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VOYAGE
NOTES
From Wendy
I
am very excited about “Voyage-A Folk Tale”. I am working with the finest young
professionals in all three disciplines-dance, drama, and music. My colleagues in
this project are expressive, dedicated, and spirited artists. They are an
inspiration to me. The creative process of this project is very much like the
creation of the bird in the story. It consists of love, imagination, and magic.
One of the reasons I chose folk tale as a theme for this collaborative project
is because we share one common trait as artists, composer, writer, actor, musician,
and dancer… We are storytellers. I hope that you enjoy the performance
as much as I have enjoyed the process of creating this new collaborative work.
From
Mahira
We have all heard of the musician as
traveler.
And all artists, being human,
are sojourners.
Many journeys are circular. We
experience much of the beauty and savagery of living world to come back to a
beginning place of innocence, but with a sense of wisdom that helps us retain a
childlike simplicity in our dealings with the world.
When we thought of folk-tales
the first thought we had was that they are autotelic- they travel, even though the
tellers don’t. They move by word of mouth. They alter as they go along, but
possess in them a bed-rock of truth or teaching that makes them universal. As
artists we strive to make our art accessible across the board without compromising
its integrity.
This experience tonight is the
piece of wood we give to you- do with it what you will.
Many thanks for walking a
little way with us on our journey.
From Nora
At Midnight Refrain was written for
Wendy Law. The title refers to the circularity of day, beginning again at midnight,
and the repetition of a refrain, specifically in folk and song genres. Because this
piece was written for a performance based on folk and oral traditions, I built the
music out of the kind of endless, cyclical retelling of one idea with slight
variation over and over again. The first section of At Midnight Refrain is muted,
melancholy, suppressed, and sad. It is harshly juxtaposed with the middle section of
the piece, which is harsh and aggressive, grooving and grinding out sounds that are
of traditional eastern European descent with a touch of a rock influence. Finally
these two polar ideas come together, as the more lyrical music of the opening
asserts itself to becoming the wild music of the middle. This music is dedicated to
Wendy Law – a cellist of unbelievable ability.
THANKS
TO
Film crew from NHK
Cynthia Baker from the Concert Office
Teacher Joel Krosnick
Mahira, Vernon, Nora, and Ying for your amazing artistry and
inspiration
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