've been inspired to reach outside my comfort zone," said Stella Fiorenzoli of her experience of working with the Ensemble. "Not only did I learn a great deal (i.e., how to write for exotic instruments, how to arrange in general), but I also realized what I am capable of doing." The sessions also left room for less formal interaction with the Ensemble. While Ljova reviewed the arrangers' scores, one student took the opportunity to ask him how it's possible to make a living as a professional composer. "Don't say no to anything, especially if it sounds scary," Ljova said, advising the student to diversify. He explained that he often splits time between working on commissions, creating arrangements, and playing the viola with various groups. His advice: "Think of it as exciting, not terrifying. The more you can immerse yourself in, the more possibilities you have for making a living—and of opening ears and touching souls." See our Postcard from the Road for more photos from the residency. The Silk Road Project’s 2011 Harvard Residency was supported in part by the generosity of our corporate, foundation and government partners: Hyosung Corporation (Lead Corporate Sponsor), Rolex (Exclusive Corporate Partner), National Endowment for the Arts, and MetLife Foundation (Official 2011 Tour Sponsor). |