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Unknown: So good afternoon, everybody. Hi. We said, we were so busy chatting, sorry, we forgot where we're here. It's my great pleasure to welcome all these composers. It's an honor to be in the presence of so much talent and people I've admired

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closely and from a distance for a long time. Let me introduce everyone first and just tell you how I know that maybe I'm Greg Smith on the end. He's a friend of mine from New York. And we met in the doing recording dates in the studios and he's a very,

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very gifted composer writes a lot for Disney and for film, television, cartoon occasional cartoon if I twist his arm and next day, Greg will be featured in our family concert tomorrow afternoon, I asked him to write a piece that would explain to

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young people or many of my friends like it as well, what goes into composing a piece and it's very, very amusing, very entertaining, and Greg narrates it. And next to him is Don Grantham who I know through a composers competition that was

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run in New York and his piece that we're going to be performing tonight, took first prize, and we're very happy to have him here. And I'll try to be a little bit briefer. Libby Larsen, is next to dawn and I have known of Libby for many

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years. But this is my first opportunity to work with her. We're having a great time. And her marimba concerto will be featured tonight. And this is Bill craft whose work was played last night. And we had a good time with that, I think. So

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that's why he's the one that looks relaxed. And this is one of my heroes here on my left, whose music I adore and who I'm sure you remember, as a very, very successful year here as the music director john adams and his work we're playing tonight

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with the chorus the harmonium and Mark O'Connor. Also, God you got up today, that's great. composer and Fiddler whose work we played last night, if you were able to hear that that was very successful also. So I thought, I have one question.

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Got this microphones embarrassing? Um, the I had one question I thought I'd started off with. Thanks, Jeff. And maybe we'll open it up pretty soon to discussion and talk because I know that's why you're here. But I wanted to find out

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from the various composers, because I always get unusual answers, how they get the inspired to write a piece of music. I hope that's of interest to you, too. I don't know whether it's something I mean, I know I get up every day and I

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study whether I want to or not. And I don't know if composition is something that you can do whether you're inspired or not, but maybe we could, whoever anybody feel like jumping in and attacking that right away. Built good. So we'll hop in.

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I'm thinking is I don't hear it. Can you hear me? No, you can hear me? I can talk to you. That's good. Hello. Testing.

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Okay. I just wanted to get in before I forgot, because there were three. You know, it's like early Alzheimer's. Although I have no sympathy for I have no sympathy for people with Alzheimer's or

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we senility because after all, they get to meet new people every day. Composers jokes will be next. Sorry. Well, first of all, a student of Shostakovich came to

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tell him he was having a lot of trouble. Finding the theme for the second movement of his Symphony in the Shostakovich said, you shouldn't be looking for the theme of the second movie, you should be writing it, which meant I know it sounds

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ironic. But what it means is that we we are composers because we hear things and, and we just do it not. That's the second point I want to make that I just get up every morning. And compose just like breathing is the first thing I think of in

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just natural for me to go in the studio and do it. And the third thing is that I think the greatest stimulation to composition that you create creativity is is a commission that works at anybody else. They want to share That's it, boy No,

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I mean, I as a conductor, I'm I'm an author of composers that the I would like to be a composer Is there any way I could do that? I'm serious. You know, I I hear things in my head. But I try not to share that with anybody else they

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know, but I'm curious to how do you I mean, how old were you guys? When Libby How old were you when you started? I mean, knowing that was okay to hear things in your head. Well, I just figured that out yesterday. I like like Bill, I,

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I've always had music in my head and fro. For years, 20 2025 years, I just assumed that everybody had music in their head all the time. And that life was a series of, of trying to turn it on and off so that you could get on with the other

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other parts of, of life. But for but for me, it's it's a very natural thing thing to compose. Because that's the way I speak best. And, and I love I love to talk. And I and I found that I can speak best through musical language. And, and it's it's

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endlessly fascinating to me, because the language is just is so fluid and so infinite and so full of things to say, Yeah, no. I also used to think that everybody was a composer that inside of every person was a composer. And if we only taught

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people to read and write music, at the same time, we taught people to read and write their own language, that we would have many more composers. And, and, and the whole notion of composition be very, very different than what it is today

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where the composer is like a single gem in a setting, in concert after concert not at cabrio, by the way with all these composers here, where it's a marvelous banquet of, you know, a voices. But in general, we, I think that we view the

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composer as fairly singular kind of person with a singular talent. And I don't believe that I think we all have it in us, just like we can all at least draw a line, then some people become visual artists. I think we all have music in us. It's a

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question of how, how do we recognize that, you know, and, and learn, learn to get it out? Well, it's interesting. Mark, for example, of course, can you approach to composing from an improvising standpoint, right.

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So you always compose, when you improvise, you're constantly composing. So composing comes as a second nature. I mean, for me, improv, and doing improv was something I came to later in life. You know, I was always very religious about everything

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on the page and kind of a snob You know, my dad played jazz, I was just, Oh, God, how can you do that? You know, is so so not on the page, Good God. But the, the, it was very hard for me to let go of that idea of the composer as the is just up on

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this Pinnacle, and can't be touched at all. But as soon as you start to improvise, you realize that there there is stuff in there. I mean, for me, that's what started bringing out this, I'd even remote notion that maybe I could someday write

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something that I could at least sing in the bathroom. I don't know what I was composing, just always a part of what you did. Well, okay. Pass Pass the salt, please.

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Oh, I love sound checks. Marian, it's great to be here with you and, and sit here next to john adams and meet john for the first time. My beginnings, at creativity with music was rearranging old traditional fiddle tunes. And I started

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doing this when I was just 12 years old, not really knowing what it was I was doing. For I think I have this frame of mind that, that all the good stuff was already written. And so what was the point? If I could make these older pieces somehow

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different and unique from the 1000s of interpretations? before my time, I thought that would be singularly The hardest thing that a creative musician could do is to come up with yet a new version of an old warhorse and have it be, you know, addressed

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and respected. Now I had that frame of mind as just a young boy 12 years old. And as I got older, I guess I began to be bored with that philosophy and, and started starting from scratch. And, and, as you know, and and as, of course, as I

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displayed last night in our concert, I do like to improvise. And I like to improvise from scratch as well. And I can go on and on. And I think I was in danger of doing that last night. And

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the only thing that I'm upset about is not every soloist keeps saying, well, I noticed Mark went on with the cadenzas, I'd like to do the same thing to know. I've got to create a monster. Got to keep

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my eye on filmers for tonight on that marimba concerto Yeah, that's great. Well, improv is, you know, in the spontaneous composition. And if somehow if you can pull off, improvising completely freely like that in front of a discerning audience,

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and they actually come out folk, you know, come away with a is some kind of positive effect from it. You're certainly on your way to coming up with creative ideas. writing it down on the piece of paper.

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was great. Um, I don't know, maybe we should open it up. Yes, Dan. Do or Greg, Greg. Greg. Yes. No, sorry. Hello, Hey, I just want to say my experience was a little bit different than Libby's. I never had a whole lot

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of music going on in my head. I kind of wish that I had made things a little easier. But But for me, the reason I compose now is because when I was young, I was very excited by things I heard whether it was on TV, I was really a media Baby, I

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really was not TV was always on the radio records, musical theater. And I was very excited by these things. And at this point, I'm just starting to figure this out. I'm either doomed, or blessed to be sort of recreating that initial

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experience that I had for others. And so I had to kind of learn, learn to compose. It wasn't something that was always there. Interesting. Well, should we? Should we open up to questions?

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I know you guys have a lot of questions. I'm really starting to cook Anybody else? No, look, you're all in the sun. Yes. So the question is, how many of the composers use the computer to help in composing? And what do you think of it? Maybe just do

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you want to help in there. I use the computer all the time. I used to I used to use a tape recorder. Chris, the kind of music that I write is, lends itself to that because I tend to use regular pulsation. So I can

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lay down a track a rhythm track. If one use the wrote music, where there was a constant change of Tempe and shifts, dramatic shifts, that would be a lot harder. But I use tape recorder for almost, oh, I don't know about eight years. I

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started with a two channel tape recorder and a piano and then I moved up to an eight channel tape recorder, what I did was that I was able to try out the composition, not so much in terms of the large scale structure but but to experiment

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with putting things together and see how they work. I'm not a particularly able pianist. So it was very hard for me to approximate a lot of the things that I was trying to do on the piano. And then in 1990, I guess I shifted over to MIDI. And for

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those of you who are not musicians, MIDI or who are musicians, MIDI, basically what it is, is using a computer to to play various synthesizers, and samplers, as if it were a player piano. And I use that all the time. I actually it's my kind of

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my sketch pad. And every piece that I've written now since 1990, I've done a version a completely orchestrated, and, and and absolutely note, faithful version first. In the mini version before I've done the the orchestration.

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Yeah, computers have really been they've changed tremendously how people operate. I think what john is saying that the idea that you can hear the peace before you actually have to have a first performance must be a tremendous advantage, because

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you can make changes then or you can. From a conductor's point of view, it's it's great to be able to even be exposed orally to what the composer's hearing, you know, it's very hard to just look at a score and have it come to life in your head very, very

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difficult. When suddenly they present you now you know, I get things in the mail and it just it sounds like an orchestra of 200 people, you know, as all machines are I mean, doesn't have the soul to me. But for me, it's it's great to hear that I

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know you mark you work with computer a lot, right? He's starting to, to copy his own music now too, I mean, it becomes a real asset. It's a liberating feeling to, to one day, maybe

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realize that you don't have to rely on a copyist I've got a laser printer, and it can print right out, taking from what john was saying, I've got all the computer gear, including hard disk recording, so I can actually hear my acoustic

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violin, which was something I mean, I'm some somewhat of a organic acoustic type musician where I didn't want to totally enter the world of plastic, and get so far away from the beauty of the acoustic sound for possibly months at a time. And

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finally, when they united hard disk recording into the computer system, with all the MIDI sequencing, I can do that as well. I've even got a violin that can trigger MIDI, and, and I've developed this orchestral bank, or I can actually perform

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a French horn part from the violin and get it into the computer. And then but I should also say that I use tape recorders before the computers but it's interesting with me I really feel like I get the bulk of the music in my head before I

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ever get to the computer. The whole the all the themes come in the kind of the nature of where this music is going. And I am still going to do that. I refuse to let the computer rule my life. But I spent

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everybody here use computer you do Greg, don't you sure? Don? How about you know computer? Oh, we better hear from you for a second then. No, what? Are you a purist? You're the last holdout. Oh, bill doesn't either.

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I'm just a dinosaur, maybe I don't know, that took me so long to do it the other way that it's hard for me to give that up. I, I have never felt particularly drawn to learn it. I certainly would like to have it to avoid the copying cost. And it is a

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real help for revisions, maybe we should share with people for example to once they compose a piece that just a copy parts to an orchestral piece, say it's about a 10 minute orchestral piece that can certainly run you

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easily up to what seven to $10,000. Just to copy that. So that gives you an idea of and it's not like they're earning money hand over fist as composers necessarily, although these all are doing beautifully, of course, but so that gives you

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an idea of how how beneficial it would be for them to learn the computer stuff. Because computers now can copy music and pretty successfully, I still it's a little bit hard to read. Still, because we're accustomed as musicians to the something

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about the human side of composing, writing out the music makes it very easy to read. And when it's done by computer, very hard sometimes to adapt. Yes, you're jumping ahead. That's a wonderful point, you

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bring up an AI to have a full computer and sampler into synthesizers, and all the night and I use it as a as an improvising tool. And I improvise into the computer and get the notation out I find that I that I do much more

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interesting things when I'm not wedded to the page to start out with. But But this question of hand writing versus what comes out on the computer is I've been now asking people when i when i do receive a commission, one of the things I've learned to ask

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is would you rather have a computer score or a handwritten score? And surprisingly enough 90% would rather have a handwritten score. I like also, as a conductor, I'd like to have the composer's

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handwriting somehow I don't know makes me feel closer to the composer. I mean, if it's a handwritten score that's legible. I like it, but well, and that's when I asked the question, you know, why

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would you rather have handwriting I don't mind my beat up. There's, you know, there's problems when you handwrite but there are only problems because of the lack of rehearsal time, more than anything. But the answer, it's usually exactly

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what you're saying is that i i can get more out of the piece I can get your personality. Like there's something about the way the graphic arts of putting the piece down, that that speaks as much or or maybe sometimes more about the music, the music

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itself, and the computer is absolutely perfect. And and many performers conductor's, say, although we can read it quickly. We don't know what we don't know who's behind the notes. It's interesting.

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Is there any more questions so I don't mean to get hung up on Every year on November 30, working symphonies will be doing a world premiere of work by Glen Schwartz called Concerto for

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cuckoo fiddle and theater orchestra. And Calabasas will be performing and I wondered what you know about that? how it might compare to your work. And thirdly. So this is a I'm gonna repeat the question, so I can't do the

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promo one more time. But the there will be a piece for country fiddle and theater orchestra. Is that the Yes? date and time later? And but the question is, how how does Mark feel that will compare to his piece?

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Darren Marin, I thought I had the only one. Yeah, me too. Well, back to the drawing board. Back to the computer. Yeah, I like to hear it. That's really surprising. I hope it is

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a trend. It I briefly referred to this in our pre concert talk yesterday. That it is really interesting to me that the fiddling tradition goes back so many centuries. And in some respects, it's hardly changed from those original tunes that

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the Pipers wrote in the 1400s. And the wonderful tradition of the symphony orchestra with a lot of the same instrumentation going back many centuries as well. But these two genres have not combined. As is, as far as we know, very often. And so that

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was the first problem to solve was, how to go about it. I think what we're seeing these days is a tendency to trend which I like very much I've been when I first got involved as a conductor, I was very interested in jazz and everybody said, Oh,

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he can't have jazz with an orchestra and you can't do this. There were so many rules. Now they if you break more rules, you can break the better off especially here at Cabrillo. So I think that the trend is to try to break down all these barriers

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and move into new, new, new hybrid genres of music bringing jazz together brain country into classical, but I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner. I mean, it's hard to live grow up in this world and not be influenced by all these different musics. I

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don't know how there can be such a such a separation between things because it really is just part of you. You know, I mean, I know every Beatle song I know, every TV commercial. I get those stuck in my head. I can't get them out no matter what I do.

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Anyway, not that you need to know that. That's the kind of stuff I'm hearing. See. That's the problem. I guess. I gotta get rid of that TV. Yes. Yes, sure. The question is for john about the new opera he's working on.

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Trying to get out of the sun, but I guess that's okay. Thank you. It's not an opera. It's a show, I guess I really don't have a word for it, which I guess I suppose is exciting. In a way I call it a song play, which is an English translation

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of the Germans zing schpeel. As I'm writing songs, it's a whole evening of songs. And they're they're like popular songs only. They're slightly different, as you might imagine. And the story is, involves seven young people. These are all people in their,

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in their 20s, who live in poor part of Los Angeles. There's a Salvadoran, unwed, mother of two, who, in our wonderful legal parlance is referred to as an illegal alien, which is an interesting term. And of course, everybody's trying to deport her

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for various reasons. And they're, they're three young black people. Very handsome young Baptist minister who's particularly interested in the in the ladies in his congregation, and there's a very hip young black woman who's a

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counselor in an abortion clinic and to whom the Hispanic girl comes for advice. And then there's a young woman who who does, you know, those Action News as drama programs, like, I forget, hardcopy, that type of thing. And so they're all

00:24:54.480 - 00:25:13.920

basically these people are on the fringe of society and they're trying to try to make it go And against, really, in some cases in Super Bowl odds. The the orchestra is basically a band. It's three keyboards and a saxophone and two electric

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guitars and drums. And I think actually the this ensemble will be on the stage with the, with the actors. And what else can I say about it? The librettist is June Jordan, who's a wonderful poet, who, and also a highly regarded essayist on African

00:25:34.830 - 00:25:52.350

American subject subjects who actually lives in Berkeley, although she's originally from New York, and Peter Sellers will, who with whom I collaborated on my other two offers, will be staging it, and opens in Berkeley, California,

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it'd be the first world premiere I can ever ride my bicycle to. And in the provisional title is I was looking at the ceiling. And because it comes to there's an earthquake in this in the second act, and June saw a wonderful phrase from a survivor

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of the LA earthquake, which was I was looking at the ceiling, and then I saw the sky. And it seemed to have a wonderful kind of poetic double or triple entendre. So that's the provisional title. The problem is that some of our

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commissioners are worried about the size of their marquees. And then it will go from Berkeley to Lincoln Center and then to on to various locations and in Europe. Can we do it here in Cumbria?

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Yes, the idea is, I've been so frustrated by the fact that it's so hard to get an opera produced anywhere in the world. That that's one of the there was actually a practical reason behind writing this piece that it would be small, portable, it

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didn't even have to be staged. And it would be something that could particularly play on colleges, college campuses, which I think is very important. One big inspiration is the piece by Kurt vile and bertel Brett called the mahogany Song

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schpeel, which is not the big mahagony opera, but a small sequence of songs with definite jazz or popular influence. Sounds great. Yes.

00:27:35.250 - 00:27:55.110

So much for that approach. As opposed to reading, everybody's still putting yourselves into their new work.

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Or even getting back to using real? I don't think anyone here actually is the thing I like about John's music so much is that the synthesizer is an addition to the orchestra is not a replacement for the orchestra.

00:28:15.450 - 00:28:29.700

It expands the palette of what you have, which I believe is the great asset for synthesizer. I think when the composers are talking about computers, they're talking really about sort of a home use and a studio purpose where they're using them

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composing, but I don't actually know of I mean, Mark plays amplified. But beyond that, I don't know. I don't see. See you guys. You know, I think that the big problem when you use the word

00:28:42.540 - 00:28:57.000

synthetic, and I gather somewhat of a critical like polyester tone. The real problem is not to synthesizers, the problem is is loudspeakers. And we're still in, as far as I'm concerned.

00:28:57.000 - 00:29:13.050

We're still in the Wright brothers era when it comes to loudspeakers. I mean, there is the there are great sound designers and I on a few very rare occasions have had the pleasure of having one or two of my pieces done with really great

00:29:13.050 - 00:29:29.130

sound and with a very hot, you know, high quality speakers and the sound is wonderful. But more often than not, you asked to have a synthesizer in a piece, and you show up for the performance and the promoters have called the local

00:29:29.190 - 00:29:48.630

rock'n'roll rental agency and they're too badly beat up. electro voices there and the sound is is dreadful. It's just inconceivably awful. And that's just, it's, it's growing pains. We're still in an era where people haven't understood how

00:29:48.630 - 00:30:03.210

important these these matters are, and the technology's still got a long way to go. I think what's got to happen with sound and loudspeakers is that and I'm sure this will happen through computers is that a means of making sound constantly in

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movement needs to be developed, there has to be some kind of algorithm developed, which will, let's say we're having even this symposium here, they're just two speakers and my voice is going right at you from one spot, or in this case from two spots.

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What we need is to have about 80 speakers surrounding us and the sound very subtly moving at the speed of light, and being very subtly modulated. And then it's really like real sound. And I would be willing to bet you wouldn't feel so

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bad about it. People listen to the latter half of the floor.

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They're not coming to hear of serious music, because they're used to that. That's a, that's a big question you guys jump in. That's one answer. A lot of things can happen

00:31:11.550 - 00:31:28.830

electronically, as I'm sure we've all experienced. But there is a trend in pop music, back to the acoustic I hate that word. Because the guitar, the guitar as it is a natural video, that's much very natural guitar. And I think that musicians are, in

00:31:28.830 - 00:31:43.500

many cases, wanting to go back, I find that the sound of the orchestra is a very warm affair. And I like the use of just natural sounds. But I will say this, that I I've heard some of John's music, where he's incorporated electronic

00:31:43.500 - 00:31:59.490

instruments, dx seven, etc. And you don't even notice it, you know, it's used so adroitly that it blends in with the fabric. And when it is sounding, it's meant to sound the way it sounds. So it again, it's natural in its own element. So I

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like that very much. And while I'm here, most will say that I don't use a computer, mainly because I've never had time to stop composing to learn how to use a computer. And friends of mine who do use it say that it takes him just as long to get

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the notes down using computer programs and all that is it just to write it naturally. So I feel somewhat vindicated in sticking with the pencil you the I was gonna just mention, though, that, you know, it is a

00:32:31.800 - 00:32:45.150

pendulum in many ways. I think in some ways, it's swinging back. I mean, I was very encouraged to talk to him, Mark who ran a fiddle camp. And he said that there are so many kids come and try and want to put wanting to play fiddle. You

00:32:45.150 - 00:33:00.750

know, even if it's the country fiddle more tunes in that orientation that he how many kids did you have 100 or people rather, they were from ages five to 80, or something like that, I started music, instruction camps. And we go out camping for

00:33:00.750 - 00:33:13.230

five nights. Maybe they just want to go camping. I don't know what it is. But we learned the old way by by ear, the traditional folk method. And we're really changing some preconceived

00:33:13.230 - 00:33:29.490

notions, I think the the mentor, playing the phrase back to the student over and over is something that's underrated. And and we're trying to do that at this little camp and young people, we had students actually from age five through 84, a

00:33:29.490 - 00:33:42.900

woman from California 84, who used to be in orchestras, all her life wants to learn how to play some fiddle, as well. So we're seeing a lot of, but you have branches in a way 100 people. So here we have suddenly, you know, on one

00:33:42.900 - 00:33:59.910

hand, we have a resurgence of this. And hopefully I think when we have, they'll just talk for a while amongst themselves. But, you know, when you get when you hear Libby's piece, for example, I think this is a kind of piece that can engage young people in

00:33:59.910 - 00:34:11.940

a visual sense, as well, because the piece we're playing tonight is features the percussion section and they're playing all kinds of weird things, you know, I mean, a kid could go out in the garden and dig up the couple pots and we have flower pots and

00:34:12.120 - 00:34:25.260

an oil drum and a walk top and stuff like that, you know, and hopefully if young people were to see that they could say cheese, you know, I can do that in the kitchen or in the garden and, and get more involved. And I think it's again, it's a

00:34:25.260 - 00:34:39.030

balance between letting machinery do things for you and and living life from a distance or getting in there and really encouraging people to participate. But don't know how did you come up with all those percussion

00:34:39.960 - 00:34:58.020

ideas are actually through through working on my sampler. Oh, really? You have that flowerpot sample? No. Well, you can you can say I made a whole piece out of two pieces of glass clinking together, which I put into a sampler

00:34:58.020 - 00:35:18.780

sampler is another MIDI device. Where you, you record a sound on on a digital microphone. And then you can put the sound waves on the computer. And then you can look into the sound waves and find find whole universes of music, in the simple clinking of

00:35:18.810 - 00:35:33.360

two pieces of glass together. And I've been in the really since 1990 very deeply into the world of just plain sound for the very reason this woman brought up it's so astute is that we've had a real sound revolution since I was born in

00:35:33.360 - 00:35:49.530

the 19 in 1950. And that revolutions over and the classical concert world is just beginning to understand that there has been a revolution. So so I was working on my sampler, and and thinking because it's a monastic art composing, you're

00:35:49.530 - 00:36:06.660

all alone, so you have to entertain yourself. And and I was thinking how, how, in commercial music and film scores in the recording studio, all kinds of sounds are used and accepted as music as john cage predicted. You know, that sound

00:36:06.660 - 00:36:25.110

is music music is sound, depending on your perception. And I and so when I had the idea for for this marimba concerto I, I simply wanted to expose that, you know, that perhaps a flower pot, the click of a flower pot, is as meaningful as the as a

00:36:25.110 - 00:36:42.060

stroke and the woodblock and that both are music. And it's a it's a wonderful surprise to me too, that that, then, people have responded very well. And just the way you're saying is by saying, Oh, I never thought of a flower pot as music. Well, you

00:36:42.060 - 00:36:55.410

know, Henry Cowell. Yeah, and, but, but it's just a way of people who come to an orchestra concert may go home, and pick up their flowerpots and start making music. Just thinking so yes, sure.

00:36:56.220 - 00:37:12.030

But we'd be very remiss if if we did mention that this is the home of Lou Harrison. And Lou Harrison is the one who started to write he and cage were living in this area during the Depression. And they were asked to write music for this dance

00:37:12.030 - 00:37:28.890

company, but there was no money. So they went to the junkyard and two things happen. One was that they found what we call found objects. The other is that they began to work towards the sounds of the gamelan. So they use the instruments in a very specific

00:37:28.890 - 00:37:46.260

way. As far as the gamma goes, and brake drums for an automobile, when they're when they come suspended. That means you open and up rings and and Lou likes that whenever his pieces are played, that we use model a brake drums, because

00:37:46.260 - 00:38:04.890

they're made of steel, after that they're made of cast iron, or what have you, and makes it very difficult. But I would suggest that, if you can, that you get a recording, which I happen to have made. It's the only one that has been made of

00:38:04.890 - 00:38:18.540

his Concerto for violin and percussion orchestra, an extraordinary piece, I mean, you would really love it, you wouldn't even be aware of the instruments that are used, but there are five coffee cans suspended. And he tells you,

00:38:18.540 - 00:38:32.430

they must be suspended at the nodes, you know, I have to fire to find out where the nodes where the cans, I don't know where to hell he was talking about. You know, I hate physics and thinking. And then further, it's five coffee cans are

00:38:32.430 - 00:38:51.240

actually either five brake drums that you have to turn over in the middle or have 10 systems that are open to some that are closed, and then five graduated pieces of lead pipe. Oh, and a string bass that's turned on its side and played with dolls or

00:38:51.240 - 00:39:04.650

drumsticks. And that's an extremely difficult part to play because the player has to hit the right strings at the right time. And you know how close the strings are and you have a long job. But the piece comes up being a perfectly normal,

00:39:04.650 - 00:39:18.390

wonderful sounding piece. So, you know, I urge you to listen to that piece. And maybe there's another Recording by now but I hope not. So yeah. Any more questions? Let's see. What else is everyone

00:39:18.390 - 00:39:31.950

baking out there? Yes. Oh, thank you. Yes. We all know the benefit that we all get here. I'd like to hear from them by being here.

00:39:35.040 - 00:39:51.660

So the question is that the audience knows what benefit it is to have the composers here and how do the composers feel about the cabrio festival and being here and and being in the presence of your music being performed? Let's get you guys in

00:39:51.660 - 00:40:06.450

here. Yeah. Well, to me back to one of the first questions that was asked was how did we get into composing and my First exposure was by writing for my friends. So my earliest experiences with

00:40:06.450 - 00:40:21.300

composition with were immediate feedback from players. And to me, that's always been the carrot at the end of the stick, the fun part of it is getting together with the players and seeing how they respond to what they bring to it, and what they

00:40:21.420 - 00:40:35.640

can get out of it, and what they don't like about it and then assimilating that and then learning from it, and having it affect the next piece in one way or other. And every orchestra is different that you that you visit, and that plays your work.

00:40:35.640 - 00:40:48.180

And some of them respond well, some of them don't, my experience has been that this has been one of the most receptive and fun loving orchestras that ever done any of my pieces. And so it's been very positive for me.

00:40:49.950 - 00:41:03.600

Greg, we haven't done your piece yet. But yeah, it's probably dangerous for me to even speak. But I have to admit, I, I feel pretty honored to just be at this table with these other distinguished composers. And I don't get a

00:41:03.600 - 00:41:16.320

chance to really visit with these kind of folks. And we just came out of a rehearsal this morning, and I met all these people. And it's pretty amazing. And you also see the rehearsal process. I personally get a lot more out of rehearsal of my

00:41:16.320 - 00:41:28.380

piece or other people's works than I do with the actual performances. It's like seeing a bad Broadway show. You know, you learn a lot from a bad Broadway show, you see a good one. What, you know, what's that about?

00:41:28.440 - 00:41:42.120

Well, maybe you should have quit while you're ahead there. You want to hear a personal story about Marin? No, no, no, no, no, no. Which one is this? Look,

00:41:44.070 - 00:41:59.940

I have, I've always had a real affection for the Santa Cruz audiences. They're very sophisticated. And they're probably one of the few audiences in the world who upset if you do a Mozart Symphony. And

00:41:59.940 - 00:42:24.030

bypass a new piece. And I'm reminded of, I went out to Cleveland, the Cleveland Orchestra was doing a piece of mine last November. And I was sitting in one of the expensive boxes, box B or something. And next to me was a middle aged

00:42:24.030 - 00:42:40.380

couple sitting there. And the moment my piece started, the woman took her through her program and went through it down on her husband's lap, and he folded his arms. And then after the piece is over, because I had to disappear and go up on stage

00:42:40.410 - 00:43:00.030

and and then I had to go back to the seat for the rest of the program. And I sat down and she looked at me she loved your piece. But unfortunately, that tends to be the case. People buy tickets,

00:43:00.060 - 00:43:19.050

because it's a series or because it's something to do this year, we'll do you know, we'll contribute to the museum and we'll buy baseball tickets, and then let's try the symphony. And but that is what makes this particular little pocket on the

00:43:19.050 - 00:43:34.380

planet here in Santa Cruz. So extraordinary. And it it is a good place to come as a composer. I had an experience similar to John's in Atlanta, except the lady said to me, if I was if I were a gentleman, I would have

00:43:34.380 - 00:43:51.630

warned her. Well, I would like to answer rather specifically, as everyone has intimated, is special to come to Santa Cruz because you're accustomed to hearing new music. And we love to have

00:43:51.630 - 00:44:13.260

performances, you as you can gather is not your everyday fare to have a contemporary piece in a regular orchestral program. So to have so much of it, at one place is really a feast, a great feast. And again, more specifically, they talk about

00:44:13.260 - 00:44:26.790

the artists in the ivory tower. I don't think that's true at all. It may have been alright for Charles Ives to write and then put his music in a trunk and go back to his insurance business. But I think for most of us, again, is as Don was

00:44:26.790 - 00:44:40.320

saying, the carrot at the end of the stick is really when the pieces performed and we share our essences or you could call it our soul, whatever you want to call it. But to share what we really are with our society. We have a polyglot society and if

00:44:40.320 - 00:44:53.790

we could find some way of sharing all together I think that's the most marvelous thing that we can do. We can bring out feeling we can bring out some sort of reaction. That's not bored. That's not say intellectual sick it Oh, I hate

00:44:53.790 - 00:45:04.950

people to say they didn't understand my piece. When women said to me, I didn't understand your piece, but I liked it. And I said, I don't give game if you understand it or not, don't think you understand Beethoven the way we understand Beethoven

00:45:04.980 - 00:45:16.950

is a totally different way, because you simply absorb it as a very private experience. There is that private experience, I think it is very special. And we find so many people in one place that can absorb that within, I think it's incredible.

00:45:19.050 - 00:45:33.270

I enjoy from my standpoint that the greatest joy I have is seeing the musicians especially, you know, on the intermission, or this and that talking to the composers, and there's all this, it feels like the musicians can be involved in the creative

00:45:33.270 - 00:45:48.810

process again, and that's very important, I think, because sometimes the composers can get separated from the musicians themselves. So this is really exciting. And I don't know, it's it's a thrill for me. I think, though, I think people

00:45:48.840 - 00:46:05.010

underestimate the public's ability to take in new things. I think this is a big mistake. I think, certainly you, the audience here is unique and one of a kind. But I think humanity can understand a heck of a lot more than we give ourselves

00:46:05.010 - 00:46:21.120

credit for. Certainly, I try to program new music all the time. I mean, it to me, when a when a concert is successful when Stravinsky sounds old. I mean, because it really is old music. I mean, we're hitting the 21st century gang, you know, and I

00:46:21.150 - 00:46:36.960

keep telling people get you got to get along, get with the program. I mean, six more years and 20th century music is all music. So we have to really and all this music is vital. I mean, I just want to say from my point of view, I'm so grateful to all

00:46:36.960 - 00:46:50.520

the composers for for joining me here. I think every single voice here that you've heard from, and the music that you'll hear, will live for a very, very long time. Certainly as long as we can survive on this planet. these are these are the geniuses these

00:46:50.520 - 00:47:03.630

are the Mozart's in the Beethoven's of our time sitting right here at this table. And you should take a minute to talk to them. Because believe me in 30 years, you're going to want to say you know, I met john adams I touched Libby Larsen,

00:47:03.630 - 00:47:16.020

wait, maybe you don't want to touch but you know what I'm saying? Sorry, maybe I should have gone the other way. Sorry, touched on. But from my point of view, this is an opportunity of a lifetime. And hopefully everybody will tell their

00:47:16.020 - 00:47:28.200

grandkids about it. You know, like people tell me Oh, I met Stravinsky, that one time. And believe me, these are the people here and you're enabling us to make this happen. And we're very, very thankful. And the musicians, I can't say sing

00:47:28.200 - 00:47:41.100

their praises high enough. This is a phenomenal orchestra, really one of a kind, you're not going to find they got a good sense of humor. I that's what I like, boy, they laugh at all my jokes. And just once again, thank you all for coming. I

00:47:41.100 - 00:47:52.770

noticed everyone's just starting to bake here in the sun. So I'm going to let them go and get in the shade. But do you want Oh, you just gotta have the last word. No, it's not really the last word. It's something I

00:47:52.770 - 00:48:11.070

think it speaks for all of us. That if it weren't for conductors, like Marin, who champion American music, we'd be dead. Well, thank you all very much. I urge you if you have other

00:48:11.070 - 00:48:23.640

questions, come up and talk to these people. They're very, they're very friendly and if they're not let me know. Thanks, everybody.