One of the Criers, Blaise Dejardin, decided he was unable to perform with A Far Cry on the current set of concerts because he was preparing for an audition for an open spot in the Boston Symphony cello section.
It turns out to have been a very good decision.
A Far Cry's own Blaise Dejardin has won the position of cellist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra! We are all so proud of him and this incredible accomplishment. Félicitations, Blaise!
There is a phrase that I often hear Jason toss out during rehearsal. “Live breathe die,” he’ll say, and it usually tacks on to a discussion about following one person’s every move and sound. With every piece, this suggestion and, most often, discussion arise. It might come from one of the violinists, or the violists, or one of the cellists, or perhaps whoever is standing or sitting directly next to who we should be following and they are more aware of the specific nuance or articulation that the leader is executing. Sometimes it comes from someone’s dissatisfaction with the togetherness of the ensemble in a large part of a piece or sometimes we would just like to do something very specific, subtle, and special and honing in on one person will make us focus and create a very special sound. One advantage of not having a conductor is something we create in exactly this situation. The role of leader in A Far Cry can shift in a split second during a piece. Most of the time we follow who is standing as concertmaster, but there are times when other voices should be in profile, in which case our attention is directed towards them. While a conductor is showing the direction of the music - it’s pulse, expression, emotion, changes, etc., there is something very different about following someone leading the same things with an instrument in their hand instead of a baton. There are two very meaningful differences, actually. The first is in regards to how you lead while playing and how you follow someone who is playing. They are not only showing what they would like to hear, they are also creating and producing that sound with enormous care and the more care they are giving, the more the rest of us feel it and give equal care to that note or that phrase. The second is about trust. While you are leading with a violin in your hands, you are surrounded by other violinists who are ready to take your cue, but as they are waiting for it and then while it happens, everyone is really in it together. The leader is not only giving the cue but also taking it.
I’m writing this on the late train to New York. I’m playing a small part in a very important concert tomorrow afternoon at Merkin Hall and I needed to get there before the morning’s dress rehearsal (the only time I’ll rehearse the piece before the concert!). Today was, as named months ago when we scheduled it, “A Far Cry Day.” Exactly twelve hours after our last rehearsal ended, we met in the morning at Longy. We had two three-hour rehearsals, with a lunch break in the middle. After that, we all piled into cars and headed over to Jamaica Plain where we had a meeting. At this meeting we discussed all sorts of things, from pressing managerial issues to our vision for next year and beyond.
When the discussion of our vision began, it felt a little bit like a ceremony because in a way, when we are together rehearsing, performing, socializing, it feels like there is no question of our collective vision. What we want to produce and present to the world is the highest priority, so what we do is work towards that in our actions. Production is operating with extremely positive energy and this has arrived organically and still works itself out, evolving fast enough where we can see it, but slow enough so that we understand the kind of care and effort everything needs so that it only developes that positive energy further. Live Breathe Die. We listen to eachother while we're playing and we're not playing with the same attention and care because we recognize the power in this ensemble. Needless to say, it was an invigorating conversation. We have big plans for next year and beyond and beyond and beyond. Just wait...
So happy 2008 everyone. Yes! We, the Criers have started the preparations for this upcoming concert set and we're pumped! It's an awesome program of music and our guest artist, Alexander (Sasha) Korsantia is the BOMB. The cool thing about having your own orchestra is that you play music YOU want to play. Yeah we're just a chamber orchestra, but there is so much GREAT music written for this size a band. You just have to hear it, then you'll believe in it. The post right before this one, Jesse makes a heartfelt shout out about the pieces being performed...Come see these shows and stick around afterwards to find out what other bands we have on our iPod playlist. I found this article while reading something about this year's playoff football on ESPN.com. It's so unrelated, it's just hilarious. But it gives you a lot to think about and chew on. Written by Gregg Easterbrook for the column, Tuesday Morning Quarterback.
" Space: The Saudi Arabia of Electricity: According to a recent estimate by the Department of Energy, human society is using about 15 terawatts of artificially generated energy per year; a terawatt is a trillion watts. The sun generates about 12 quadrillion terawatts per year -- about 800,000,000,000,000 times as much energy as made on Earth.
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AP Photo/NASA
The sun makes 800,000,000,000,000 times as much energy as humanity uses -- all we need to do is tap a little.
Why do I mention this? First, this is Tuesday Morning Quarterback: I don't have to have a reason. But if you're worried about how society can solve its power needs while simultaneously breaking the fossil fuel habit -- the World Bank estimates that, even assuming big improvement in efficiency, global energy production must triple by 2050 -- think skyward. Solar cells are getting cheaper, but may always be limited to applications such as rooftop converters in places like Arizona that rarely experience cloudy weather. The real promise of solar power is up in space, where the sun always shines and the energy value of photons is much greater than on Earth's surface. (Passing through the atmosphere uses up most of the energy in sunlight.) It seems likely, though not certain, that huge solar collectors in orbit could supply all the world's power needs by capturing the intense form of sunlight found in space, then beaming the energy down to Earth via lasers or microwaves. Physicists at a recent Washington meeting estimated that solar collectors in orbit, using lasers to transmit power to converters in the North African desert, could supply all of Europe's energy at a price competitive with current power generation and without carbon emissions. A world of space-based energy would not need coal-fired or nuclear power plants, and there would be sufficient electricity available so that hydrogen could be made from seawater to power our cars and airplanes. Homo sapiens could kiss the greenhouse gas issue goodbye.
Needless to say, building orbital solar power collectors would be hugely expensive -- although once the collectors were completed, operating costs would be relatively low because no fuel is required and no waste is made. Nations would need to cooperate on positioning the orbital systems and the ground receptors. There's some chance that zapping powerful lasers or microwave beams through the atmosphere would affect the weather. And extremely expensive power towers floating in space would, sadly, provide tempting military targets. Already, the Pentagon's National Security Space Office has quietly told lawmakers it would like to build a smallish orbiting proof-of-concept solar power station that would be used to beam energy down to deployed U.S. armed forces units. The Army and Marines have countless diesel-electric generators set up in Iraq and Afghanistan; if deployed forces could draw their electric power from a beam from space, this would be preferable. But if the first space solar generator is built to support the U.S. military, this could get the whole idea off on the wrong foot, making space solar power towers feel like valid military targets.
Anyway, TMQ finds it reassuring that there are potential energy solutions that involve vast amounts of power without any greenhouse gas emissions, fissile materials that might be stolen, or atomic byproducts that must be buried. Plus, return to those sun statistics. Our star generates 12 quadrillion terawatts of energy per year, radiating in all directions, so that an estimated 100,000 terawatts per year will fall on Earth -- warming our world, causing plant growth and making life possible. Some 100,000 terawatts end up here -- the rest streams off into the void. Thus 99.999999 percent of the energy generated by the sun is wasted, except perhaps for offering career opportunities for alien astronomers and their postdocs in other parts of the galaxy. You think man wastes energy -- think about the sun!"
Alrighty then. Come see our January concerts!
A Far Cry is in the midst of rehearsals for our next program, Remixed Classics, and I am so excited about this music, I had to post here to tell everyone about it!
Remixed Classics concentrates on classical "cover pieces." Each of the pieces on this program represent the composer stepping out of the normal, the mainstream, the expected, and writing a piece in a totally unexpected new style - sort of like A Far Cry itself. Hmm...
Golijov's Last Round brings grinding, sultry, passionate Argentinian tango to the concert hall. The piece is basically just hot. Then the program moves to Shostakovich, who explores ragtime and jazz in his Piano Concerto #1, which A Far Cry will perform with the great Russian pianist Alexander Korsantia. (More info about Korsantia coming soon!) After intermission, Grieg looks well into the past, going for Baroque (oof) in the beloved cornerstone of the chamber orchestra repertoire, The Holberg Suite and finally Beethoven seems to look back to the archaic fugue and simultaneously forward hundreds of years to cutting-edge avant garde in the landmark Grosse Fuge, performed in A Far Cry's new adaptation for string orchestra.
Please join us and experience Remixed Classics! This concert is going to rock!
A Far Cry has been invited by Yellow Barn Music Festival to work with their Young Artists Program this coming summer in a weekend residency to include both workshops and a concert. On Saturday, June 21st, 2008, we will present a full concert at Big Barn in Putney, Vermont, and for the better part of Sunday, A Far Cry will be working with the 30 talented, aspiring high-school instrumentalists and composers from across the country in workshops. Topics of exploration will likely include communication and collaboration, starting your own chamber ensemble, and how to rehearse a 16-piece, conductorless chamber orchestra without losing your mind! We hope also to have a chance to perform side-by-side with some of the musicians in the Program. Additionally, we will be exploring sketches of works by some of the young composers in residency. Around this same time (mid-to-late June) we are in the process of organizing a couple of other concerts in the Vermont area. Hopefully we will have the opportunity to return to our fabulously supportive Montpelier audience! Join our mailing list to stay informed!
Today A Far Cry visited Milton High School to give a performance and talk about communication. We played for about 100 students and had one of the most attentive audiences we've ever had. These were music students at the school, both band and orchestra, and we could really sense the seriousness and dedication of the audience - there's nothing like playing for musicians; especially music students - they really keep you on your toes! My favorite moment was when Sharon was leading unison claps from everyone, and showed by various types of cues and sniffs and eyebrow-raises, the variety of moods and affects that could be produced by a single clap, spontaneously together. It was a wonderful event, and we hope to return and work with such dedicated young people more extensively in the future.
Thanks to everyone - criers, guests, volunteers, venues, recording engineers, mentors, teachers, sox, and especially audience - for making our Cambridge and Brookline concerts of the last two days such wonderful events. We hope that our music uplifted the spirits and stirred the passions. If you were at the concerts, we would LOVE to hear from you - any thoughts at all about any aspect of the evenings! Simply click "leave a comment" below.
What can I say?? I'm glad it's over, and boy...these guys are true champions...Congratulations Red Sox Nation. And now, it's our turn. The inspiration runs sky high & we've prepared these concerts missing at least the first 3 innings of more than a handful of playoff games so we could rehearse for these two shows in Boston. Talk about the Sox rookies contributing, well A Far Cry is a rookie this year in the Boston's arts community & hope we can hit one out of the park. My complimentary ticket goes out to our captain, Jason Varitek (if you're back from Colorado for our Tuesday's concert that is). Tito (Francona), wanna come be president of our board before spring training starts?
Our eternal gratitude and love goes out to the Boston Red Sox, 2007 World Series Champions, for sweeping the Rockies and therefore giving us a shot at having an audience tomorrow night! MVP Mike Lowell, we're holding a comp for you!
A Far Cry is invading YouTube! There are five videos online (so far). The sound quality isn't great on any of them, but we still think they're fun to watch! A Far Cry on YouTube
