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Welcome to Fairfax Underground, a project site designed to improve communication among residents of Fairfax County, VA. Feel free to post anything Northern Virginia residents would find interesting.
Welcome to Fairfax Underground, a project site designed to improve communication among residents of Fairfax County, VA. Feel free to post anything Northern Virginia residents would find interesting.
‘Stormalong’ Makes Its Maiden Voyage
Posted by:
Loudoun Fine Arts
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Date: September 08, 2011 12:24PM
‘Stormalong’ Makes Its Maiden Voyage
NVCC - Annandale Symphony Orchestra prepares for the world premiere of “Stormalong”, composed by their director Christopher Johnston.
By Anagha Srikanth
http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/article.asp?article=352605&paper=88&cat=104
During a Wednesday night, July 6, rehearsal, members of the Northern Virginia Community College (NVCC)-Annandale Symphony Orchestra carry on conversations across sections while latecomers trickle in.
“Does anyone have a first flute part?” someone yelled. The atmosphere is relaxed and, as cellist Joseph Pincus described, “like family.”
Kevin Pham, concertmaster of the orchestra, has played with the orchestra for five years. He moved here from Vietnam, where he studied at the Hanoi National Conservatory of Music, now the Vietnam National Academy of Music.
Even though he was unable to play professionally, he said “I play because it makes me feel good about myself. The bottom line is that I get to play music again.”
The NVCC-Annandale Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of conductor Christopher Johnston, is performing their summer POPs concert on Sunday, July 17, at 7:30 p.m., at the Ernst Community Center Theater. The concert features a variety of light summer music, especially focused on pieces for children to enjoy. The feature of the night is the world premiere of “Stormalong,” composed by Johnston.
Lauren Pilkington, a clarinet player who started at NVCC this semester, said the composition is special for the orchestra because, “you don’t usually get the composer up there on the stand to tell you what they want.”
Johnston, who also teaches composition at Fairfax Academy and the Reunion Music Society, applied for a project grant from the Arts Council of Fairfax County. After being review by a panel, Johnston was awarded the grant to support the financial needs of the project — his composition of the piece “Stormalong.”
“My hope is to do a series of five of these pieces,” said Johnston, “and this would be the first one, the American story. Then for the next four summers, I’d like to do four new pieces in this format, a narrative or story with orchestra, and I’d like each one to come from a different part of the world. We would do one that would be Hispanic, Asian, African and either European or Native American.”
“It’s important for American orchestras to be able to play contemporary music such as this, because it’s part of our culture,” said Betty Brody, violinist.
“Stormalong” is a sea shanty based on a tall tale from New England during the Civil War era, which tells the story of a sea captain by the name of Alfred Bulltop Stormalong. According to legend, the acronym ABS, used in the navy to mean an able-bodied seaman, originated from Stormalong’s initials. He washed up on the beach of Cape Cod as a baby, already three fathoms tall, or about 8 feet. All the sailors of Boston build him a gigantic ship, the Courser, and he sets sail all over the world having wonderful adventures.
Michael Replogle, professional actor and director, will be performing the story of Stormalong for the audience, with the orchestra in accompaniment. Replogle is also the director of the Professional Musical Theatre and Actor’s Studio at the Fairfax Academy.
Rolland Roup, violinist and general manager of the orchestra, said the accompaniment will be the biggest challenge for the orchestra.
“We’re doing a piece that involves interaction between the actor and the orchestra,” Roup said. “He’s going to be spontaneous and we have to react to that. If he repeats a couple of things for dramatic or comedic emphasis, we have to, without any prior knowledge, repeat that part, so we have to really be glued to what he’s saying.”
Johnston said that writing the libretto, or script “was a challenge for me because I had to write it so it was completely telling the story but I didn’t want it to be simply a reading of the story. I wanted it to have its own unique character and humor and sadness, and there are even some scary sections to it.”
The result is a concert much like a production, which the orchestra hopes will draw in many children and families.
“Children will listen and accept the story on face value,” said Pincus, “and adults can smile and chuckle along.”
“There’s nothing better than a good story,” said Johnston, “and the best way I know how to tell a story is through music. By combing music and the process of telling a story you can really breathe life into any of these tall tales and in that sense they’re still eternal. They can live on and the music becomes the new way of expressing the story.”
NVCC - Annandale Symphony Orchestra prepares for the world premiere of “Stormalong”, composed by their director Christopher Johnston.
By Anagha Srikanth
http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/article.asp?article=352605&paper=88&cat=104
During a Wednesday night, July 6, rehearsal, members of the Northern Virginia Community College (NVCC)-Annandale Symphony Orchestra carry on conversations across sections while latecomers trickle in.
“Does anyone have a first flute part?” someone yelled. The atmosphere is relaxed and, as cellist Joseph Pincus described, “like family.”
Kevin Pham, concertmaster of the orchestra, has played with the orchestra for five years. He moved here from Vietnam, where he studied at the Hanoi National Conservatory of Music, now the Vietnam National Academy of Music.
Even though he was unable to play professionally, he said “I play because it makes me feel good about myself. The bottom line is that I get to play music again.”
The NVCC-Annandale Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of conductor Christopher Johnston, is performing their summer POPs concert on Sunday, July 17, at 7:30 p.m., at the Ernst Community Center Theater. The concert features a variety of light summer music, especially focused on pieces for children to enjoy. The feature of the night is the world premiere of “Stormalong,” composed by Johnston.
Lauren Pilkington, a clarinet player who started at NVCC this semester, said the composition is special for the orchestra because, “you don’t usually get the composer up there on the stand to tell you what they want.”
Johnston, who also teaches composition at Fairfax Academy and the Reunion Music Society, applied for a project grant from the Arts Council of Fairfax County. After being review by a panel, Johnston was awarded the grant to support the financial needs of the project — his composition of the piece “Stormalong.”
“My hope is to do a series of five of these pieces,” said Johnston, “and this would be the first one, the American story. Then for the next four summers, I’d like to do four new pieces in this format, a narrative or story with orchestra, and I’d like each one to come from a different part of the world. We would do one that would be Hispanic, Asian, African and either European or Native American.”
“It’s important for American orchestras to be able to play contemporary music such as this, because it’s part of our culture,” said Betty Brody, violinist.
“Stormalong” is a sea shanty based on a tall tale from New England during the Civil War era, which tells the story of a sea captain by the name of Alfred Bulltop Stormalong. According to legend, the acronym ABS, used in the navy to mean an able-bodied seaman, originated from Stormalong’s initials. He washed up on the beach of Cape Cod as a baby, already three fathoms tall, or about 8 feet. All the sailors of Boston build him a gigantic ship, the Courser, and he sets sail all over the world having wonderful adventures.
Michael Replogle, professional actor and director, will be performing the story of Stormalong for the audience, with the orchestra in accompaniment. Replogle is also the director of the Professional Musical Theatre and Actor’s Studio at the Fairfax Academy.
Rolland Roup, violinist and general manager of the orchestra, said the accompaniment will be the biggest challenge for the orchestra.
“We’re doing a piece that involves interaction between the actor and the orchestra,” Roup said. “He’s going to be spontaneous and we have to react to that. If he repeats a couple of things for dramatic or comedic emphasis, we have to, without any prior knowledge, repeat that part, so we have to really be glued to what he’s saying.”
Johnston said that writing the libretto, or script “was a challenge for me because I had to write it so it was completely telling the story but I didn’t want it to be simply a reading of the story. I wanted it to have its own unique character and humor and sadness, and there are even some scary sections to it.”
The result is a concert much like a production, which the orchestra hopes will draw in many children and families.
“Children will listen and accept the story on face value,” said Pincus, “and adults can smile and chuckle along.”
“There’s nothing better than a good story,” said Johnston, “and the best way I know how to tell a story is through music. By combing music and the process of telling a story you can really breathe life into any of these tall tales and in that sense they’re still eternal. They can live on and the music becomes the new way of expressing the story.”