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Wisconsin Soundscapes
Geoffrey Gordon composer
Joseph Koykkar composer
Ryan Maguire composer
Joel Naumann composer
Yehuda Yannay composer
Donald J. Young composer
Jeri-Mae G. Astolfi piano
On the Ravello Records release WISCONSIN SOUNDSCAPES, pianist Jeri-Mae G. Astolfi performs solo piano works by six Wisconsin composers that highlight people, places, scenes, and events chosen by each composer to create a well-rounded portrait of the state.
Yehuda Yannay's Midwestern Mythologist, a six-movement theater work, is a tribute to the composer's friend Steve Nelson-Raney, a pianist and saxophonist, composer, poet, and visual artist working in Madison and Milwaukee. Donald J. Young's Three Root River Scenes depicts various imagery of Wisconsin's Root River, from pleasant afternoons on the banks near the rolling water to the destructive flooding of the river in 2008. Reflecting on three Wisconsin towns, Geoffrey Gordon's Three Summer Sketches illustrates impressions of the rich and evocative name of Black Earth, the old mining town of Mineral Point, and the theater and cultural center of Spring Green.
Joel Naumann's variation work Wisconsin 2011-2012: The Political Whirlwind is the composer's sonic interpretation of the political turmoil leading up to the June 2012 gubernatorial recall election. Ryan Maguire's Heard, for solo piano uses a reprocessed field recording of a herd of cows in a summer thunderstorm as its thematic material. The three-movement work by Joseph Koykkar, Streets and Bridges, depicts imagery of specific streets and places in Milwaukee from the composer's past including Downer Avenue, Lafayette Place, and Brady Street.
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Artist Information
Joseph Koykkar
Joseph Koykkar is a musician who is at home in a variety of music from classical to avant-garde to rock and blues. As a composer, he has had his music performed nationally and internationally for over the past 30 years. Besides Double Takes and Triple Plays, his music can be heard on ten additional CDs, including an all-Koykkar release on Northeastern Records in 1992. In the past ten years three of his compositions (Out Front, Panache, and Streets and Bridges) have been in contention for a Grammy in the “Best Contemporary Classical Composition” category. He has composed for a variety of media including chamber music, orchestra, music for dance, film/video scores, and electronic/computer music. In addition to composing he is a pianist and conductor. He holds degrees from Indiana University (M.Mus.) and the University of Miami (DMA) and has received grants and awards from such sources as the Pew Charitable Trust for Music, the NEA, Meet the Composer, ASCAP, the American Music Center, the Wisconsin Arts Board and the American Composers Forum.
Jeri-Mae G. Astolfi
Jeri-Mae G. Astolfi is a Canadian-born pianist whose playing has been lauded as “brilliant” (New Music Connoisseur), “persuasive” (Sequenza21), and “beautiful” (American Record Guide). Her repertoire, ranging from the Renaissance era through the present, clearly affirms her keen interest in new music, which has led her to commission and premiere many new solo and collaborative works—music that has been featured on live radio broadcasts and released by Albany Records, Innova Recordings, Ravello Records’ Capstone Collection, Ravello Records, as well as various recordings for the Society of Composers Inc. Performers Recording Series.