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VIC FIRTH ARTIST Michael Zell, percussionist, is originally from Baltimore, Maryland. Since 2006, he has served as Principal Timpanist with the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra. Michael is also the percussionist fellow for The Academy - a program of Carnegie Hall, the Juilliard School, and the Weill Music Institute. He was an adjunct faculty member at the Peabody Conservatory, and also served as assistant to the director of bands at Yale University. Michael received an Artist Diploma and a Master of Music degree from the Yale School of Music, where he was a teaching assistant to Joan Panetti, as well as a Bachelor of Music degree from the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University. At both institutions, Michael was a student of Robert van Sice. He performs on Pearl/Adams percussion instruments and uses Vic Firth percussion products. For up to date information, check out Michael's website: |
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PERFORMANCE SPOTLIGHT
"Psappha" is an archaic form of "Sappho," a great Greek poetess from the Island of Lesbos, born in the 600's BC. Her style was sensual and melodic, and she was one of the first poets to write from the first person, describing love and loss as it affected her personally. The target of her affections was most commonly female, and today both her name and place of residence have become synonymous with woman-love. This emotion and sentimentality does not seem to manifest in Xenakis' interpretation. Written for six groups of instruments, three of wood and skins and three of metal, Psappha is sharp, brittle, and even violent at times. This intensely masculine work seems almost in contradiction to its title. The inspiration here, however, manifests not as aesthetic, but as structure. The work's rhythmic structures are derived from small rhythmic cells characteristic of Sappho's poetry. These rhythms pervade the entire work and make both local and large scale appearances. Much of the specifics of instrument choice is left up to the performer: Xenakis writes, "timbre serves only to clarify the rhythmic structures," suggesting the "words" of this poem are only a secondary color to the structures that contain them.
Iannis Xenakis (May 29, 1922 – February 4, 2001) was an ethnic Greek, naturalized French composer, music theorist, and architect-engineer. He is commonly recognized as one of the most important post-war avant-garde composers.Xenakis pioneered the use of mathematical models such as applications of set theory, varied use of stochastic processes, game theory, etc., in music, and was also an important influence on the development of electronic music. Among his most important works are Metastaseis (1953–4) for orchestra, which introduced independent parts for every musician of the orchestra; percussion works such as Psappha (1975) and Pléïades (1979); compositions that introduced spatialization by dispersing musicians among the audience, such as Terretektorh (1966); electronic works created using Xenakis's UPIC system; and the massive multimedia performances Xenakis called polytopes. Among the numerous theoretical writings he authored, the book Formalized Music: Thought and Mathematics in Composition (1971) is regarded as one of his most important. As an architect, Xenakis is primarily known for his early work under Le Corbusier: the Sainte Marie de La Tourette, on which the two architects collaborated, and the Philips Pavilion at Expo 58, which Xenakis designed alone. For further study: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iannis_Xenakis | http://www.iannis-xenakis.org
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