We have just learned that Professor Olivia Bloech has been awarded an ACLS Charles A. Ryskamp Research Fellowship, which will fund a year’s leave and enable her to write her second book, The Politics of Memory in French Baroque Opera. Research for the book will take her to archives in Paris, Marseilles, Bordeaux, and Nantes, and she is looking forward (as who would not) to getting started with her upcoming trip to Paris in May!

FEBRUARY 23-MUSEUM OF MAKING MUSIC
Italian Recital with Kevin Fitz-Gerald in CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA

February 23: Violin in America Panel Discussion
At 2 PM, join two world-renowned instrument makers and a leading entrepreneur-turned-advocate for violin education in a whirlwind tour of the past, present, and future of violin and bow making. Guided by the founder and publisher of Strings Magazine, this expert panel leads you through the instrument’s birth in the Italian Renaissance, its arrival in the New World, and the recent advances in technology that are reshaping the craft of violin and bow making. Tickets are $10 for the general public; $7 for students and Free for Museum Members.

February 23: Violin in America Opening Reception
The special exhibition “The Violin in America: Old World Tradition, New World Sound” explores the transplanting of European violin making traditions to American soil. The Opening Reception for this exhibition takes place on February 23 and features the talented Anne Akiko Meyers and The Hutchins Consort. Reservation are required. Tickets are $30; Members can purchase tickets for $20.

FEBRUARY 25th-COLBURN SCHOOL OF PERFORMING ARTS, LOS ANGELES, CA.
MASTERCLASS FROM 2-4 PM

FEBRUARY 26-CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY, ORANGE COUNTY, CA.
MASTERCLASS FROM 2-4 PM

FEBRUARY 28-MARCH 2, PACIFIC SYMPHONY WITH CARL ST.CLAIR
ORANGE COUNTY, CA.
MENDELSSOHN CONCERTO
http://pacificsymphony.entericorp.com/show_details.php?shid=123

ANNOUNCING
” FREE TO IMPROVISE: Exploring essential elements for improvisation”

This is a hands-on workshop by international jazz star Judy Niemack for all classical and jazz vocalists and instrumentalists, staff, faculty, and interested others. This class is geared to free up the creative flow in anyone who hopes to perform music requiring improvisation, including jazz and Baroque, Renaissance/Medieval, and contemporary classical.

On TUESDAY EVENING, APRIL 1st from 6 pm – 9 pm in POPPER AUDITORIUM we will be hosting a workshop on improvisation by the internationally renowned jazz vocalist Judy Niemack. Classically trained in opera at New England Conservatory and Cleveland Institute of Music, Ms. Niemack learned jazz technique and improvisation from the great jazz saxophonist WARNE MARSH, who taught her to improvise from an instrumentalist’s point of view. Ms. Niemack has become an international jazz vocal star, and maintains a busy recording and live performance schedule on top of her teaching responsibilities as the Head of Jazz Voice at the Berlin Hochschüle für Musik and at conservatories in Belgium, Spain, Holland, Poland, Italy, Scandinavia, New York, New Jersey, California, and Canada. Everyone will actively participate in this class, plus selected vocalists and instrumentalists (both classical and jazz) will work individually with Judy.

SONY JAZZ recording artist Judy NIEMACK is a real jazz singer. Her delivery of lyrics is full of emotion and elegance, while in her scat singing she is a consummate musician, exploring the music like a virtuoso horn player. She comes out of the mainstream jazz tradition, while breaking new ground with original lyrics, arrangements and a modern approach to standards. Judy has a dual career as performer and vocal jazz educator. In addition to having her eighth CD as a leader released on Sony Jazz in 2003, her book & CD “Hear It & Sing It! – Exploring Modal Jazz”, was published by Second Floor Music and distributed by Hal Leonard in July 2004.

Performing

Judy NIEMACK was born in Pasadena, California and began singing publicly at the age of 7 in church. Throughout her school years, she sang in every kind of vocal ensemble: madrigals, chamber choir, musical theatre productions, folk groups, rock bands, and eventually a vocal jazz quartet. When she was 17, she decided that singing was her life, and began to study classical voice with a teacher of “bel canto”. At 18, she heard and met the great tenor saxophonist Warne MARSH, and became fascinated by jazz and improvisation. She attended Pasadena City College, studying classical voice, and jazz improvisation with alto saxophonist Gary FOSTER. Continuing her classical studies for the next six years, while singing in jazz clubs at night, she studied at New England Conservatory in Boston, attended the Cleveland Institute of Music Opera Workshop, and, realizing that her true path lay in improvised music, returned to California to study vocal improvisation with Warne MARSH. Marsh taught her as he would teach a horn player. Her goal was to improvise as freely as a great jazz musician would, using all the vocal colors that her classical and jazz training had given her.

In 1977, Ms. NIEMACK moved to New York City to pursue her career as a jazz vocalist. Her first major performance was a week at the Village Vanguard with Warne MARSH in 1978. Her first recording, “By Heart”, was released that year on SEABREEZE Records.

Since then she has performed in most of the major clubs in N.Y.C., including The Blue Note, Sweet Basil, Fat Tuesday’s, The Village Gate, Visiones and The Rainbow Room. She has toured the U.S. A. in concerts and festivals with several major jazz orchestras, including those led by Larry ELGART and Peter DUCHIN with whom she performed at the WHITE HOUSE.. She has given concerts celebrating the songs of George GERSHWIN, Cole PORTER and Irving BERLIN.

Internationally, Ms. NIEMACK began by singing in ITALY at the PISA Jazz Festival in 1982 and has since appeared in AUSTRIA, BELGIUM, CANADA, CHILE, CHINA, DENMARK, ESTONIA, FINLAND, FRANCE, GERMANY, HOLLAND, ITALY, JAPAN, the PHILIPPINES, RUMANIA, SPAIN and POLAND.

Judy is currently performing in jazz clubs, concerts and festivals in Europe and the United States. She now lives in New York City and Berlin, heading the Pop/Jazz vocal department at the Hanns Eisler Music Conservatory as Germany’s first Professor of Vocal Jazz.

Some of the musicians she has performed with are: Toots THIELEMANS, David BYRNE, George BENSON, James MOODY, Lee KONITZ, Clark TERRY, Dave BRUBECK, Lew TABACKIN, Warne MARSH, Gary BARTZ, Kenny BARRON, Billy HIGGINS, Cedar WALTON, Ray DRUMMOND, Joey BARON, Fred HERSCH, Billy HART, Victor LEWIS, Kenny WERNER, Hein van de GEYN, Jim Mc NEELY, Joe LOVANO, Adam NUSSBAUM, Jeanfrançois PRINS, Kirk NUROCK, Michel HERR, Steve KUHN, Mark FELDMAN, Eddie GOMEZ, Harvie SWARTZ, Kirk LIGHTSEY and the New York VOICES.

Recent performances include: “JAZZKAAR” Festival (ESTONIA), “Jazz sous les Pommiers”, Avignon Jazz Festival, ALBI Jazz, Le Mans, Calvi Jazz Festival, Jazz A Cluny (FRANCE); Middleheim Jazz Festival, Concert with Toots Thielemans at the “Botanique” Brussels Jazz Rallye (BELGIUM); “Save Venice Ball” (ITALY); W.D.R. Big Band with Jim Mc NEELY, Hessicher Rundfunk Big Band, and RIAS Big Band (GERMANY); Tour in JAPAN with Ronnie MATHEWS, Albert “TOOTIE” HEATH, and Ray DRUMMOND; NEW YORK’s BLUE NOTE Jazz Club; STANFORD Jazz Festival (USA).

Lyrics

Ms. NIEMACK has written and recorded several of her own compositions (You’ve Taken Things too Far, Wondering, Ice White Blues, …), and has written original lyrics to many other musicians’ compositions, becoming an official lyricist for: Pat METHENY (It’s Just Talk), Thelonious MONK (Misterioso), Lee KONITZ (Round & Round & Round, Chick Came Around), Bill EVANS (Interplay), Clifford BROWN (Daahoud), Don GROLNICK (Talking To Myself), Mike STERN (Choices), Larry SCHNEIDER (Tomato Kiss), Kirk NUROCK (Rain, Silence of My Soul, Moving On, Love Finds A Way), Jeanfrançois PRINS (New York Stories, Love Will Grow), Steve SLAGLE (Tudo Muda, Just For Now), Richie BEIRACH (Leaving), Richie POWELL (Time).

Discography

as a leader:

“BY HEART” (feat. Warne MARSH, Eddie GOMEZ). SEABREEZE Rec. 1978
“BLUE BOP” (feat. Cedar WALTON, Curtis FULLER, Ray DRUMMOND, Joey BARON). FREELANCE Rec. 1988
“LONG AS YOU’RE LIVING” (feat. Joe LOVANO, Fred HERSCH, Billy HART). FREELANCE Rec. 1990
“HEART’S DESIRE” duet with Kenny BARRON. STASH Rec. 1991
“STRAIGHT UP” (feat. Toots THIELEMANS, Kenny WERNER, Adam NUSSBAUM, Mark FELDMAN, Jeanfrançois PRINS). FREELANCE Rec. 1993
“MINGUS, MONK AND MAL” duet with Mal WALDRON. FREELANCE Rec1994
“… NIGHT AND THE MUSIC …” (feat. Jeanfrançois PRINS, Kenny WERNER, Ray
DRUMMOND, Billy HART, Eric FRIEDLANDER). FREELANCE Rec 1996
“ABOUT TIME” (feat. Eddie GOMEZ, Jeanfrançois PRINS, Lee KONITZ, David FRIEDMAN, CAFE). SONY JAZZ 2003
TERRASSA BIG BAND Feat. JUDY NIEMACK “WHAT’S GOIN’ ON?”
“BLUE NIGHTS” (coming in April 07!) (feat. Jeanfrançois PRINS, Jim MCNEELY, Dennis IRWIN, Victor LEWIS, Gary BARTZ, Don SICKLER) BLUJAZZ RECORDS 2007

as a guest (selected discography):

“BEAUTY AND THE PRINCE” with Jeanfrançois PRINS (featuring Fred HERSCH, Hein van de GEYN, Bruno CASTELLUCCI). AMC 1993
“RHAPSODY” vol 1 and 2 with Lee KONITZ. PADDLE WHEEL 1993
“THE OTHER SIDE OF WALTER BOEYKENS” Distr. by SONY 1994

Education

Judy NIEMACK is very active in the world of jazz education, and has given master classes around the world in conjunction with her tours. In the U.S.A., she has given workshops and lessons at the New School for Jazz, (N.Y.C.) William PATTERSON University (N.J.), University of NewYork at Purchase (N.Y.), LONG ISLAND University and NewYork City College.

She also has taught in:
FINLAND : SIBELIUS Academy of Music
POLAND : Summer Vocal Jazz Camp
BELGIUM : DWORP Summer Jazz Workshop, Royal Conservatory ANTWERPEN
GERMANY : BERLIN Hochschule Der Kunste, Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler, BUJAZZ-O Big Band Workshop, MUNICH PrinzregentenTheater, INZIGHOVEN Vocal Jazz .
HOLLAND : Conservatories in DEN HAAG, ROTTERDAM, HILVERSUM and ARNHEM.
DENMARK : COPENHAGEN Rhythmic Conservatory, AARHUS Jazz Program
ITALY : PISA Jazz Vocal Workshop
SPAIN: ESMUC Music Conservatory-BARCELONA, MUSIKENE Music Conservatory-SAN SEBASTIAN
From September 1993 until June 1995, she was on the Jazz Faculty at the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp, Belgium, and a Guest Professor at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague, Holland.
From September 1994 until June 1996, she was Professor of Vocal Jazz at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels, Belgium.
In Oct. 1995, she became the first Vocal Jazz Professor in Germany, leading the Vocal Dept. of the Jazz and Popular Dept. of the Hanns Eisler Music Conservatory in Berlin.
Every summer since 1990, she has been on the faculty of the Janice Borla Vocal Jazz Camp in CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.
Sept. 2003-present: Professor of Vocal Jazz, Musikene Conservatory, San Sebastian, Spain.

Teaching Background:

1980: Began teaching privately in New York City
1980-82: Taught Vocal Jazz at NEW YORK SCHOOL OF JAZZ in Port Washington
1982-86: “Improvisation for Singers” clinics at NEW YORK CITY COLLEGE, NEW YORK NETWORK FOR LEARNING, and at JAZZ FESTIVAL OF PISA, Italy.
1984-87: “Adjunct Professsor, Vocal Jazz” at LONG ISLAND UNIVERSITY, Brooklyn, New York, also teaching at WILLIAM PATTERSON UNIVERSITY, Wayne, New Jersey.
1989-92: Continued private teaching in N.Y.C., Gave workshops for singers in HOLLAND, GERMANY, BELGIUM, POLAND, FINLAND, and DENMARK.
1990- Present: Teacher every summer at JANICE BORLA VOCAL JAZZ CAMP, Naperville, Illinois, Workshops at THE NEW SCHOOL, N.Y.C., New York.
1991- Recorded “Jazz Singers’ Practice Tape” in New York City.
1992-1995: “Guest Professor, Voice” at the ROYAL CONSERVATORY OF THE HAGUE, Holland; “Vocal Jazz” and “Voice” teacher at the ROYAL CONSERVATORY OF ANTWERP, Belgium.
1994-1996: “Professor of Voice, Jazz” , ROYAL CONSERVATORY OF BRUSSELS, Belgium.
1994- Present: Jazz voice and vocal-group teacher for Peter Herbolzheimer’s BUJAZZ-O in Germany.
1995- Present: “Professor of Voice, Jazz” , Hanns EISLER Hochschule für Musik in BERLIN.
2003- Present: “Professor of Vocal Jazz”, MUSIKENE Conservatory, SAN SEBASTIAN, SPAIN.

Logarithmic History and the Music of “The Simpsons”
Durrell Bowman, Ph.D.; IASPM-US, 2006

The animated-and often satirical-television show “The Simpsons” emerged as a half-hour weekly series in December of 1989. Its highly differentiated characters and storylines provide a wealth of source material for addressing various worldviews and situations. The show has won numerous awards, while also garnering a fairly heavy amount of scholarly attention-including books on philosophy, religion, ideology, and sociology. However, “The Simpsons” also provides a very rich site for potentially developing the musical/cultural literacy of its viewers. Over the course of about 365 episodes, the creative team of “The Simpsons” has used music in five primary ways: (1) over 700 references to existing, “external” music; (2) about 250 uses of original songs and/or lyrics (including brief fragments); (3) several dozen opening- and end-title variations of the show’s main theme, (4) probably at least 5,000 background instrumental music cues, and (5) over 100 musicians as special guests. On page 2 of the handout (included at the end of this version of the paper), I list these musicians-who comprise a substantial 28% of the show’s guests. However, to stress an irreverent attitude to the music industry, the show has lambasted the Grammy Awards a number of times.

Music in “The Simpsons” inscribes an update of the way music functioned culturally in the classic short cartoons of the 1940s, ’50s, and early ’60s. Millions of people heard pop song standards, jazz, opera, and/or classical music for the first time when these cartoons appeared on television in the 1970s and ’80s. In the 1990s and 2000s, a similar number of people heard certain types of music for the first time on “The Simpsons.” The show has facilitated a broad exposure to music. However, I am less certain about the extent to which most of the show’s viewers would necessarily understand the majority of its extremely wide uses of-and contexts for-music.

The show’s music includes Danny Elfman’s quirky, largely-orchestral theme from 1989. It channels the style of classic, 1960s’ “fun” themes for primetime animated TV shows-such as “The Flintstones” and “The Jetsons.” However, it also relates to his own past of elaborate compositional arrangements as leader of the Los Angeles-based group Oingo Boingo. Here’s an excerpt from Boingo’s 1981 “new wave” rock song “Nasty Habits,” written and sung by Elfman. The song’s modal, gestural, and orchestrational aspects strongly suggest that he had already fully formed his style by the very early 1980s-and that he later only re-applied it to television and film music. [play] Elfman’s “Simpsons” theme, though ubiquitous, is his sole contribution to the music of “The Simpsons.” However, you may remember the show’s similar continuity with earlier television music from such episodes as 1993’s “Marge vs. the Monorail.” It includes an homage to the 1960 opening-titles theme of “The Flintstones.” [play] Similarly, the 1997 episode “Lisa’s Sax” includes an homage to the 1970 opening-titles theme of the TV sitcom “All in the Family.” Specifically, it transfers Archie and Edith’s nostalgia for the 1930s and ’40s from the point-of-view of the 1970s to Homer and Marge’s nostalgia for the 1970s from the point-of-view of the 1990s. Their personalities and voices also fit perfectly. [Read the entire article here.]

Durrell Bowman
Ph.D. in Musicology (UCLA, 2003)
Lecturer in Musicology (UCLA, 2007-08)
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