American Composers Orchestra

Susie Ibarra's "Pintado's Dream"

"Told in two musical movements accentuated by the sublime visual imagery of Makoto Fujimura's projections, Pintados Dream emerges from Ibarra's ongoing documentary fieldwork with the indigenous people of Japan and the Philippine Islands -- "warriors, spiritualists, humanists and artists [who] continue to live as some of the oldest residents on this earth." As the instruments of the orchestra channel these indigenous voices, Fujimura's projections interact with the performance, sometimes directly, sometimes obliquely, but always in gestures that speak ancient languages in modern tongues."

Major Who is spinning from the ACO concert at Zankel Hall last night. With pieces by Susie Ibarra, Scott Johnson, Ken Thomson, Steve Coleman and Anna Clyne, the sold out performance was nothing short of spectacular. We've been fortunate enough to mix sound and provide technical assistance for the ACO for the better part of a decade. In the above video clip, conductor Steven Sloane rehearses the orchestra for Susie Ibarra's piece, Pintado's Dream.

And speaking of Susie, she will be coming into Major Who's studio in a few weeks to record a piece she's written for Jennifer Choi. Jennifer has been working with us on her new CD which should be out sometime this winter. Along with Susie's piece, the CD features music by some other great contemporary composers such as Randy Woolf, Annie Gosfield, and Raz Mesinai.