WASHINGTON, D.C. CHAPTER: NEWS

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CHORAL ARTS SOCIETY HOSTS CHAPTER MEMBERS AT KENNEDY CENTER

(JULY 2003) Chapter members attended an open rehearsal of the Choral Arts Society on May 12th at the Kennedy Center. The chorus and orchestra was preparing for the premiere of a major new work by James Grant, "Such Was the War."

TEEN EXCHANGE PROGRAM CULMINATES WITH LIZ LERMAN DANCE

(JULY 2003) Ben Takis has completed his Community Partners project with the Teen Exchange Program at The Liz Lerman Dance Exchange. Ben has composed original music in collaboration with young choreographers. The resulting work was performed on May 31st and June 1st at the Clarice Smith Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Maryland. This collaboration provided student choreographers with their first experience working with a composer, and working with original music. The students were all very excited by the process, and grateful for the opportunity to work with Ben and his ensemble. We expect that these emerging choreographers will continue to pursue original music as part of their future works.

OPEN REHEARSAL OF NSO WITH VANSKA AND LINDBERG

(JUNE 2003) On April 3, area members attended an open rehearsal of the National Symphony Orchestra with guest conductor Osmo Vanska and trombone soloist Christian Lindberg. The program included the D.C. premiere of Aho’s Symphony No. 9 for trombone and orchestra, as well as Sibelius’ "Pohjola’s Daughter" and Brahms’ Symphony No. 3.

PUNK-NOT-ROCK SALON FEATURES LOCAL COMPOSERS

(JUNE 2003) On April 9, the chapter and the Punk-Not-Rock Salon presented "Offstage: A New Music Salon," an evening of informal performances of works-in-progress by local composers. Held at Strathmore Hall in North Bethesda, Md., the program included excerpts from Andrew Simpson’s opera "Agamemnon," a guitar trio by John Kamman, and Vin Novara’s new work for solo snare drum.

Before and after each work, John Borstel of the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange moderated a discussion between the composer and the audience using the Dance Exchange’s Critical Response Process. The technique encourages conversations between artists and audiences, maximizing the benefit to both.

BERNOFSKY'S "ANACOSTIA JOURNAL" CONCLUDES ECC PROJECT

(JUNE 2003) On April 26, Lauren Bernofsky’s string quartet "Anacostia Journal" premiered at D.C.’s Bladensburg Waterfront Park, as part of the closing rally for the Anacostia Earth Day Cleanup. The performance acted as a finale for Bernofsky’s Community Partners residency with the Earth Conservation Corps. The ECC is an AmeriCorps program providing young people from under-resourced communities with a chance to reclaim two of the country’s most threatened resources: the environment and themselves. As part of her residency, Bernofsky interviewed members of the ECC, who each devote a year to help to clean up and preserve the Anacostia River. Bernofsky used those interviews as source material for the quartet.

"COMPOSER AS PERFORMER" AT WAREHOUSE NEXT DOOR

(JUNE 2003) On April 30, the chapter presented "The Composer as Performer," a concert at The Warehouse Theater’s "Warehouse Next Door" in downtown D.C. True to its name, the concert featured local composers Derek Morton, Lucas Zarwell, Faye Chiao, Pamela Helton, and Jonathan Matis performing their own works.

"By encouraging artists to perform their own works, we are working to restore a place for composers on the concert stage and build links between artists and audiences," says Matis, the chapter’s director. "This type of concert helps composers reach audiences directly, building interest in their work by allowing them to engage listeners first-hand. We want to present composers as people who live and work here in the community, people you can have a conversation with.