Guidonian Hand Wins ACF Jerome Fund Grant for Jeremy Howard Beck Piece!

Completing a stunning year for the Guidonian Hand, the American Composers Forum has recently awarded the trombone quartet a grant to fund the commissioning of another brand new piece from the great composer Jeremy Howard Beck.  This makes the group three for three on grants they’ve applied to this year!

Beck composed one of the group’s signature works recently, the deeply moving “Awakening,” and the current grant will go toward his composing of yet another groundbreaking piece for them. Guidonian Hand’s “State of the Art” program continues to push boundaries with its works from contemporary composers such as Beck, Conrad Winslow, Eve Beglarian, Galen Brown, and more.

The River Project

In the fall of 2009, composer Eve Beglarian embarked on a four-month-long journey down the entire Mississippi River by kayak and bicycle, immersing herself in local histories and the writings of those who had made similar journeys, including Mark Twain and Jonathan Raban. During her trip through the heart of the country, Eve kept a sonic journal about the people and places she encountered. These journal entries have evolved over the past several years into the River Project: a collection of original compositions, adventurous arrangements of river-related songs, images, videos, and spoken-word readings.

Performances of The River Project are comprised of Eve Beglarian’s ensemble BRIM (Eve Beglarian, Mary Rowell of Ethel, Taylor Levine of Dither) and The Guidonian Hand trombone quartet. A musical snapshot of contemporary Americana, selections from the River Project have been performed at The Avant Music Festival, Bang On A Can Marathon, Tribeca New Music Festival, Studio 360, and more. Ariel Artists is excited to announce the availability of this special touring project for the 2013/2014 season and beyond.

“Ms. Beglarian kayaked and bicycled the length of the Mississippi River [and] has translated her findings into music of sophisticated rusticity… [Her] earnest new Americana song cycle captures those swift currents as vividly as Mark Twain did. The works waft gracefully on her handsome folk croon and varied folk instrumentation as mysterious as their inspiration.”
– The New York Times

Now for something I can sink my teeth into – Jeremy Howard Beck’s Awakening for the newly-formed trombone quartet, Guidonian Hand. Nice to see some awesome brass ensemble action at [the Bang on a Can Marathon]… Placed in the back of the cavernous hall, the quartet brings some mighty chops to a difficult yet extremely touching work by Beck…

The Guidonian Hand returns…this time to perform Eve Beglarian’s In and Out of the Game. This may be my first sampling of trombone quartet and electronics, and it’s an intriguing combination – the trombones slowly enter with a chorale texture softly underneath the chattering electronics, gradually overtaking the electronics in a nice, over-arching motion by Beglarian. I’m sure a good portion of the audience does not realize that the quartet is playing this substantial work by memory…well-played, gentlemen!

–Rob Deemer, Sequenza 21, June 17, 2012

More interesting, though, was [Conrad Winslow’s] “Dilating Music,” an atmospheric exploration of meaty lower brass textures, complete with subtle slides and juxtapositions of muted and open timbres, expertly played by the trombone quartet Guidonian Hand.

–Allan Kozinn, The New York Times, September 2, 2009

The Guidonian Hand transcends the limitations of the trombone… Architecturally sound new music using everything of which the trombone is capable. Brilliant writing, brilliant playing. Loose and yet rigorously precise. Revelatory. A celebration of pure sound, and played from the heart at a very high level. Totally new. Go hear it.

–Sam Burtis, trombonist, bass trombonist, tubist, composer/arranger, music director, and educator in New York City since 1967

The Guidonian Hand exceeded our expectations. Their dedication to and love of music, their thorough knowledge of their instrument, their commitment to excellence and their enthusiasm to share their passion with others made them a perfect fit for the goals of the Vivian Major Robinson Concert Series. The personality of each member shone through during the concert, as they took turns sharing interesting history about the instrument, musical selections, or composers. We were delighted with The Guidonian Hand’s performance, and feel we’ve not only heard great musicians but met great new friends.

–Johannes Tromp, Coordinator for the Vivian Major Robinson Concert Series, July 6, 2011

The sum of these four extraordinary musicians – Mark Broschinsky, William Lang, Sebastian Vera, and James Rogers – equals something beyond what the term ‘trombone quartet’ could muster in my imagination. Everyone can hear this musical alchemy in their performances…As in any great performing ensemble, each member is in his own way the center of the group while at the same time no one is the center. Each person brings something unique to the rehearsal besides his abilities on the trombone. Mark, a virtuoso on the alto as well as the tenor instrument, brings his genial humor and shrewd musical common sense – in this way he is the center; Will, skilled in every aspect of trombone playing and a musician of the most intuitive kind, brings his incisive musical insights – in this way he is the center. Sebastian, a gifted player with an especially lyric quality, brings a quiet steadiness and seriousness of purpose – in this way he is the center. James, whose sound as bass trombonist is as grand as his persona, brings his passion for music and his encyclopedic knowledge of the trombone – in this way he is the center. But then again, there is no center. When the four personalities have merged, when what each player brings has been subsumed in the whole, there occurs that something which is always greater than the sum of its parts, the magic of great ensemble playing. That is what one hears at a Guidonian Hand performance.

–J. Mark Stambaugh, Composition Faculty
Manhattan School of Music

Christian Gentry Wins Barlow Award for New Guidonian Hand Composition

The Barlow Endowment for Music Composition announced the 2012 recipients of its commission grants, and among its short list of winners was composer Christian Gentry, who will be using the commission for a new piece for trombone quartet Guidonian Hand. Gentry, who works in a wide variety of formats from orchestra and choir to theater and electroacoustic, was a composer fellow at June in Buffalo, Wellesley Composers Conference, and the Norfolk New Music Workshop. His work has been performed by a variety of  groups like Arsenal Trio, Emily Hindrichs, East Coast Contemporary Ensemble, Juventas, the VERGE Ensemble and more. He previously won a Barlow Endowment commission for his piece Flux Flommoxed for Jihye Chang and Benjamin Sung.

We’re expecting great things!

Guidonian Hand Awarded CMA Grant!

We’re absolutely thrilled to announce that two of our artists have received Chamber Music America grants this year for new commissions! The trombone quartet Guidonian Hand was awarded a 2012 CMA grant for commissioning a brand new work from multi-disciplinary composer Mary Ellen Childs. The work is planned for the trombone quartet with amplified violin performed by Mary Rowell, with whom the group worked extensively during their time on Eve Beglarian’s River Project.

Childs has composed a variety of pieces designed to integrate the worlds of music, dance, and theater. Her Click was described by the Village Voice as a “newly born classic, like Steve Reich’s Clapping Music, only a thousand times more virtuosic.” Her video work has received international awards from the American Film and Video Festival and the International Multi-Image Festival.

Her music has been commissioned by Kronos Quartet, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Dale Warland Singers, and more, and has been performed at the Bang on a Can Festival, the Walker Arts Center, Lincoln Center, New Music America — Miami, the Other Minds Festival, and more.

Guidonian Hand at the Bang On a Can Marathon This Weekend

The Guidonian Hand will be performing as part of the amazing Bang On a Can Marathon this weekend at the World Financial Center Winter Garden in New York City, with performances set for Sunday afternoon of both Jeremy Howard Beck’s “Awakening” (the subject of their recently released debut recording) and Eve Beglarian’s “In and Out of the Game.”

Bang On a Can has been doing incredible things for 25 years now and we’re thrilled that Guidonian Hand will be performing this year, sharing the stage with artists like the BOAC All-Stars, Kaki King, Alvin Lucier, Dither, and many more.  There will be favorite and fresh new work throughout the day from composers like Steve Reich, Michael Gordon, Thurston Moore, Conlon Nancarrow, David Longstreth, Pauline Oliveros, David Lang, and, of course, many more again.