Thursday, December 27, 2012

World premieres headline Hospitality House benefit concert

Should have posted this much earlier, but if you happen to be in the Grass Valley area on Thursday, come check out trombonist Eric "Red" Starr in A Benefit for Hospitality House as he and pianist Paul Perry perform the world premieres of two new classical pieces.

Click here to read the press release, the first ever such document I've ever composed. I've read countless, but never tried to write one. Also reprinted below.

Also, I also had no idea until a few hours ago that the great Utah Phillips was a co-founder of Hospitality House, the eponymous beneficiary of Red's recital. It's a group that seeks to house the Nevada County homeless on frigid nights like this one.

A great cause, and a chance to support contemporary classical music.



Eric Starr and Paul Perry premiere new music in A Benefit For Hospitality House

December 19, 2012

GRASS VALLEY, CA — Join Eric P. Starr, D.M.A., and Music in the Mountains co-founder Paul Perry for an evening of new and unusual music in A Benefit For Hospitality House on Thursday, December 27, 2012 at 7:30 p.m. at Peace Lutheran Church in Grass Valley.

The concert, performed by Dr. Starr on trombone and euphonium and Perry on piano, will feature three 21st-century compositions, including a pair of world premieres. The featured pieces will be unfamiliar to most listeners and will challenge conventional ideas of how music can be created and performed.

“These compositions offer new ideas about what makes a piece of music, and how a trombone can be used to make such music,” Dr. Starr said.

A Benefit For Hospitality House will premiere works such as “Entitled”, by Nevada City-based composer and multi-instrumentalist Justin Hunt. Hunt has written, recorded and performed with rock ensembles such as The Bears, Casual Fog, sBach, Frenemies! and Them Hills. “Entitled” is among his first classical efforts and represents his first composition for trombone and piano.

The other world premiere, “Tardigrade” by New York-based Matthew Vandegriff, will be the second piece by Vandegriff that Dr. Starr has debuted.

Other featured pieces include “Spiegel im Spiegel” by Arvo Part of Estonia.

A Benefit For Hospitality House is free for all who wish to attend but free-will donations to the organization are strongly encouraged. Hospitality House is a non-profit community shelter for the homeless in Nevada County.

Eric P. Starr is a 1998 graduate of Nevada Union High School. He currently works as a performer and educator based in San Diego, CA.  He earned a Master of Music and Artist Diploma from the Cleveland Institute of Music, and a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree from Stony Brook University.  Dr. Starr currently serves on the faculties of the University of San Diego and San Diego State University and is the principal trombonist of City Music Cleveland. He has performed with the San Diego Symphony, San Diego Opera, La Jolla Symphony, Youngstown Symphony and the Orquesta Sinfonica UANL in Monterrey, Mexico. He has collaborated with composers John Adams, Christopher Adler and David Lang.

Paul Perry, pianist and organist, moved to Nevada City in 1979 and served as Artistic Director of Music in the Mountains until his retirement in 2008. He was named “Person of the Year” in 2008 by the Grass Valley Chamber of Commerce. He was recognized by US Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein with letters of excellence for his work at Music in the Mountains.


1 comment:

Unknown said...

Are you around for this?