We were hoping to have this in time for the Music on the Edge Concert devoted to Ezra Sims and his music, but are still pleased to announce the special proclamation in honor of Ezra from Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor Catherine Baker Knoll. The complete text reads as follows:
"As Lieutenant Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, it gives me great pleasure to recognize you, Ezra Sims, on the occasion of your 80th birthday.
Music on the Edge will pack three grande occasions into one venti event: a concert in honor of Pittsburgh violinist, composer, and octogenarian Eugene Phillips, an introduction to 2008 Franz Lehar Composer-in-Residence David Felder, and a world premiere of a new composition for flute and piano by Music on the Edge codirector Eric Moe. Those in attendance will have the chance to visit with all the composers after the concert.
UPDATE: Read the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's review of the concert.
“Ezra Sims... has already contributed an outstanding body of works, many of which have explored with singular imagination, conviction — and success — the beautiful, but elusive world of microtonal music.”
– American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters Award Citation, 1985
Among contemporary American composers, Ezra Sims truly defies categorization. On the one hand, he composes with a 24-tone microtonal scale derived from a 72-tone division of the octave, a practice that puts him at the forefront of the avant-garde. On the other hand, Sims’s approach to composition is ultimately classical, with long, sinewy melodies, accessible motives, and formal clarity. This penchant for classicism is so strongly ingrained that Sims often refers to himself as a very old fashioned musician.
Roger Zahab and the University of Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra will present an ambitious program to end their fall semester. The concert will include Mendelssohn’s well known Hebrides Overture (also known as Fingal’s Cave), Brahms’s Symphony No. 1 in C Minor, and the premiere of a composition by Pitt student composer Matthew Shepherd. Titled Entremet, Shepherd’s work will feature the orchestra’s wind and percussion sections. The concert takes place on Wednesday, December 5 at 8 p.m. at Bellefield Hall Auditorium (315 S.
Judge Magister Drace looms high atop the… Music Building. Or is it…
On October 27, Pitt’s Music on the Edge will host the Naumburg award-winning Peabody Trio with renowned singer John Shirley-Quirk in a concert that features music by Zhou Long, Maurizio Kagel, Harold Meltzer, and Thierry De Mey. The trio will feature Shirley-Quirk as narrator in Meltzer’s Sindbad and will lean toward the theatrical for De Mey’s Musique de tables. The Peabody will give their innovative program on Saturday, October 27 at 8 p.m. in Pitt’s Bellefield Hall Auditorium. Tickets purchased in advance through ProArts are $10 for general admission and $5 for students and seniors, Call 412-394-3353 or visit www.proartstickets.org. Service fees apply. Tickets at the door are $15 and $10. Pitt students are admitted free.
Alia Musica Pittsburgh, a consortium of young composers and performers in the Pittsburgh area, is pleased to bring you its second-ever series of concerts, beginning with its first concert Saturday, Oct. 13th at 7:00 PM, and concluding with a second concert Thursday, Oct. 18th at 7:30 PM. Both concerts are at the Eddy Theatre on the Chatham University Campus (between Shadyside and Squirrel Hill).
I am playing another show at Howler's Coyote Cafe on Wednesday, Oct 3rd. This one will debut a brand new progressive electro-rock composition. The event starts at 9 p.m. and is all ages. 4509 Liberty Avenue (Bloomfield)
Listen to Sachem Orenda's song Preemptive Neural Twist.
18-preemptive-neural-twist.mp3
www.myspace.com/sachemoclark