BONE
PERCUSSION CONCERTO
for JONATHAN FOX AND THE SINGAPORE SYMPHONY orchestra
Cover Art: “Animal Instincts” by Sasha Parfenova
Scroll for description of piece, timeline, music samples, and composer information
DESCRIPTION OF PIECE.
INSTRUMENTATION:
Full: 3333/4321/timp.+ 2/solo percussion/strings
Condensed: 1111/1111/timp/solo percussion/strings
Length: 20-24 minutes
Movements: 3
BONE: Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra will be a kaleidoscopic, aural presentation of a menagerie of animals that have lived on our planet at one time or another: It is the intent of the piece to let the percussionist lead the orchestra in a wide range of spirited depictions of creatures kind and deadly, of creatures of beauty and of creatures who roamed the world so long ago that we can only dream of what they looked like.
This work will draw upon imaginative textures from the percussionist and orchestra to depict these mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, insects, and amphibians, providing a fertile ground for an exciting, eclectic use of percussion as the work’s focal point. The concerto’s working title is an homage to the component that we as humans share with many of the creatures depicted.
The piece was dreamed up when thinking about what subject matter Jonathan’s young son would be intrigued by and learn from, and will be written with both adults and children in mind. The concerto can easily be programmed on subscription concerts and children’s concerts alike, during its premiere season and long afterwards by other orchestras.
In response to the difficulty of programming large works during Covid-19, and in order to promote subsequent programming of this work on concerts in smaller halls or where a smaller instrumental complement is necessary, the work will be written in two versions of orchestration: in orchestra and chamber orchestra formats.
Description of movements.
I. the air
In the first movement, a colorful Fantasia, creatures of the air will be seen and heard. From the eagle to the owl, the bee and the cicada, and including the woodpecker and songbirds like the raven, this movement will stay upbeat and cheery, with quick tempo changes and high contrast between subsequent sections. This movement will mostly utilize wooden instruments in the percussion solo.
II. The OCEAN
The second movement, an expansive Largo, will be slow, meditative, and mellow, with the orchestra delving to the depths of the ocean to see depictions of creatures such as the spritely, impossibly tiny zooplankton, the giant squid, the queen conch, and it will let the audience experience the bioluminescence of the anglerfish and the majesty of the humpback whale. This movement will mostly utilize metal instruments in the percussion solo.
III. the land
The third movement moves on to land: here we see the great animals of the tundra and the hunters of the savanna: roaring dinosaurs, howling wolves, a pack of zebras and the lion who stalks them. High-energy, aggressive, and intensely rhythmic throughout, this Dance movement ends with a musical depiction of humankind, the final animal on land. This movement will mostly utilize skin instruments in the percussion solo.
Exclusivity.
Exclusivity through the end of the 2022/2023 season
This exclusivity period also encompasses several dates that may help with programming ideas, including important environmental dates:
Earth Day 2023: Saturday, April 23
Arbor Day 2023: Friday, April 28
World Environment Day 2023: Monday, June 5
World Oceans Day 2023: Thursday, June 8
Timing.
Score and Parts can be delivered from January 2022
Work samples.
Lullaby for Sophie, commissioned by Igor Yuzefovich and performed with Andrew Litton and Pei-Sian Ng
Sybil violin concerto, performed by Eunae Koh with Nathan Aspinall at the New England Conservatory
Sheltering Voices, commissioned by the Eureka Ensemble
Beyond the Gate, commissioned by the JVL Music in Summer Festival
Contact K & M Management for more information: guy@kandmartists.com
Composer BIOGRAPHY.
Michigan-born, Manhattan-based American composer Stephanie Ann Boyd (b. 1990) writes melodic music about women’s memoirs and the natural world for symphonic and chamber ensembles. Her work has been performed in nearly all 50 states and has been commissioned by musicians and organizations in 37 countries. Boyd’s five ballets include works choreographed by New York City Ballet principal dancers Lauren Lovette, Ashley Bouder, NYCB soloist Peter Walker, and XAOC Contemporary Ballet’s Eryn Renee Young. Eero, a ballet commissioned by Access Contemporary Music and Open House New York, was written for the grand opening of the TWA Hotel at JFK Airport. Stephanie’s music has been praised as “attractive lyricism” (Gramophone), “[with] ethereal dissonances” (Boston Globe), “[music that] didn’t let itself be eclipsed” (Texas Classical Review), “arrestingly poetic” (BMOP), and “wide ranging, imaginative” (Portland Press Herald).
The 2020/2021 season includes commissions from the Wyoming Symphony, Astral Artists with cellist Tommy Mesa, violinist Megan Healy, pianists Lara Downes, Lise de la Salle, Marta Aznavoorian, Lucille Chung, Susie Maddocks, Adrienne Park, Diane Kaztenburg Braun and Music Street, Sarah Bob and the New Gallery Concert Series, Holly Roadfeldt, Marianne Parker, Eunbi Kim, the Kurganov-Finehouse Duo, and others. This season also includes performances by the Lincoln Trio, Juventas New Music, Jennifer Reason, Shouthouse, Ayanna Witter-Johnson, including concerts at the Kaufman Center, the Boston New Music Festival, the Festival of New American Music, Pianoforte in Chicago, live on Chicago’s WFMT radio station, and elsewhere.
Boyd is a member of the Iceberg New Music composers collective.. A critic for American Record Guide and I Care If You Listen, Boyd lives in Manhattan. For concert premieres and red carpet appearances, she is usually dressed by MILLY creator Michelle Smith or Boston-based designer Sasha Parfenova.
Stephanie intensely adores jazz big band screaming trumpets, the smell of camp fires and old cars, that moment when planes leave the ground during takeoff, contemporary fiction, and her cat Bruce.
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY.
Sasha Parfenova is a Boston based mixed media artist working primarily in collage. She received her MFA from Tufts University and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston in 2015. Her work is inspired by the beauty and fragility of the natural world. Using intricately cut images of flora and fauna, hand-drawn or painted elements, found materials, she creates eclectic collages and installations.