Charles Griffin

Mezzo Soprano Christina Dahl, along with pianist Thomas Buur, will give the Danish premiere of my So, We’ll Go No More a-Roving, a setting of a text by Lord Byron, on Tuesday, September 8 at 7PM at the Kulturcenter Kongensgade 111 in Fredericia, Denmark.

I met and worked with Christina this July in Norberg, Sweden at the Networking Camp for Composers and Musicians (see my earlier post, Nätverksläger för tonsättare och musiker at KlackbergsgÃ¥rden, in Norberg, Sweden, July 27-August 1).

Soprano Kathryn Wieckhorst, accompanied by pianist Jeff Tanski will include my setting of Emily Dickinson’s Heart! We Will Forget Him! on her recital at the Gershwin Hotel (27th street between Madison and 5th) on Thursday, February 19th, 2009 at 8pm. Tickets are $10 at the door, cash only.

The program, The Varied Natures of Love, will feature American opera excerpts and the works of contemporary American composers. It will include works by Lori Laitman, Leonard Bernstein, Leonard Lehrman, Gian Carlo Menotti, Carlisle Floyd, Kurt Weill.

The Piano Duo Gastesi-Bezerra will perform the entirety of my suite of pieces for piano four-hands From the Faraway Nearby, inspired by paintings by Georgia O’Keeffe at the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach, Florida on February 15 at 3PM. The Duo will feature an all-American program in conjunction with the exhibit “Georgia O’Keefe and Ansel Adams: Natural Affinities.”

The Milwaukee Choral Artists, directed by Sharon Hansen, will perform my El Paso de la Seguiriya, a flamenco-inflected setting for women’s voices of the poetry of Federico Garcia Lorca, as part of a program called Magic and Enchantment, at St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church (1615 Wauwatosa Avenue) in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin on February 14 at 7:30PM. Happy Valentine’s Day!

The Freeport High School Select Chorale, directed by Stephen Pagano, will perform my SATB divisi setting of Emily Brontë’s Fall, Leaves, Fall on their winter concert on December 18 at 7:30 PM at Freeport High School in Freeport, NY (50 S Brookside Ave.). It is a great pleasure and honor for me that Steve (who is retiring this year) is including my work on this concert. I was a member of this group when I was 16-18, and Steve played a big role in my decision to pursue music as a career. Congratulations on your retirement, and a heartfelt thanks.

The piano duo Stephanie Ho and Saar Ahuvia will perform selected movements from my suite From the Faraway Nearby for piano four-hands as part of their December 11 program called Sounds of New York. This concert, sponsored by Queens Council on the Arts will take place at Lefrak Hall at the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College CUNY (65-30 Kissena Blvd. in Flushing, NY). Click here for directions. This free concert begins at 7:30 PM and will include a complimentary wine reception.

The program will include Denise Broadhurst’s Stepping off the front porch…, Matt Van Brink’s Initial Ascent (World premiere), selections from Jay Anthony Gach’s Rounds, Philippe Bodin’s Double Salt Variations and Richard Rodney Bennett’s Lilliburlero Variations. This performance is dedicated to the memory of Denise Broadhurst.

Italian flutist Andrea Ceccomori will perform my Fragmentary Rondo for unaccompanied solo flute at the University of Kentucky New Music Festival in the Singletary Center for the Arts – Recital Hall on Friday, November 14, at 7:30 PM. This concert is free and open to the public. This concert will also feature works by: Berio, Scelsi, Maderna, Ceccomori, Hollos, Rudow, Alon, Dorff, Coluccino, and Campogrande.

Andrea Ceccomori earned a degree in flute performance at the Morlacchi Music Conservatory in Perugia, Italy. He has appeared at national and international festivals such as Spazio Musica, Cagliari, Italy; Nuova Consonanza and Musica Verticale, Rome, Italy; and Biennale of Contemporary Music, Zagreb, Croatia. Other appearances include Darmstadt; Paris; Stockholm; Prague; Sophia; the Logos Foundation, Gent, Belgium; the Sibelius Academy, Helsinki, Finland; Concert for Peace, Vatican City; as well as tours of Germany, Spain, Africa and Brazil. In the United States Mr. Ceccomori has appeared as guest performer at universities in New York, Connecticut, Florida, Colorado, Georgia, and Mississippi. In addition to performing classical music, Mr. Ceccomori is a great supporter of contemporary music.

The Latvian young women’s choir, Sapnis (Dream), will include my SSAA a cappella Beatus Vir on their concert of Latvian sacred music at St. Peter’s Church in Riga on November 11 at 7PM. This will be the first performance of the work in Latvia. Other composers on the program are Ingmars Zemzaris, Ilze Arne, Zigmars Liepiņs, Jāņis LÅ«sÄ“ns, and Rihards Dubra.

Since its founding in 1993, Sapnis has become one of the top choirs in Latvia, having received numerous national and international awards. Led by founding conductor Iveta RÄ«smane and artistic director Baiba Danovska, Sapnis regularly performs in churches throughout Latvia and Europe (Germany, France, Austria, Hungary, Spain, Italy and other countries). Devoted primarily to Latvian and foreign sacred music, their repertoire also includes Latvian and world folk music and classics. Additionally, Sapnis has established close working relationships with local contemporary composers, premiering works by Selga Mence, Georgs PelÄ“cis, Romualds Jermaks, Ilze Arne, Ansis Sauka, and Alvils Altmanis among others. Since 2003 “Sapnis” has participated in choir festivals and has performed concerts in Germany, France, Austria, Hungary, Spain, Italy and other countries.

Pianist Ana Cervantes will reprise her recent Mexico City GENERACIONES program that includes my Prelude: Homage to Chopin at the Museo Gene Byron in Guanajuato, Mexico on Sunday November 2 at 1 PM.

Also on the program are works by C.P.E. Bach, American Laurie Altman, William Byrd, Englishman Stephen McNeff, Chopin, Rodolfo Halffter, Russian-Italian Olga Gorelli, Brahms and Mexican Arturo Marquez

Italian flutist Andrea Ceccomori will perform my Fragmentary Rondo for unaccompanied solo flute at the University of Kentucky New Music Festival in the Singletary Center for the Arts – Recital Hall on Friday, November 14, at 7:30 PM. This concert is free and open to the public. This concert will also feature works by: Berio, Scelsi, Maderna, Ceccomori, Hollos, Rudow, Alon, Dorff, Coluccino, and Campogrande.

Andrea Ceccomori earned a degree in flute performance at the Morlacchi Music Conservatory in Perugia, Italy. He has appeared at national and international festivals such as Spazio Musica, Cagliari, Italy; Nuova Consonanza and Musica Verticale, Rome, Italy; and Biennale of Contemporary Music, Zagreb, Croatia. Other appearances include Darmstadt; Paris; Stockholm; Prague; Sophia; the Logos Foundation, Gent, Belgium; the Sibelius Academy, Helsinki, Finland; Concert for Peace, Vatican City; as well as tours of Germany, Spain, Africa and Brazil. In the United States Mr. Ceccomori has appeared as guest performer at universities in New York, Connecticut, Florida, Colorado, Georgia, and Mississippi. In addition to performing classical music, Mr. Ceccomori is a great supporter of contemporary music.