‘Music of Our Time’ features local composers

NARROWSBURG, NY — The Delaware Valley Chamber Orchestra presents its 15th annual “Music of Our Time” concert on Saturday, November 1 at 7:30 p.m. at the Tusten Theatre, 210 Bridge Street. This year’s concert celebrates the 60th birthdays of composers Thurman Barker of Jeffersonville and Sergio García-Marruz of Roscoe. Both composers have written compositions especially for this occasion.

This year will also include a work written by high school band members of Livingston Manor Central School, emanating from a series of composition workshops led by composer/flutist/Delaware Valley Opera (DVO) general manager Carolyn Steinberg, with the assistance of the bandleader, flutist Christina Desmond. The piece will be based on Edgard Varese’s definition of music as “organized sound.”

Barker teaches percussion and jazz at Bard College and is a well-known jazz drummer. His new composition, “Memories of Things Past,” scored for woodwind quintet and vibraphone, combines classical notation with jazz elements such as improvisation. Barker plays the vibraphone part.

In his composition “Estampas Cubanas,” written for the full orchestra, Garcia-Marruz draws on his deep knowledge of Cuban rhythms, presenting classic patterns such as “clave” in both traditional and innovative ways.

Sweet Plantain string quartet will join Delaware Valley Chamber Orchestra as special guests artists. The group specializes in genre-blurring, original compositions and arrangements as well as contemporary works by Latin American composers. Its unique style fuses Latin, classical, jazz and improvisational forms.

Violinist Eddie Venegas’s composition for string quartet, “Danzon,” a masterful combination of Latin rhythms, classical techniques and improvisation, will also be performed. In Carolyn Steinberg’s composition, “The Jester and the Necklace,” Venegas and the drummer Chacho Ramirez take solos, improvise in duet and return to the written page. This composition is based on a West African rhythm called Kotedjuga, which is not only a rhythm, but also a social group and a story. The Kotedjuga played the role of clowns or jesters at social gatherings such as weddings or parties. While narrating a story on one level, the piece explores the central rhythm and integrates improvisation into a classical setting.

Tickets cost $12. There is a $2 discount for Delaware Valley Arts Alliance and DVO members for purchases in advance. For more information call 845/252-3136 or 845/252-7272.