Ravinia 2023 Issue 1

BENNETT GORDON HALL 7:30 PM TUESDAY, JUNE 6, 2023 RAVINIA STEANS MUSIC INSTITUTE FIFTH ANNUAL BRIDGES COMPOSITION COMPETITION CLAIRE BOURG, violin RANNVEIG MARTA SARC, violin ROBERT SWITALA, viola † ALEXANDER HERSH, cello GREG WARD, woodwinds JOHN WOJCIECHOWSKI, flute † JAMES DAVIS, tUuPpet GLENN ZALESKI, pLano DAN CHMIELINSKI, bass KENNETH SALTERS, dUuPs HAYDN String Quartet in G minor, . : Allegro con spirito Menuetto: Allegretto Poco adagio Allegro molto Claire Bourg, Rannveig Marta Sarc, Robert Switala, Alexander Hersh WARD e Contender ZALESKI Wayne Greg Ward, Glenn Zaleski, Dan Chmielinski, Kenneth Salters 2023 Competition Winners KNOWLES Tempest Quake RING Mental Gymnastics URRA Faro de Luz . † Ravinia debut Ravinia Steans Music Institute alum Established in 2018, in honor of Ravinia Steans Music Institute’s 30th anniversary, the Bridges Composition Competition calls on young composers from around the globe to add their creative perspectives to the “bridge” between RSMI’s jazz and classical focuses with new works written for string quartet and jazz rhythm section. Up to three winners are selected annually to receive the David Baker Prize—an award of $2,500 and a week to further develop their music with the musicians featured on this concert and the guidance of the RSMI Program for Jazz directors: pianist and composer Billy Childs, bassist and composer Rufus Reid, and saxophonist Steve Wilson, who also adjudicate the competition. -OSEP+ +A<DN ɠ String Quartet in G minor, . : Haydn’s String Quartet in G minor, op. , no. , is considered by many to be the most experimental of the Haydn string quartets. It de es all sense of convention with its irreg- ular phrase lengths, its dramatic stops and starts, and an endless supply of twists and turns. e work seemed like a great t for this concert as it celebrates experimentation just as much as it does collaboration. — Alexander Hersh GREG WARD e Contender Around the time that I composed this piece of music, I began working out with a person- al trainer. During some of our workouts, we would go through a variety of boxing drills. is piece is inspired by some of those move- ments that I learned during these sessions. GLENN ZALESKI Wayne In March of this year we lost one of our mu- sical guiding lights—Wayne Shorter. Wayne’s incisive compositions and forward-thinking playing have been the backbone of many of the most in uential bands of the th cen- tury, from Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, to Miles Davis’s second great quintet, to Weath- er Report, and not least of which his own envelope-pushing albums from the s up until his passing. His in uence is omnipres- ent, and although he has le this Earth, his presence will continue to inspire us through the ages. Using some elements of his compo- sitional style, Wayne is composed in dedica- tion to the great Wayne Shorter. JULIEN KNOWLES Tempest Quake is piece came from a conceptual idea giv- en to me by my mentor Herbie Hancock. He challenged me to write about something that occurs in the physical world—an “everyday experience” we can observe, with the various parts representing the experience I chose to translate to music. What came of that instruc- tion was Tempest Quake , which captures the whistlings and simmering chaos of a blizzard in the desert winter of Reno, NV. An award-winning trumpeter of the Herbie Hancock In- stitute of Jazz, Julien Knowles has been mentored by numer- ous legends of jazz, including Ambrose Akinmusire, Terri Lyne Carrington, Gerald Clayton, Wayne Shorter, Walter Smith III, and Hancock himself, with whom he toured internationally as part of the full-fellowship graduate program. He cur- rently leads master classes across the country on improvisation, composition, and ped- agogy. Since settling in Los Angeles, he has toured with Louis Cole and performed along- side Joe LaBarbera, Billy Mohler, and other mainstays of the city’s scene at such venues as Sam First and ETA. Knowles appears on Tepper , the upcoming album by saxophonist Peter Epstein, and is awaiting the release of his debut As Many, As One , featuring origi- nal works for jazz quintet and string quartet. Knowles’s arrangement of trumpeter Ralph Alessi’s Arim Issela was recently debuted by the Swiss Jazz Orchestra. He has been com- missioned for big band and chamber ensem- ble pieces by several groups, including the Reno Jazz Orchestra, which premieres three of his works on its upcoming Next: New Di- rections . BENJAMIN RING Mental Gymnastics Mental Gymnastics explores the concept of convoluted logic o en used by those with ex- treme and harmful social views, transform- ing simple ideas into increasingly complex structures. e piece serves as both a musi- cal representation of this phenomenon and a re ection on the struggle against radical perspectives that disrupt societal harmony. Ultimately, it concludes with a triumphant call to nd common ground, expressing hope for a brighter future and a return to peaceful discourse. Benjamin Ring is an award-winning drum- mer, percussionist, and composer based in Los Angeles. Orig- inally from Piedmont, CA, he began playing at years old and has been recognized by fes- tivals and institutions worldwide for his work in jazz and classical idioms. Ring earned a bachelor’s degree in at the University of Southern California, where he studied drums with Peter Erskine, Will Kennedy, and Ndugu Chancler, as well as theory and composition with Vince Mendoza and Patrice Rushen. He currently attends the Herbie Hancock Insti- tute of Jazz Performance master’s program at UCLA. Across Europe, Asia, and the United States, Ring has performed in ensembles led by Genevieve Artadi, David Binney, Billy Childs, Gerald Clayton, and Ed Simon, as well as with members of the San Francisco Symphony, at such venues as Jazz at Lincoln Center, e Blues Alley, the Blue Whale, the Kuumbwa Jazz Center, and Davies Sympho- ny Hall. He has received scholarships from SFJAZZ and the Monterey Jazz Festival as well as two awards from the National Young- Arts Foundation. RAVINIA MAGAZINE • JUNE 6 – JULY 2, 2023