EQUINOX MUSIC FESTIVALMARCH 21, 2016D I R E C T E D B Y M O I R A L O B I A N C O A N D S T E P H A N Y T I E R N A N

The Equinox Music Festival is designed to demonstrate and explore the vitality of classical music and its connec-tion to the power and potential of improvisation. Featur-ing faculty, students, alumni, and guest artists affiliated with Berklee and The Boston Conservatory, this event—held on the first day of spring—presents classical music through a lens of creativity and reinvention, offering the music to the next generation as a source of inspiration and experimentation. A dynamic series of presentations, workshops, and performances will introduce new ways of listening, writing, improvising, and playing music derived from and fused with classical traditions.

PROGRAM

MORNING SESSIONS

Keyboard Instruments through the Ages

Steinway piano technician Mary Luisi explores how the development of keyboard instruments influenced com-posers’ musical styles. This session presents a timeline of the development of the most influential kinds of keyboard instruments, focusing on what they look like, how they sound, and how some of them function mechanically and tonally.

The Eclectic Language of Film Scoring

Claudio Ragazzi—film composer, guitarist, and associate professor of film scoring at Berklee—will focus on the influence of classical music in film scoring, improvisation in the silent movie tradition, and how it remains alive today.

CONCERT FOR THE SUN

Hymn to the SunG. Paradiso

Italian drummer and percussionist Giuseppe Paradiso will premiere “Hymn to the Sun,” a work he composed under a commission for the Equinox Music Festival. It is a part of his collection, “Essentia” Vol. 1, a project focusing on the exploration of sounds in nature and the rediscovery of the most essential and primordial forms of human expression: percussion, voice, and movement. “Hymn to the Sun” is inspired by the cyclical movement of the sun. Its “constant vibration in our universe,” as Paradiso states, manifests in this piece through the gong, an instrument that is believed to not only represent the sound of the universe, but to contain healing properties as well.

The six-section composition begins with “Origin,” stating a fundamental vibration, represented by a tone that resonates throughout the piece. A shape is established in the second section, where a regular movement will lead into the third section, titled “The Rising of the Sun over Planets.” This section introduces a melodic pattern that derives its form from the juxtaposition of two different perceptions of time. The fourth section—“The Highest Point”—is where all of the piece’s resonances reach a peak. In the fifth section, the main melodic motif is repeated and leads back to the initial vibration, or source of creation, reappearing in the last sec-tion, also titled “Origin.” The piece’s unconventional score combines traditional music notation with images, words, and unique directions, as well as elements of aleatoric music and improvisation.

Toxic/Come as You Are C. Dennis/H. Jonback/P. Winnberg and K. Cobain/ D. Grohl/K. NovoselicArr. M. Lo Bianco

The Dancing CatM. Lo Bianco

Pianist/composer Moira Lo Bianco performs music from her latest release, Imago. Her arrangement of “Toxic/Come as You Are” reimagines and combines Britney Spears with Nirvana. Her original suite, “The Dancing Cat,” uses odd meters and draws upon the Middle Eastern maqamat to inform its modal harmonic twists.

Allegro Moderato

N. PaganiniArr. A. Watters

Colors of VernazzaA. Watters

August Watters, mandolinist and Berklee associate professor of ear training, presents his arrangement of “Allegro Moderato” in a performance that will include improvisational approaches typical of Paganini’s era, such as ornamentation and variation. Watters will then apply the same improvisational techniques to his original composi-tion, “Colors of Vernazza.”

Over ThereC. Bley

For Susanna KyleL. BernsteinArr. N. Zeltsman

When Nancy Zeltsman asked Carla Bley to compose a piece for marimba, she learned that the celebrated jazz pianist and bandleader grew up with a marimba in her living room. In describing the 2009 piece, “Over There,” Bley wrote that “(it) could be imagined as a tug between classical waltz feel and jazz waltz feel. Even rhythm and blues phrases pop up… one R&B inspiration was the Holland/Dozier/Holland song recorded by the Supremes, “Where Did Our Love Go?” The grace and springiness of the rhythms seem appropriate to celebrate the lightness of early spring.

Leonard Bernstein wrote “For Susanna Kyle” (“V.” from Five Anniversaries for solo piano) for the daughter of his dear friend and collaborator Betty Comden and her husband Steve Kyle. All that was necessary to adapt the piece to marimba was the addition of rolls (to sustain the notes). The score suggests it is played “Peacefully”—a mood I hope may breathe hope into the new season.

Off PistS. HenrysonArr. R. Soto/K. Yuasa

Svante Henryson wrote “Off Pist” in 1996 for his friend and soprano saxophonist Anders Paulsson. They have a common interest apart from music: alpine skiing and especially off-piste, or off-the-beaten-path, skiing. “Skiing is like dancing downhill very rhythmically in snow,” said Henryson. “The music in ‘Off Pist’ goes a little out of the mainstream, going a little ‘off piste.’ ” Cellist Roman Soto and clarinetist Katsuya Yuasa will perform the contempo-rary chamber jazz-funk piece, originally commissioned by Swedish National Television.

AFTERNOON SESSIONS

Between West and East: the Concept of Microtonality

The universe of tones contains an infinity of colors, many more than the twelve equally tempered half steps of the Western chromatic scale. The “in-between” notes have fascinated musicians since the Middle Ages, and in this workshop presented by cellist and Berklee faculty member Arnold Friedman, there will be an opportunity to expe-rience the unique and ravishing colors in works of some modern and contemporary classical composers.

Tradition of Maqam

This workshop, presented by violinist Layth Sidiq, will offer explanations and demonstrations on the tradition of the maqam, a system of melodic modes that hails from the Middle East. It will cover the music of Egypt, Turkey, Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq. Sidiq will discuss topics such as composition, improvisation, the language of the music, and how it can be used in the world of music today.

The Multidimensional Life of a Professional Musician

This panel discussion features four multifaceted and accomplished musicians representing an eclectic mix of careers, including composer, director, performer, educator, and author. Panelists: Stephany Tiernan, Chrystos Vayenas, and Nancy Zeltsman.

CONCERT FOR THE MOON

Selkie and Dragon TalkS. Tiernan/J. Brackeen

Using a variety of musical parameters such as inflection, timbre, dynamics, and rhythm, these two “witches” will concoct a musical brew with ingredients from three languages: Italian, Chinese, and Irish. The improvisational materials have been distilled from these very different languages by extracting the music directly from the sounds of the languages and using it as a source for improvisation on two pianos.

Suite in DI. Swoop (M. Rabson) II. Kat Kopanica (H. Sherrah-Davies) III. Marking Time (M. Rabson) IV. Nirvanky (M. Rabson)

Violinist Mimi Rabson and her Strings Theory Trio, featur-ing Helen Sherrah-Davies (five-string violins) and Junko Fujiwara (cello), supercharges the intimate atmosphere of chamber music with a triple dose of edgy, daring improvi-sation. Today’s performance will contain influences ranging from Bulgarian music to the rock band Nirvana.

Corvus Corax 11 Plsek/Bermejo Duo

This performance—featuring trombonist Tom Plsek and dancer/artist Jimena Bermejo-Black—derives from the behavior of raven pairs. Both mythologically and ornitho-logically, the raven is an intriguing source of inspiration. The common raven, Corvus corax, is a member of the crow family, the Corvidae, and has approximately 3-4 times the mass of the American crow. It has far different behaviors from the crow as well. In virtually all mythologies of north-ern cultures, the raven has assumed a position of major importance. These include those of the Nordic peoples (Odin’s two ravens are Huginn and Muninn, whose names translate to Thought and Memory, respectively), the ancient Irish (to whom the phrase “raven’s knowledge” means to see and know all), the Vikings (their battle bird), the English (numerous references in Shakespeare and Beowulf), and even the ancient Hebrews (Noah sent a raven from the ark first, but it did not return). It is perhaps in Native American cultures that the raven attains the pinnacle. To the Koyukon, Kwaikiutl, Haida, and other northern tribes, the raven was no less than the creator of the world, including man, as well as the greatest trickster. To ornithologists it is no less deserving of respect and wonderment. While most of the other Corvidae—including crows, jays, and magpies—have behaviors that are codifiable and relatively predictable and simple, ravens exhibit some of the most complex behaviors and highly developed intelligence of all animals.

Improvisations based on Tendrils IIBruno Råberg Trio

This trio features three Berklee faculty members—bassist Råberg, David Tronzo on guitar, and David Wallace on violin—and will explore improvisations that are based on Råberg’s piece, “Tendrils II.” The compositional ideas are not completed in the composition process but rather through the members’ improvisations. Some compositional elements are derived from traditional South Indian music, mainly in the form of rhythmic concepts.

Thirteen Changes: For Malcolm Goldstein

P. Oliveros

Pauline Oliveros’s “Thirteen Changes” (1986) is among her numerous intuitive scores. The directions provide a series of images, some of them rather whimsical, such as the eighth change, “Rollicking Monkeys Landing on Mars,” allowing musicians the opportunity for sonic exploration. The Boston Conservatory Contemporary Ensemble is directed by Michael Norsworthy.

BIOGRAPHIESjimena bermejo-black, born in Mexico City, holds an M.F.A. in Studio for Interrelated Media from the Massa-chusetts College of Art and Design and a B.F.A. in Dance from The Boston Conservatory. She has performed with Spencer/Colton, Marcus Schulkind, Lorraine Chapman The Company, Caitlin Corbett Dance Company, Sarah Slifer, and as a guest dancer with David Parker and the Bang Group, among others. Bermejo-Black continues to teach, choreograph, and create video/performance pieces. She has shown her work at Le Lieu in Quebec; 808 Gallery in Boston; Gowanous Guest Room in Brooklyn; and Mobius Gallery, Green Street Studios, the Multicultural Arts Center, and the Dance Complex in Cambridge. She is a member of Mobius Artists Group, and she teaches dance at the College of the Holy Cross, Berklee, Boston Arts Academy, and at Mass Art. •the boston conservatory contemporary ensemble is a flexible ensemble composed of students in the Contemporary Music Performance program and other Boston Conservatory students. It specializes in contem-porary music from classics of the 20th century to the most avant-garde and experimental music being written today. Commissioning and interdisciplinary work are a hallmark of the group as it seeks to engage audiences in experiences that are new, fresh, and current. •

Grant Bingham, bassoonJoshua Scheid, voiceFelicia Chen, voiceC. Neil Parsons, tromboneDan DeSimone, percussionDillon Robb, violinEmily Wiebe, French hornMichael Norsworthy, clarinet/director

Described as “a visionary of extraordinary depth” by Tony Bennett, and “a pianist-composer of phenomenal capacity” by the late Bill Evans, joanne brackeen is consistently ranked by critics and jazz magazines as one of the best jazz pianists in the world. Her writing is remarkable for its creativity, stylistic range, emotional depth, and whimsical spirit. Her storied career does indeed invite parallels to Picasso; like the great visual artist, she has consistently defied convention, remaking herself and her art many times over. Her playing is virtuosic and wholly unpredictable, dense and richly detailed, rhythmically advanced and consistently, effortlessly swinging. “Outrageous,” “charm-ing,” “classic,” “awesome,” and “phenomenal” are some of the oft-repeated adjectives chosen by critics and fans to describe Brackeen’s music. •moira lo bianco studied at F. Torrefranca Conservatory and the University of Tor Vergata and completed her B.A. with an ethnomusicology thesis on Calabrian folk music and its traditions. Under the tutelage of Oscar award-winning composer Luis Bacalov, she studied film scoring at Siena’s Accademia Chigiana. She received a scholarship to pursue further studies at Berklee, graduated Summa Cum Laude in 2012, and recently joined Berklee’s Piano faculty. She has collaborated with oud and violin virtuoso Simon Shaheen, Berklee Global Jazz Institute managing director Marco Pig-nataro, and clarinetist Kinan Azmeh (Silk Road Ensemble), among many others. Her performance credits include Roma Jazz Festival, Newport Jazz Festival, and Steinway Hall. She released her debut album Lunaria in 2013, and issued her follow-up, Imago, in March 2016. Her workshop series, Classical Chords: Improvisation for Classical Pianists, focuses on improvisation in classical music. In 2013, Lo Bianco received a Boston Music Award nomination for Jazz Artist of the Year, and recently was appointed as Young Steinway Artist and Steinway Educational Partner. •

arnold friedman, Berklee’s chair of Composition, has premiered microtonal compositions with the Boston Microtonal Society at MIT in Cambridge, with Dinosaur Annex at Boston University, and at other concert series in Boston. He lectures frequently on world tuning systems, including microtonality. He has performed as cellist with the Dallas Opera Orchestra, Honolulu Symphony, and Rhode Island Philharmonic. He has had composition commissions from the Cleveland Duo and James Umble, ExtensionWorks, and the University of North Texas Dance Department. •Cellist junko fujiwara earned a B.M. from Lawrence Uni-versity and a M.M. from Northwestern University. She holds faculty positions at Boston College, Governor’s Academy, Masconomet Regional Schools, and Ipswich Public Schools. She is also affiliated with the Northeast Massachusetts Youth Orchestra, where she coaches chamber groups. •mary luisi is a registered piano technician with the Piano Technicians Guild and works as a full-time piano technician for Steinway & Sons in New York City. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Indianapolis in Music and Business Administration; a certificate in Piano Technology from Western University in Ontario, Canada; and an M.A. in Piano Technology from Florida State University. Luisi also studied at the Sauter Piano Factory in southern Germany and has completed several training programs with Steinway & Sons and Shigeru Kawai. She has worked at the Sarasota Music Festival since 2013; for a piano dealership in Carmel, Indiana; and as an independent piano technician in Indiana, Florida, and New York City. She has taught piano technology as an instructor for classes at Florida State University, the 2013 PTG National Convention, and most recently, the New York City chapter of the Piano Technicians Guild. •giuseppe paradiso started his musical studies on drums at the age of five. He graduated from Berklee and from the Italian conservatory of music, N. Piccinni, in Bari, where he studied piano and composition. His performances at multiple festivals, major venues, and universities include Les Journee de la Percussion at Conservatoire Superior de Paris, Newport Jazz Festival, Panama Jazz Festival, Festival Duni (Matera, Italy), Festival Paleariza (Reggio Calabria, Italy), Northeastern University, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum of Boston, and the Austrian-Canadian Cultural Centre (Calgary, Canada). In 2012, he recorded his album, Otherness Collection, with his international band Meridian 71, based in Boston. The recording features Paradiso’s original music. In 2013, he cofounded the In Momentum Concert Series, a monthly series focused on improvisation, involving multiple collaborations in a growing and evolving community, and promoting a unique environment fostering freedom in music creation. •Trombone explorer tom plsek has been stretching trom-bones and our concepts of them for years. His compositions include pieces for ensembles and solo trombone and often incorporate improvisation, technology, and performance art. He has performed with such artists as Jerry Hunt, Malcolm Goldstein, Phill Niblock, the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, Joe Morris, Marjorie Morgan, and the Outsider Quartet. He performed at New Music America in 1983 and 1986. He is a member of the Mobius Artists Group and chair emeritus of the Berklee Brass Department. The Gu series, a monthly performance series created with Marjorie Morgan, was selected by the Boston Globe as one of the top 10 dance events in Boston in 2002. More recently he collaborated with Joanne Rice in 2006 to present Styx for the Mobius International Festival of Performance Art in Boston. In 2007 he performed in Seoul, Korea at SOMA and at Festival Forfest, Kromeriz, Czech Republic. He is featured on several recordings, including Firehouse Futurities, Jump or Die; 21 Braxton Compositions 1992, and MVP LSD. •

bruno råberg is an internationally renowned bass player and composer. Since coming to the United States from his native Sweden in 1981, he has made eight recordings as a leader, about 30 as a sideman, and has performed with numerous world-class artists. Some of the distinguished musicians Råberg has performed or recorded with include George Garzone, Sam Rivers, Donny McCaslin, Chris Cheek, Ben Monder, Ted Poor, Bob Moses, Mick Goodrick, Ben Monder, Bruce Barth, Jim Black, and Matt Wilson. Råberg has toured throughout Europe, the U.S., Japan, Afri-ca, India, and Central America. He is leading several groups of his own: the Lifelines Quartet with Chris Cheek, Ben Monder, and Ted Poor; the Bruno Råberg Nonet featuring Allan Chase, Phil Grenadier, Jeff Galindo; and others. Råberg is a professor of Ensemble at Berklee. •Combining idiomatic flexibility, a deep wellspring of creativity, and world-class virtuosity, violinist mimi rabson is one of the Boston area’s most valuable musical resources. Her new recording with her Strings Theory Trio is a compelling synthesis of classical chamber music and directed improvisation, bringing together some of Rabson’s most important influences and inspirations. Listeners will experience Western classical tradition anew as the surging counterpoint and crystalline instrumental sonorities gain new resilience and allure from their origin in the inspiration of the moment. Simultaneously delicate and dangerous, the Strings Theory Trio’s music is richly nuanced and deeply satisfying.

Rabson is a first-prize winner of the Massachusetts Cultural Council Fellowship in composition, was a founding member and former director of the Klezmer Conservatory Band, and has recorded with Itzhak Perlman, among others. Her performance credits include work with Robert Plant and Jimmy Page, Stevie Wonder, Meatloaf, Kristin Chenoweth, the Boston Gay Men’s Choir, the Boston Camarata, the New England Ragtime Ensemble, and Deborah Henson-Conant. She is associate professor of Strings at Berklee. •Film composer and guitarist claudio ragazzi has written award-winning music for film and television, scoring hundreds of projects and performing with some of today’s most respected musicians at renowned concert halls in the world. After graduating from Berklee, he went on to compose music for feature films, documentaries, and television commercials as well as undertaking commissioned works for plays and ballets. Film scores include Next Stop Wonderland, The Blue Diner, and many more. Ragazzi’s work can also be heard in Something’s Gotta Give. He has scored hundreds of TV productions for the Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, National Geographic, Telemundo, Univision, and PBS, including American Experience, NOVA, Sesame Street, Arthur, and Postcards from Buster. He has performed at leading venues around the world, including Carnegie Hall, the Hollywood Bowl, the Blue Note Jazz Club, and Lincoln Center. •Five-string violinist, pianist, and composer helen sherrah-davies has made music that fiddler Darol Anger describes as “so strong, it approaches the status of a new sentient being.” She earned an M.M. in Contempo-rary Improvisation from New England Conservatory after completing undergraduate studies at Cambridge University and Berklee. Sherrah-Davies has released one album as a leader, StarStuff, and appeared on 12 other recordings. She is an assistant professor of Harmony at Berklee. •

Born in Baghdad and raised in Amman, Jordan, layth sidiq is a leading Middle Eastern violinist on the world music stage. Trained classically under Timur Ibra-himov at the National Music Conservatory in Amman, he went on to study with Adrian Levine at Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester, England. After graduating from Berklee with the highest honors, Sidiq has worked often as a soloist, chamber musician, and recording artist, including performances or recordings with Javier Limón, Simon Shaheen, Ron Carter, Lalah Hathaway, Jack DeJohnette, Jorge Drexler, Ivan Lins, and Alejandro Sanz. He is a student in Berklee’s graduate program in Performance in Boston. •Cellist roman soto—who is pursuing a B.M. in Contem-porary Writing and Production at Berklee—and clarinetist and Yamaha Young Performing Artist katsuya yuasa— who earned a master’s degree at The Boston Conservatory and is currently pursuing a prestigious artist diploma there—formed a duo seeking opportunities to actively perform jazz, classical, and contemporary music across the globe. With the Berklee/Boston Conservatory merger, they strive to represent and share dynamic creative work that mixes original sounds from diverse fields. •stephany tiernan is chair of the Piano Department at Berklee. She is a performer, composer, teacher, author of Contemporary Piano Technique, and a Steinway artist. She has performed and recorded duets for many years with pianist JoAnne Brackeen, including a CD, Which is Which, that was recorded in 2006. Tiernan’s own compositions are available on the recording, Hauntings: Scream of Consciousness. •david tronzo has been voted to be among the Top 100 Guitarists of the 20th Century and the Top Ten Jazz Guitar-ists by Musician magazine and Best Guitarist in NYC by the New York Press. Tronzo was one of 30 musicians worldwide to receive a nomination for the CalArts Alpert Award in the Arts for music. Tronzo’s unique playing style has resulted in an innovative body of extended techniques for the slide guitar: fluid single lines; finger-behind-the-slide chords; and harmonic slaps, using plastic cups, rags, pencils and wires. He has recorded and toured with Wayne Horvitz and the President, John Cale, Marshall Crenshaw, Mike Manieri, David Sanborn, Hassan Hakmoun, Foday Suso, the Tronzo Trio, the Tronzo/Herbert Duo, Spanish Fly, Namshub with David Fiuczynski, Club d’Elf with Mike Rivard, and John Medeski. •christos vayenas is a pianist, composer/improviser, author, and personal development educator. He is the director of the Autumn Salon, a nonprofit performance and education organization dedicated to pioneering a new and integrated vision for the professional, cultural, and social dimensions of the arts. His work encompasses a wide range of fields, including musical performance practices, philosophy and developmental psychology, meditative and movement disciplines, and the history of myth, culture, and ritual. •Chair of Berklee’s String Department, david wallace has performed in concert with the New York Philharmonic, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, his flute-vio-la-harp trio Hat Trick, and his Texas-style swing band, the Doc Wallace Trio. The New York Times compares his solo improvisations to “Jimmy Page fronting Led Zeppelin.” An award-winning composer, Wallace has received commis-sions from Carnegie Hall, the New York Philharmonic, the Juilliard School, violinist Rachel Barton Pine, and the Marian Anderson String Quartet. •

august watters is a multi-stylistic, improvising mando-linist, composer, and arranger whose work bridges contem-porary classical music, jazz, folk music traditions, and the historical concert mandolin repertoire. He is the founder of the New England Mandolin Ensemble, Boston Mandolins, the Festival of Mandolin Chamber Music, and Cape Cod Mandolin Camp. As an international clinician and soloist, Watters has performed in Europe and North America. He is also an Emmy-winning arranger, with dozens of studio credits as arranger, orchestrator, and conductor for television and film music. Watters holds a master’s degree in from Boston University in music education, and a bachelor’s from Berklee in Jazz Composition and Arranging. He is an associate professor of ear training at Berklee. •nancy zeltsman is a leading marimba performer, recording artist, teacher, author, and festival director who has premiered over 125 solo/chamber marimba works, some of which are cornerstones of the literature. These include pieces by Michael Tilson Thomas, Paul Simon, Gunther Schuller, Carla Bley, and Lyle Mays. She has performed throughout the U.S. and Europe, and in Mexico, Japan, and China as a soloist and chamber musician. Since 1993, she has taught marimba at The Boston Conservatory (where she is chair of the Percussion Department) and Berklee where she is a professor of Percussion. In 2013, she was appointed regular guest professor of marimba at Conservatorium van Amsterdam in the Netherlands. Since 2001, she has been artistic director of Zeltsman Marimba Festival, a summer seminar and concert series. She has recorded three solo marimba CDs; three with her former marimba/violin duo Marimolin; a disc with Boston Modern Orchestra Project (W.T. McKinley’s marimba concerto); and a duo marimba project with Jack Van Geem. She authored a marimba method, Four Mallet Marimba Playing: A Musical Approach for All Levels. •

SCHEDULE10:00 a.m.–11:00 a.m. Keyboard Instruments through the Ages

Presentation by Steinway piano technician Mary Luisi

11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. The Eclectic Language of Film ScoringPresentation by composer/guitarist Claudio Ragazzi

1:00 p.m.–3:00 p.m. Concert for the SunFeaturing Giuseppe Paradiso, Moira Lo Bianco, August Watters, Nancy Zeltsman, and the Katsuya Yuasa/Roman Soto Duo

3:00 p.m.–4:00 p.m. Between West and East: The Concept of MicrotonalityWorkshop presented by composer/cellist Arnold Friedman

4:00 p.m.–5:00 p.m. Tradition of MaqamWorkshop presented by violinist and Berklee graduate student Layth Sidiq

5:00 p.m.–7:00 p.m. The Multidimensional Life of a Professional MusicianPanel discussion, Stephany Tiernan, Chrystos Vayenas, and Nancy Zeltsman

8:00 p.m.–10:00 p.m. Concert for the MoonFeaturing the Tiernan/Brackeen Duo; Mimi Rabson Strings Theory Trio; Bruno Råberg Trio; Plsek/Bermejo Duo; and The Boston Conservatory Contemporary Ensemble, directed by Michael Norsworthy