Hans Bakker

 

After he had finished his studies in piano, church organ and choral conducting in Utrecht, Hans Bakker (b. 1945) began teaching piano at music schools in two places in the Netherlands. Apart from his teaching practice, he conducted two choirs and was active in the improvisational music scene. His career in music was followed by the study of Sanskrit. After his successful graduation from the University of Amsterdam, he returned to music, becoming completely occupied by teaching at the Globe Center for Art and Culture in the city of Hilversum.

 

Initially, composing was only a minor occupation next to Bakker's other work. Since 1997 it became a daily routine; he wrote a great number of chamber music works and many choir compositions, including the cycle of choirs Praśasti. He composed works for orchestra and six pieces for carillon too. www.beiaardcentrum.com

 

His first Enhanced CD THE UNNAMED SOURCE (2010) features moving performances by the Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra under conductor Vit Micka and an astounding array of its instrumentalists.

 

Later on Bakker’s works have been featured on the Navona releases CD SLICES (2012), CD SEEKING & FINDING (2012) with seven choral works performed by the Kuhn Choir Prague, and CD DANCES OF ETERNITY (2013) with two orchestral works: Canzona L'altra Persona and Canzona II Tribute to the Sun. This was followed by the chamber works compilation CD PINNACLE (2016) (www.navonarecords.com/pinnacle). The penultimate release is the duo album CD LINES TO INFINITY (2017) with composer Peter Greve, that revolves around scores for piano, cello, clarinet and flute: www.navonarecords.com/catalog/nv6070/ The last release was CD TOMORROW’S AIR (2017), which shows that classical music can hit a greater audiens in the 21st century. (www.navonarecords.com/catalog/nv6108/)

 

About his compositions Bakker says:

“20 years ago the source of my music started to flow after I became acquainted with the writings of the German painter and writer Joseph Anton Schneiderfranken, also known as Bô Yin Râ. I believe in the power of artistic beauty and lyricism. In my view music need not necessarily be easy for the ear, but it should be accessible to the mind; and must be able to tune the receptive listener. My intention is to awaken the emotional nature in the listener, so that he/she may come to herself/himself for a moment.

 

Hans Bakker lives in the old city of Amersfoort NL. He sells the majority of his works via MusicaNeo: www.hansbakker.musicaneo.com

Hans Bakker online: Facebook, YouTube

 

 

 

Jan Järvlepp

 

Jan Järvlepp was born in Ottawa, Canada of Estonian and Finnish parents in 1953. He began playing pop guitar at the age of 12 and took up cello in high school at the age of 14. He also learned to play bass guitar and harmonica. At the University of Ottawa, McGill University and the University of California, San Diego he majored in composition while developing his cello playing skills. His composition teachers were Luis de Pablo, Alcides Lanza, Roger Reynolds and Will Ogdon. As his studies progressed, he realized that he was not on the same wavelength as his Modernist composition teachers. Once outside of the university environment, he began composing in a newer postmodern style of neo-tonal music that would not be acceptable among the academics. The result has been a series of refreshing and accessible pieces of music that appeal to a surprisingly wide cross-section of the public.

 

In 1981 Järvlepp returned to Ottawa having completed his doctoral studies in music at UCSD. He joined the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra and has been active as a composer, teacher, freelance cellist, recording technician and as a contractor for chamber music groups. In 1993, the OSO under David Currie performed his Camerata Music to a very receptive audience and in 1996 premiered his percussion concerto, the Garbage Concerto, to a wildly appreciative audience. He has also had a Woodwind Quintet commissioned by the CBC for the well-known Bel Canto Wind Quintet. His quintet Pierrot Solaire was a hit at the Ottawa Chamber Music Festival and has become his most popular chamber music work.

 

Navona Records has previously released a work by Jan Järvlepp. In Memoriam for string orchestra was included on the 2017 release Tomorrow's Air.

 

Jan Järvlepp online: www.janjarvlepp.com, Twitter, Youtube

 

Clive Muncaster

 

Clive Muncaster was born in Sussex, England, on January 24 1936.  At the age of eleven,  Clive was taken to an orchestral concert at The Royal Albert Hall, London, UK.  Clive was so enthralled that he then decided he wanted to become a composer and conductor.  He wrote his first string quartet at the age of 12.  He was accepted into the Royal Academy of Music at the early age of 15 where he studied violin, piano, composition and conducting.   After acquiring his L.R.A.M. diploma, he became assistant conductor of the Worthing Citizen’s Orchestra.  In 1956, he travelled to Munich, Germany, where he continued his studies in composition and piano.  In 1957, he joined Chappell’s, Music Publisher, first as a copyist, and then as professional manager of the Ballad Department for the promotion of songs for broadcasting.

 

In 1959, he married his first wife in London.  In 1961, he was appointed conductor of the Finchley Orchestra, and later, the Finchley Operatic Society with Margaret Thatcher as President.  During this period, he won the music prize for a piano composition with Herbert Howells as the Adjudicator.  Also, his string work “Petronella” received its first performance at the Wigmore Hall, London, performed by the string section of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Around this time he received numerous broadcasts of works mostly published by Chandos.

 

In 1964, Clive moved with his family to Charlbury, Oxfordshire.  Sir Winston Churchill died on Clive’s birthday, January 24, 1965.  His brother, Martin, was a radio announcer for the BBC and read the Tributes from world leaders a number of times that day.  It was an easy date for Clive to remember, so he planned to have his brother re-read the tributes a year later at the Memorial Concert, Blenheim Palace, organized by Clive, who conducted the first six yearly performances with the Oxford Chamber Ensemble.  Every year since 1966, distinguished speakers have payed tribute to Churchill  These concerts continue to this day.

 

A major change occurred in Clive’s life as a result of pioneering activities in music therapy.  He established the Music Therapy Charity, initially raising funds at the Blenheim concerts. It was a chance meeting in London with the Director of Music Therapy from Florida State University, USA, that resulted in Clive studying music therapy at FSU.  As a result, he became a Registered Music Therapist, but in America. He then decided to acquire a Masters Degree in Composition from Florida State University.  With his American qualifications, he began a career as a University/College Music Therapy Professor.  In 1981, Clive was teaching in Missouri when he decided to study for his Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA).  He acquired this in 1984 at The Conservatory of Music, University of Missouri, Kansas City.  During this period, he composed incidental music for the Missouri Repertory Theater. His last appointment as a music therapy director was at the College of Teresa, Winona Minnesota.  This college had a good music program which enabled Clive to receive repeat performances of his chamber opera, “The Cunning Man.”  Winona was too remote for Clive, so in 1986, he moved to Washington D.C. where he wrote music for a Smithsonian documentary film which was shown nationally.  Running out of funds, Clive accepted the appointment as Music Director at the Virginia School of the Arts in Lynchburg, VA, followed by the appointment as Conductor of the Liberty University Symphony Orchestra, also in Lynchburg.  In 1994, Clive retired from teaching, and moved to Princeton, NJ, to live with his second English wife, Dulcie Bull.

 

 

Shirley Mier

 

Shirley Mier is a Twin Cities-based composer, music director and music educator. She writes music of all kinds, in the theatre, educational and concert world. Orchestra works include the suite Of Lakes and Legends: Scenes from White Bear Lake (written for the Century Chamber Orchestra), and Visages, a song cycle for soprano and orchestra.

 

Concert band works include commissions from Minnesota school bands and community bands, and several publications and award-winning works. Theme and Deviations for Band won the Fifth Annual H. Robert Reynolds’ National Wind Ensemble Composers Competition and was performed at Carnegie Hall in 2004. Maiden Voyage placed as a finalist in the first Frank Ticheli Composition Contest in 2006 and is published by Grand Mesa. Works published by Alfred Music include the concert band pieces Forge Ahead! and Song of the Wind: An Aztec Legend, as well as several educational piano duets.

 

Theatre works include children’s musicals commissioned from Stages Theatre in Hopkins, MN, scores for Shakespeare plays, and music for Greek tragedies. Her theatre music has been heard at the Minnesota Fringe Festival, Shakespeare in the Park, The Playwrights’ Center, and many other stages across the U.S. and Canada. Published musicals include Twelve Dancing Princesses, ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas and Madeline’s Christmas (Dramatic Publishing).

 

Dr. Mier earned a B.A. in Music at Grinnell College and completed her M.A. and Ph.D. in Music Composition from the University of Minnesota. She resides in Hudson, WI (near the Twin Cities), and has taught at Century College, a community college in White Bear Lake, MN, since 2007. She is a member of ASCAP, the American Composers Forum, and the Dramatists Guild.

 

Shirley Mier online: shirleymier.com, Facebook, YouTube