Hi All,
I’m in the middle of a 5 month pause from playing duo concerts so we can catch up on solo projects. Many things are happening:
Over the last few months, I’ve been building a sound studio in our basement with the help of carpenter Stian, and the John Sayes forum on the internet. Both have been incredibly helpful. The thing should be up and running in a couple of weeks.
“String”, the festival in Massillon Ohio has been moved to November 11-13, 2011. Judging by the response on this site, I’m will have to do a better job publicizing the event. We added Dieter Hennings, baroque lutenist, to the artist roster that now includes Goran Ivanovich and Andreas Kapsalis, Stephen and JoNell Aron, Les Freres Meduses (Ben and I), and Jeff Rodgers who will be giving a lecture on miking techniques for the guitar.
Ben and I will perform in Stark County Schools in conjunction with the festival. Other concerts will be at Fort Wayne Indiana and Cleveland Ohio during the trip. more info at: www.lesfreresmeduses.com
Clear Note Publications is set on publishing the 12 Silly Songs for 12 Silly Strings, written by Rami Vamos and myself during our Oberlin Conservatory 1000 years ago. I have a technique book in the works as well.
The lecture on the Music of Ralph Towner at the National Music Academy in Norway wrapped up on the 8th of April. This was part of the Annual Guitar Conference in Oslo where I found some die-hard Towner fans in the audience. The lecture talked about his life, recordings, publications and musical style, and I had a chance to play excerpts of pieces that are yet unpublished and unrecorded – Ralph himself contributed a lot of lecture. My first Ralph Towner concert will happen this summer at the Classical Minds Festival in Houston. It will premiere a number of his works… 5 new pieces to date.
Freres Meduses has scheduled concerts up to summer 2012, already with performances around France, Norway and the US. Check out the Freres Meduses if you want a see a full listing.
Greetings all, and a Happy belated New Year to you.
I wanted to inform you about a site that Benoît Albert and I put together, “Les Frères Méduses”.
Thanks!
Randy
Ben and I (www.lesfreresmeduses.com) are pleased to announce the signing of our new US/Canada agent Dan McDaniel. He is the long-time US manager for David Russell, and the US agent Duo Melis, Zoran Dukic, Pavel Steidl and many other prominent world-class guitarists.
This flyer appeared in the Winter 2010 issue of Soundboard magazine
Here is another song from the new “les Frères Méduses” DVD.
“A light dry table wine” written by Rami Vamos and myself during our undergrad years at Oberlin Conservatory. It is the first of a series of compositions called “12 Silly Songs for 12 Silly Strings”.
Here is a film taken of “Les Frères Méduses” live in Agen, France on April 2nd, 2010. The balkan-inspired music is entitled “No Feathers on this Frog” by Dusan Bogdanovich. This and a series of other videos will be available on DVD this June.
Very Special thanks to Christophe G. who has put so much time and effort into the filming and editing. Merci mille fois Pierre M and Pierre C. Also a thank you to our favorite camera lady, Lauréne.
A higher-quality video has been posted by Ben at www.benoitalbert.com.
For the Calendar Years 2010-2011, I’ve been awarded the Norwegian “Kunstnerstipend” (artists stipend), the most sought-after grant in Norway for artists. The stipend comes in the form of a monthly salary which allows the recipients the space to focus on their artistic development.
My two year focus will center around the unpublished/unreleased music of ECM recording artist Ralph Towner. Towner is a guitarist/pianist/composer who is one of the founding members of the legendary Jazz Ensemble Oregon. He is one of the most individual and influential voices in the world of guitar.
The Newman-Oltmann duo released a CD which features three pieces (Silly Songs) I co-composed with Rami Vamos during my undergrad years at Oberlin. The CD also features the music of R. Sierra, D Bogdanovic, L. Liebermann, A.R. Thomas and M. Karmon. The Daedelos String Quartet is also featured
Spanish composers of the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries found themselves torn between two almost irreconcilable poles of musical influence, those of Spanish nationalism and French modernism. The musical and artistic magnetism of Paris was inescapable for European composers in the nineteenth-century. Indeed by the time Isaac Albeniz arrived there to pursue childhood piano studies in 1867, Paris had already been the musical capital of Europe for some forty years.
