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!
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Online Concert
It's time for another online concert!
Up first, please enjoy Gargoyles, performed by the DPO on October 28, 2011. (Possibly California's Dos Pueblos Orchestra? There's no indication of who the conductor is or where the group is located.)
Fantastic musicianship and some great, precise playing! The articulations are perfect. It's exciting to see such a large group that doesn't feel the need to play loud all the time. Their pianos are exhilarating.
Up next is the LaVilla School of the Arts Orchestra of Jacksonville, Florida performing A Breeze In the Keys.
There's a really nice energy in that performance and good contrasts between the bouncy rhythmic parts and the legato sections. Kudos to the percussion section on this one.
Next, let's hear from the Philharmonic Orchestra of Hopkins High School in Minnetonka, Minnesota, led by Andrew Bast. They're performing Maharaja.
This is a tough piece and they pulled it off nicely. It's all about pacing, and making sure you don't get too loud or intense too soon and they did a great job. They also have a good sense of rhythm and an ear for the style.
Finally, let's jet over to Germany (Berlin, I think), where Jana Wirth leads the Kammerorchester MSO in a performance of Agincourt.
Small but mighty! Those are some good players. The crispness of their staccatos is absolutely delightful and their intonation is spot-on. They look like high school students but they sound like pros. Well, done!
Up first, please enjoy Gargoyles, performed by the DPO on October 28, 2011. (Possibly California's Dos Pueblos Orchestra? There's no indication of who the conductor is or where the group is located.)
Fantastic musicianship and some great, precise playing! The articulations are perfect. It's exciting to see such a large group that doesn't feel the need to play loud all the time. Their pianos are exhilarating.
Up next is the LaVilla School of the Arts Orchestra of Jacksonville, Florida performing A Breeze In the Keys.
There's a really nice energy in that performance and good contrasts between the bouncy rhythmic parts and the legato sections. Kudos to the percussion section on this one.
Next, let's hear from the Philharmonic Orchestra of Hopkins High School in Minnetonka, Minnesota, led by Andrew Bast. They're performing Maharaja.
This is a tough piece and they pulled it off nicely. It's all about pacing, and making sure you don't get too loud or intense too soon and they did a great job. They also have a good sense of rhythm and an ear for the style.
Finally, let's jet over to Germany (Berlin, I think), where Jana Wirth leads the Kammerorchester MSO in a performance of Agincourt.
Small but mighty! Those are some good players. The crispness of their staccatos is absolutely delightful and their intonation is spot-on. They look like high school students but they sound like pros. Well, done!
Friday, October 26, 2012
Doug Spata in Italy
Back in September I spent 10 days in Italy, seeing beautiful things, visiting wonderful places, and meeting fascinating people. This was my second trip to Europe - the first was in 2002 and Italy was just a small leg of a larger journey, so when it was time to go back, I knew that I wanted to explore Italy more.
And explore I did! I signed onto a guided tour which took me to Rome, Tivoli, Florence, Pisa, San Gimignano, and Venice. I brought my trusty Olympus SP-620UZ along with me and a list of things to see and when I got back home I compiled the thousands of photos and hours of video into an epic video. And then (much like Peter Jackson's upcoming Hobbit movies) I had to split it up into three smaller videos because YouTube has a 15-minute limit for videos on a basic license. Then I made a trailer for the videos using an iMovie template. So please sit back and enjoy my trip with me!
And explore I did! I signed onto a guided tour which took me to Rome, Tivoli, Florence, Pisa, San Gimignano, and Venice. I brought my trusty Olympus SP-620UZ along with me and a list of things to see and when I got back home I compiled the thousands of photos and hours of video into an epic video. And then (much like Peter Jackson's upcoming Hobbit movies) I had to split it up into three smaller videos because YouTube has a 15-minute limit for videos on a basic license. Then I made a trailer for the videos using an iMovie template. So please sit back and enjoy my trip with me!
Trailer
Part 1: Rome
Part 2: Tuscany
Part 3: Venice
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Doug Spata's Olympic Dream
The Olympics begin this week and it's always an exciting time for the world. I love watching the opening and closing ceremonies and the Parade of Nations, though I don't have a specific sport that I follow. The first Olympics I was aware of was the 1984 games in Los Angeles and I remember that for a long time all anyone could talk about was the U.S. gymnastics team.
TV coverage does a good job of highlighting the dramatic stories that drive the competitors and led the athletes to the games. They all have that "Olympic dream," to achieve at the highest level in front of the whole world.
Even though I'm not an athlete, I have an Olympic dream of my own: it would be an epic thrill to hear one of my compositions used in during Olympic competition. I'm not talking about the opening and closing ceremonies – that's way too much to ask. But it would be amazing to hear one of my pieces accompany a gymnastics floor exercise, a synchronized swimming routine, or, at the Winter Olympics, figure skating or ice dancing.
As a kid, I especially enjoyed hearing the music used in the gymnastic competitions because it's so full of color, energy, and emotion. I think some of my pieces would be suitable. Need something with a dark energy? Try Avatar, Elementals, or Storm Trail. Something more rhythmic and angular? There's Agincourt. Need a bright explosion of sound? Quicksilver or Star of Valor. For something more lyrical, have a listen to A Hero's Welcome. And if you need something fun and sassy, I recommend Violet's Tango, Samba Del Sol, Lemon Twist, or Mambo Incognito. Of course, Gauntlet is good for any occasion.
Professional recordings of all these and more are available at alfred-music.com.
So if you're an Olympic-level gymnast, synchronized swimmer, figure skater, or ice dancer... you're probably training really hard and don't have time for music classes, so you've never heard of me. But if you're someone who knows an Olympic-level athlete, maybe suggest one of my pieces and help make my dream come true!
TV coverage does a good job of highlighting the dramatic stories that drive the competitors and led the athletes to the games. They all have that "Olympic dream," to achieve at the highest level in front of the whole world.
Even though I'm not an athlete, I have an Olympic dream of my own: it would be an epic thrill to hear one of my compositions used in during Olympic competition. I'm not talking about the opening and closing ceremonies – that's way too much to ask. But it would be amazing to hear one of my pieces accompany a gymnastics floor exercise, a synchronized swimming routine, or, at the Winter Olympics, figure skating or ice dancing.
As a kid, I especially enjoyed hearing the music used in the gymnastic competitions because it's so full of color, energy, and emotion. I think some of my pieces would be suitable. Need something with a dark energy? Try Avatar, Elementals, or Storm Trail. Something more rhythmic and angular? There's Agincourt. Need a bright explosion of sound? Quicksilver or Star of Valor. For something more lyrical, have a listen to A Hero's Welcome. And if you need something fun and sassy, I recommend Violet's Tango, Samba Del Sol, Lemon Twist, or Mambo Incognito. Of course, Gauntlet is good for any occasion.
Professional recordings of all these and more are available at alfred-music.com.
So if you're an Olympic-level gymnast, synchronized swimmer, figure skater, or ice dancer... you're probably training really hard and don't have time for music classes, so you've never heard of me. But if you're someone who knows an Olympic-level athlete, maybe suggest one of my pieces and help make my dream come true!
Friday, July 6, 2012
Gargoyles Tutorial Videos
Another great teacher has posted tutorial videos on You Tube! She goes by the name QuietMusic, and I'm not sure where she's from, but please to enjoy and play along with her videos for Gargoyles:
Violin I
Violin I
Violin II
Viola
'Cello
Bass
Nice job! These are great - thank you for posting them, anonymous teacher! I hope your administrators, students, and their parents appreciate your dedication.
You can find more tutorial videos for North Pole Workshop and Lemon Twist here.
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