TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23 – ROYAL ROOM – 7:30PM
B’shnorkestra
Neil Welch
$14 general/$12 Earshot members & seniors/$7 students  
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B’shnorkestra photo by Bruce Tom

B’shnorkestra is trumpeter Samantha Boshnack’s 14-piece ensemble of strings, horns and drums. Now a one-year-old amalgam of regional performers, the group is Joshua Kohl conducting Boshnack and violinists Alex Guy and Alina To, violist Brianna Atwell, cellists Daniel Mullikin and Maria Scherer Wilson, bassists Tim Carey and Isaac Castillo, woodwind players Chris Credit and Tobi Stone, French horn player Greg Campbell and percussionists Lalo Bello and Adam Kozie.

Boshnack attended Bard College, where she studied jazz performance and composition. A move from New York to Seattle in 2003 prompted lasting music collaborations. Of this project, the composer writes, “New musical connections and friendships have been forged. It felt wonderful to be the catalyst of that and have such accomplished musicians playing my music, really getting into it, and working together so well.”

Boshnack garnered financial support for this large project from multiple granting organizations and raised funds through Kickstarter to record eight compositions at Bear Creek Studio. That recording will be released in 2013, and this festival performance includes music from the recording, plus the premier of a new work.

Currently taking part in the esteemed Jazz Composers Orchestra Institute, Composer Samantha Boshnack is also blogging about her experience…

“I really had no idea what to expect going into this intensive.  I knew that it was probably going to feel crazy to be surrounded by so many other composers.  And it was – crazy in a really inspiring way.  To be around so many who are trying to create something new and putting their whole lives into their vision; in a world that can sometimes feel like it doesn’t care much about innovation or sophistication in music.  As I looked around and interacted with the peers and faculty throughout the day, I could see the hunger in everyone’s eyes to soak up as much as they could from this experience.  I could sense that it was refreshing to all of us to be surrounded by others working in such a tough field, a kind of comfort in numbers.  Even though we were from different parts of the country (and some had or do live abroad) we all had so much shared experience and so much to talk about….”

> read full post

> visit Sound Advice by the American Composers Orchestra

JCOI brings together 38 jazz composers at various stages in their careers chosen from a national pool of applicants, to explore the challenges of writing for the symphony orchestra. Composers working in jazz, improvised, and creative music have been selected based on their excellent musicianship, originality, and potential for future growth in orchestral composition.

JCOI is a new development in the jazz field. While many jazz composers seek to write for the symphony orchestra, opportunities for hands-on experience are few. JCOI aims to provide new resources for both jazz and classical music, promoting the emergence of composers trained in both jazz and new orchestral techniques. Participants in JCOI will study with leading composers, conductors and performers in a curriculum designed and led by George Lewis (JCOI Director; Columbia University), Anthony Davis (University of California, San Diego), Anne LeBaron (California Institute of the Arts), Paul Chihara (UCLA), Nicole Mitchell (University of California, Irvine), James Newton (UCLA), Alvin Singleton (ACO advisor, Improvisation), and Derek Bermel (ACO Creative Advisor).

> click to learn more

A special thanks to everyone who contributed to the B’shnorkestra Kickstarter Campaign!! Your support ensured these fantastic musicians got paid for doing their job. Everyone put so much into this music – the recording process was really wonderful.

More news and updates coming very soon…stay tuned, and THANK YOU!

> DONATE

THE TIME HAS COME!! Our Kickstarter campaign has been launched!

After the successful debut concerts last fall, I felt the next step was to professionally record the B’shnorkestra and the 8 new works premiered.

This month we are regrouping for a rehearsal and recording intensive. We will be recording this music at Bear Creek Studios, an amazing studio with a diverse track record from everything to Blond Redhead to Bill Frisell to Eric Clapton to Ginger Baker.  We are doing intensive rehearsals so that we can record live at the studio (with maybe a few overdubs) to preserve the crucial groove and spontaneity of live performance. After the recording session we will be playing a concert at Royal Room (in Seattle).

Kickstarter funds will be used to pay the musicians for their time.  These are some amazing professional musicians – Joshua Kohl (conductor), Jherek Bischoff, Alex Guy, Brianna Atwell, Lalo Bello, Greg Campbell, Tim Carey, Chris Credit, Adam Kozie, Daniel Mullikin, Maria Scherer Wilson, Tobi Stone, Alina To with guest artists Paris Hurley and Maeg O’Donogue-Williams-Sukarwanto.

These musicians play with a variety of musicians and ensembles including; the Degenerate Art Ensemble, Jim Knapp and Eyvind Kang’s Scrape, Reptet, Seattle Modern Orchestra,  Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra, Picoso, Jovino Santos-Neto Trio, Seattle Rock Orchestra, Wayne Horvitz, Macklemore, the Passenger String Quartet, Trans Siberian Orchestra, Bill Smith, and Stuart Dempster.

I’ve compiled a great list of rewards for funding this project.  You can think of it as a pre-order for the record and concert, or as an oppurtunity to acquire some items that are only available here.  Whatever you do, know that you will be supporting incredible musicians on a quest to record new and original music – we can’t do this without you!

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!