Charles Coleman Begins Music Alive Composer Residency

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December 4, 2007

The American composer Charles Coleman is composer-in-residence with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra for five weeks as part of The American Symphony Orchestra League and Meet the Composer’s Music Alive, a program that pairs American composers with orchestras for residencies that encourage the commissioning and performance of new music.

Coleman’s residency is planned in three phases, culminating in a May 2007 performance by the CSO of Deep Woods, a world premiere by Coleman that has been commissioned by Paavo JÃƒÂ¤rvi and the CSO. Coleman’s previous CSO commission, Streetscape, was given its world premiere at concerts in September 2001, JÃƒÂ¤rvi’s inaugural season.

Phase One, January 7-16, 2007: Theme and Variations Project

This project gives CSYO students a unique opportunity to further explore the world of composition. The project is inspired by Eugene Goossens’s Jubilee Variations, commissioned in 1945 for the CSO’s golden jubilee season. The Jubilee theme was written by Goossens himself, and 10 composers were asked to write the variations.

In fall 2006, a theme written by Charles Coleman was presented to CSYO students by CSO Assistant Conductor/CSYO Conductor Eric Dudley. The students played and recorded the theme. Dudley then worked with student teams through the early process of composing the variations. Coleman has joined the process with his January residency in Cincinnati to work with the student teams to help bring the composition to fruition. During Coleman’s second visit in March, the CSYO will play the Theme and Variations. They also will have the opportunity to read and rehearse Mr. Coleman’s The Lime Factory, which will be given its U.S. premiere by the CSO (see below).

Phase Two, March 14-April 1, 2007: Young People’s Concert and Sound Discoveries Program/Advocacy for New Music

The second phase of Coleman’s residency will include visits to four of the CSO’s Sound Discoveries partner schools, speaking to classes from grades 1-6. Coleman will be teamed with a CSO staff conductor and/or musician to develop an interactive and age-appropriate class presentation on composition.

In addition to the school visits, Coleman will participate in an on-stage presentation as part of the CSO Young People’s concert at Music Hall for students in grades 4-6 on Tuesday, March 27. The theme will be “Music and the World Around Us.”Â The CSO will give the U.S. premiere of Coleman’s The Lime Factory at this concert. (The six-minute The Lime Factory was commissioned by Kristjan JÃƒÂ¤rvi for the Symphony Orchestra of the Norrlands Opera in Sweden, where it was given its world premiere in February 2003.)

The second phase also will include “Express Yourself: Be the Composer!”Â, a free Sound Discoveries workshop for educators on Thursday, March 15 from 4:30-6:30 p.m. in Music Hall’s Corbett Tower. Coleman and Eric Dudley will discuss how composing can be used to address concepts like patterns and sequencing in math and language arts. The workshop will be followed by a dinner buffet and a CSO concert conducted by Paavo JÃƒÂ¤rvi.

In addition, Coleman will speak at the Contemporary Arts Center in downtown Cincinnati on Monday, March 26 from 6:30-7:30 p.m. His world premiere, Deep Woods, is inspired by a painting of the same name by Charles Yoder, a New York-based artist. This event is free. Note: a digital image of Deep Woods is available from the CSO upon request.

Phase Three, May 1-May 5, 2007: World Premiere by Charles Coleman

The third and final phase of Mr. Coleman’s residency culminates in the world premiere of his composition, Deep Woods, by the CSO and Paavo JÃƒÂ¤rvi on May 3 with additional performances on May 4 and 5. Coleman will be present for CSO rehearsals of Deep Woods and prior to each concert, he will be the featured guest speaker for Classical Conversations.

The third phase of the residency includes a presentation to CSO board and supporters to demonstrate a living composer’s approach and techniques to textures in composition. Members of the CSO and Paavo JÃƒÂ¤rvi also would participate. This would allow the CSO to connect with core supporters by developing or deepening their interest and understanding of new music.

Plans also call for Mr. Coleman to conduct master classes for student composers.

Charles Coleman

Born in New York City in 1968, Charles Coleman has lived an abundant musical life that began as a boy soprano in the Metropolitan Opera. He studied at the Turtle Bay Music School and went on to attend Manhattan School of Music, where he earned his master’s degree in composition. There he also met Kristian JÃƒÂ¤rvi who, with Gene Pritsker, founded the Absolute Ensemble. Coleman was named the ensemble’s composer-in-residence in 1997.

The Absolute Ensemble has come to symbolize a unique blend of modern classical music-a synthesis of jazz, rock and traditional music. Coleman’s “Absolution”Â was written for the ensemble in 1999 and recorded on the ENJA NOVA label. The recording was nominated for a Grammy Award for “Best Small Ensemble”Â in 2002.

Coleman has written more than 60 compositions including Streetscape, commissioned by Paavo JÃƒÂ¤rvi and the Cincinnati Symphony and given its world premiere in September 2001 at JÃƒÂ¤rvi’s inaugural concerts with the CSO. This concert was televised and broadcast on PBS. Streetscape was performed by Paavo JÃƒÂ¤rvi and the CSO in Tokyo, Japan in 2003, and JÃƒÂ¤rvi also led performances of Streetscape with the San Francisco Symphony.

Coleman’s Red Oak Dawn was commissioned by Neeme JÃƒÂ¤rvi and the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and given its world premiere in 2006. Latarnia for Bassoon and Orchestra was performed in Riga, Latvia by the Riga Chamber Players in 2005. Pavement for Two Voices and Chamber Orchestra was premiered by the Albany Symphony Orchestra in 2002.

The residency of Charles Coleman is made possible through Music Alive, a residency program of the American Symphony Orchestra League and Meet The Composer. This national program is designed to provide orchestras with resources and tools to support their presentation of new music to the public and build support of new music within their institutions. Funding for Music Alive is provided by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and The Aaron Copland Fund for Music. — www.cincinnatisymphony.org

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