Stories » Lesher Center commissions Sarah McKenzie to compose concert work 'San Francisco - Paris of the West'

Stories for April 21, 2019

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    Who's afraid of the big bad wolf? Not Montrealers / CBC
     
    Posted At : April 21, 2019 12:00 AM

    CBC/QWF writer-in-residence Emira Tufo meets the yellow-eyed wolf who serenades Metro commuters. The masked violinist who plays in the Montreal Metro was inspired by the French-Belgian-German film, Le joueur de violon - the story of a concert musician who abandons the spotlight to play for passersby in the Paris Metro. The old proverb says; the Wolf is always bad, regardless of the colour of his pelt, and taken to its logical conclusion, wolf neither sings nor harbours good intentions. And yet, there is a yellow-eyed wolf who makes the rounds of the Montreal Metro, violin in hand, offering the comfort of music to the crowds of humans, mingling the melodies of Bach and Chopin with the roar of the passing trains and the familiar voice of Michèle Deslauriers: Attention à tous les passagers. Il y a un ralentissement de service sur la ligne … (and you pause, frozen in suspense, hoping not to learn, as you invariably will, that it is, indeed, your line. Again.)
    PHOTO:  (Emira Tufo/CBC) READ THE FULL CBC ARTICLE & WATCH THE VIDEO

  • Christina Pluhar, L'Arpeggiata will present baroque jazz on Istanbul stage / DAILY SABAH
     
    Posted At : April 20, 2019 12:00 AM

    Sanat Concert Hall will host prominent music group, L'Arpeggiata on Thursday, April 25. The night, which will witness a combination of Baroque music and jazz, is expected to be one of the most unforgettable concerts ever held on Sanat stage. Founded in 2000 by Christina Pluhar, L'Arpeggiata consists of classical and jazz musicians. Following the success of their debut album "Improvisations on Henry Purcell," L'Arpeggiata worked on a project consisting of G. Frideric Handel's pieces and released the album "Handel Goes Wild." Standing as harmonization of jazz and baroque music, the album arouses both curiosity and amazement. p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #4d4d4d} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #4d4d4d; min-height: 14.0px} READ THE FULL DAILY SABAH ARTICLE

  • Frou Frou shares first new song in over 15 years / Pitchfork
     
    Posted At : April 20, 2019 12:00 AM

    Frou Frou, the duo of Imogen Heap and Guy Sigsworth, are back with their first new song in 15 years. "Guitar Song (Live)" is an acoustic offering, released via Linda Perry and Kerry Brown's label We Are Hear. Check it out below. Heap and Sigsworth formed Frou Frou in London back in 1999. After amicably disbanding in 2004, Heap and Sigsworth reunited in 2018 for the Mycelia World Tour. "So happy to be releasing dear ‘Guitar Song' with Guy, as Frou Frou," Imogen Heap said in a press release. "We never really got to tour as Frou Frou that much but we are making up for it and opening every show on this World Tour we are on with this song." LISTEN

  • Terence Blanchard's 'Fire Shut Up in My Bones' to premiere at The Opera Theatre of Saint Louis / JAZZIZ
     
    Posted At : April 20, 2019 12:00 AM

    The Opera Theatre of Saint Louis (OTSL) announced the world premiere of trumpeter-composer Terence Blanchard and librettist Kasi Lemmons' Fire Shut Up in My Bones, based on the memoir of celebrated writer Charles Blow. This opera is part of OTSL's series New Works, Bold Voices, which is committed to commissioning new operas that reflect the diversity of modern American experience. Fire Shut Up in My Bones is Blanchard's second opera and has been co-commissioned with Jazz St. Louis. It will open on June 15 and run for six performances directed by OTSL artistic director James Robinson, conducted by William Long and featuring an acclaimed cast including sopranos Julia Bullock and Karen Slack, and bass-baritone Davóne Tines. p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #4d4d4d} SEE ALL JAZZIZ ITEMS

  • Angelique Kidjo - Celia is a magnificent African reinvention of salsa / The Guardian
     
    Posted At : April 20, 2019 12:00 AM

    Angélique Kidjo is on a roll. For years, she has been an entertaining, reliable fixture on the world-music scene, a powerful singer famed for mixing African material, including songs by her heroine Miriam Makeba, with old favourites by anyone from Bob Marley to Sam Cooke. But it's her most recent albums that have demonstrated the scope of her ambition. First came her original reinterpretation of Talking Heads' 1980 album Remain in Light, in which she advanced the African influences in their music. Now she applies the same technique to the songs of Celia Cruz, the queen of salsa. This is not just an album of covers but an inventive reinterpretation.    Photograph: Laurent Seroussi p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #4d4d4d} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #4d4d4d; min-height: 14.0px} READ THE FULL Guardian REVIEW

  • The Des Moines Symphony presents Peter Boyer's Suite from Ellis Island: The Dream of America on Iowa Public Radio
     
    Posted At : April 20, 2019 12:00 AM

    The program highlights an immigrant's journey to America, featuring Peter Boyer's Suite from Ellis Island: The Dream of America. The Ellis Island Honors Society recently announced that Peter Boyer is among the recipients of the 2019 Ellis Island Medal of Honor. This award is "highly prestigious" and is officially recognized by the United States Congress. Boyer's Grammy-nominated 2001 composition "brings elements of the theatre and multimedia into the concert hall, employing actors and projected historical images from the Ellis Island archives." Spoken texts are taken from the Ellis Island Oral History Project, a "historic collection of interviews from actual immigrants." Boyer chose "stories of seven immigrants who came to America through Ellis Island from disparate nations between 1910-1940." The Des Moines Symphony will be performing the Suite, which incorporates five of the seven. Using the actual words of these immigrants, he "wove them into an orchestral tapestry which frames and comments on their stories." The work is "poignant, humorous, moving, and inspiring."  Celebrate the journey to the New World with the Des Moines Symphony on IPR Classical's Symphonies of Iowa on Sunday, April 21st at 4 p.m. and Monday, April 22nd at 7 p.m. Listen below to hear exclusive Iowa Public Radio interviews with composer Peter Boyer, pianist Aaron Diehl and Maestro Joseph Giunta.

  • Happy Easter from Celtic Woman
     
    Posted At : April 19, 2019 12:00 AM

    An Easter message from Celtic Woman..... Hi everyone, We want to check in to wish you all a very happy Easter weekend with your family and friends. Thank you to each and every person for all your great feedback on the album, DVD and the Ancient Land tour. It sounds like this tour is a favourite for you as it is for us. The show and the audience feedback has been incredible so thank you. We are looking forward to relaxing for a couple of days before we make our way south to Texas next week.   Love to all, see you soon. p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #4d4d4d}

Top 10 for Apr

Lesher Center commissions Sarah McKenzie to compose concert work 'San Francisco - Paris of the West'

Posted: October 2, 2017 12:00 AM | By: Admin
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The Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek (CA) - located in the bay area just East of San Francisco - has awarded singer, pianist and composer SARAH McKENZIE with a highly paid composition commission to compose a full concert length work based on the theme "San Francisco - Paris of the West". The work will get premiered at the Lesher Center on September 14, 2018 with an all-star line-up put together especially for this event.

During much of its past San Francisco has been referred to (among others) as "Paris of the West". This was based on cultural influence, but also architecture of key buildings around the city. Sarah´s knack for everything French is well documented in her last two albums ("Paris in the Rain" and "We could be Lovers"), and as a composer in the style of Cole Porter, Irving Berlin or Rogers & Hart she has had a number of hit tunes already ("Quoi, Quoi, Quoi", "Paris in the Rain", "We Could Be Lovers", "One Jealous Moon", "Don´t Tempt Me"). As a Berklee College of Music student Sarah has lead a workshop at the Lesher Center for the Arts in 2014 and impressed the directors to entrust her with this commission, which is the first of its kind for the Lesher Center for the Arts. 

Sarah records for the Impulse! (Universal) label and is signed to Universal Music Publishing in France. She just recently performed to 7.1 million people on the "Encontro com Fátima Bernardes" television show in Brazil and performed at the world-renown Montreux Jazz Festival this summer.

Crossover Media Projects with Sarah McKenzie

  • Sarah McKenzie

    Secrets of My Heart

    After the great success of Sarah McKenzie's 2017 disc, Paris in the Rain(Impulse! Records), the 31-year-old pianist, singer, and composer returns with the poignant, Secrets of My Heart, reuniting with noted Australian composer, arranger, and events music director, Chong Lim, who produced her first two discs – Don't Tempt Me and Close Your Eyes. Recorded in New York City, Secrets of My Heart exudes cosmopolitan flair with its lineup that includes French bassist Pierre Boussaguet and Brazilian percussionist Rogerio Bocattoalongside guitarist Dan Wilson, drummer Donald Edwards, vibraphonist Warren Wolf,tenor saxophonist Troy Roberts, and cellist Jody Redhage Ferber(all of whom based in the United States).

     

     

  • Sarah McKenzie

    Paris In The Rain

    After enchanting jazz fans with her 2015 Impulse! Records debut, We Could Be Lovers, Sarah McKenzie returns with the sensational follow-up, Paris in the Rain. Like before, the 28-year-old, Melbourne, Australia-born singer, pianist, composer and arranger teams with the acclaimed Brian Bacchus – who has produced classics for such stars as Norah Jones, Lizz Wright, and Gregory Porter – to deliver a gripping program of jazz classics and originals – all of which present McKenzie's incredible musicality in glamorous glory.

    23 TOTAL
    SYND:     CBC
    Direct: AccuRadio 
    Markets include: New York, Chicago, St. Louis, Louisville, Orlando, Long Island NY, Reno, Barcelona
    INTER: Canada, Italy, Spain, Slovakia
    Online: Jazz Weekly, Jazz & Blues Report