Meet The Composers of Water Music
May 28, 2018
Water Music – one of the four Anchor Performances at MMB 2018 – is a site-specific, environmental work inspired by the Charles River.
Directed by Maria Finkelmeier, four Boston-based composers have been commissioned to create a piece for 50 brass players, percussionists, and singers.
The performers will be placed along the Esplanade walkway, and the new works will be performed at sunset on the Summer Solstice. Listeners will each create their own experience by walking within and around the performers themselves.
Below are the five composers who will turn the vision for Water Music into a reality on June 21st.
Neil Parsons
Neil is a bass trombonist and collaborative performance artist best-known for combining music, dance, and theatre in original hybrid artworks. He has composed for The Fourth Wall, Windfall Dancers, Too Many Trombones, and his own solo recitals. In 2014, Parsons and bass trombonist Gabriel Langfur co-founded Too Many Trombones, a group which amasses skilled professional, amateur, and student trombonists from the Greater Boston area to perform for community arts events. The ensemble premiered his composition “Redshift” at the 2015 Illuminus Festival. Parsons is a graduate of Interlochen Arts Academy and Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where he declared an individual major in Interdisciplinary Performance & Education, and holds a Master of Music in Contemporary Classical Music Performance from Boston Conservatory at Berklee.
Keep up with Neil:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/c.neil.parsons
Website: www.cneilparsons.com
Marti Epstein
Marti is a Cambridge-based composer who was born in Colorado, raised in Nebraska, and who has lived in the Boston area since 1982. Her music is generally slow-paced, and her biggest influences are Morton Feldman and Toru Takemitsu. She is also a devoted teacher, pianist, and hockey mom.
Keep up with Marti:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/marti.epstein
Website: www.marti-epstein.squarespace.com
Anthony R. Green
Anthony is a composer, performer, and social justice activist. His work includes musical and visual creations, interpretations, collaborations, educational outreach, and more. Behind all his artistic endeavors are the ideals of equality and freedom. His 100+ works have been heard in over 20 countries by various soloists and ensembles, including Dame Evelyn Glennie and Alarm Will Sound, and he has performed as a pianist, experimental vocalist, and conductor in 8 countries. He is also the associate artistic director of Boston-based Castle of our Skins, which celebrates Black artistry through music.
Keep up with Anthony:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/piargno84
Website: www.anthonyrgreen.com
Manuel García Albornoz
Manuel is an Ecuadorian composer. He has lived and worked in Quito, Buenos Aires, Barcelona and Boston. His music has been performed by different contemporary music groups in Boston such as Transient Canvas and the Boston Conservatory’s Contemporary Music Ensemble. He currently resides in Boston and works as a music educator as well as a composer.
Maria Finkelmeier
Named a “one-woman dynamo” by The Boston Globe, Maria Finkelmeier is a percussionist, composer, educator, and arts entrepreneur based in Boston, Massachusetts. Maria is founder and director of Kadence Arts, a non-profit devoted to incubating artistic projects, curating performances, and engaging local communities through music making. Dedicated to shaping the next generation of performers and arts administrators, Maria is a lecturer at Northeastern University’s Music Industry Leadership program, and from 2012 – 2015 she served as the program manager of the Entrepreneurial Musicianship Department at New England Conservatory. Prior to rooting in New England, Maria spent three years in Northern Sweden at the Piteå Institution for Music and Media as an artist in residence.
Keep up with Maria:
Twitter: www.twitter.com/mariafinkperc
Instagram: www.instagram.com/mariafinkperc
Website: www.mariafinkelmeier.com
Water Music takes place on Thursday, June 21st at 7:30pm along the Charles River Esplanade. RSVP to the event here.