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Paul Klee : Painted Songs Consortium Project

Paul Klee : Painted Songs is an ongoing collection of interdisciplinary chamber works inspired by the visual art of Paul Klee. Many of the 165 planned works are still in development. By joining a consortium as a musician or contributing towards the project, your support will bring it closer to completion and reach new audiences.

The current focus of this consortium project are a new suite for band and several works for solo instruments called  "Portraits, Scenes, and Symbols."

To join a consortium listed below as a conductor or performer, please contact me d
irectly so that we can start the conversation!

​To support a consortium project, or the Paul Klee : Painted Songs series in general, use the "donate" button below and choose which project you'd like to support!
Thank you!

SUITE for BAND CONSORTIUM PROJECT

​Inspired by Gustav Holst's famous suites for military band ("Suite in E♭" and "Suite in F"), this new suite for wind ensemble will use a similar instrumentation across five movements inspired by five paintings by 20th century Swiss painter Paul Klee as part of an ongoing series called Paul Klee : Painted Songs.

Difficulty: Grade 4 ½ (Medium) 
Duration: 12 minutes (2 – 3 minutes per movement)
Instrumentation: Picc, Fl 1.2, Ob, Cl 1.2.3, BsCl, Bsn, ASax 1.2, TSax, BSax 
                             Tpt 1.2.3.4, Hn 1.2.3.4, Tbn 1.2.3, Euph, Tba, Perc (Timp + 4)

Each movement is inspired by a different (but related) painting by Paul Klee that expresses abstract ideas related to growth. Each movement will focus on a different musical form (e.g. chaconne, march, nocturne, and fugue) and musical ideas will appear in multiple movements, linking the paintings thematically through variation and development. For example, the two marches will use themes that are inversions of each other!

Growth of Plants (Chaconne)
Ripening Growth (Ein Marsch - Part I)
Growth of the Night Plants (Nocturne)
Hanging Fruit (Circus March "Screamer" - Part II)
Fugue in Red (Fugue)


All of the thematic material developed in the suite comes together in Fugue in Red, which will be an orchestration and adaptation of an earlier work for trumpet quartet. This suite commemorates the 100th anniversary of these paintings which were all completed in 1921 or 1922.

​Consortium Timeline and Details:

January 1, 2022 – Consortium opens
July 1, 2022 – Deadline for deposits
September 15, 2022 – Draft score and parts available for member feedback or workshops
November 1, 2022 – Final score and parts available for performance in Spring 2023

All members at or above the $150 buy-in level will receive the following benefits:
     • Name of institution, ensemble, and/or conductor listed in score and program notes
     • Print-at-home PDFs of score and parts (hard copies available for an additional fee)
     • A virtual group meeting with consortium members in November 2022
     • A single virtual one-on-one rehearsal/workshop with your ensemble in Spring 2023
     • Composer introduction video to use for performances or curriculum development

All members at or above the $250 buy-in level will receive these additional benefits:
     • Draft PDFs of score and parts in September 2022 for review or to workshop with ensemble
     • Additional access to creative process in Summer and Fall 2022 as the work is developed
     • Multiple virtual, or possible in-person, rehearsals and workshops in Fall 2022 and Spring 2023
     • Additional curriculum materials exploring Paul Klee, his paintings and their relationship to music

The first 5 members to join at or above the $250 level will have one of the individual movements dedicated to their institution or ensemble!
suite_for_band_from_paul_klee_-_band_consortium.pdf
File Size: 542 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

PORTRAIT, SCENE, and SYMBOL CONSORTIUM PROJECTS

The consortium fee is $100 minimum per member and a project will be considered fully funded when $500 or more has been contributed by its members or interested donors. Generally, a project will be a combination of 3 - 5 performers and a few interested donors. Consortium members and any donors will be credited in the score and individual movements can be dedicated by request. Consortium members will have the opportunity to collaboratively shape the direction of the piece and then will organize a premiere of the work or an excerpted movement within one year of the consortium deadline.

To join a consortium listed below as a performer, please contact me d
irectly so that we can start the conversation!

Portrait, Scene, and Symbol XVII for Contrabass

Join by October 20, 2021
​Premiere after January 1, 2022
​

Current Members: TBA

No. 122 - Black Prince (Schwarzer Furst, 1927)
​No. 99 - Ships in the Dark (Schiffe im Dunkeln, 1927)
​No. 100 - But the Red Roof (Aber das rote Dach, 1935)​

Portrait, Scene, and Symbol I for Voice

Join by November 15, 2021
​Premiere after February 1, 2022


More details to be announced!

Portrait, Scene, and Symbol for Harp

Join by December 15, 2021
​Premiere after March 1, 2022


More details to be announced!

Portrait, Scene, and Symbol VII for Horn

Join by January 15, 2022
​Premiere after April 1, 2022


More details to be announced!

Portrait, Scene, and Symbol XV for Viola

Join by February 15, 2022
​Premiere after May 1, 2022


More details to be announced!

Portrait, Scene, and Symbol X for Trombone

Join by March 15, 2022
​Premiere after June 1, 2022


More details to be announced!

IN-PROGRESS CONSORTIUM PROJECTS

Portrait, Scene, and Symbol IX for Trumpet

Join by September 15, 2021
​Premiere after December 1, 2021

Current Members: Evan Fowler / Garrett Fuller / Connor Johnson / Theresa May / Isaac Mayhew

​
A "concerto" for trumpet and pre-recorded electronics featuring excerpts from my orchestral work Fili di Perle.

No. 128 - Black Herald (Schwarzer Herold, 1924)
A multimovement interlude featuring pre-recorded and spatialized electronics on multiple types of trumpets

No. 80 - Contemplation at Breakfast (Betrachtung beim Frühstück, 1925)
A comical interjection, completed and released as part of Isaac Mayhew's Walking Songs project.

No. 81 -  Commemorative Sheet E (Gedenkblatt E, 1924)
Introduction and conclusion of the work using layers of improvised material, pre-recorded or live processed.

Portrait, Scene, and Symbol V for Bassoon

 Join by August 1, 2021
Premiere after November 1, 2021
​

No. 118 - Portrait of a Yellow Man (Bildnis eines Gelben, 1921)
Focusing on the relationship between air/noise/pitch by introducing a Baroque or Classical excerpt, then slowly erasing it as it devolves into breathy noise.


No. 69 - Modest Home (Bescheidene Heimat, 1928)
"Dark and fragile," exploring footstep sounds, tongue "flaps" and dry articulation mixed in with lush multiphonic chords.

No. 70 - Red Waistcoat (Rote Weste, 1938)
Oscillating between bright, sunny, and cheerful gestures with more menacing and aggressive moments involving some improvisation.

​Current Members: Edin Agamenoni / Erika Andersen / Ariel Detwiler / Ben Roidl-Ward / Midori Samson / Aaron Wong

Portrait, Scene, and Symbol II for Flute

Completed January 2020 for Yoshi Weinberg and Sean Gabriel
​Partially premiered in January 2020

Portrait, Scene, and Symbol III for Oboe

Completed Summer 2020 and Spring 2021 for Susan Miranda
Pa
rtially premiered in April 2021

Portrait, Scene, and Symbol IV for Clarinet

Partially completed
Partially premiered in Fall 2019, additional premieres TBD

Portrait, Scene, and Symbol XI for Tuba

Partially completed
Partially premiered in April 2021, additional premieres TBD

Portrait, Scene, and Symbol XVI for Violoncello

Completed April 2021
Partially premiered in Summer 2021

Portrait, Scene, and Symbol XIX for Organ

Completed January 2020 for Shannon Murphy
Partially premiered in October 2020

COMPLETED CONSORTIUM PROJECTS

Portrait, Scene, and Symbol XII for Marimba

Completed for and premiered by Eri Isomura in October 2019 and October 2020.
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