Narrative     Curriculum     Kirtans     Hackenbush    

 

Ginger Mayerson

/ / Index / / Narrative / / Kirtans / / Sonic Collage / / Composition/Concerts / / Curriculum Vitae / / *Paths and Destinations is published / / *Contact / / Links / / *Photos / / *The CD / / *The Literary Situation / / *opens a new window

Narrative

Prior to moving to Los Angeles in 1984, I studied composition with Dr. Edith Smith and theory with Dr. Norma Butcher at Orange Coast College. I decided to move to Los Angeles to continue my music education. I completed the arranging and composition course at the Grove School in Los Angeles. I studied composition with David Angel at Grove as well as privately. I also studied privately with Hugo Davise. During this time I composed film scores for student films at the University of Southern California Film School, but chose not to pursue a commercial music career. I was a founding member of the Composers Group and gave concerts and recitals in Los Angeles with and without the group from 1990 to 1992, frequently conducting my work. In August 1992 I left Los Angeles to go to Europe.

I lived in Central Europe for three years. During that time I studied privately with Professor Marian Borkowski at the Warsaw Conservatory. From 1993 to 1995 I wrote four large compositions: Contrabass and Piano, Violin and Piano, Flute and Piano, and a Piano Trio. The Contrabass and Piano composition was performed in Berlin in 1994 and the Flute and Piano composition was performed at the Prague Conservatory in February 1994. In June 1994 I attended master classes with George Crumb in Prague. Since 1995 I have focused mainly on composition and have completed several pieces for mixed brass, various percussion compositions, an oboe solo and a suite for solo tuba. I have learned much of what I know by writing pieces, producing their performance and discussing them with the musicians. I have mainly composed atonal, serial music for small groups and soloists. I feel that this type of chamber music is the best expression for my compositions.

While in Europe, I also began to work with the idea of a sonic collage. These pieces are composed of ambient and directed sound. I made tapes of the sounds I heard daily in Prague, Czech Republic and Portland, Oregon and sounds made on the strings and soundboard of a piano, and blended them with text.

I began to work with layers of sound and text in 1986 when I created Kirtan 10/17/86 and later Kirtan 2/28/87. For these collages, I used Sanskrit text from the "Bhagavadgita" and conducted musical and percussive motifs around it. I further developed this work in 1994 in Prague for a staged reading of a play. There were four actors, and the director gave each their own cassette player with instruction to raise and lower the volume as they felt appropriate. I titled this piece "Music for four tape players" and sent it to a dancer, Gregg Bieleimeier, in Portland, Oregon, who performed it at the Portland art museum in February of 1995, where it was well received. It is my intention in these pieces to create an aural collage.

In 1996, after a brief stint in Almaty, Kazakhstan, I returned to the United States and settled in Portland, Oregon for a year. While there, I wrote several works for ensembles and obtained the rights from the copyright holder to use the texts of Bruno Schulz's stories "The Gale", "The Street of Crocodiles", "August", and "Cinnamon Shops." In 1996 and 1997, I made two more four tape sonic collages that included the text of two stories by Bruno Schulz: "The Gale" and "Street of Crocodiles." In 2000 I mixed these pieces onto tape at the Emmons Studio in Los Angeles. I hope to complete "August" and "Cinnamon Shops" in 2002.

In 1997 I returned to Los Angeles and began to compose a piece for solo tuba. Partly composed and partly free improvisation, this piece was composed for and performed by William Roper, a prominent free lance tubaist. It was recorded in 1998. My composition, Kirtan 1987, was broadcast and archived on Art@Radio at the University of Maryland.

In the winter of 2000, my composition for solo tuba, Paths and Destinations, was published by Bayside Music Press. I spent April 2000 as composer in residence at the Fundacíon Valparaíso in southern Spain, where I worked on my Viola Quartet. I am currently employed as an editorial assistant at the University of Southern California School of Medicine and write as much music as possible when not working there.

 

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Kirtans

The Kirtan was developed for a grant I didn't get.  David Angel suggested I use a free jazz technique to accompany the Sanskrit chant from the Bhagavadgita I chose.  Each of the player's parts has five hexachords numbered one through five.  In the performance or session, while listening to what had been recorded before, I would indicate the number I wanted the player to play with my left hand, and the duration and tempo with my right. I have used this technique and variations of it in other compositions and have been very pleased with the results. It opens many opportunities for chance music and gives the improvisers room to swing.

There were two Kirtan recording sessions, one in October of 1986 (Kirtan 10/17/86), and February of 1987 (Kirtan 2/28/87). In June of 1987, a Kirtan was performed at the Echo Park Library, in October of 1988 in the dance department at the University of California at Los Angeles, and in June of 1990 at the Los Angeles Photography Center.

 

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Sonic Collage

These pieces are composed of ambient and directed sound. I made tapes of the sounds I heard daily in Prague, Czech Republic and Portland, Oregon and sounds made on the strings and soundboard of a piano, and blended them with text.

I began to work with layers of sound and text in 1986 when I created "Kirtan 10/17/86" and later "Kirtan 2/28/87". For these collages, I used Sanskrit text from the "Bhagavadgita" and conducted musical and percussive motifs around it. I further developed this work in 1994 in Prague for a staged reading of a play. There were four actors, and the director gave each their own cassette player with instruction to raise and lower the volume as they felt appropriate.

I titled this piece "Music for four tape players" and sent it to a dancer, Gregg Bieleimeier, in Portland, Oregon, who performed it at the Portland art museum in February of 1995, where it was well received.

In 1996 I moved to Portland, Oregon and obtained the rights from the copyright holder to use the texts of Bruno Schultz's stories "The Gale" (performed as part of Literatur Schallmauer - Literature Sound Barrier 30 May 2002 in Vienna, Austria), "The Street of Crocodiles", "August", and "Cinnamon Shops". In 1996 and 1997, I made two more four tape assemblages that included the text of two stories by Bruno Schulz: "The Gale" and "The Street of Crocodiles." In 2000 I mixed these pieces onto tape at the Emmons Studio in Los Angeles. (August 25, 2004 Update: Because the nice folks at the Central European & Slavic Literature in Translation recently linked to me, I've uploaded "The Street of Crocodiles.")

It is my intention in these pieces to create an aural collage.

 

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Composition/Concerts

My compositions are usually for small chamber groups. I work from tone rows but not rigidly. I plan my work around the contrapuntal possibilities I find in the rows or in divergence from the rows. The focus of the composition for me is the note against note possibilities, either composed or created by chance operations.

I studied composition at the Grove School of Music, with David Angel, Hugo Davise, and Marion Borkowski. All of my teachers have advised me to seek out musicians and get my compositions played - that this is the best way to learn, by talking to the players and following my ear. And that is primarily what I've done with soloists and small chamber ensembles.

In 1990 I began a collaboration with Gregg Bieleimeier, an excellent modern dancer and choreographer, and we have had several projects together.

 

/ / Index / / Narrative / / Kirtans / / Sonic Collage / / Composition/Concerts / / Curriculum Vitae / / *Paths and Destinations is published / / *Contact / / Links / / *Photos / / *MP3 Downloads / / *The Literary Situation / / *opens a new window

Curriculum Vitae

Email / / Webpage

Publication

Paths and Destinations (2000) Bayside Music Press, Gilroy, California.

Representative compositions, performances and recordings

The Gale (sonic collage with text) Recorded January 1997, Portland, Oregon; mixed May 2000 Emmons Studio, Los Angeles, California; remastered January 2002 at New Zone Music, Mar Vista, California. Performed as part of Literatur Schallmauer - Literature Sound Barrier on 30. May 2002, Vienna, Austria

Not for that one; for the other one (1998) Oboe solo.

Paths and Destinations (1997) Performed and recorded June 11, 1998, Emmons Studio, Los Angeles, California, Published, 2000 by Bayside Music Press, Gilroy, California.

Quintet for Tenor Saxophone and four chairs or other percussion instruments (1997)

The Street of Crocodiles (sonic collage with text) Recorded October 16-29, 1996, Portland, Oregon; mixed May 2000 Emmons Studio, Los Angeles, California; remastered January 2002 at New Zone Music, Mar Vista, California.

Percussion Pieces (1996) Percussion ensemble.

Almaty Pieces (1995) Woodwinds and Percussion.

Woodwind Quartet (1995)

Music for four cassette players (1994; sonic collage without text) Performed by Gregg Bieleimier, March 11, 1995, Portland Museum of Art, Portland, Oregon.

Piano Trio (1994)

Flute Sonata (1994) Performed and recorded at the Prague Conservatory, June 18, 1994

Violin Sonata (1993)

Contrabass Sonata (1993) Performed April 17, 1994, Berlin, Germany.

Composition for Bassoon and Percussion (1992/93)

Violoncello Sonata (1992) Performed and recorded on August 2, 1992 at Occidental College, Los Angeles, California.

Piano Composition: 6/20/92 Composed for Gregg Bieleimier (dancer) and Judith Sandoval (pianist), performed June 11, 1992, University of California at Los Angeles.

Sextet (1992) Performed and recorded April 25, 1992, Pasadena City College, Pasadena, California (Mayerson, conductor).

Eunice Suite (1991/92) Composed for and performed at An Afternoon of Words and Music, March 3, 1992, Highland Park, California, (Mayerson, vocalist).

The Space Between the Notes (1991/92; Brass sextet) Performed and recorded January 11, 1992, University of California at Los Angeles.

Untitled: 10/7/91 (String Quartet) Performed and recorded October 7, 1991, by Armadillo String Quartet at University of California at Los Angeles.

Piano Quartet and Viola Sonata (1991) Performed and recorded August 8, 1991, Occidental College, Los Angeles, California.

Woodwind Quartet in Five Sections (1991) Performed April 1991, Atwater Library, Los Angeles, California.

Suite of Crocodiles (1991) Performed May 17, 1991, Ruskin Art Club, Los Angeles, California, Recorded June 1991 (Judith Sandoval, pianist).

Tangos and Waltzes, Glass Bead Suite, Kirtan: 6/10/90, and Largo (1990) Performed and recorded June 10 and October 28, 1990 at the Photography Center and October 20, 1990 at the Brand Library, Glendale, California (Choreography by Gregg Bieleimier at the October 28 Photography Center performance).

Woodwind Trio (1990) Performed and recorded August 8, 1990, Atwater Library, Los Angeles, California.

Kirtan 2/28/87 Recorded February 28, 1987.

Kirtan 10/17/86 Recorded October 17, 1986.

Ananda Waltzes (1986) Performed at the Ruskin Art Club, May 17, 1991, recorded June 22, 1991 (Judith Sandoval, pianist).

Various film scores for the University of Southern California Film School student films (1986-89).

Education

Marian Borkowski, Warsaw Conservatory, Warsaw, Poland (private instruction) 1992-1996

George Crumb, Prague, Czech Republic (seminar) June 1994

Hugo Davise, Los Angeles, California (private instruction) 1986-1991

The Grove School of Music, Studio City, California (Arranging and Composition Program) 1984-85

Orange Coast College, Costa Mesa, California (theory and composition) 1982-84

Private instruction, Mission Viejo and Monterey, California, (vocal music, theory and piano) 1968-79

 

/ / Index / / Narrative / / Kirtans / / Sonic Collage / / Composition/Concerts / / Curriculum Vitae / / *Paths and Destinations is published / / *Contact / / Links / / *Photos / / *MP3 Downloads / / *The Literary Situation / / *opens a new window

Links to other pages of interest

The Hackenblog

The Jounral of the Lincoln Heights Literary Society

J LHLS Reviews and News

Writing

Wapshott Press

Collage

Sequential Tart

William Roper
Sonic and Visual Artist
https://home.pacbell.net/kyanite/

https://shoko.calarts.edu/~wls/roper.html

works + conversations
https://www.conversations.org/

art@radio
https://wmbc.umbc.edu/~artradio

Nomads
https://www.nomadnet.org

Indigo Animal
https://www.indigoanimal.com

Mayerson Bookmarks

The Hackenblog, ver 1.0

 

/ / Index / / Narrative / / Kirtans / / Sonic Collage / / Composition/Concerts / / Curriculum Vitae / / *Paths and Destinations is published / / *Contact / / Links / / *Photos / / *MP3 Downloads / / *The Literary Situation / / *opens a new window

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© Ginger Mayerson 1986-2015 all original content

Updated August 20, 2015

 


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