Little Time to Prepare for a Party?

Friday, December 12, 2008

Yeah, we had a party and so many people loved this party mix that I'm putting it up on the blog.

And, do I really have lots of time to prepare for a party? Actually, I don't but, that's all my doing. I've had a friend in the freelance music world who describes us as having "Yes-Tourette's" Syndrome -- we have a complete inability to say "No" when asked to do something. If there is an open time in my day and someone asks, I say "Yes" and then think a lot later about how I am possibly going to really make that happen.

It's from one of my most favorite violin-playing friends, Angie, who plays around the state of Indiana in various orchestras.

Please enjoy, and, if you think of things you might do differently, don't hesitate to share.

Spicy Cranberry Orange Nut Mix

Initial Dry Ingredients:

A large bag of Bugles

15 oz. mixed nuts

Sauce:

1 -1/3 c. sugar

2 tbspn orange juice

2 egg whites

2 tsp. cinnamon

Final Dry Ingredient:

One bag of cherry-flavored dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 275 degrees F.

Coat the Bugles and the nuts with the sauce and spread on a cookie sheet greased very well.

Bake for thirty minutes. it is very important to stir the mixture in the oven at least every ten minutes.

Add the cherry-flavored Craisins for the last ten minutes of the baking period.

Let cool and enjoy.

I kinda made this at the last minute and it kept warm all the way up to the party in the northeastern part of Indianapolis. People loved it warm. it seemed more crisp, though when finally cool. I might experiment by adding more cinnamon and a little cayenne pepper to spice it up a bit more. I also thought some dark chocoloate shavings might be in order, too.

I'll let you know if I get to that. Happy Holidays. Keep us in mind as you approach the end of the year and think of us getting ready for our next concert. there's a bit of work to be done for that.

The December Rush

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

The December Rush

...and many of you know what this is about. Generally, from the end of November to December, there are a lot of extra events that require musicians. I'm playing musician of sorts, so, I am asked to do a lot.

What has happened recently?

November 22, Musical Arts Youth Orchestra presented their fall concert. These young musicians from Bloomington and the surrounding counties put in a lot of hard work and make magic happen.

www.mayomusic.org

The Lafayette Symphony Orchestra just had their December concert featuring three highly talented young musicians with (loose) ties to the Lafayette community. www.lafayettesymphony.org I'm going to check to see if I can get their bios online. Their performances were really impressive.

This coming weekend, I'll be with the Marion Philharmonic in a performance of The Nutcracker with the Butler Ballet. No, I'm definitely not dancing. www.marionphil.org and www.butler.edu/dance/

And, then, there are the many final rehearsals and performances for Christmas Sunday and Christmas eve, too numerous to mention.

But, wait, most importantly, I'm working on, or rather, studying, Shaker Loops by John Adams, one of the great American composers. Orkestra Projekt will be performing this piece wrought of elements of the Shaker tradition -- "the ecstatic frenzy of a dance that culminated in an epiphany of physical and spiritual transcendence." His minimalist approach to this emotionally charged and spiritually evocative setting seems like a challenge.

Moreover, for our musicians, we'll be in effect, learning to loop, present seven different voices of continuous music in a way makes musical sense. That's why I'm working on it now.

More later....

New Music Things That Have Happened o...

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

New Music Things That Have Happened

(or, This is what I like to call "Research")

When people see me, they often ask what I've been up to. I really say "I've been really busy." It's so cliche but, that feels like the truth.

Planning and getting things ready for each new season of Orkestra Projekt is a real challenge. And really fun. And sometimes requires lots more attention to necessary and tedious details that aren't directly related to creating a new vision for music.

And, then, there are the "field trips" or research trips that I can conduct in my own back yard.

Lately, I've reconnected with Ensemble 48 and the Butler University JCFA Composer's orchestra. They periodically put on programs that are simply indescribable. I have always loved the way they intend to do their thing. I feel their spirit and intention and their connection. It's what I want from my performing experiences.

The last Butler University JCFA Composer's orchestra concert I attended was in October and had me reeling in pain from the extremes in volume and pitch found in the recorded work by James Aikman, House Music for Uncle Don. I really would love to try to emulate that work in live performance. Give me a score and parts and a hundred-piece orchestra. It was intense. Sorry, no pics, no video.

Aside from that, there is always something new happening, something new being created.

Ben Jacobs has a seriously heavy-metal band called Basilica which performed after a movie premiere at the Indiana State Museum. Yeah, they had earplugs and amplified violins along with video loops and serious heavy-duty guitar playing.

Basilica at the Indiana State Museum

Another friend, John Glennon, has started a new baroque ensemble, Enigma. I saw friends Rachel Gries and Kurt Fowler work some magic at Tab. Rachel performed a viola solo that had more notes for her viola than she would normally perform in a complete symphony season (not really a viola joke). And, she was amazing.

Again, pics to follow as soon as I figure out how to get pictures from my phone. Am I really technologically challenged? There's only so much technological interaction that I can personally accommodate at one time.

I promise to be more prepared to let you know what's up on the horizon. Though, soon, I'm going to immerse myself in some really cool scores by John Adams and Henryk Gorecki.

Check back later. I'll let you know if my head is going to explode.

What are we up to?

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

What are we up to?

New Season, New Locations, New Web Site, and New Collaborations

Orkestra Projekt continues its season of cutting-edge music focusing on composers living today,

writing music relevant to audiences of today.

Our sixth season is Orkestra Projekt Rocks. Rock—verb, to move back and forth, to cause to move to and fro violently, to impair or destroy the composure of.

Our first concert, Shake, will be a concert of music for strings that literally rocks. We will center on living American composer John Adams’s minimalist masterpiece, Shaker Loops and mix it up with the concerto for (Amplified) Harpsichord and String Orchestra by contemporary Polish composer Henryk Gorecki. And, we plan to introduce versions of Queen’s The Show Must Go On, and Led Zeppelin’s Heartbreaker. Rock on!

Our second formal concert, Agitate, will expand into something different. We will feature Smoke, Steel, Stone, and Cinder by Indianapolis native, Thomas Osborne, a composer and professor of new music at the University of Hawaii and Mechanical Wrench by living American composer Michael Torke.

Through this season, look for unexpected and fluid collaborations with organizations such as The Indiana Ballet Company and its affiliate The Russian Ballet Academy of Indiana, authors such as Indiana Poet-Laureate Norbert Krapf, and artists in many different media.

And, you are reading this here, on our newly launched web site.. This redevelopment includes features that will allow us to stay more connected with you during our creative process. Check here for a blog, and look for our gallery of photos and videos from previous events.

Lastly, we are going to start our season in the Upper Gallery at the Herron High School, formerly the Herron School of Art and Design. Located in the historic Herron-Morton neighborhood and with more convenient access and parking, we hope that this provides a comfortable and creative space for us to explore new music with you.

The picnic. It happened. Thanks to ...

Sunday, September 21, 2008

The picnic. It happened. Thanks to everyone who made it possible, including hosts Jeff Hopper and Rob Everetts.

Entertainment by, Annalia and Benjamin.

Blue Colts Cupcake icing!

Awesome Spinach dip.

And, a brief lifitng of the veil -- What is OP going to do next? Where will it perform? How will it continue to do what it does differently?

Hello From Orkestra Projekt

Saturday, September 06, 2008

Awesome! You're connecting to Orkestra Projekt. That dude on the left? That's me, Jose Valencia, the Music Director, Conductor, or whatever you'd like to call me.

Most of all, I'm the founding creative shepherd of a group of musicians who want to share their love of contemporary classical music with an audience that wants an intense musical experience.

So, many people ask how this group was started.

There are three parts to this story, I suppose.

The first beginning. Hmmm. I guess you could say it started when some friends of mine in the music program at Butler went to a concert and didn't see others there that looked like us, as in, ah, let's just say younger. We loved what we heard and wondered why more people like us weren't going to the concerts of the best performing groups in town. Well, over a few drinks and many weeks, we came to the conclusion that our friends wanted to spend money on entertainment that was fun.

What's it like to go to a rock concert? Get all dressed up in your...jeans. Expect to be able to scream when your favorite performer enters or does something crazy or great or, whatever....

And, you usually get to eat and drink something all the way through the concert. Fun times.

File that in your memory banks. Nothing happens with that right away. We all graduated and went our separate ways. I stayed around and did my gigs.

The second part of the story is that after I had graduated, I had a gig conducting the Athenaeum Pops Orchestra. They really improved the quality of their sound while I was with them and yet, I was looking for more to do. So, I asked my friends in the music world to help me with a project. i think I called the concert War and Peace because I was still brooding aboutt he 9/11/2001 attacks on the United States, even in 2003. In June 2003, I put together a great group of musicians who were also my friends and we performed a really challenging concert including Appalachian Spring by Aaron Copland, String Symphony op 110a by Shostakovich, and Symphony No. 1 "The Classical" by Prokofiev. We did it at North United Methodist Church.

That's when the name, Orkestra Projekt, was born. I made the posters, programs and we did it!

I guess I invited the right people to see what a small ensemble could sound like. It was pretty cool. Oh, and i guess I was exhausted.

The third part of the story is that my best friend and violinist extraordinaire, Leah Wolfe-

Garcia, convinced me that she had a great time doing that concert and that there was potential there.

A neighbor of mine, Ryan Zumbahlen happened to come to the concert and he got behind the idea in a big way. So, literally, in a neighborhood back yard, we decided we were going to try to make this thing happen formally. Charter Board members included myself, Leah Wolfe-Garcia, Brad Luther, Laura Cones, and Ryan Zumbahlen.

The rest is history and evolution. Let me know if you want to hear more.