newEar Contemporary Chamber Ensemble

Season 2020 | 2021

An Affirmation
December 4, 2020 8PM
A Virtual Concert

Bald Mountain Breakdown​ (​ 2013), 5 min……………………………………..Tyler Capp (b. 1983)

Zsolt Eder, ​violin,​ ​ Sascha Groschang, ​cello​, Charles Dickinson, ​piano

On Isolation or an affirmation in solidarity, assata shakur

​……………………………………..(2019), 4 min Derek Douglas Carter (b. 1994)

Text by Assata Shakur (b. 1947)

Sharra Wagner, ​clarinet,​ Zsolt Eder, ​violin​, ​ Sascha Groschang, ​cello​, Charles
Dickinson, ​piano

limestone & felt (​ 2012), 6 min………….……………………………………..Caroline Shaw (b. 1982)

Boris Vayner, ​viola​ and Sascha Groschang, ​cello

Cineshape 3​ ​(2008), 7 min…………………………………………………….Amy Williams (b. 1969)

Christina Webster, ​flute, S
​ ascha Groschang, ​cello, ​Kevin Clarke, ​percussion

The Companion Guide to Rome (​ 2006), 30 min…………………..Andrew Norman (b. 1979)

I. Teresa
II. Benedetto
III. Susanna
IV. Pietro
V. Ivo
VI. Clemente
VII. Lorenzo
VIII. Cecilia
IX. Sabina

Zsolt Eder, ​violin,​ ​ Boris Vayner, ​viola,​ Sascha Groschang, ​cello

Text

Affirmation, Assata Skakur

As it appears in the score

I believe in living.
I believe in the spectrum
of Beta days and Gamma people.
I believe in sunshine.
In windmills and waterfalls,
tricycles and rocking chairs.
And I believe that seeds grow into sprouts.
And sprouts grow into trees.
I believe in the magic of the hands.
And in the wisdom of the eyes.
I believe in rain and tears.
And in the blood of infinity.

I believe in life.
And i have seen the death parade
march through the torso of the earth,
sculpting mud bodies in its path.
I have seen the destruction of the daylight,
and seen bloodthirsty maggots
prayed to and saluted.

I have seen the kind become the blind

and the blind become the bind
in one easy lesson.
I have walked on cut glass.
I have eaten crow and blunder bread
and breathed the stench of indifference.

I have been locked by the lawless.

Handcuffed by the haters.
Gagged by the greedy.
And, if i know anything at all,
it’s that a wall is just a wall
 and nothing more at all.
It can be broken down.

I believe in living.
I believe in birth.
I believe in the sweat of love
and in the fire of truth.

And i believe that a lost ship,

steered by tired, seasick sailors,
can still be guided home
to port.

About the Works

Bald Mountain Breakdown,​ Tyler Capp

This work was composed for CULTIVATE 2013, Copland House’s emerging
composers’ institute, and was premiered by the Music from Copland House
ensemble at the Merestead estate in Mount Kisco, NY on June 9, 2013.

From the composer: ​Bald Mountain Breakdown was conceived in the days and
weeks following the death of Earl Scruggs, a banjo innovator who pioneered the
intricate three-finger picking style which has characterized bluegrass music for
nearly 70 years. Anyone who knows me, even casually, probably knows that I play
the 5-string banjo and am deeply indebted to American folk music traditions,
particularly bluegrass, in my approach to composition. After Scruggs’ death I found
myself playing every day; spending lots of time with his massive catalog of tunes
and thinking about all the things I value about his music. Eventually these thoughts
coalesced into an idea for an homage of sorts: a brief, exhilarating piece paying
tribute to Scruggs’ influence by exploring how elements of his playing manifest
themselves in my music. As the title suggests, the work takes as its point of
departure “breakdowns,” traditionally instrumental songs in which multiple players
take solo breaks on the same basic tune. While my piece shares the driving,
rhythmic exuberance of many Scruggs breakdowns, elements of his style are used
solely to generate compositional ideas without relying on direct quotation (saving
me a ton of money on royalties in the process). Still, bluegrass-savvy listeners will
hopefully be able to discern the chromatic kickoffs, rolling arpeggios, relentless
syncopations, slides, pull-offs, hammer-ons, harmonic chimes, on-the-fly tunings,
up-the-neck solos, and stop-times permeating the musical fabric of my breakdown.
This is for Uncle Earl.

On Isolation or an affirmation in solidarity, assata shakur, ​Derek Douglas Carter

From the composer:

“Reward: The FBI is offering a reward of up to $1,000,000 for information

directly leading to the apprehension of Joanne Chesimard.

Remarks: Chesimard may wear her hair in a variety of styles and dress in
African tribal clothing.

Caution: Joanne Chesimard is wanted for escaping prison in Clinton, New

Jersey, while serving a life sentence for murder. On May 2, 1973, Chesimard,
who was part of a revolutionary extremist organization known as the Black
Liberation Army, and two accomplices were stopped for a motor vehicle
violation on the New Jersey Turnpike by two troopers with the New Jersey
State Police. At the time, Chesimard was wanted for her involvement in
several felonies, including bank robbery. Chesimard and her accomplices
opened fire on the troopers. One trooper was wounded and the other was
shot and killed execution-style at point-blank range. Chesimard fled the
scene, but was subsequently apprehended. One of her accomplices was killed
in the shoot-out and the other was also apprehended and remains in jail.

In 1977, Chesimard was found guilty of first degree murder, assault and
battery of a police officer, assault with a dangerous weapon, assault with
intent to kill, illegal possession of a weapon, and armed robbery. She was
sentenced to life in prison. On November 2, 1979, Chesimard escaped from
prison and lived underground before being located in Cuba in 1984. She is
thought to currently still be living in Cuba. SHOULD BE CONSIDERED
ARMED AND DANGEROUS”

— https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/wanted_terrorists

The composer would like to note that Assata Shakur was acquitted on the charges
of armed robbery, bank robbery, and kidnapping. During her trial for first degree
murder, a neurologist, neurosurgeon, and pathologist testified that she was shot in
the back, with her arms raised above her head. The bullet damaged her median
nerve, making her unable to pull a trigger. There was no gunpowder residue found
on her fingers, nor were her fingerprints found on any weapon at the crime scene.
While awaiting trial, she was kept in solitary confinement for 21 months.
limestone & felt,​ C
​ aroline Shaw

Written for cellist Hannah Collins and violist Hannah Shaw; premiered in Holland in
2012.

Caroline Shaw is a New York-based musician - vocalist, violinist, composer, and

producer - who performs in solo and collaborative projects. She was the youngest
recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2013 for ​Partita for 8 Voices​, written for
the Grammy-winning Roomful of Teeth, of which she is a member. Once she got to
sing in three part harmony with Sara Bareilles and Ben Folds at the Kennedy Center,
and that was pretty much the bees’ knees and elbows. Caroline has studied at Rice,
Yale, and Princeton, currently teaches at NYU, and is a Creative Associate at the
Juilliard School. Caroline loves the color yellow, otters, Beethoven opus 74, Mozart
opera, Kinhaven, the smell of rosemary, and the sound of a janky mandolin.

Cineshape 3​, Amy Williams

From the composer: The five works in the Cineshape series, each with a different
instrumental combination of one to seven players, are based on a close and
selective reading of an existing film. The compositional process involved identifying
elements that are not exclusive to the films, such as motifs, atmospheric qualities
and abstract structural models. In an attempt to create something original out of an
existing artwork, without appropriation, quotation, or much narrative reference,
unique relationships have been developed between those technical and formalistic
elements that are shared between films and music. The complete Cineshape series
is intended to be performed with live music and a new visual component developed
through a close collaboration with artist Aaron Henderson.

Cineshape 3 (2008) is based on ​The Lives of Others ​by German filmmaker Florian
Henckel von Donnersmarck. Perhaps more programmatic than other pieces in the
series, the translation of the three main characters of the film into three
instruments is evident. The piece is concerned, just as the film is, with the
manipulation and transformation of established identities. The soloistic cello at the
beginning is subtly enhanced by the percussion/piano and flute. The flute becomes
more interfering, affecting the cello’s thematic materials. The percussion conforms
to and supports the other two, but is eventually assertive and independent.

The Companion Guide to Rome​, Andrew Norman

From the composer: During my year as a fellow at the American Academy in Rome I
made it my goal to visit every church in the city. Though I did not come even close
to achieving this goal, I did discover many unique spaces that I came to know well
over the course of the year. This piece is a series of portraits of some of my favorite
Roman churches. The music is, at different times and in different ways, informed by
the proportions of the buildings, the qualities of their surfaces, the patterns in their
floors, the artwork on their walls, and the lives and legends of the saints whose
names they bear. The more I worked on these miniatures, the less they had to do
with actual buildings and the more they became character studies of imaginary
people, my companions for my year abroad.

Performer Biographies

Kevin Clarke

A native of Kansas City, Lees Summit North High School Graduate, Kevin Clarke
made his solo debut with the Kansas City Symphony in 1999. He studied percussion
at the Peabody Conservatory, whereupon graduation found work as Principal
Timpanist in Daejeon Philharmonic Orchestra (South Korea). Kevin was a highly
sought after performer for solo recitals, concerto performances, and new music
concerts in Japan and Korea and also served as Percussion Faculty for the
Kyoung-Hee University (Seoul, Korea) School of Music.
Finding a love of teaching while in Korea and a desire to push Kansas City’s
appreciation of percussion to a new level, he decided to return home and currently
runs the nonprofit “Kansas City Youth Percussion Ensemble” (www.KCYPE.org).
Additionally, Kevin runs the percussion program at Blue Valley SW High School and
you can also occasionally find him performing with the KC Symphony, a once
childhood dream come true.

Charles Dickinson

Charles Dickinson is originally from Houston, where he studied piano as a

pre-college student at Rice University. From there, Charles earned a Bachelor of
Arts in Piano Performance from Adams State University in Colorado, a Master of
Arts from the University of New Mexico, and most recently, an Artist's Certificate
from the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory. His primary teachers
have included Dariusz Pawlas, William Lipke, Falko Steinbach, and Karen Kushner,
and he has participated in masterclasses with Leon Fleisher, Anthony de Mare, and
Eugene Pridonoff.

As a soloist, he has performed recitals across the United States and Germany.
Having a particular focus on contemporary music, Charles has been honored to
work with prominent composers like John Corigliano, Martin Scherzinger, and
Konrad Boehmer.

Zsolt Eder
Born in Budapest, Hungary, Zsolt has established himself as an international soloist
and chamber musician. Zsolt is in his seventh season as Concertmaster of the
Topeka Symphony and is currently professor of violin and viola at Washburn
University. He is also a faculty member at the University of Missouri-Kansas City
Conservatory Academy and performs regularly in the Kansas City Symphony. His
new concert series "Zsolt Eder and Friends" launched in 2018. Zsolt's interest in
different musical cultures and traditions led him to establish folk music group
Ensemble Amarcord in 2014. He has a particular passion for educational outreach,
having worked for City Music Cleveland and Harmony Project Kansas City. He now
works for the Musical Bridges Program at the UMKC Conservatory of Music and
Dance, providing free one-on-one lessons for inner-city children. Zsolt enjoys
collaborating with Kansas City groups like Ensemble Iberica, the Kansas City
Baroque Consortium and Spire Chamber Ensemble. He is a graduate of the Franz
Liszt Academy in Budapest and the Cleveland Institute of Music.

Sascha Groschang
Sascha Groschang is an active recitalist and chamber musician, having performed
across the United States and Asia. She has appeared at Lincoln Center and Carnegie
Hall, and gave her solo debut cello recital at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall in
2009. She has shared the stage with artists such as Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, the
Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Michael Bublé, Peter Gabriel, Josh Groban, Sarah
Mclachlan and has extensive recording experience, including sessions for NBC,
Atlantic, and Rhino Records. As a freelance musician in and around Kansas City,
Sascha is an avid performer and composer of new music, improv, non-classical
styles and baroque cello. She frequently collaborates with groups such as the KC
Chorale, Spire Chamber Ensemble, the New Theatre, Owen/Cox Dance Group, the
Coterie Theatre, Quixotic Fusion, and Bach Aria Soloists. She is co-founder,
co-composer and cellist of the string duo, “The Wires” which explores unorthodox
styles through original compositions (​www.thewires.info​).

Sharra Wagner

Sharra Wagner's passion for collaboration and new music has coalesced into a
diverse career. While earning her Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the UMKC
Conservatory, she was a performing fellow at The Cortona Sessions for New Music
in Cortona, Italy. She is currently serving as board member and clarinetist for
newEar Contemporary Chamber Ensemble. Sharra is also the Foundation Director
for Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Foundation, whose mission is to serve the
community by creating and supporting public service or educational programs
which promote the administration of justice, delivery of legal services, professional
development or respect for the law.
Christina Webster

Flutist Christina Webster maintains an active and varied career as orchestral

musician, recital soloist, chamber player, and teacher, and has performed
throughout the U.S. and Europe. She earned her D.M.A. in Flute Performance at the
Conservatory of Music and Dance of the University of Missouri-Kansas City
(UMKC). Winner of a Fulbright Award, she earned a Postgraduate Performance
Diploma with Merit at the Royal Academy of Music (London). Ms. Webster earned a
Master of Music in Flute Performance at the UMKC Conservatory of Music and
Dance, and a Bachelor of Music in Flute and Piano Performance, ​summa cum laude​,
at the University of Kansas. She is Principal Flute with the Kansas City Chamber
Orchestra and holds the permanent position of Second Flute with the Wichita
Symphony Orchestra.

Ms. Webster has taught at King’s College, London (on behalf of the Royal Academy
of Music) and at Kansas State University as Visiting Assistant Professor of Flute.
She is currently Lecturer in Flute at Pittsburg State University.
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