Composer’s Forum at the White House

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The Central Florida Composer’s Forum presented their 4th annual Composer’s Salon Concert at the Timucua Arts Foundation (2000 South Summerlin, Orlando, FL 32806). Seven local Central Florida composers: Eric Brook, Stan Cording, Paul Harlyn, Dr. Chan Ji Kim, Dr. Seunghee Lee, Sharon Omens, and Rebekah Todia,  featured original compositions including local and world premieres in a diverse array of musical stylings. Instrumentation included, piano, violin, flute, saxophone, bassoon, bass guitar, percussion, and electronic music. This was a rare chance to hear music from some of Central Florida’s best composers. This sketch was done quickly at the beginning of the concert. I did a second sketch from  the second floor which I posted some time ago.

In July of 2016 I invited local artists to the Falcon Bar (819 E Washington St, Orlando, FL 32801) to create 49 portraits, one for each of the victims of the mass murder at the Pulse Nightclub. Benoit invited me to exhibit these 49 portraits in the entry to the concert. They were hung high in the wooden rafters and filled every inch of the available space. I was told that one of the composers complained about the portraits being on display since they felt it interfered with the atmosphere of the night’s performances. I am always shocked to hear of other artists complaining about art. To hell with propriety, it was an appropriate gesture. At the end of the evening, people had cell phones out shooting photos of the portraits in the rafters.

Composers Salon Concert – Celebrating Central Florida Composers.

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The Central Florida Composer’s Salon Concert was held at the Timucua White House (2000 S Summerlin Ave Orlando, FL 32806.) The annual composer’s salon concert celebrated new music written by local composers in the Central Florida area.

There was food and wine before and after the concert in the entry foyer. I decided to sketch from the upper balcony. An entire orchestra filled the stage to start and I was quickly blocking in the performers. However when they were finished performing their one piece, they all exited the stage. My digital eraser got a good work out.

Marla E. Artist had a Plexiglass canvas set up so that the audience could watch as she worked on the transparent surface lit up by white Christmas lights. She painted a saxophone to the beat of the music. It is always a pleasure to watch other artists at work.

The Central Florida Composers Forum is an organization of composers
dedicated to engaging the creative and larger community of Central
Florida through the promotion of original and innovative music
programming.They strive to be part of a larger cultural conversation where the musical,
visual and other performing arts connect with audiences, foster vital
collaborations, and produce multidisciplinary performances. They are cultivating
an audience for new music through education, workshops and outreach
programs that create memorable artistic experiences for youth and
community members are also central to their mission.

Ghost in the Machine

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Timothy Stulman the president of Central Florida Composers Forum invited me  to be part of a concert on November 10. I suggested I could do a digital sketch live of the performers and project it during the performance at the White House November 10th. I figured that a sketch being created with the hand unseen would tie in well with the Ghost in the Machine title. I arrived early to set up. Timothy greeted Terry and myself at the door. He had a square three foot white canvas on the stage with an easel. The problem was there were computers and sound mixers in the way of the projector. I wanted the projection to be bigger, so I took the tablet and projector to the second floor. The projected image filled the ceiling. The color would be a bit off, but the audience could see themselves and the performers appear on the ceiling from this God’s eye view. At one point I panicked because I couldn’t find the brushes window. In the digital world, things always seem to crash or disappear into the ether. I tend to work slower digitally since I’m constantly trying to find windows and tools. Too much time is spent searching instead of sketching. At least in the real world, I can leave a brush in my lap and I’ll know where to find it. I felt I ran out of time before I was done, then again, that is why it is a sketch. Of course it will always be fun to brag that I’ve drawn at the White House.

All compositions in the concert contained an electronic element, ranging from interactive computer patches, to surround sound, to recorded ambient noises. One composition was affected by people’s tweets which scrolled across the top of the flat screen TV. I couldn’t help but be reminded of Brian Feldman‘s performances of TXT. People laughed at the tweets as they scrolled. One read, “This is my first tweet, ever!” The concert featured several premieres, including Charles Griffin’s Enfold Us Beneath Open Wings, John Alvarez’s Fermions and Gauge Bosons, and a new work by Thomas Owen. Other featured composers are Thad Anderson, Keith Lay, and Timothy Stulman. The concert also featured the talents of vocalist Michelle Amato and Julie Bateman, saxophonist Timothy Rosenberg, and percussionist Nick Strange.

The concert was part of the Accidental Music Festival, and was free and open to the public. As is the White House tradition, audience members were encouraged to bring a beverage or snack to enjoy before or after the concert. After the concert, several people asked me what software I had used, as if it was the machine that had created the image.

The Central Florida Composers Forum Concert

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CF2 was evening of new music by local composers at the Timucua White House. I arrived with Terry about an hour before the concert because the idea had been tossed around with Serena Jones, that it might be nice for me to project a sketch I was working on live during the concert. Unfortunately for technical reasons, that didn’t work out but I still got a great sketch from the second floor balcony. Serena worked the multi media imagery on a flat panel TV screen from her laptop.

The featured artist for the evening was Woody Igou. Woody set up a series of sculptures on card tables. One sculpture was of a series of hollow horns stacked up. At the beginning of the performance he mixed some gorilla glue with pigments and salt and he poured the mixture inside the horns. For the rest of the evening the mixture expanded like the blob, overflowing and oozing down like lava.

The CF2 concert offered contemporary composers an open forum to showcase their recent work.

Featured Composers on the Program:

Daniel Crozier (Rollins College) – Piano solo (2009)

Benoit Glazer (Music Director for La Nouba) – Brass Quintet and Percussion Quintet (2011)

Charles Griffin (Full Sail University) – Flute Quartet, prerecorded audio and video projection (2010) Rebekah Todia (Full Sail University) – Soprano and piano (2012)

Charles Griffin’s composition featured animated projections that responded to the music. The audience was encouraged to repeat vocalizations as they appeared on the screen. Everyone followed with shhh, and ah, ah sounds. This gave a primal feel to the proceedings.

The concert was an invigorating multimedia mix of electro acoustic, post-minimal, contemporary art song, solo piano and big-band jazz pieces by musicians and composers from Rollins, Full Sail, UCF and of course, Benoit Glazer, the musical director of Cirque du Soleil, and resident of the (Timucua) White House.