A Performance in Qatar

So I was looking around on the Interwebs recently and discovered an article from May 26th, 2013 about a performance of Maharaja. The article was in the Gulf Times and my first thought was that it was from Mississipi, Louisiana, or maybe Texas. But I was way off.

The Gulf Times reports news from the PERSIAN Gulf.

It turns out that Maharaja was performed in Qatar. In the Middle East.  Roughly, here:

Here's what the article said about the group and about Maharaja:

Almost 80 musicians took to the stage of the American School in Doha (ASD) on Saturday evening to perform in front of a delighted audience.  

Musicians range from semi-professionals and professionals, including the occasional ‘loan’ from the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra, to amateurs ranging in age from 10 to those nearing retirement - all united in their passion for music.
It seems that at every concert the orchestra achieves new heights, and Saturday’s performance was no exception.  

...and then it was time for ‘something completely different’ with the musicians snapping their fingers as well as playing away for dear life in Doug Spata’s  sizzling and stylish ‘Maharaja’, with the audience invited to join in the finger-snapping by conductor Brita Fray. Combining rhythms and motifs from Southeast Asian music with a powerful beat and exciting melodies, this very recent composition is as much fun to play as it is to listen to, and the DCO did it full justice.

  They were doing a "multi-cultural" program and chose Maharaja to represent India (by way of the U.S.). My mind is blown. I also appreciate the Monty Python reference. Thanks to the DCO orchestras for choosing my music!

Here's a link to the full article.

Midwest Clinic 2012

I'm excited to announce that three of my compositions will be performed at the 2012 Midwest Clinic, a prestigious international conference for music educators held every December in Chicago! Groups that perform here are considered among the best programs in the country and getting selected to perform is a pretty big deal. I've had one or two performances in years past, but three is almost unheard of. I'm super-excited. 

If you're going to be at the clinic, please check out one (or all) of these performances:

Wednesday, December 19, 10:30am at Ballroom W190
The Edmond North High School Symphony Orchestra of Edmond, OK
performs Harrowland.


Wednesday, December 19, 4:00pm at ballroom W190
The Sinfonia Orchestra of Orange City, FL
performs Maharaja.

Friday, December 21, 9:00am at ballroom W190
The Douglas Anderson School of the Arts Chamber Orchestra of Jacksonville, FL
performs Samba Del Sol.

My pieces are right in the middle of each program, but these shows are always great and you'll enjoy the whole thing. Congratulations to the performers and directors for making it to Midwest and thank you for programming my music!

Gauntlet, Zydeco Two-Step, Las Mariposas Exoticas

How about a little online concert?  Let's kick things off with Gauntlet, performed by the McMath 8th Grade Orchestra of Denton, Texas.

This might be one of the best performances of Gauntlet I've ever heard. Here's why:

1. The tempo is perfect.
2. The expression is really great (especially in the "hard part": mm. 56 to 80)
3. Fantastic intonation and rhythmic precision.
4. The articulations are dead-on perfect. Listen to how short those staccato notes are. They're so dry they're practically a fire hazard. You could go out and get a bite to eat between each of those notes.

Up next is the 2012 Middle School Honors Orchestra (there's no indication of what district or city, but I've been able to narrow it to the state of Georgia) performing Zydeco Two-Step (they start playing at 1:00).

Nice job!  It's a little faster than I'm used to hearing it, but it was handled nicely and the increased tempo adds a rollicking feel to the piece.  Also, nice use of dynamics. Everyone looks like they had a good time playing this one.

Finally, here's the Cooper Middle School Orchestra (possibly of McLean, Virginia?) performing Las Mariposas Exoticas.

Delightful!  They did a good job of making it sound delicate and light.  The key to this piece is to make the arco articulations match the sound of the pizzicato and this group did a great job, especially at the ends of phrases.

Well done, all!

New Performances: International Edition

The vast majority of my published music is sold in the US, but a small percentage of my total sales comes from international buyers. Not all countries have American-style school music programs, so the demand for student-level string orchestra music is much lower.  Occasionally, though, I hear about performances of my music outside the US.  Here are two I stumbled across recently.

First up, we journey to the mysterious land of kangaroos and Vegemite: Australia.  Here's the Sydney Youth Orchestra performing Lemon Twist:

Wasn't that great?  You can really tell how much those young musicians really enjoyed playing it.  Watching the Violin II's and Violas bopping along to the rhythm makes my heart swell.  That's what it's all about

Up next is the Orquesta de Cuerdas de Grado in Córdoba. That's Córdoba SPAIN, y'all.  I've heard of performances in Australia and Canada, but this is the first time I've heard of a performance of my music in Europe.  I'm a little awed.  They do a great job with Gargoyles:

Professor D. Gabriel A. leads a fantastic orchestra and it looks like he has a well-balanced program there at the Córdoba Professional Conservatory of Music.  Good tempo, great sense of style.

At this point I should remind readers that I'm available as guest conductor, so if anyone in Europe wants to fly me out and pay my expenses to visit their program, please drop me a line.

New Videos - Agincourt & A Hero's Welcome

Agincourt really seems to be catching fire, based on the appearance of a new batch of videos on You Tube.  Please to enjoy a very good performance by the Bowditch Advanced Orchestra:

Not bad!  A good performance makes up for the fact that they mis-pronounced my name in the intro.  But up next is the thundering herd known as the Clay, Carmel, and Creekside Middle School Symphony, also playing Agincourt.  The tempo is great in this one and I really like the enthusiasm that they bring.

Go, middle-schoolers, go!  You rock that advanced-level piece!  I'll end this post on a somber note.  Here's the Sierra Vista High School orchestra playing A Hero's Welcome.  Very expressive and  beautifully done - bravi.

I just wish the YouTube postings gave more information about the groups.  I'd love to know where each of these schools are, so I can add them to my map.

Royalty Statement 2009 (Part 2)

The listings for foreign sales are shrouded in mystery. Though I've heard of a few performances in Austrailia, have found an online German sheet music vendor that sells my music, and got word of a performance in Canada, I'm not exactly sure who it is outside the U.S. that's buying my music. I would hope that it would sell in Japan, home of the Suzuki Method, and in Europe. From what I understand, other countries don't have school music programs analagous to ours and wouldn't need school-level string orchestra music. Here are my top-selling sets of scores and parts in foreign markets:

1. Agincourt & Mambo Incognito (tie)
3. Hot Potato
4. Gargoyles
5. Violet's Tango

As you can see, there's a marked difference from the top five sellers in the U.S. I should note, though, that foreign sales make up a tiny fraction of a percentage of my total sales. Also, the printout that I received shows that several of these pieces sold at different rates - probably in euros, Canadian and Austrialian dollars, and yen.

Last year I got a sheet showing sales of digital downloads from alfred-music.com. This year, there's no record of sales of MP3 files - maybe bacuase they're so few that it will be rolled into next year's statement.

Finally, I did get a notice about liscensing. When orchestras record their concerts, they're supposed to get permission from the publisher and pay a small licensing fee. A few honest souls actually did that this year and I thank them. Liscensing also includes a few listings from "Make Music," a program where directors can access notes from the composer with tips on how to rehearse and perform their music more effectively. I wrote a few of these two years ago and think that I might want to do some more in the future.

New Music Update

I have a few things to report:

First, my new recordings are now available at www.alfred-music.com. Do a search for "Spata" or go directly to the new ones: A Hero's Welcome, Porcupine Pantomime, and Quicksilver. The orchestra did a great job with all of them, but (as I wote earlier) A Hero's Welcome is the standout.

Second, my Concerto for Orchestra and Tuba is getting its world premiere tonight! Acclaimed tubist T. J. Ricer will perform it as part of his PhD. recital tonight in Rochester, NY. He'll also be performing my Sonata for Piano and Tuba and four of my pieces for string orchestra, which I arranged for tuba duet. Break a leg, T.J.!

One More For The Year

Oh, my but it's been an eventful year! I finished my opera, got three pieces into next year's Alfred catalog, expanded this blog, renovated my website, had some great premieres and good feedback on my Tuba Concerto, and completed thirteen new pieces of music to submit in upcoming years.

I finished number thirteen just this weekend. I took a fragment that I had started ages ago and finally completed it. It was originally intended for a commission, but after coming up with an ostinato and a main melody, I realized it wasn't what they wanted. So I came back to it and expanded it into something quite nice. It's a Grade 3 piece with lots of shifting - in fact, it's possible to play all the melodies in third position. The scherzo style should be very appealing, but my old problem persists - it remains untitled as of yet.

This is my last post of the year and I'll be converting this blog back to "Oscarwatch 2008," so happy New Year, all - be safe and have a great time!

Don't Rush Gauntlet!

I went on YouTube recently, looking for new videos to link to my website and, not surprisingly, most of the performance videos of my music are of Gauntlet. It's still my most popular piece and it gets a lot of attention. However, while I was looking, I found an odd trend and wanted to comment on it. YouTube allows viewers to post messages and quite a few of them looked like this:

"honestly, i thought this song went much faster...really slowish"

"why do you play it so slow ? we play it waaay faster at my school ."

"its suposed to be alot faster"[sic]

One of the most prevalent problems I hear with performances of Gauntlet is that they're too fast. Gauntlet isn't a race and shouldn't be played too fast. Some young musicians even brag about how fast they can go, but speed isn't the point of this piece. I'd rather hear a performance that's too slow where dynamics, intonation, and expressiveness are taken into full consideration than one where the orchestra rushes through it. In fact, rushing through Gauntlet ruins the opportunity for expressiveness and negates the "dark" quality that people find so appealing.

The recording by the Alfred Studio Orchestra (which you can hear here) is still the best I've yet heard. The tempos are spot on, the intonation and style are perfect, and I've never heard the "hard part" (mm. 56 - 80) sound better. Sure, these are professional musicians playing, but it's an ideal that student musicians can aspire to achieve.