July 27 - Opus 7

THE OPUS PROJECT

Opus 7

8pm, Saturday, July 27, 2013
Diablo Valley College Music Building Auditorium
Viking Drive, Pleasant Hill, CA

Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951)

String Quartet No. 1, Op. 7, No. 4 (1905)
     M. Massig = heiter (Moderately = cheerful)

     The Opus Project String Quartet

Bela Bartok (1881-1945)

  
String Quartet No. 1, Op. 7, No. 4 (1909)
     II. Allegretto

     The Opus Project String Quartet
      

Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971)

Four Etudes, Op. 7 (1908)
     IV. Vivo

     George N. Gianopoulos - Video
       

Anton Webern (1883-1945)   
Four Pieces for Violin and Piano, Op. 7 (1909)
     I. Sehr langsam
     III. Sehr langsam

     Maria Gusenkov, Violin
     Mark Alburger, Piano

Alban Berg (1885-1935)

   
Wozzeck, Op. 7 (1922)

      Act I, Scene 3: Lullaby

     Megan Cullen, Soprano

      The Opus Project Orchestra

Darius Milhaud (1892-1974)

       
Sept Poemes de La Conaissance d'Este, Op 7 (1913)                        
     VII. Le Point (Introduction)

     Megan Cullen, Soprano
     Carol Reynolds, Piano

Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975)
Scherzo in Eb-Major for Orchestra, Op. 7 (1923)
     Introduction

     The Opus Project Orchestra
   

Samuel Barber (1910-1981)
Music for a Scene from Shelley, Op. 7 (1933)
     Crescendo poco a poco

     The Opus Project Orchestra
       

Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)
Friday Afternoons, Op. 7 (1935)
     X. The Jazz Man (Eleanor Farjeon)
                       
     Coro Femminile
     Zaccaria da Teramo Ensemble - Video
   

Bill Holcombe

(1924-2010)       

Katrina Suite

(2010)

     II. The Storm

     Classical Brass Quintet

Mark Alburger (b. 1957)
Interrupted Interludes, Op. 7 (1976)
     II. Rod Song
     III. Spoil Song

     The Opus Project Orchestra  

Doug Michael (b. 1962)   
Extensions No. 2 for Tape (1996)
     Doug Michael - Audio

Michael Stubblefield (b. 1989)
String Quartet No. 1 in A Minor (2012)
     III. Allegretto

     The Opus Project String Quartet

Omri-Shir Dallal (b. 1994)

  
Frail and Falling (2013)

     The Opus Project Piano Quartet                   

THE OPUS PROJECT ORCHESTRA

Mark Alburger               
Music Director and Conductor

Flute       
Harry Bernstein

Alan Kingsley

Oboe
Stardust

Clarinet
Rachel Condry

Bassoon
Nat Echols

Trumpet
John Hagglof+
Mancho Gonzalez+

Horn
Sally Johnson+
Priscilla Nunn

Trombone
Dean Leonard+
Zack Newbegin

Tuba
Dustin Short+
Francis Upton IV

Soprano
Megan Cullen

Piano
Mark Alburger

Omri-Shir Dallal*

Carol Reynolds
 

Electronics
Doug Michael

Percussion
Mark Alburger

Violin I
Lawrence Huang
Moses Lei*
 

Violin II
Maria Gusenkov*
Corey Johnson*

Viola
Harry Bernstein*
Carol Earley
Kat Walsh*

Cello
Aaron Urton*
 

Bass
Michael Stubblefield

+ Classical Brass Quintet

*The Opus Project
Piano and String Quartets


Alban Berg (1885-1935)       
Wozzeck, Op. 7 (1922): Act I, Scene 3: Lullaby

Eia popeia...

Madel, was fanst Du jetzt an?
Hast ein klein Kind un kein Mann!
Ei, was frag' ich dar nach,
Sing' ich die ganze Nacht:
Eia popeia, mein susser Bu',
Gibt mir kein Mensch nix dazu!

Hansel, spann' Deine sechs Schimmel an,
Gib sie zu fressen auf's neu
Kein Haber fresse sie,
Kein Wasser saufe sie,
Lauter kuhle Wein muss es sein!
Lauter kuhle Wein muss es sein!

Hush-a-bye, baby...

Maiden, what song shall you sing?
You have a child, but no ring.
Why such sorrow pursue?
Singing the whole night through:
Hush-a-bye, baby, my darling son,
Nobody cares, ne 'er a one.

Hansel, go saddle your horses now,
Give them to eat and to spare,
No oats to eat today,
No water to drink today,
Purest, coolest wine shall it be!
Purest, coolest wine shall it be!


Darius Milhaud (1892-1974)   
Sept Poemes de La Conaissance d'Este, Op 7 (1913) (Paul Claudel)
     VII. Le Point (Introduction)

Je m'arrete: il y a un point a ma promenade
comme a une phrase que l'on a finie.
C'est le titre d'une tombe a mes pieds,
a ce detour ou le chemin descend.

De la je prends ma derniere vue de la terre,
j'envisage le pays des morts.

I stop: there is a point to my walk
as a sentence has which has been finished.
It is the title of a tomb at my feet,
on this turning or descending path.

Here I take my last sight of the earth,
I imagine the land of the dead.


THE OPUS PROJECT presents

OPUS 8
8pm, Saturday, August 31, 2013
Berkeley Arts Festival
2133 University Avenue, Berkeley, CA

A Multi-Media Event, with Ron Cohen,
Elizabeth Lee, Elizabeth Morrison, and
The Opus Project Trio, Quartet, and Orchestra

Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951)       
Nature, Op. 8, No. 1 (1905)

Bela Bartok (1881-1945)       
Romanian Folk Dance, Op. 8a, No. 1 (1910)

Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971)   
The Firebird: Diabolical Dance, Berceuse, Finale (1910)

Anton Webern (1883-1945)   
Song after a Poem of Rilke, Op. 8, No. 1 (1910)

Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953)       
Autumnal, Op. 8 (1910)

Darius Milhaud (1892-1975)   
Suite for Piano, Op. 8 (1910)

Paul Hindemith (1895-1963)       
Scherzo for Cello and Piano, Op. 8, No. 3 (1917)

Kurt Weill (1900-1950)       
String Quartet No. 1, Op. 8, No. 1 (1923)

Dmitri Kabalevsky (1904-1987)       
String Quartet No. 1, Op. 8, No. 1 (1928)

Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975)       
Piano Trio No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 8, No. 1 (1923)

Samuel Barber (1910-1981)       
Chorus, Op. 8, No. 1 (1936)

Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)       
Two Insect Pieces (1935) / Our Hunting Fathers, Op. 8 (1936)

William Severson (b. 1941)       
Brass Quintet (2009)

Harry Bernstein (b. 1948)       
Mary Had a Little Lamp (1997)

Michael Kimbell (b. 1946)       
Celestial Encounters (1986)

Mark Alburger (b. 1957)       
The Twelve Fingers: March, Op. 8, No. 12 (1977)

July 6 - Mischief and Mayhem

Goat Hall Productions Presents

Fresh Voices XIII: Mischief and Mayhem

Allan Crossman

Mozart,

Where Are You? (John McGrew)

Supriya Sanjay
Richard Mix
Molly Mahoney

Allan Crossman
Border Songs

Molly Mahoney

Mark Alburger  
The Decameron - First Day, Op. 200 (2012) (after Giovanni Boccaccio)
      Novel I. Ser Ciappelletto Cheats a Holy Friar

      Novel II. Abraham Sees the Depravity of the Clergy

      Novel III. Melchizedek, with the Story of the Three Rings,
            Escapes a Perilous Snare Set by Saladin
      Novel IV. A Young Monk, Lapsing into Sin,
             Justly Censures the Same Fault in his Abbot,
             and thus Evades Penalty
      Novel V. The Marchioness of Monferrato,
             by a Banquet of Hens Seasoned with Wit,
             Checks the Mad Passion of the King of France
  

Novel VI. A Worthy Man, by an Apt Saying,

            Puts to Shame the Hypocrisy of a Friar Minor
     Novel VII. Bergamino, with a Story of Primasso and the Abbot of Cluny,
           Censures a Sudden Avarice in Messer Cane della Scala

Novel VIII. Guglielmo Borsiere, by a Neat Retort,
           Sharply Censures Avarice in Messer Ermino de' Grimaldi
     Novel IX. The Censure of a Gascon Lady Converts the King of Cyprus from a
           Churlish to an Honorable Temper
     Novel X. Master Alberto da Bologna Honourably Puts to Shame a Lady
           Who Sought Occasion to Put Him to Shame in that He Was in Love with Her

Kate Bautch
     Lady I, Moneylender I, Abraham, Melchizedek,
     Worthy Man, Primasso, Gascon Lady,
     Other Lady I
Sarita Cannon
     Lady II, Holy Friar, Saladin, Boon Companion I,
     The Abbot of Cluny, Guglielmo Borsiere,               
     Certain Ruffian I, Other Lady II
Cass Panuska
     Lady III, Monylender II, Jehannot,
     The Marchioness of Monferrato, Boon Companion II,
     Bergamino, Cypriot, Madonna Malgherida de' Ghisolieri
Jill Wagoner
     Lady IV, Young Monk, Knight, Friar Minor, Cluniate Monk,
     Messer Ermino de' Grimaldi, Certain Ruffian II, Other Lady III
Mark Alburger - Giovanni Boccaccio, Young Man, Ser Ciappelletto,
     Old Abbott, The King of France, Reporter, Messer Cane della Scala,
     The King of Cypress, Master Alberto da Bologna
Keisuke Nakagoshi
     Piano
Harriet March Page
     Director

MARK ALBURGER (b. 1957, Upper Darby, PA) is an award-winning, eclectic ASCAP composer of postminimal, postpopular, and postcomedic sensibilities -- whose music is played around the world, and who has become the subject of articles in The Grove Dictionary of American Music (2nd ed.), Grove Online, and Wikipedia.  He began playing the oboe and composing in association with James and Dorothy Freeman, George Crumb, George Rochberg, and Richard Wernick.  His principal teachers were Gerald Levinson, Joan Panetti, and James Freeman (Swarthmore College, B.A.); Jules Langert (Dominican University, M.A.); Christopher Yavelow (Claremont University, Ph.D.); and Terry Riley.  He is Music Director of Goat Hall Productions, The Opus Project, and San Francisco Composers Chamber Orchestra; and Professor in Music Theory and Literature at Diablo Valley College.  Alburger serves as Editor-Publisher of 21st-Century Music, and New Music Publications and Recordings, which is issuing his complete works.  Other CD's of Alburger’s music are available on the North/South Consonance (Diversions / The Twelve Fingers and American Tapestry / Symphony No. 1) and I Kill Me Music (Camino Real) labels.  Composer of 215 major works, he is shooting for Op. 444, in his 93rd year.  Alburger's Interrupted Interludes, Op. 7 will be given on July 27 at DVC.

THE DECAMERON - FIRST DAY, Op. 200 (2012, after Giovanni Boccaccio), the first of an intended 10-opera cycle (through Fourth Day, Novel I to date), is an irreligious medieval sexual romp troped on Charles Ives's 114 Songs, with crusading invaders including 12-bar blues, the Gregorian chant Kyrie IV, swing and Latin-American rhythms, the Orkney Islands Hymn to St. Magnus, Maurice Jarre's Dr. Zhivago, Philip Glassian minimalism, Alban Berg's Wozzeck, Samuel Barber's Second Essay for Orchestra, and F.J. Haydn's Symphony No. 102 ("Clock").

John Bilotta

Quantum Mechanic (John McGrew)

Betina Smith
     Mrs. Schroedinger
Justin Marsh
     Quantum Mechanic
Sarita Cannon
Michelle Jasso
Molly Mahoney
     Quark Sisters

Mark Alburger
     Aesop

July 5 - Fresh Voices XIII

Goat Hall Productions

presents

Fresh Voices XIII: Mischief and Mayhem

Allan Crossman

Mozart, 

Where Are You? (John McGrew)


Supriya Sanjay
Richard Mix
Molly Mahoney

Mark Alburger

The Decameron - First Day  (after Giovanni Boccaccio)

Kate Bautch
Sarita Cannon
Cass Panuska
Jill Wagoner
Mark Alburger

John Bilotta

Quantum Mechanic (John McGrew)

Betina Smith
Justin Marsh
Sarita Cannon
Michelle Jasso
Molly Mahoney
Mark Alburger

June 29 - Opus 6

THE OPUS PROJECT

Opus 6

8pm, Saturday, June 29, 2013
Berkeley Arts Festival
2133 University Avenue, Berkeley, CA

Op. 6, No. 1

Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951)        
Eight Songs, Op. 6 (1905)
     IV. Ghasel (Keller)

     Letitia C. Page, Soprano
     Mark Alburger, Piano

Bela Bartok (1881-1945)             
14 Bagatelles, Op. 6 (1908)
     VI. Lento

     Mark Alburger, Piano

Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971)
Two Melodies, Op. 6 (1908) (Sergei Gorodetsky)
     II. A Song of the Dew
     (Mystic Song of the Ancient Russian Flagellants)

     Letitia C. Page, Soprano
     Mark Alburger, Piano

Anton Webern (1883-1945)
Six Pieces for Orchestra, Op. 6 (1909)
     I. Langsam
     The Opus Project Orchestra

Alban Berg (1885-1935)
Three Pieces for Orchestra, Op. 6 (1915)
      I. Praludium (Langsam)

     The Opus Project Orchestra

Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953)     
Dreams, Op. 6 (1910)
     Introduction

     Video Animation
     Henry Fuseli (1741-1825) - The Nightmare (1781)   

Paul Hindemith (1895-1963)      
Eight Waltzes ("Drei Wunderschone Madchen im Schwarzwald"), Op. 6 (1916)
     I. Langsames Walzertempo

     The Opus Project Orchestra

Op. 6, No. 2
               
Dmitri Kabalevsky (1904-1987)     
Sonata No. 1 in F Major, Op. 6 (1927)
     II. Andantino semplice

     Helena Michelson, Piano

Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975)
Suite for Two Pianos, Op. 6 (1922) (Wesley Asakawa, orch.)
     I. Prelude (Introduction and Finale)

     The Opus Project Orchestra

Samuel Barber (1910-1981)     
Cello Sonata, Op. 6 (1932)
     III. Allegro appassionato (Introduction)

     John Michel, Cello - Video

Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)
Suite, Op. 6 (1935)
     I. March

     The Opus Project Orchestra

Elmer Bernstein (1922-2004)     
The Magnificent Seven (1960)

     Classical Brass Quintet

John Cheetham (b. 1939)         
Scherzo (1963)

     Classical Brass Quintet

Jan Pusina (b. 1940)         
Phonemes ("Say That Again"), Op. 6 (1973)

     Jan Pusina, Tape

Mark Alburger (b. 1957)         
Variations and Theme, Op. 6 (1976)

     Mark Alburger - Video

Helena Michelson (b. 1966)       
The Game (2010)
     "Yet love, mere love, is beautiful indeed"

     Helena Michelson, Piano

Michael Stubblefield (b. 1989)     
Cadenza in Bb Minor (2011) (5')

     Alan Kingsley, Flute
     Mark Alburger, Piano


THE OPUS PROJECT ENSEMBLE

Mark Alburger                 
Music Director and Conductor


Flute       
Alan Kingsley
Martha Stoddard

Clarinet
Wesley Asakawa

Bassoon
Lori Garvey
Michael Garvey

Trumpet
John Hagglof+
Don Moffitt+

Horn
Sally Johnson+
Priscilla Nunn
Jan Pusina

Trombone
Dean Leonard+
Zach Newbegin

Tuba
Dustin Short
Francis Upton IV


Soprano
Letitia C. Page

Piano
Mark Alburger
Patti Deuter
Helena Michelson

Percussion
Ken Crawford

Violin I
Lawrence Huang
Corey Johnson

Violin II
Maria Gusenkov

Viola
Carol Earley
Kat Walsh

Bass
Michael Stubblefield

+Classical Brass Quintet


THE OPUS PROJECT presents

OPUS 7 - 8pm, Saturday, July 27, 2013,
Diablo Valley College Music Building Room 101 Choral Auditorium, Viking Drive, Pleasant Hill, CA

A Multi-Media Event, with Classical Brass Quintet, and The Opus Project Quartet and Orchestra

Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951)    String Quartet No. 1, Op. 7, No. 2 (1905)
Bela Bartok (1881-1945)            String Quartet No. 1, Op. 7, No. 4 (1909)
Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971)        Etude, Op. 7, No. 1 (1908)
Anton Webern (1883-1945)        Four Pieces for Violin and Piano, Op. 7 (1909)
Alban Berg (1885-1935)            Wozzeck: Lullaby, Op. 7 (1925)
Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975)        Scherzo in Eb-Major for Orchestra, Op. 7 (1924)
Samuel Barber (1910-1981)        Music for a Scene from Shelley, Op. 7 (1933)
Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)        Friday Afternoons, Op. 7 (1935)
Bill Holcomb (1924-2010)        Katrina Suite: Storm (2010)
Mark Alburger (b. 1957)            Interrupted Interludes, Op. 7 (1976)


Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951)     
Eight Songs, Op. 6 (1905)
     IV. Ghasel (Middle-Eastern stanza) (Gottfried Keller)


Ich halte dich in meinem Arm, du hältst die Rose zart,
Und eine junge Biene tief in sich die Rose hält.
So reihen wir uns perlenhaft an einer Lebensschnur,
So freun wir uns, wie Blatt an Blatt sich an der Rose schart.
Und glüht mein Kuß auf deinem Mund, so zuckt die Flammenspur,
Bis in der Biene Herz, das sich dem Kelch der Rose paart.

I think of you near me, as a tender rose.
And I a young bee deep within.
Our life a string of pearls in the enclosure,
Our affection, as petals encircled
And my kiss glows on your lips, as sparks fly up,
From the heart of the encircling rose.


Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971)     
Melodie, Op. 6, No. 1 (1908) (Sergei Gorodetsky)(6')
     II. A Song of the Dew
     (Mystic Song of the Ancient Russian Flagellants)

O mother earth, o dear one,
O fruitful one, o brown one!
The dingy hut is empty.
O come, celestial Spirit,
And bring us holy water;
With faith we'll glean each droplet,
   We have lingered, we have languished,
   Whilst our locks we plaited
   Sad and weary, lonely pining,
   Whilst we gleaned the dewdrops.
   And at each cool drop we murmured,
   And we sang in chorus,
   Gently thrusting slender branches
   Towards one another:
   Spinster shall remain the maiden;
   Would she be a bride?
   Bringest thou fine gifts, o maiden;
   That wouldst be a bride?
   Blush not, give the mark so dainty
      that adorns thy nape.
   Blush not, give a cross well polished,
      give a cross of ash!
   Hear ye not how in the yard
   Proudly strutting, mounting guard,
   A fine cockerel crows high!
   Rustles spreading far and wide:
   Soon, aye, soon, at eventide,
   Each of you shall be a bride!
A seat of loam well trodden,
Dull panes in every window,
The dingy hut stands empty.
He comes, the Holy Spirit,
He casts o'er us his shadow.
O sisters, praise the Maker!