Spheres of a genius.
Honoring Carla Bley
Honoring Carla Bley
Randall Smith has been named the winner of the jazz-composition competition "Spheres of a Genius - Honoring Carla Bley." The competition, which was launched in 2017 by JAM MUSIC LAB Private University and ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, is currently dedicated to celebrating the works of the esteemed composer and pianist, Carla Bley.
Facing strong competition from 50 international applicants, American composer and trombonist Randall Smith was selected as the winning composer. His composition titled "Blue Bongo Fever Dream" impressed the jury, which included esteemed members such as Marin Alsop (chief conductor of Vienna RSO), Angelika Möser (artistic director of Vienna RSO), Christoph Becher (former director of Vienna RSO), Bill Dobbins (composer, pianist), and Marcus Ratka (composer and director of JAM MUSIC LAB). Notably, Austria's Christoph Suttner secured the second position, while third place was shared by Julia Perminova from Russia, Gabriele di Franco from Italy, and Samara Bülbül from Germany.
Born in 1991 in Provo, Utah, Randall Smith currently serves as the Assistant Director of the Group for Experimental Music at Brigham Young University. His journey as a composer, arranger, and musician has been significantly influenced by a diverse range of jazz and contemporary experimental music genres.
The jury praised "Blue Bongo Fever Dream" for its exceptional tribute to Carla Bley's stylistically diverse body of work. Smith's ingenious composition effortlessly weaves together elements of jazz, blues, Afro-Caribbean music, as well as intricate harmonies and rhythms reminiscent of Xenakis and Stravinsky.
Within the approximately 12-minute piece, Smith adeptly explores the full sonic potential of orchestral instruments, artfully incorporating them into the composition's progression. An unexpected waltz, infused with humor, breaks through the piece's invigorating effect, introducing a virtuosic finale that showcases the orchestra's impressive skills to their fullest.
The premiere of "Blue Bongo Fever Dream" is scheduled to take place on October 4, 2023, in the great hall of the Vienna Konzerthaus, as part of a concert by the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra. Conducted by chief conductor Marin Alsop, the concert will feature the orchestra's remarkable performance of Randall Smith's composition.
Links:
https://www.ots.at/a/OBS_20230724_OBS0031
https://der.orf.at/unternehmen/aktuell/randall_smith100.html
A jazz composition competition by JAM MUSIC LAB University (JMLU) in cooperation with the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra (Vienna RSO). The prize-winning work will be premiered on October 4th 2023 in the Grand Hall of the Konzerthaus Vienna under the direction of Marin Alsop. The concert will be recorded by ORF and broadcasted on the Ö1 program.
Vienna RSO and JMLU are continuing their first collaboration from 2017/2018. The composition competition “Spheres of a Genius” was based on the 100th Birthday of the jazz composer and pianist Thelonious Monk. The subsequent competition paid homage to Leonard Bernstein.
This third “Spheres of a Genius” event pays tribute to Carla Bley.
As a pianist, composer and arranger, Carla Bley first distinguished herself in the 1960’s. She entered the realm of modern creative music – then known as free jazz - producing numerous genre-bending works that stand as touchstones in the development of modern music. Her efforts forged new modes of expression that both reflected and expanded jazz’s conventions.
With the aid of illustrious collaborators – which included Pharoah Sanders, Steve Lacy, George Russell, Steve Swallow, Gary Burton and Charlie Haden - in groups large and small - Bley created a singular voice that continues to inspire forward-thinking artists.
She has shaped generations of music-makers, and her work serves as a model for utilizing jazz’s important innovations in the context of contemporary music. Bley's work continues to inspire women in jazz to arrange and compose, and to help nurture the expansion of groundbreaking ideas.
Carla Bley has shaped generations of music-makers, and her work serves as a model for utilizing jazz's most important impulses into a demanding musical language of the 21st century. Carla Bley's work continues to inspire women in jazz to arrange and compose, and to help nurture the expansion of groundbreaking ideas.
The task of the composition competition relates to the role of Carla Bley as a composer. The winning piece shall succeed in transferring the impulses shaped by her into a demanding musical language of the 21st century.
The special challenge of placing the idioms of jazz in the context of a symphony orchestra should be taken into account.
The submitted composition should embrace her adventurous spirit, utilizing and developing stylistic elements that demonstrate a thorough deliberation of her recorded works. The composer’s aim is to create music showing evidence of inspiration. Innovation and originality will be rewarded.
For much of its development, jazz was a male-dominated genre. Carla Bley made significant contributions leading the way among arrangers, composers and band leaders. Because of her, woman now forge creative opportinites and advancements that push the music forward. She is a central figure and an important role model for the growing group of female composers in jazz. (Marcus Ratka)
Thank you for your submissions!
The application period has already passed.