Pacific Mozart Ensemble

In November 2005, PME was invited to Carnegie Hall for a celebration of Meredith Monk's 40th anniversary as a composer/dancer/producer/dramatist. Among the participants, mostly avant garde New York musicians, was saxophonist John Zorn. Almost exactly one year later, members of PME will be performing with Zorn at UC Berkeley as part of the CalPerformances season.

In a way, this is a coincidence, since we got the call from CalPerformances, not Zorn. On the other hand, it is not a coincidence, because for over 25 years, through the guidance and chutzpah of Dick Grant, PME has established itself as the vocal ensemble of choice for new music and unusual theatrical ventures, which is why we have worked with John Adams, David Lang, Aurora Theatre, Dave Brubeck, Kent Nagano, and many others in addition to Meredith Monk - and now John Zorn.

When you need someone
To sing those notes
Who ya gonna call?
Chartbusters

The same week that we got the request from CalPerformances we learned that Zorn received a MacArthur Foundation 'genius' grant, just as Monk got one right after her first collaboration with PME several years ago. Apparently, it pays to work with us.

Here is a charming news report on Zorn's MacArthur award: "

(Well, the video link doesn't work anymore. For this we have Viacom, owner of Comedy Central, to thank. They have taken all their clips out of YouTube, thinking that they are losing money by letting us look at them.}

The concert will feature us in two works, Frammenti del Sappho and evocation of a neophyte and how the secerts of the black arts were revealed to her by the demon Baphomet. The lower case evocation title is deliberate - Zorn is either an e e cummings fan or a subtle iconoclast.

Sappho, a "minimalist motet" that speaks to the feminine, written in 2004, is for five women a cappella. It is quite compelling - a hymn to sensuality with powerful tight chord clusters and a demanding vocal range. The inclusion of an a cappella piece in a concert by a saxophonist reminds me of the time PME opened Berkeley Symphony's season with Lux Aeterna by Ligeti (16 voices, no instruments).

The other piece, evocation of a neophyte, was written last year, and this will be its West Coast premier. The ensemble consists of a soprano solo, contrabassoon, harp, percussion, and a chorus of 18. It is as atmospheric as the long title implies, based on the mystery of the Enocheon ritual (Enocheon is the language of witches). There are strangely luscious harmonies and intricate rhythms alternating with lyrical passages and a lot of eerie whispering in Latin.

The month of November has been good to us. Three years ago we were in Berlin recording and performing Bernstein's Mass with Nagano and the Deutsche Symphonie Orchester, which got us a Grammy nomination, and we immediately followed that with a production of the medieval Play of Daniel with Aurora Theatre in Berkeley. I can only guess what we'll be doing next November.

On Sunday, Nov. 12, 2006, in Hertz Hall at the University of California, Berkeley, PME once again distinguished itself as a leading-edge vocal ensemble, pariticapting in the world premiere of John Zorn's Mysterium, a suite of six pieces dealing with various pagan rituals and legends. It took Zorn seven years to complete the composition, and each 'movement' has been performed before, but this was the first presentation of the entire work.

After squeezing ourselves into a couple of living rooms to learn the music during the previous month, we found the rehearsal space at St. Mark's Episcopal Church luxurious. We could stand up, spread out, and have our own music stands. The first session with conductor David Rosenboom of California Instute of the Arts was just for us singers, and we hoped our preparation was sufficient to meet the level of everyone's expectations. David was gracious, complementary, and such a clear director that the experience was a pleasure. Most of our concerns vanished at the first downbeat - not that we didn't have plenty of room for improvement, but we had confidence in each other.

When Zorn showed up at our first rehearsal with the orchestra, he was wearing bright orange camouflage pants. I asked him where he might be trying to hide in such attire, and when he mentioned the fall color scheme, I decided he was a guerilla soldier from New England. He would also be invisible from the waist down while sitting and dining in a MacDonald's (TM). He wore those pants every day.

Evocation of a Neophyte had been a challenge to learn without the orchestra. It is somewhat atonal and rhythmically complex, so until we could hear the cues from the instruments we had to imagine (evoke!) the sonic environment. When the percussionists were setting up and testing their gear, several of us inserted ear plugs to protect us from all the decibels. We soon found our way in the texture, and once we were acclimated to the full ensemble, the only unknown was how the amplification of the voices would sound, since we did not have microphones at St. Mark's.

There is a particularly difficult passage in 7/8 time that is subdivided into rapid 16th notes (14 of them) in the pattern 5+5+4. The burden falls mainly on the three mezzo-sopranos, who spent many hours getting it right. We could see in the score that there is percussion playing together with the singers, so there was no margin for error in the timing. At the big moment of the first runthrough of this passage, we waited anxiously for Zorn's comments. All he said to the women was an enthusiastic "You're smokin'!" and proceeded to spend the rest of his time working with the percussionist.

Frammenti del Sappho is a much larger challenge vocally. It is a cappella, so there is no support from instruments and the singers are very exposed while navigating the extremes of their ranges, both high and low. Zorn achieves marvelous effects with piercing chord clusters contrasted with rich deep tones in widely spread sonorities. There are no words and no program notes, so although there is a context within the Mysterium concept and we do have some associations with the poet Sappho, we can only respond to this music on a non-verbal level.

After a single hearing of the Frammenti, Zorn was so pleased that he did not feel the need for any more rehearsal. It was ready for the big time. The women were almost disappointed not to get to spend more time on it, but it must have been gratifying nonetheless.

We had our sound check and final dress the day of the concert. Without monitors, I could not tell anything about the balance of singers and orchestra. Zorn said it was fine, that even the whispered passages of Evocation were audible, and we did not have to use stage whispers to be heard. There was some panic over the fact that there was no harpsichord. Despite the presence of many such instruments in the building, we were not permitted to use them. Finally a PMEr got her father's harpsichord and the show went on.

Hertz Hall was about half full for the performance. This is remarkable, because avant-garde music is generally too unfamiliar and demanding to draw an audience of any size. One reviewer even considered this a packed house. Zorn gave a brief introduction and then proceeded to act as a stage hand, moving chairs and stands between pieces and then jumping back into the audience.

There are six movements in Mysterium. The first and last movements are for small-to-medium chamber orchestras. The others are small ensembles, each consisting of a single family of 'instruments'. There is a bass clarinet duet, a female vocal quintet, a string trio (violin, viola, and cello), and a solo piano. It is like a sandwich with multigrain bread on the outside and uniform layers of ingredients in the middle. Evocation of a Neophyte, the bottom slice of bread, conlcuded the concert, and we got a standing ovation. This was the final evidence of the success of our latest collaboration with outstanding musical figures.

Oh wait - I spoke too soon. The final evidence is the reviews. I will let them speak for themselves.

http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/entertainment/16007874.htm

http://www.sfcv.org/arts_revs/zorn_11_14_06.php

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/11/17/DDGQKMDPK21.DTL&hw=john+zorn&sn=001&sc=1000

Not enough photos for ya? See more at:

http://new.photos.yahoo.com/freemaneric@sbcglobal.net/album/576460762335122232

Getting Ready for "A Story of Freedom: a multimedia presentation of Spirituals"
by Antonia Van Becker

O.K. I am now officially excited about our next concert series: A Story of Freedom: An Evening of Spirituals. I'm not exactly sure what set me off, but when I was cramming this Thanksgiving weekend to memorize the 20+ songs for the concert (no, really, I started before, but I had to get very serious), something happened when I sang "The Battle of Jericho" for the tenth time. I got that excited feeling like when I was a kid singing the old American songs for the first time in a big school concert: songs like "Deep River", "Ezekiel Saw the Wheel", and "Amazing Grace." These songs are integral to our country and tell the story of America 's era of slavery.

It's ironic that a part of American history which produced so much suffering also produced one of the greatest art forms in American, the Negro Spiritual; songs that tell of pain and misery, but also of prayers and dreams of great actions. The sheer power and emotion of the songs was so exciting when I was a kid and singing them again brought it all back to me. It was like coming home. It's also so cool because the songs have incredible rhythm and grace to them, not to mention when you get to know them they are galloping good fun to sing.

What is also going to be really great about these concerts on Sunday, Dec 3 at 5p.m. at the Berkeley City Club and Friday, Dec 8 at 7:30 p.m. at the Green Room in the War Memorial Building in San Francisco, is that its not just the great music: there will be a multimedia presentation along with the songs and Dr. Belva Davis of KQED will narrate stories about the slaves. I've seen a bit of the slide show, and it includes really great historical and modern pictures all related to the slave stories.

We are also doing a shorter Christmas show at the Oakland Museum on Sunday Dec 10. In that show we will be singing some Christmas carols too.

I also have a new hero: Moses Hogan. He is the man who arranged many of the spirituals that PME will be singing. He was born in New Orleans in 1957 and with over 70 published works, became one of the foremost modern arrangers of the spiritual before dying too young in 2002. He breathed new harmonic and rhythmic life into the songs without shedding the rich emotional settings. In other words, he's got cool arrangements. They're very fun to sing, and there are a lot of solo opportunities which the great voices in PME take full advantage of. We're also doing a wonderful arrangement of "Who is Dat-A-Yonder" by the incredibly talented local composer Jacqueline Hairston.

And, of course, Lynne is doing a great job conducting us and swinging us into shape. She's got such a great feel for the songs that you just have to come to the show and see for yourself. It will be excellent for young and old, and I think it will get people excited. It did me. I'm gonna sing till the spirit moves in my heart!

Technorati : Belva Davis, Moses Hogan, Oakland Museum, PME, Pacific Mozart Ensemble