He composed a variety of works while at Juilliard, and received the Gretchaninoff Memorial Prize, as well as winning the 2005 Juilliard Composers’ Orchestral Work Competition. In 2001, he began studying composition with Robert Beaser at the Juilliard School of Music. Gjeilo received his Bachelor’s degree from the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo, and then attended the Royal College of Music in London, where he received a degree in composition. By 1999, he began to concentrate on composing concert music. By the time he reached junior high school, he had one teacher who finally forced him to concentrate on his technique. He had a number of different piano teachers. At times, he would write down his improvisations as formal compositions. He can’t even remember when he began composing. He loved improvising and playing piano by ear, so he didn’t learn to read music immediately. He began taking formal piano lessons when he was seven, as well as studying jazz and composition. A talented child, he began to play piano by ear when he was three or four.
Displaying the stamina to match their talents, the players rallied through a dramatic and tumultuous finale with aplomb.Įqually astonishing is the mere fact that performances of this quality are now appearing regularly in venues throughout Elgin, creating critical mass for the arts here, in the middle of what was once viewed as a lifeless suburban cultural desert.A Choral Christmas Featuring Prelude, A Spotless Rose, and The Ground by Ola Gjeilo (1978-)ĭynamic young composer and pianist Ola Gjeilo was born in Oslo, Norway, in 1978. The room made it difficult to play soft enough at times, but they are few and far between in this nearly 50-minute masterpiece of the quartet repertoire. Schubert's startling shifts in key, rhythm and register never put these pros off their game. The four players traveled a wide range of emotions and musical postures throughout the work's four movements, matching each other's phrasing, dynamic changes and rubatos as if they have played together for a long time. A better understanding of its subject comes from the medieval "dance of death," understood for centuries as a pushing and pulling between mortals and the Grim Reaper. 14 in D Minor ("Death and the Maiden") offered a chance to witness the talents of area musicians Tarn Travers, Eleanor Bartsch (violins), Aurelien Pederzoli (viola) and Sara Sitzer (cello), who is also co-founder of Chamber Music on the Fox.ĭespite its nickname, the piece is neither frail nor morose. "Dark Night" is a beautiful piece whose only critic was the hard surfaces of the Showcase.įranz Schubert's String Quartet No. Moments of powerful musical rapture fueled by lyrics like "love's urgent longings" were almost too big for the room, as complex chords gushed out overtones like a North Sea gale. Long, sustained vowels and modern harmonies evoked the mood of long Scandinavian nights, combined with the mysticism of the text by St. The highlight of the choral performance was "Dark Night of the Soul," (2010) by living Norwegian composer Ola Gjeilo, an expansive work that opens with a minimalist piano accompaniment played by Jon Warfel, known locally as the Choirmaster of Elgin's First Congregational Church. No less a communicator with words, Lewis the educator shared insights on the evening's vocal works in impromptu remarks, for which the audience was overhead to whisper their gratitude during intermission. The singers' gaze rarely left EMC Music Director Andrew Lewis, whose lucid conducting revealed the depth of their skill and preparation. Displaying tremendous dynamic range, the choir was capable of well-balanced fortes that could almost wake the dead. The choir made the room sound like a much bigger hall, especially faithful to the upper registers and more than honest with sibilant German consonants. The 20-voice Chamber Singers of Elgin Master Chorale (EMC) were accompanied by the Elgin Chamber Players string quartet in Beethoven's "Elegischer Gesang" (1814) to open the death poetry-themed program. After a weekend of amazing live chamber music performances at the Hemmens Cultural Center and Elgin Community College, two other groups joined forces at the Elgin Art Showcase to perform "The Poetry of Music" presented by Chamber Music on the Fox.
0 kommentar(er)
