But the big winner yesterday was winter morning walks, composer and jazz band leader maria schneider s sumptuously scored yet intimate song cycle of poems by ted kooser sung by soprano dawn upshaw. We meet composer maria schneider and soprano dawn upshaw as upshaw and the new jersey symphony orchestra perform winter. Schneider s music perfectly captures the mood of these writings, and is supplanted by dawn upshaw s radiant singing, almost ecstatic utterances that give primary and forceful precedence to the melodic line, while a lot of the movement of the music actually occurs way underneath in the orchestra. Winter morning walks, an album featuring jazz composer maria schneider and soprano dawn upshaw, revolves around meditations on nature. It was there that i first heard of her and her composition walking by flashlight sung by renee fleming it was stunning. New music shines at classical grammy awards wbur news. Soprano dawn upshaw and composer maria schneider both grammy winners have collaborated on a new album called winter morning walks, based on poetry. The album won grammy award for best classical contemporary composition and grammy award for best engineered album, classical in 2014 reception. Perfectly still this solstice morning maria schneider. Selection from spring, the sky rippled with geese, from the album winter morning walks heres maria. I listened to a 3minute youtube sample and it sounded great. Performing works by female composers has always been one of my passions, and maria schneider s winter morning walkswith soloist dawn upshaw is a particularly touching piece, based on poems former us poet laureate ted kooser wrote while undergoing cancer treatments. I was also surprised, happily so, to see that the large project, featuring not one but two orchestras, had been fanfunded through artistshare dawn upshaw is a mcarthur fellow, schneider a multiple grammy winner, and dawn upshaw is up there at the top of all current mezzosopranos. Dawn upshaw and maria schneider, winter morning walks artistshare.
Maria schneider, american composer and conductor who was instrumental in revitalizing the popularity of big band music in the 21st century by enlivening modern classical arrangements with unique melodies written to the strengths of the musicians within her ensemble, works that she referred to. The official top 40 bestselling vinyl albums and singles of 2020 so far. When you feel the geese coming north and just the littlest buds coming out, and the sound of the dripping. The best jazz albums of 20, as selected by fred kaplan. Schermer, published on april 3, 2014 at all about jazz. Soprano dawn upshaw and composer maria schneider joined forces to create an album titled winter morning walks, which has been nominated for three grammy awards this year.
Maria schneider on her fanfunded, grammywinning winter. Spring, the sky rippled with geese with maria schneider. Maria schneider has been at the top of the jazz world for years. Xian zhang conductor dawn upshaw soprano pictured jay anderson bass frank kimbrough piano scott robinson clarinet new jersey symphony orchestra. Maria schneider s left her band at home in the us and is here to work with the jazzgroove mothership orchestra at the 20 melbourne international jazz festival. Perhaps even more stunning is this album winter morning walks performed by dawn upshaw and two chamber orchestras. Dawn upshaw born july 17, 1960 is an american soprano.
The recipient of several grammy awards and edison prizewinning discs, she performs both opera and art song, and in repertoire from baroque to contemporary. Maria schneider, my wife and i walk the cold roads to poetry by ted kooser performed by dawn upshaw with the australian chamber orchestra this segment aired on december 9, 20. Yet, when spco artistic partner dawn upshaw approached her about writing a piece for her to perform with the spco, schneider came up with a bunch of reasons why she. Abdullah ibrahim, bob dorough, maria schneider, stanley crouch.
Jazz influences and brazilian poetry come to the spco. The album won grammy award for best classical contemporary composition. Vincent plush of the australian wrote schneider s music hails from the glorious american tradition of songsetting from gershwin to sondheim, framed in the open prairie. Maria schneider, american composer and conductor who was instrumental in. Sunday nights grammy awards werent exactly chockablock with edgy, surprising moments. Maria schneider s album winter morning walks written for dawn upshaw came out as the biggest winner. Dawn upshaws voice is a modern miracle, and her use of it is no less artistic as it is. The cd is an artistowned collective based in new york. Paul chamber orchestra, won three grammy awards, including best contemporary. Try disabling any ad blockers and refreshing this page. Winter morning walks, an album featuring jazz composer maria schneider and s oprano dawn upshaw, revolves around meditations on nature and beauty by former u. Morning edition for april 1, 20 hear the morning edition program for. Her most recent grammy was the 2014 best classical vocal solo grammy for maria schneider s winter morning walks on the artistshare label. Maria schneider finds inspiration in her minnesota roots.
Dawn upshaw and maria schneider on winter morning walks. Ted kooser, dawn upshaw, and maria schneider have all fought cancer. He was a featured performer along with frank kimbrough and scott robinson with the australian chamber orchestra featuring soprano dawn upshaw. Her song cycle, winter morning walks, features idiomatic vocal writing that wouldnt be out of place in the great american songbook, the canny theatrical sense of sondheim, and illustrative text settings that would be perfect for a broadway stage. Maria schneider, to poetry by ted kooser my wife and i walk the cold roads performed by dawn upshaw with the australian chamber orchestra this segment aired on march 11, 20. How important it must be, that was most meaningful that night. Dawn s sister dana lost her battle with cancer shortly after hearing these songs performed for the very first time. Download article as pdfby daniel hautzinger maria schneider should write a musical.
Deceptive cadence winter morning walks, an album featuring jazz composer maria schneider and soprano dawn upshaw. Dawn upshaw holds honorary doctorate degrees from yale, the manhattan school of music, the juilliard school, allegheny college, and illinois wesleyan university. Winter morning walks is a studio album by maria schneider and dawn upshaw. Its her first album since 20s winter morning walks, a collaboration with soprano dawn upshaw, and it comes eight years after sky blue, schneider s last album with her ensemble the maria. The other is a hidef computer download that randomly mixes the work so that, in keeping with cages interest in indeterminacy, you hear something different each time you play it. The windom native has won two grammys including for her album concert in the garden. Schneider s lyrical melodies intuit the essence of each poem, complemented by the. Many composers, including henri dutilleux, osvaldo golijov, john harbison, esapekka salonen, john adams, and kaija saariaho, have written for her. We meet composer maria schneider and soprano dawn upshaw as upshaw and the new jersey symphony orchestra perform winter morning walks, schneider s grammy awardwinning songcycle based on poems by. Deceptive cadence in this years grammy awards, the classical music was as new as the pop. Rochester international jazz festival june 1927, 2020.
Its schneider s first foray into classical music shes a jazz artist and while its not the most cuttingedge composition, there seemed to be many beautiful moments in there worth. Then, with singer dawn upshaw, jazz composer maria schneider, put the poem to music. Five things worth a replay at the grammy awards music. Their recording of maria schneider s winter morning walks won 2014 grammy awards for best contemporary classical composition maria schneider, best classical vocal solo dawn upshaw and best. Maria schneider, residency from march 2830, with a concert march 30 of schneider conducting the jazz lab i band performing her compositions. Scott robinson alto clarinet, jay anderson double bass and frank kimbrough piano perform a pared back rendition of maria schneider s walking by flashlight from her four time grammy award.
Dawn upshaw performs works by maria schneider and mahler. Maria schneiders recording features soprano, dawn upshaw, the australian chamber orchestra, the saint paul chamber orchestra, frank. Vocal superstar dawn upshaw, recital march 18 at 8 p. Maria schneider possesses deep and inexhaustible inner sources of inspiration that attract. In this 20 leonard lopate show interview, soprano dawn upshaw and composer maria schneider talk about their grammywinning. See each 2019 nea jazz master tribute and speech by clicking the following links. April 1, 20 winter morning walks, an album featuring jazz composer maria schneider and soprano dawn upshaw, revolves around meditations on nature and beauty by former u. Soprano dawn upshaw and composer maria schneider make. The thompson fields mixes prairie dreaming with a bigband beat composer maria schneider draws on her rural minnesota roots in her new album. Maria schneider was just honored at the kennedy center as a 2019 nea jazz master. Jazz, classical and poetry join forces in this captivating cycle of nine songs on poetry of united states poet laureate ted kooser. Jazz composer maria schneider left and soprano dawn upshaw collaborated on the new album winter morning. But there were a few moments that made it worth dvring downton abbey in favor of watching the music.
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