mae
10-23-2016, 03:50 PM
This came out a while back, so I'm surprised it sneaked under the radar. Unless I missed it.
http://digital.vpr.net/post/worcester-guitarist-composes-music-inspired-stephen-king
Last year, Danielle O'Hallisey found herself amidst a coming-together of unrelated events, the result of which led to the composition of an exciting new work.
O'Hallisey, a classical and jazz guitarist from Worcester, composed 11 pieces of original music for strings, titled "String Ka-Tet in d minor."
Most recently, under the tutelage of jazz fusion guitarist Larry Coryell, O'Hallisey began writing the themed pieces for her 7-string electronic classical guitar. And at the same time, she was reading author Stephen King's The Dark Tower novel series.
Certain recurring themes in the books began to echo her compositions. And when she was tasked with writing a piece for an Italian music website about the obscure Neapolitan whole-tone scale, O'Hallisey brought all the influences together for the "String Ka-Tet in d minor." Also armed with a Creation Grant from the Vermont Arts Council, O'Hallisey had funds to find and work with great local musicians.
"I had a certain preconceived notion of what I wanted to write and I was starting to write ideas but nothing was really clicking," she says. "I played one of those for Larry Coryell and he said, 'That piece...' and I was just waiting on pins and needles thinking he was going to say, 'Oh, yeah! That's a great one!' but he said, 'That one ... I would just throw that one away.' Instead, he wanted me to dig a little deeper."
The new pieces bear titles like, "There Was A Place, The One Before This," "Time Is Like A Face On The Water," and others, all phrases contained within King's books and used with his permission.
O'Hallisey has put together a neoclassical trio with two other local musicians to debut the new works, and they perform together as Yellow Sky, with O'Hallisey playing classical electric guitar, Letitia Quante on violin and Michael Close on cello.
Violinist Liz Reid played on the tracks for the group's CD and will help turn Yellow Sky from a trio to a quartet when she joins on viola as they venture out on more concert dates later this year.
The new composition's name is itself a nod to King, with the term "ka-tet" taken directly from The Dark Tower book series.
On Saturday, June 18 at 7 p.m., Yellow Sky will perform the "String Ka-Tet in d minor" at Montpelier's Unitarian Church.
The program will include new works to open the show, followed by each musician performing separate classical works by Ysa˙e, Ligeti and J.S. Bach and then end the program with O'Hallisey's "String Ka-Tet in d minor," with author and VPR commentator Willem Lange serving as host.
The ensemble’s CD will have its official release on the evening of the event and will be available for pre-purchase on iTunes beginning June 11.
https://www.cdbaby.com/cd/yellowsky
Composer/guitarist Danielle O'Hallisey debuts her string trio Yellow Sky, featuring Elizabeth Reid on violin, Michael Close on cello, and Danielle playing 7-string classical guitar with guitar synthesizer.
The music is difficult to characterize, drawing on composers as diverse as jazz legend Larry Coryell (with whom Danielle has studied), minimalists Ólafur Arnalds and Philip Glass and modern classical guitar composers, most notably Heitor Villa-Lobos.
Inspired by the Dark Tower series of novels, O'Hallisey received permission from their author, horror master Stephen King, to use his words as the titles of each track. The arc of the pieces broadly follows that of the character, Jake, and is infused with the strange and wonderful universe of the series forming the backbone to the author's many works.
Featured in this performance are fellow Vermont performers Michael Close and Elizabeth Reid. Their mastery of their instruments breaths life into these new works, capturing every soaring line, and every grunting effect. The guitar synthesizer is used judiciously, layered on top of the natural sound of the 7-string guitar. At times we are reminded of words attributed to Beethoven, after hearing a performance by Mauro Giuliani; "The guitar is a miniature orchestra!" Layered with synthesizers and soaring/searing lines and percussive chords by Close and Reid, the overall effect is at times at least that of an orchestra, at other times as intimate as the whispers of wind through a keyhole.
*The titles of these tracks are quoted from various works of author Stephen King; used by permission.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkq_hrWC2do
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UpDVuacAQM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qGFZqitaUE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwtYd1CoWLU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NrO67Bfwlg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6dRF-YqCA0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-k1somANHQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ENpAq2BQls
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KKHQpAbv3A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpd8paqZHDI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUE8qltZvts
http://digital.vpr.net/post/worcester-guitarist-composes-music-inspired-stephen-king
Last year, Danielle O'Hallisey found herself amidst a coming-together of unrelated events, the result of which led to the composition of an exciting new work.
O'Hallisey, a classical and jazz guitarist from Worcester, composed 11 pieces of original music for strings, titled "String Ka-Tet in d minor."
Most recently, under the tutelage of jazz fusion guitarist Larry Coryell, O'Hallisey began writing the themed pieces for her 7-string electronic classical guitar. And at the same time, she was reading author Stephen King's The Dark Tower novel series.
Certain recurring themes in the books began to echo her compositions. And when she was tasked with writing a piece for an Italian music website about the obscure Neapolitan whole-tone scale, O'Hallisey brought all the influences together for the "String Ka-Tet in d minor." Also armed with a Creation Grant from the Vermont Arts Council, O'Hallisey had funds to find and work with great local musicians.
"I had a certain preconceived notion of what I wanted to write and I was starting to write ideas but nothing was really clicking," she says. "I played one of those for Larry Coryell and he said, 'That piece...' and I was just waiting on pins and needles thinking he was going to say, 'Oh, yeah! That's a great one!' but he said, 'That one ... I would just throw that one away.' Instead, he wanted me to dig a little deeper."
The new pieces bear titles like, "There Was A Place, The One Before This," "Time Is Like A Face On The Water," and others, all phrases contained within King's books and used with his permission.
O'Hallisey has put together a neoclassical trio with two other local musicians to debut the new works, and they perform together as Yellow Sky, with O'Hallisey playing classical electric guitar, Letitia Quante on violin and Michael Close on cello.
Violinist Liz Reid played on the tracks for the group's CD and will help turn Yellow Sky from a trio to a quartet when she joins on viola as they venture out on more concert dates later this year.
The new composition's name is itself a nod to King, with the term "ka-tet" taken directly from The Dark Tower book series.
On Saturday, June 18 at 7 p.m., Yellow Sky will perform the "String Ka-Tet in d minor" at Montpelier's Unitarian Church.
The program will include new works to open the show, followed by each musician performing separate classical works by Ysa˙e, Ligeti and J.S. Bach and then end the program with O'Hallisey's "String Ka-Tet in d minor," with author and VPR commentator Willem Lange serving as host.
The ensemble’s CD will have its official release on the evening of the event and will be available for pre-purchase on iTunes beginning June 11.
https://www.cdbaby.com/cd/yellowsky
Composer/guitarist Danielle O'Hallisey debuts her string trio Yellow Sky, featuring Elizabeth Reid on violin, Michael Close on cello, and Danielle playing 7-string classical guitar with guitar synthesizer.
The music is difficult to characterize, drawing on composers as diverse as jazz legend Larry Coryell (with whom Danielle has studied), minimalists Ólafur Arnalds and Philip Glass and modern classical guitar composers, most notably Heitor Villa-Lobos.
Inspired by the Dark Tower series of novels, O'Hallisey received permission from their author, horror master Stephen King, to use his words as the titles of each track. The arc of the pieces broadly follows that of the character, Jake, and is infused with the strange and wonderful universe of the series forming the backbone to the author's many works.
Featured in this performance are fellow Vermont performers Michael Close and Elizabeth Reid. Their mastery of their instruments breaths life into these new works, capturing every soaring line, and every grunting effect. The guitar synthesizer is used judiciously, layered on top of the natural sound of the 7-string guitar. At times we are reminded of words attributed to Beethoven, after hearing a performance by Mauro Giuliani; "The guitar is a miniature orchestra!" Layered with synthesizers and soaring/searing lines and percussive chords by Close and Reid, the overall effect is at times at least that of an orchestra, at other times as intimate as the whispers of wind through a keyhole.
*The titles of these tracks are quoted from various works of author Stephen King; used by permission.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkq_hrWC2do
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UpDVuacAQM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qGFZqitaUE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwtYd1CoWLU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NrO67Bfwlg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6dRF-YqCA0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-k1somANHQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ENpAq2BQls
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KKHQpAbv3A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpd8paqZHDI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUE8qltZvts