THE CONFERENCE

OF THE BIRDS

Jonathan Sheffer

 

OVERVIEW

 

Depicting 12th-century Persian poet Farid ud-Din Attar’s dramatic narrative, New York-based composer and GRAMMY-nominated conductor Jonathan Sheffer presents his orchestral work The Conference of the Birds, commissioned for the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, on Navona Records. Attar’s poem of the same name is a journey of transformation and conviction, in which the birds of the world seek to find an illustrious leader, ultimately ending with new insight into their spiritual identities. The allegory portrays our own doubts, fears, and faults, how we confront these issues, and how we seek to understand identity and our relationships with other humans, the natural world, and what lies beyond.

 

Masterfully performed by the Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Sheffer himself, the music illustrates several events in the poem: the Hoopoe's assembly of the birds, with their uncontrolled chatter; the birds’ individual arguments, revealed in a series of refusals to embark on the spiritual journey; the difficulties of the journey itself; the final arrival at the Simorgh’s court; and the transcending conclusion to their quest.

 

​

HIGHLIGHTS

 

Sheffer's range of works comprises television and feature film scores, works for orchestra, solo piano, concerti, musicals, and short operas

 

The focus of a Guggenheim Works & Process series event in October 1999, Sheffer’s opera Blood on the Dining Room Floor, which uses text from Gertrude Stein, received the Richard Rodg ers Production Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and was produced off-Broadway in 2000

 

Sheffer has had fellowships at both Yaddo and The MacDowell Colony, and in 2003 was a Visiting Artist at the American Academy in Rome

 

He has continued his film scoring career, finding himself in demand for movies with a colorful, dramatic element. These included work on Omen IV, Bloodhounds of Broadway, Darkman (a collaboration with Danny Elfman), In a Shallow Grave, Alien 3, Interview with the Vampire, Michael Collins, Sphere, Batman Forever, and Batman and Robin as well as the recent documentaries, HBO’s Mann v. Ford (2010) and The Decent One (2014)

 

His symphonic conducting debut was in 1991 with the San Diego Symphony Orchestra. In 1992 he was assistant to Michael Tilson Thomas at both L'Orchestre National de France and the London Symphony Orchestra

 

In 1995 Sheffer founded Eos Orchestra, an innovative organization which specializes in new and neglected music. Eos concerts were featured frequently on NPR’s Performance Today, and in 1999 Sheffer conducted Eos at a ceremony held at the White House for the presentation of the National Medal of Arts and Humanities

 

Sheffer and Eos Orchestra received a GRAMMY nomination for their collection of rare film music by Aaron Copland, Celluloid Copland, as well as recorded for a PBS program on Aaron Copland for broadcast in November 2000

 

Sheffer has conducted the American Ballet Theatre at the Metropolitan Opera, as well as the Brooklyn Philharmonic, in 1997 performances of the Mark Morris Dance Company at Brooklyn Academy of Music. In 1996, he led the Scottish Chamber Orchestra with the Martha Graham Dance Company at the Edinburgh Festival

 

Sheffer graduated from Harvard University and later attended The Juilliard School and Aspen School of Music. His teachers included Leonard Bernstein, Jay Gottlieb, and Leon Kirchner

 

​

BIOGRAPHY

 

Composer and conductor Jonathan Sheffer has had diverse career in music, spanning the worlds of classical, opera, dance, and film and television. Born in New York City, Mr. Sheffer graduated from Harvard University, where his teachers included Leonard Bernstein, and later attended The Julliard Extension School and the Aspen School of Music.

 

Mr. Sheffer’s range of works comprises television and feature film scores, works for orchestra, solo piano, concertos, musicals, and short operas. In addition to several scores for Hollywood films, including Encino Man, Pure Luck, A Shallow Grave and others, his most recent films include the documentaries Mann v. Ford (HBO) and the German/Israeli film, The Decent One, which premiered at the Berlin Film Festival. He has also served as conductor for many major films, including Alien 3, Batman Forever, Batman & Robin, Batman Returns, Interview With The Vampire, Across The Universe, and many more.

 

His most recent orchestral commission was a work for children, The Conference of the Birds, which had its premiere in 2014 at the Cabrillo Festival, conducted by Marin Alsop. His opera, Blood on the Dining Room Floor, produced off-Broadway in 2000 and revived several times since, received the Richard Rodgers Production Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and was the focus of a Guggenheim Works & Process series event. He has had fellowships at both Yaddo and The MacDowell Colony, and in 2003 he was a Visiting Artist at the American Academy in Rome.

 

 

Mr. Sheffer made his conducting debut with the San Diego Symphony in 1991. In 1995 in he founded the Eos Orchestra in New York, receiving an ASCAP Adventurous Programming Award as a laboratory of new programming ideas. Eos toured nationally, performed at the White House and was the focus of a PBS Special, and the recipient of a Grammy nomination. In 2001, he was invited by a group of musicians and arts donors from Cleveland to lead a new organization with a similar mission. The result was Red {an orchestra}, which performed similar programs for six seasons.

 

In addition to Eos and Red, he has conducted orchestras, opera, dance and at various festivals, including the New York City Opera, The Spoleto Festival (Italy), and the Ravinia Festival. Mr. Sheffer has conducted the American Ballet Theatre at the Metropolitan Opera, the Mark Morris Dance Company at BAM, and in 1996, he led the Scottish Chamber Orchestra with the Martha Graham Dance Company at the Edinburgh Festival.

 

As part of his activities in arts and culture philanthropy and political action, Mr. Sheffer has been an active political fundraiser and advocate for the arts in government. He has served on the board of Directors of VH1 Save The Music, the New York City Opera, and was the appointee of the New York City Council to the Board of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. He is currently a Councilmember of the New York State Council on the Arts.

 

jonathansheffer.com

 

Release Date: April 8, 2016

Catalog #: NV6037

 

​

 

TRACK TITLES

 

1 THE CONFERENCE OF THE BIRDS Jonathan Sheffer

Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra | Jonathan Sheffer, conductor

Based on the poem by Farid ud-Din

Joyce DiDonato, narrator

 

2 THE CONFERENCE OF THE BIRDS (version without narration) Jonathan Sheffer

​

 

CREDITS

 

Recorded June 8 & 9, 2015 at Reduta Hall in Olomouc, Czech Republic

Producer Vit Mužík

Engineer Zdenek Slavotínek

 

Album art by Billy Sullivan

Hummingbirds (2000),

Pastel and ink on paper 15.5 x 25 in. (39.4 x 63.5 cm)

 

Executive Producer  Bob Lord

Audio Director  Jeff LeRoy

Editing, Mixing & Mastering Shawn Michaud, Nate Hunter

Session Manager Matt Konrad

Art & Production Director Brett Picknell

Graphic Designers Ryan Harrison, Emily Roulo

A&R Brandon MacNeil

Marketing Specialist Morgan MacLeod

​

 

ALSO ON NAVONA RECORDS

 

Concerto for

Soprano

Saxophone &

Orchestra

 

Jonathan Sheffer

 

(NV6032)