Contemporary Youth Orchestra @ CSU Waetjen Auditorium 12/13 One of the surest bets available these days is that Liza Grossman and her Contemporary Youth Orchestra will provide an electric and inspirational concert. It will absolutely contain music that you're not likely to hear every time you turn around, performed excellently and fearlessly by the young musicians who don't seem to know the meaning of the words "fear" or "that's too hard!" In short, they're amazing.

Saturday evening at CSU’s Waetjen Auditorium, LG and CYO began their 14th season of jaw-dropping music-making, featuring two more-or-less standard works of the 20th century, a Cleveland premiere and two World Premieres. These were the 60th and 61st World Premieres presented by this orchestra—an astonishing record by any reckoning. Quite possibly the highlight of the concert was the first one of these--Concerto for Electric Guitar, Electric Bass, Synthesizer, Drum Set and Orchestra, by Ryan Gallagher. Not only is it the first work of its kind ever commissioned by any performing group from any composer, but young Mr. Gallagher was, in his youth, a member of CYO (principal trumpet, actually, from 2000-2003).

In fact, the CYO has previously performed two works by him—Manhattan Dawn—in 2005, when he was in the process of earning his undergrad degree from The Juilliard School in New York City, and When Things Fall Apart in 2003, while he was a senior in high school. CYO gave him an open commission—the work could be whatever he chose, and having encountered the New York-based rock quartet Electric Kompany, he chose to write a five-movement concerto utilizing both organizations. The young composer being present and very poised, provided an articulate explanation for the reasons behind and the meaning of his composition.

The quartet consists of Kevin Gallagher, electric guitar; Alex Walker, electric bass; Jim Johnson, synthesizer, and Joe Choroszewski, drum set. Each had a chance to shine as an individual performer, but for the most part, they played as an ensemble, although perhaps Mr. Gallagher was a bit more equal than the others. He had a strong riff (cadenza) in the first movement and smaller solos elsewhere. The first, third and fifth movements were slightly longer than the second and fourth, none of which had names or titles listed in the program. The second began with a brass fanfare, and some fancy fingering from all the strings. Three was more lyrical with an actual melody that wandered from the orchestral clarinet to flute, then to the electric bass, which played an interesting ‘stride’ sort of rhythm. The synthesizer then chimed in, while the horn and trumpet echoed each other in a brief melodic bit.

Four began with the guitar and bass growling around in their lower registers, slowly morphing into a driving rhythm with increasing volume. Concentration by all the musicians was intense here. A dialogue between various sections of the orchestra and the solo instruments occupied the fifth section, as the notes rose progressively from low to high by fifths.

The audience was completely enthusiastic in response to the work, necessitating a reprise of the fourth movement. This is not such a strange occurrence in concert halls; George Szell did it several times at Severance Hall, so Ms. Grossman and the CYO were merely following an established precedent. This is a work which needs to be heard many times, as I’m sure it will be, once the world learns of its existence. It is a forerunner of the next generation of classical or concert music played by the next generation of musicians. (Ms. Grossman announced a forthcoming CD that will contain several concertos commissioned by CYO. This will be a part of that CD, so the world will be able to hear it! Soon. Bravo, I say!)

Principal violist Molly Goldman as recipient of the CYO Concerto Auditions, was the soloist in the first movement of the Walton Viola Concerto. Ms. Goldman plays with confidence and passion, coupled with a lush, full sound, although there were brief moments when she was slightly overpowered by the orchestra. This movement is mostly lyrical and included a lovely dialogue with the wind sections.

The first premiere on the program was a musical picture of Route 66, which, before the Interstates, was the favorite path from Chicago to Los Angeles. A popular song by the same name provides a list of the cities and sights one would encounter on such a trip. There was also a TV show of the same name for several seasons in the early 1960s. Michael Daugherty grew up surrounded by music of all kinds, which is evident in this piece. Listen carefully and you hear bits of jazz and Latin rhythms, car horns, trains and big city noises, all imbued with high energy and frenetic complexities—influenced by what the composer saw through his rear-view mirror!

ZRM was not exactly commissioned by CYO in its original state, but was composed by Marc Mellits for small-amplified group, and arranged by Electrik Kompany for rock band. This version was then expanded to include the orchestra as well, which is the rendition we heard. The letters ZRM stand for the Romanian greeting “Happy Birthday Maria!” and the piece was dedicated to the composer’s friend, cellist Maria Illic. It’s somewhat reminiscent of the technique used by John Adams, with repetitive rhythms and notes that slowly change into something else. This short work featured the orchestra’s pianist and marimba at the beginning, incorporating the amplified quartet in the process.

Speaking of John Adams, it was his Chairman Dances that brought the concert to a close. An ‘out-take’ from his opera Nixon in China, and features Madame Mao in a sensuous dance directed at a huge painting of the Chairman during a state banquet, also including President and Mrs. Nixon. Adams’ famous chugging rhythm patterns open the work, accented by woodblock and piccolo, followed by a lush melody in the middle portion. This is followed by the sinuous, lighter portion that features the contrasting sound of the piano. Her plea is successful, and Mao comes down from his portrait, and together they dance the fox-trot. Although one might wonder why it was removed from the opera, it has certainly had a long and happy life on its own!

The next concert by the Contemporary Youth Orchestra will feature a tribute to Broadway! As usual, it will happen at CSU’s Waetjen Auditorium on March 14, 2009. For more information, visit the website: http://www.cyorchestra.org.

From Cool Cleveland contributor Kelly Ferjutz artswriterATroadrunner.com

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