November 16 & 17, 2012
SACRED LAND & THE RITE OF SPRING
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Sponsored By:
Robert Franz, conductor
Jim Cockey, guest composer
Peter Anastos, Artistic Director - Ballet Idaho
Ballet Idaho
BP Master Chorale
Jim Cockey | Sacred Land: A Tribute to the Shoshone- Bannock Tribes
Igor Stravinsky | The Rite of Spring
Jim Cockey
Jim Cockey was born in Baltimore, Maryland, but has spent most of his life in Idaho. He holds a composition degree from the University of Oregon where he studied with Homer Keller and Hal Owen. He has received numerous grants, commissions, and honors, including a gold album for his work with members of the Moody Blues, Best Instrumental Recording (2004) from the Native American Music Awards for his Symphony #2 (Parmly's Dream), and the Idaho Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts. Commissions include works for the Boise Philharmonic, Cape Cod Symphony Orchestra, Billings Symphony, Carson City Symphony, Boise Baroque Orchestra, Idaho Department of Education, Idaho Dance Theatre, Langroise Trio, Darkwood Consort, and the Hyde Park Chamber Players. For the American Composers Forum’s Continental Harmony project, Jim was the only musician in the nation chosen to head two projects simultaneously: conducting the McCall Chamber Orchestra and composing a work for the Carson City Symphony. The Gift of the Elk, A Suite for Native American Flute and Orchestra was premiered by Joseph FireCrow and the Cape Cod Symphony Orchestra in April of 2010. “Ithaca,” as performed by the Langroise Trio, was aired on NPR’s Performance Today. Jim is presently writing his first opera, Odysseus, with award winning playwright, Bernadine Cockey. In April of 2008, Mr. Cockey was selected by Maestro James Ogle to compose a special work in honor of Maestro Ogle’s 20 years of service with the Boise Philharmonic, An Idaho Symphony (Symphony #3). Sacred Land is Jim's fifth commission from the Boise Philharmonic.
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Peter Anastos
Peter Anastos, a native New Yorker, has choreographed over 100 stage works for the finest national and regional ballet companies in the United States, as well as for modern dance companies, theater, film and television. He has also choreographed in Europe, Asia and Latin America and his ballets are performed worldwide. He was the founding Director/Choreographer of Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo and served as Artistic Director for Garden State Ballet and Cincinnati Ballet.
Mr. Anastos has the rare honor of receiving two Guggenheim Foundation Fellowships in Choreography and four Fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts. He was the subject of a New Yorker Magazine Profile by the foremost American dance writer, Arlene Croce.
For the Broadway stage, he choreographed I Hate Hamlet and Where She Danced, based on life of Isadora Duncan. He has choreographed several television specials and two Hollywood films, Addams Family and Addams Family Values, both for Paramount Pictures.
He has directed opera for the Washington Opera at the Kennedy Center and for the Opera Company of Philadelphia and was choreographer-in-residence for the Santa Fe Opera and Sundance Theatre Festival, part of Robert Redford’s Sundance Institute in Utah.
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Jim Cockey | b. 1947
Sacred Land - A Tribute to the Shoshone - Bannock Tribes
World Premiere
At our Music Director’s request, the Boise Philharmonic Association commissioned Idaho composer Jim Cockey to compose this feature piece as part of our observation of the sesquicentennial of Boise and Idaho. Jim worked with the Tribes as he assembled this moving work, and it comes to us with their blessing. He gives us the following insight into his composition and its four parts.
Before the discovery of gold at Idaho City in 1863, the area in and around Boise was not only a part of the ancestral homeland of the Shoshone-Bannock tribes, but also an area that was considered very special to them. This piece pays tribute to that land and to the people who lived on the land for millennia before our arrival.
1. To the Creator – This opening movement is essentially a Circle Dance. The Circle Dance is a sacred dance with songs that often depict nature scenes. Implicit in these simple, poetic tableaus is the perpetual wonderment of and gratitude for all that the Creator has provided.
2. To the Earth – Each Autumn there was a Great Gathering at “Willows Standing in Rows Like Running Water.” In the area where the Boise, Payette, and Weiser Rivers flow into the Snake River, this inter-tribal celebration featured feasting, trading, competitive games, social dancing, and young matchmaking.
3. To the Ancestors – This movement is a composite picture of the Boise and the Lemhi forced relocations to Fort Hall. In 1869 the Shoshone-Bannock living in the area we now call Boise, were moved by force to the reservation at Fort Hall. The Fort Hall area was identified in their tongue as “Sage Point,” and they knew that they would starve because virtually nothing grew there of sustenance. When a direct descendant of this displacement was telling me about the emotional and physical suffering her Great Grandmother had to endure, she asked me, “What is the word for when you feel there may be no more hope?” I knew then that I would have to include this movement as an answer to that question. In 1903, the Lemhi tribe, the first Shoshone Indians who met and saved Lewis and Clark’s Corps of Discovery from failure and starvation, were also forced to move to the Fort Hall Indian Reservation. Descriptions contemporary to that move speak of the wailing that was heard in the Lemhi Valley as these people exited their ancestral homeland.
4. To the Healing of All People – In the indigenous cultures of our land there are many ceremonies for various types of healing. Some of the most powerful ceremonies are for the purpose of healing all people.
Press Release
BOISE PHILHARMONIC-BALLET IDAHO-BOISE PHILHARMONIC MASTER CHORALE
November Concert Announcement: Sacred Land-A Tribute to the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes.
October 24, 2012
The Boise Philharmonic’s Maestro, Robert Franz, as part of the Boise Philharmonic’s participation in the Boise 150 Sesquicentennial (www.boise150.org), commissioned Jim Cockey, local composer known for the piece The Gift of the Elk, to work with the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes to create a piece of music that represents and honors the native tribes called Sacred Land - A Tribute to the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes.
- This work is a 30-40 minute, 4-movement piece which are as follow: No. 1- To the Creator, No. 2- To the Earth, No. 3- To Our Ancestors and No. 4- To the Healing of All People.
- It features 14 Ballet dancers, a choir-The Boise Philharmonic Master Chorale and an 11 piece orchestra; timpani, four percussionists, harp, flute, oboe, english horn and two celli.
- The focus of the piece is the telling of the Shoshone - Bannock story from early to modern times, including the intersection of the histories of the Boise area and the Shoshone-Bannock tribe.
- A key aspect of the work is the mutual trust and respect between the composer and tribes: Jim Cockey, who has written Native American- inspired work in the past, has been working closely with the tribal council at Fort Hall to create a unique balance of the traditional and the contemporary in Sacred Land.
- The tribe’s history, especially as related to the land and to their musical heritage, has been thoroughly researched at various historical museums, including the Shoshone-Bannock Tribal Museum, the Idaho Historical Museum, and the University of Nevada, Reno’s Special Collections.
- The initiative has been met with support and excitement from tribal council leaders and by the curator of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribal Museum.
- Alex Ossadnik, Ballet Master of Ballet Idaho will choreograph a dance accompaniment to Sacred Land with Ballet Idaho company dancers performing.
- Jim Jirak, Music Director of the Boise Philharmonic Master Chorale leads his 132 member choir on the vocals of this piece.
- This performance world premiere will be at NNU-Swayne Auditorium on November 16, 2012 and then at the Morrison Center on the November 17, 2012.
- Sacred Land will be performed in the first half and Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring will follow after intermission.
It is Boise Philharmonic, Boise Philharmonic Master Chorale and Ballet Idaho’s greatest intention to have the Shoshone-Bannock tribe members as active participants during the world premiere weekend here in their native land, Boise Valley. The Boise Philharmonic has offered 200 tickets to the Tribe members for the November 17, 2012 Morrison Center Performance. There will also be a Lecture open to the public November 17, 2012 at 11a.m. at the Boise Art Museum. This lecture will feature Robert Franz, Jim Cockey, Alex Ossadnik and Tribal Elders. The lecture will talk about the history and the collaboration of this exciting world premiere of Sacred Land-A Tribute to the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes.
November 16th & 17th, 2012
1St Half:
Sacred Land- A Tribute to the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes
Robert Franz, Boise Philharmonic Music Director
Jim Cockey, Sacred Land - A tribute to the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes
Alex Ossadnik, Ballet Idaho Ballet Master
Jim Jirak, Boise Philharmonic Master Chorale Music Director
2nd Half:
Stravinsky, Le sacre du Printemps-The Rite of Spring
Concert Friday, November 16, 2012 8:00p.m. at NNU-Swayne Auditorium. Single Tickets start at $23.00
Concert Saturday, November 17, 2012 8:00p.m. at the Morrison Center. Single Tickets start at $25.50
*Free Educational Programming offered by the Boise Philharmonic. Learn more before each concert.
*Public Lecture at Boise Art Museum November 17, 2012 11:00 a.m. ($5 Museum fee to enter Boise Art Museum)
*Backstage with the Artists: hosted by The Honorable Judge Steve Trott 10/19/12 12:00pm @ ESPAA (Free)
*Musically Speaking: 7:00pm before each concert evening. Hosted by Justin Stamps and Phil Kassel (Free)
Concert Tickets available at www.boisephilharmonic.org or by calling (208)344-7849
Sacred Land Lecture which will be held on November 17, 2012 at 11 a.m. at the Boise Art Museum. We will have Robert Franz, Boise Philharmonic Music Director; Alex Ossadnik, Ballet Idaho Ballet Master; Jim Cockey, composer and Tribal Elders from the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes. This lecture will complement our concert weekend and talk about this piece of music, all of the people of the Boise Valley, historical information as well as the future.
The lecture and first half of the performance will be recorded by BSU's Film Department for use by the Boise Philharmonic, the City of Boise-Boise 150, and placement on public television. (Time and date-TBD)
Jim Cockey
Jim Cockey was born in Baltimore, Maryland, but has spent most of his life in Idaho. He holds a composition degree from the University of Oregon where he studied with Homer Keller and Hal Owen. He has received numerous grants, commissions, and honors, including a gold album for his work with members of the Moody Blues, Best Instrumental Recording (2004) from the Native American Music Awards for his Symphony #2 (Parmly's Dream), and the Idaho Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts. Commissions include works for the Boise Philharmonic, Cape Cod Symphony Orchestra, Billings Symphony, Carson City Symphony, Boise Baroque Orchestra, Idaho Department of Education, Idaho Dance Theatre, Langroise Trio, Darkwood Consort, and the Hyde Park Chamber Players. For the American Composers Forum’s Continental Harmony project, Jim was the only musician in the nation chosen to head two projects simultaneously: conducting the McCall Chamber Orchestra and composing a work for the Carson City Symphony. The Gift of the Elk, A Suite for Native American Flute and Orchestra was premiered by Joseph Fire Crow and the Cape Cod Symphony Orchestra in April of 2010. “Ithaca,” as performed by the Langroise Trio, was aired on NPR’s Performance Today. Jim is presently writing his first opera, Odysseus, with award winning playwright, Bernadine Cockey. In April of 2008, Mr. Cockey was selected by Maestro James Ogle to compose a special work in honor of Maestro Ogle’s 20 years of service with the Boise Philharmonic, An Idaho Symphony (Symphony #3). Sacred Land is Jim's fifth commission from the Boise Philharmonic.
Alex Ossadnik
Born and trained near Dresden, in the formerly Soviet occupied East Germany. After his career on the stage in Germany, France and the United States, he served numerous companies as teacher, balletmaster, choreographer and director since 1996 before joining Ballet Idaho in 2008.
As artistic director, choreographer and balletmaster, Alex has worked over the past fourteen years with artists from Alberta Ballet (Canada), Boston Ballet, Colorado Compania Ncaional de Danza de Mexico and with personalities such as Natalia Krassovska and Galina Mezentseva.
Alex has choreographed repertory of music ballets for Santa Fe Festival Ballet, in which he was Co-Founder and Ballet Director from 1996 to 1999. He is also co-founder of Public Academy for Performing Arts in Albuquerque, New Mexico and Atlantic Southeast Ballet in Charleston, South Carolina. He has choreographed Coppelia, The Nutcracker , The Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake for Ballet Repertory Theatre of New Mexico. Alex has also choreographed The Rite of Spring, The Four Seasons, Violin Concerto, Midnight Shadows, The Creation of the World and Circus for Ballet Idaho. In February repertoire , Alex will choreograph Carmen.
Alex has taught around the world…from Veronique’s Ecole d Danse in Bordeaux, France to the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, New Mexico to Marr Mac Dance Studio in Edmonton, Alberta.
Sacred Land - A Tribute to the Shoshone - Bannock Tribes World Premiere
Before the discovery of gold at Idaho City in 1863, the area in and around Boise was not only a part of the ancestral homeland of the Shoshone-Bannock tribes, but also an area that was considered very special to them. This piece pays tribute to that land and to the people who lived on the land for millennia before our arrival.
1. To the Creator – This opening movement is essentially a Circle Dance. The Circle Dance is a sacred dance with songs that often depict nature scenes. Implicit in these simple, poetic tableaus is the perpetual wonderment of and gratitude for all that the Creator has provided.
2. To the Earth – Each Autumn there was a Great Gathering at “Willows Standing in Rows Like Running Water.” In the area where the Boise, Payette, and Weiser Rivers flow into the Snake River, this inter-tribal celebration featured feasting, trading, competitive games, social dancing, and young matchmaking.
3. To the Ancestors – This movement is a composite picture of the Boise and the Lemhi forced relocations to Fort Hall. In 1869 the Shoshone-Bannock living in the area we now call Boise, were moved by force to the reservation at Fort Hall. The Fort Hall area was identified in their tongue as “Sage Point,” and they knew that they would starve because virtually nothing grew there of sustenance. When a direct descendant of this displacement was telling me about the emotional and physical suffering her Great Grandmother had to endure, she asked me, “What is the word for when you feel there may be no more hope?” I knew then that I would have to include this movement as an answer to that question. In 1903, the Lemhi tribe, the first Shoshone Indians who met and saved Lewis and Clark’s Corps of Discovery from failure and starvation, were also forced to move to the Fort Hall Indian Reservation. Descriptions contemporary to that move speak of the wailing that was heard in the Lemhi Valley as these people exited their ancestral homeland.
4. To the Healing of All People – In the indigenous cultures of our land there are many ceremonies for various types of healing. Some of the most powerful ceremonies are for the purpose of healing all people.
PLEASE contact Jimsi Kuborn, Marketing Director for any questions and/or comments.
Jimsi Kuborn
Marketing Director
Boise Philharmonic
Esther Simplot Performing Arts Academy
516 S. 9th Street
Boise, ID 83702
(208)344-7849
jimsi@boisephilharmonic.org
www.boisephilharmonic.org
READ ON...
This is the world premiere of Jim Cockey’s Sacred Land.
Article from Sho-Ban News October 2012:
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Igor Stravinsky | June 17, 1882 – April 6, 1971
Le Sacre du Printemps
Only one composer in history can claim a work so daring, so revolutionary, so startling, and so controversial that it provoked a full-blown riot at its premiere: Igor Stravinsky. He wrote The Rite of Spring in 1912 for the impresario Serge Diaghilev’s Russian Ballets in Paris, and art music has never been the same.
The story conveyed by Diaghilev’s dance is of a young virgin compelled by the elders of her pagan tribe to dance herself to death as a ritual sacrifice, a primitive sacrifice believed necessary to free Spring from the clutches of Winter. Joseph Kerman called the story “Dubious anthropology, but good theater.”
Stravinsky’s masterpiece has two main parts: “Adoration of the Earth” and “The Sacrifice,” and its musical narrative reflects the component episodes of each part, as described by their respective subtitles.
The dominating feature of this work is its jarring and pulsating rhythmic intensity, which Stravinsky chose to reflect his idea that primitive rituals would be led by drums. Accordingly, the orchestra’s percussion section is massive, the biggest ever used in concert music. The final episode of the first part, “Dance of the Earth” may well be the most explosive music ever written. The paradox here is that in Stravinsky’s hands, “primitive” becomes “ultra-modern” as he charges headlong into uncharted musical territory. His unusual bi-tonal dissonances come from writing in two different keys at the same time.
Let’s return to the night of May 29, 1913, to The Rite’s premiere, with Carl Van Vechten’s contemporary description of it. “A certain part of the audience, thrilled by what it considered to be a blasphemous attempt to destroy music as an art, and swept away with wrath, began very soon after the rise of the curtain to whistle, to make catcalls, and to offer audible suggestions as to how the performance should proceed. Others of us, who liked the music and felt that the principles of free speech were at stake, bellowed defiance. It was war over art for the rest of the evening, and the orchestra played on unheard, except occasionally when a slight lull occurred. The figures on the stage danced in time to music that they had to imagine they heard, and beautifully out of rhythm with the uproar in the auditorium. I was sitting in a box, in which I had rented one seat. Three ladies sat in front of me, and a young man occupied the place behind me. He stood up during the course of the ballet to enable himself to see more clearly. The intense excitement under which he was laboring betrayed itself presently when he began to beat rhythmically on the top of my head with his fists. My emotion was so great that I did not feel the blows for some time. They were perfectly synchronized with the beat of the music. When I did, I turned around. His apology was sincere. We had both been carried beyond ourselves.”
An indignant Camille Saint-Saëns left the theater in disgust. A critic yelled “colossal fraud” at the top of his lungs. Ravel repeatedly shouted, “Genius!” Debussy pleaded for quiet. Others laughed out loud, and a local Princess said, “I am 60 years old, and yet this is the first time anyone dared to make a fool of me.” In the streets outside, men exchanged fisticuffs. The night was big. Only the box office was bigger.
Eleven months later, Stravinsky presented The Rite to the public as a concert piece -- without the dancers. It was a smash hit. The applause went on “to the point of vertigo.”
Erik Satie, Stravinsky’s contemporary, perceptively summed up Stravinsky’s impact on his professional peers: “He is a liberator. More than anyone else he has freed the musical thought of the day.” Right on!
This is the Boise Philharmonic’s first performance of The Rite of Spring.
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