Rebecca Cherian Bower - Water Awakening

Rebecca Bower Cherian was awarded the position of Co-Principal Trombone with the Pittsburgh Symphony by Lorin Maazel in 1989. She has been trombone instructor at Carnegie Mellon University since 1993. Ms. Cherian was a founding member of the International Women's Brass Conference in 1994 and served as the IWBC Newsletter Editor for five years. As a California native Ms. Cherian began her professional career at the age of sixteen as trombonist with the San Jose Symphony under the direction of George Cleve. At the age of seventeen she appeared as a soloist with the San Francisco Symphony as a result of winning First Prize in their Young Musicians' Awards. Ms. Cherian earned her Bachelor of Music Degree from the California Institute of the Arts and her Master of Music Degree from the Yale School of Music. While in school she was awarded First Place in the Atwater Kent Brass Competition and Outstanding Chamber Music Performer at Yale. Cherian studied with Robert Szabo and Miles Anderson while in California and John Swallow at the Yale School of Music. Before becoming a member of the Pittsburgh Symphony Ms. Cherian held the positions of Principal Trombone with the Springfield Symphony in Massachusetts and The Rhode Island Philharmonic. She was trombone instructor at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, the Hartt School of Music and Wesleyan University. As a freelance artist she toured with the Israel Philharmonic under the Direction of Leonard Bernstein, performed with the Boston Opera, New York City Ballet, Hartford, New Haven and Vermont Symphonies and Goodspeed Opera House. In September of 1993 Ms. Cherian enjoyed the honor of performing at the White House in Washington, D.C. as part of a 15-woman ensemble of brass and percussion players for the opening reception of the Annual International Women's Forum. The group performed the world premiere of Joan Tower's fanfare, "Celebration" which was dedicated to Hillary Clinton. Ms. Cherian appears regularly as a soloist and Masterclass Clinician at the IWBC. Ms. Cherian can be heard on recordings of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Lorin Maazel, Mariss Jansons and Manfred Honeck. She can also be heard on the Pittsburgh Symphony Low Brass Section's album, From The Back Row released by Albany Records and available online. Venezuelan born pianist Rodrigo Ojeda began his piano studies at the age of ten. He completed his Bachelor's Degree in piano performance at the IUDEM (Institute of Musical Studies) in 1997 under Arnaldo Pizzolante. In 1999 he went on to complete his graduate studies at Carnegie Mellon University with Enrique Graf where he also remained to complete his Artist Diploma certificate. Mr. Ojeda has performed in master classes with such notable pianists as Kasimierz Giesrod (former rector of the Frederic Chopin Academy in Warsaw), Marek Joblonsky, Georgy Sandor, Marta Gulyas, and Earl Wild. His solo recitals include performances throughout Venezuela, Ecuador and most recently in the Piccolo Spoleto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina and in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He has performed concerti from an expansive repertoire of Tchaikovsky, Brahms, Gershwin, Grieg, Schumann, Mozart, Liszt (Totentanz), Franck and Prokofiev. Mr. Ojeda's most recent live television and radio broadcasts include Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3 with the Orquesta Sinfónica Municipal de Caracas, Venezuela. Currently Mr. Ojeda is an Artist Lecturer in Piano in the School of Music at Carnegie Mellon University as well as a piano faculty member in it's Music Preparatory School. He has also been performing regularly in the Pittsburgh Symphony since October 2006. A versatile pianist, Mr. Ojeda frequently collaborates with chamber ensembles and string, brass and woodwind soloists in a broad range of repertoire from classical to contemporary. His wife, Giuseppina, and son, Sebastian, reside with him in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. After decades of dedication to the trombone and music it has been my longtime aspiration to record a solo CD. I began some 20 years ago by commissioning several American composers to write works for solo trombone and piano. It was not until January of 2011 that I was finally able to realize this dream with this recording. I am introducing two of the new works I commissioned, one by Martin Kennedy and the other by Robert Elhai. Also on the recording are several underrepresented, yet excellent solos by Roger Boutry, Vincent Persichetti and Georg Wilkenschildt. I chose and arranged six Gabriel Fauré Vocal "Chansons." And finally I am including the Jacques Castérède Sonatine and one transcription for solo alto trombone, Concerto in B-flat major, by Tomaso Albinoni. 1. Theme and Variations by Martin Kennedy (b. 1978) The Theme and Variations for trombone and piano by Martin Kennedy was written while he was a C.V. Starr Doctoral Fellow in composition at the Juilliard School of Music. Kennedy, equally accomplished as a pianist, studied piano with Jeremy Denk, Evelyne Brancart and Pamela Penick among others. His composition teachers were Samuel Adler, Milton Babbitt, Claude Baker, Davis Dzubay, Don Freund and Sydney Hodkinson. He received his Bachelor of Music in both Composition and Piano Performance at Indiana University as well as his Master of Music in Composition. Kennedy is currently Assistant Professor of Composition and Theory at Washington University in St. Louis. The Theme and Variations begins with a very powerful and driving theme in the trombone, supported by blocks of chords from the piano. There are moments of lyricism which are fully developed later in several of the variations. From the beginning he introduces offset rhythms, syncopations and juxtaposition and ambiguity of duple and triple meter which drive the piece. Kennedy incorporates both harmonic and rhythmic jazz elements throughout his writing. Each variation has it's own mood and style. The first variation has almost a pointillistic characteristic yet never loses sight of it's lyricism. Variation IV fully explores the jazz influence before moving into Variation V where he develops his lyrical ideas to a climax. It is a beautiful and challenging work which I hope becomes a new standard in the solo trombone repertoire. 2. - 7. Chansons: Aurore, En Prière, Toujour, Nell, Lydia, Fleur Jetée, by Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924), arranged by Rebecca Bower Cherian Tiring of Bordogni Etudes and being an ardent fan of lieder and chanson, I acquired several books of lieder by various composers including Schumann, Schubert, Brahms and Mozart. But over the years I have continually returned to my book of Fauré Songs. Their unique, subtle beauty is a consistent source of inspiration for me. Fauré developed his own unique and innovative style of songwriting, which was influenced by both the impressionist and romantic composers. However, he used modality, harmonic nuance, and melody in ways unlike his contemporaries. He pursued song writing throughout most of his career. The songs I have chosen are from different periods in his life. By the end of his life, Fauré was recognized as the leading French composer of his day. Although sometimes criticized for using the text of lesser poets for his Chansons, I find Fauré's music always tells it's own very sensitive and sophisticated story in which words are not necessary. 8. Concerto by Roger Boutry (b.1932) Roger Boutry is an enormously talented pianist, composer, conductor and pedagogue. He studied at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris with Nadia Boulanger among others. He has won innumerable, prestigious prizes throughout his schooling and life. He has more than 60 published works and is of course greatly influenced by his fellow countrymen, Ravel and Debussy. Boutry's Concerto for trombone and piano consists of four clearly contrasting sections. The introduction begins with a very uncharacteristic, dark, moody, almost Shostakovich-like introduction. The trombone soa