Oakland East Bay Symphony
Awards Commissions to Four Eminent Composers in
"New Visions/New Vistas" California Commissioning Project
February 17, 2009 - Yoshi's Jazz Club
Original works by Scott Amendola, Benedikt Brydern, Rebeca Mauleón and Narada Michael Walden to premiere in 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons
Benedikt Brydern, Narada Michael Walden, Rebeca Mauleón, Scott Amendola, Michael Morgan
"The quality of the submissions and the imagination in many of the proposals made it difficult to choose only four composers," said Morgan. "There were at least ten composers I would commission if I could. I hope in the future to work with some of those not chosen today.
The process was very enlightening."
Music Director Michael Morgan today named four composers to receive the initial round of commissions in the “New Visions/New Vistas” program, supported by the James Irvine Foundation. Scott Amendola, Benedikt Brydern, Rebeca Mauleón, and Narada Michael Walden are classically trained musicians with backgrounds in jazz, Afro-Cuban, soul, R&B, and electronic music.
Amendola is a drummer, composer, and bandleader, a 1992 graduate of the Berklee College of Music in Boston. His bands include Plays Monk, the Nels Cline Singers, and the Scott Amendola Band.
German-born Brydern studied violin and piano at the Richard-Strauss Academy of Music in Munich. He performed at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival Orchestra under the baton of Leonard Bernstein in 1988, and returned in 1990 to be part of the television series Orchestra! hosted by Georg Solti. He has won awards for his chamber music, and has composed scores for numerous films.
As pianist, producer, and band leader, Mauleón’s compositional style embraces Afro-Cuban music, jazz, and flamenco. She studied composition at Mills College, and musicology at several international institutions; she is the author of some critically acclaimed books and essays.
Grammy Award winner Narada Michael Walden has worked with Aretha Franklin, Wynonna Judd, Stevie Wonder, and Tom Jones. He was part of the pioneering Mahavishnu Orchestra in the early 1970s and has served as music director of the Rain Forest Concert at Carnegie Hall for six years. The founder of Marin County-based Tarpan Studios, Walden also created Tarpan Records.