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120 Claremont Avenue
New York, New York
10027–4698
917 493 4429 tel
212 749 7561 fax
www.msmnyc.edu
Office of Public
Relations
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: October 21, 2011
Contact: Debra Kinzler
Phone: 917 493 4469 (office)
347 574 2155 (cell)
Email: dkinzler@msmnyc.edu
MANHATTAN SCHOOL OF MUSIC
BRASS ORCHESTRA Meets PERCUSSION ENSEMBLE
Mark Gould and Jeffrey Milarsky, Directors
Brian McWhorter, Guest Trumpet Soloist
Wednesday, November 2 at 7:30 p.m. in Borden Auditorium
Featured will be Two World Premieres:
Erik Saras and John-Morgan Bush’s “Danzas de las Almas”
Erik Saras’s arrangement of Ligeti’s “Mysteries of the Macabre”
Other featured works will be Steve Reich “Drumming Part 1” and “Nagoya Marimbas”;
Keenil Makan’s “Gather”; “Double Music” by John Cage and Lou Harrison and
Erik Saras’s arrangement of Respighi’s “Fest romane”
The Manhattan School of Music Brass Orchestra Meets the MSM Percussion Ensemble
on Wednesday, November 2 at 7:30 p.m. in the School’s John C. Borden Auditorium.
Mark Gould and Jeffrey Milarsky collaborate to present a program that will include:
Steve Reich “Drumming Part 1” (1971) and “Nagoya Marimbas” (1994)
Erik Saras/John Morgan Bush “Danzas de las Almas” (World Premiere)
Gyorgy Ligeti “Mysteries of the Macabre” (1991) arr. by Erik Saras (World Premeire)
Brian McWhorter, Trumpet
Keenil Makan “Gather” (2007)
John Cage/Lou Harrison “Double Music” (1941
Ottorino Respighi “Fest romane” (Roman Festivals) (1928) arr. by Erik Saras
The Danzas de las Almas (Dance of the Souls), which will be receiving its world premiere at
this performance, is a first time collaboration for two MSM students -- John Morgan Bush,
second prize winner of the International Horn Society’s competition and a master of music
degree recipient at MSM, and Trombonist Erik Saras. The two musicians sought to create
a programmatic piece with this composition, where story-telling and music go together in
a seamless fashion. The work follows Wagner’s vision of gesamptkunstwerk (or total art) and
the two composers wrote the work hoping to engage the audience through dramatic devices,
original text, narrative orchestration, and newly composed music. Danzas de las Almas was
composed in honor of All Saints’ Day which hails on November 2nd.

This is a FREE concert and tickets are not required. For information, contact the Manhattan School of Music
Concert Office at 917 493 4428 or visit www.msmnyc.edu. MSM is located on the northwest corner at Broadway
and 122nd Street.
Mark Gould, Director of MSM’s Brass Orchestra, is one of the best known trumpeters of his generation. He held
the position of principal trumpet of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra from 1974 – 2003 and has been on the faculty
of Manhattan School of Music since 2004 and Juilliard since 1982. Mr. Gould has conducted and performed
as soloist with the Seattle Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Colorado Philharmonic, Buffalo Symphony, the Juilliard
Wind Ensemble, the Waterloo Festival, the Caramoor Festival and the Vermont Mozart Festival Orchestra. In
2004, he made his conducting debut with the Manhattan School of Music Wind Ensemble in a program of Stravinsky,
Antheil and Frank Zappa. Mark Gould has led an active life in chamber music and is the director of the New
York Trumpet Ensemble. He has been a frequent guest with Speculum Musicae, The Chamber Music Society of
Lincoln Center, The MET Chamber Ensemble, Empire Brass, Canadian Brass, Summit Brass, The Graham Ashton
Brass Ensemble and the Extension Ensemble. As principal trumpet of the MET Orchestra, Mr. Gould participated
in more than 40 “Live from Lincoln Center” performances and numerous audio recordings, including the Grammy
winning recordings of The Ring of the Nibelung and Parsifal for Deutsche Grammophon.
Jeffrey Milarsky, known for his impeccable musicianship and innovative programming, particularly of contemporary
music, is one of the leading conductors of contemporary music in New York City. He has premiered and
recorded works by composers including Charles Wuorinen, Fred Lerdahl, Milton Babbitt, Elliott Carter, Jonathan
Dawe, Luigi Nono, Mario Davidovsky and Wolfgang Rihm, among others, and has conducted such groups as the
American Composers Orchestra, the Milwaukee Symphony, the New York New Music Ensemble, the Chamber
Music Society of Lincoln Center, Speculum Musicae, and Norway’s Bergen Philharmonic. Milarsky is the music
director and conductor of the Columbia University Orchestra, as well as the Columbia-based Manhattan Sinfonietta,
an ensemble focusing on 20th and 21st century scores. In addition, he leads AXIOM, Juilliard’s acclaimed
contemporary music ensemble. A sought-after timpanist and percussionist, Milarsky is principal timpanist of the
Santa Fe Opera. At Manhattan School of Music he serves as Chair and Artistic Director of MSM’s Contemporary
Performance Program and Artistic Director/ Conductor of the Percussion Ensemble.
Brian McWhorter is associate professor of Trumpet at the University of Oregon and also serves as co-artistic director
of Beta Collide, a new music group whose debut album was described as one of the top classical albums of
2010. He has worked with many of the leading contemporary ensembles in the U.S. including Third Angle, Sequitur,
Ensemble Sospeso, Continuum and the Meridian Arts Ensemble (2001 – 2010). Mr. McWhorter has worked
extensively with brass chamber groups including the Oregon Brass Quintet, Extension Ensemble, Manhattan Brass
Quintet and the American Brass Quintet, and has been a featured soloist at such venues as the Festival of New
Trumpet (New York) and Bargemusic. Brian McWhorter earned his bachelor of music degree from the University
of Oregon and a master of music degree from The Juilliard School.
Erik Saras received his bachelor of music degree from Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music and is currently
a master of music degree candidate in classical trombone at Manhattan School of Music. An active composer
and arranger, he has received commissions from such ensembles as the North Shore Concert Band, and Patriot Brass
Ensemble. In addition, Mr. Saras performs frequently as a classical trombonist with several ensembles in New York
City. He also remains an active player and composer for the Obsidian Brass Quintet, which he co-founded in 2007
at Northwestern.
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