Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame: Hommage à Ravel with pianist Daniel Sachs

Announcing selections for Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame: Hommage à Ravel with pianist Daniel Sachs to be premiered on March 9, 2014 for the Composer’s Voice concert series at the Jan Hus Church in New York City.

The theme of this Fifteen Minutes of Fame is a Hommage à Ravel using colors of sound and popular/folk idoms for the 21st century

Selected composers for Fifteen Minutes of Fame include:
Aram Ethan Adajian, David Bohn, Erik Branch, Roman Czura, Philip DeWalt, Jim Fox, Vladimir Karpenko, Martin Loridan, Shao Suan Low, Julie Mandel, Brian Martinez, David Obaniyi, Arpad Solti, Jean-Pierre Vial, Frank E. Warren

Born in Basel, Switzerland, Daniel Sachs earned his first degree in piano performance in his home town followed by studies in Paris, France, and Lübeck, Germany. In 2005, he completed his doctoral degree in piano performance at the College-Conservatory of Music (University of Cincinnati), where he studied with James Tocco.

Mr. Sachs’ performances have brought him to venues such as the Fondation György Cziffrà in Senlis (France), the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris, the Musiksaal in Basel and the Tonhalle Zürich, the Guest Artist Series at the College-Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati, the University of Louisville and numerous other venues including performances with members of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.

He performed with several orchestras and recorded solo works by Chopin and Rachmaninoff for the Swiss Radio. He is a founding member of the Mount St. Joseph Piano Trio and collaborates with his wife, soprano Rachel Sachs.

Daniel Sachs is currently an Assistant Professor of Music at the College of Mount St. Joseph, where he teaches Piano and Music Theory.

Concert Dates

  • March 9, 2014 - Jan Hus Church, New York City

15 one-minute selections for Daniel Sachs

Concert program

  • Ravel?

    Aram Adajian

    I am a composer in Los Angeles, studying music at UC Riverside. I have written underscore for films and television, composing primarily in the sequencer. I have three degrees in Music (UC Santa Cruz, Cal State Northridge and the Berklee College of Music.) I have to write eight more words. Done.

    This was an assignment for my Composition class. Our fearless leader, Tim Labor decided that it would be a good idea to write in the lush, highly evolved style of Monsieur Ravel. I couldn't agree more. I consulted my psychic in order to consult with the Maestro. It went well.

  • Dance on the Name of Ravel

    David Bohn

    David Bohn received degrees in composition from the University of Wisconsin, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and the University of Illinois. He currently resides in West Allis, Wisconsin, and is the music director at St. John's Lutheran Church in West Milwaukee. He is the President of the Wisconsin Alliance for Composers.

    Who'd have thought that Ravel's name had similar melodic characteristics to Haydn's?

  • La Errática .

    Erik Branch

    Erik Branch is a native of New York City, and received an BA and MA in Music (Composition) from Hunter College. He lives near Orlando, Florida, where he is active as a pianist, musical director, composer/arranger, operatic tenor, and actor o

    In “La Errática (so-called because of its jerky rhythms and angular melodic contours) I have not written a Ravelian pastiche, but rather have tried to imagine Ravel emulating and adopting (as he often did with other folk musics) the inflections and rhythms of Afro-Cuban and South American dances.

  • Präludium für Klavier

    Roman Czura

    Roman Czura, composer and author, born in Darmstadt (Germany). He studied composition with Cord Meijering, Anna Zawadzk-Gołosz, Juris Karlsons and Eugeniusz Knapik in Darmstadt, Cracow, Riga and Katowice, where he is currently a Ph. D. student with Prof. Knapik. His main interest is in symphonic and chamber music.

    Präludium für Klavier is a short and simple piano piece reflecting on the idea of color in music. It is build upon a bell-like motif, sounding like an old photograph of a forgotten time found in your Granny's wardrobe...

  • Romance in a Fishbowl

    Philip DeWalt

    Philip DeWalt is a composer, pianist and mandolinist from Kansas City, Missouri. Among his compositions are numerous works for piano and mandolin solo, chamber ensemble, string quartet, orchestra, chorus and electronics. He is a former instrumental music teacher and is currently finishing his DMA in composition at UMKC.

    Romance in a Fishbowl is a short bagatelle for piano. It was composed as an experiment in expanding a simple monophonic line into a harmonic 'blanket' through the use of both the pedal, which is held down throughout, and omnipresent melisma / grace note figurations, which provide shifting / overlapping harmony.

  • De nuit/à la fin

    Jim Fox

    Jim Fox is a Los Angeles-based composer whose usually quiet, slow, lyrical music has been described by critics as “austere" and “ethereal” (The Wire), “phenomenally beautiful” (Kyle Gann, Chamber Music), and “sensuous” (Fanfare). His music has appeared on the Cold Blue, innova, CRI, Advance, Grenadilla, Raptoria Caam, and Citadel labels.

    De nuit/à la fin hints at Ravel’s music, perhaps shrouded in a late-night fog (and filtered through my various inclinations), rather than making direct reference to any specific work of his. And like fog, it drifts off into nothingness.

  • On Lake Baikal

    Vladimir Karpenko

    Vladimir Karpenko (1958) was born in Ridder (East Kazakhstan), studied in Almaty conservatory. Now he lives in Irkutsk, Russia. Нe is the composer, the musicologist, the pianist, the teacher. The author of compositions for a symphonic orchestra, chorus, chamber ensembles, a piano, a organ, vocal music.

    “On Lake Baikal”. Water splash, echoes of a national melody and sunset on great Siberian Lake Baikal.

  • Menuet pour piano, Hommage à Ravel

    Martin Loridan

    Martin Loridan is a French composer. He is graduated from the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et de danse de Paris (CNSMDP). His works include chamber, orchestral and vocal music, as well as film-music, arrangements and orchestrations, and have been performed throughout Europe and America by various orchestras and ensembles.

    Menuet pour piano, Hommage à Ravel is a short piece for piano. It's a short minuet, written in the spirit and Musical style of Maurice ravel. The theme has a popular and folk color, and is developed using chromaticism, Polytonality and impressionistic colors. It was written in 2013 for Daniel Sachs.

  • Ravel's Dream

    Shao Suan LOW

    Shao Suan Low is a Singaporean pianist-composer-songwriter. A graduate of the École Normale de Musique de Paris, she has performed as soloist numerous times with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. Her compositions have won awards at online music competitions, and her songs have been sung by Asian pop singers.

    Ravel's Dream is a relaxing solo piano piece in Ternary form. It begins with an Oriental-flavoured melody, and progresses to a few chords found in Ravel's Le Tombeau de Couperin. The middle section consists of some New Age and jazz elements, after which it reverts back to the first section.

  • Lazy Summer Day

    Julie Mandel

    Julie Mandel writes chamber music and musical theatre. Published by Theodore Presser: String Qt. 3 and Harp Trio. Her one-act opera I Wish, I Wish was presented at Thalia Theatre June 2012. Chamber works have been performed by American Chamber Ensemble, Seattle Chamber Players, Motyl String Quartet. Member and Treasurer of New York Women Composers and Long Island Composers.

    What “Lazy Summer Day” expresses to me is someone sitting outdoors on a warm, summer day, with absolutely nothing to do – but enjoy it!

  • Prelude

    Brian Martinez

    Brian Martinez, spanish composer. Studied with Claudia Montero, C.Cano, A.Valero. His works have been played all over the world; Boston(MIT), Iowa, Argentina, South Korea, Spain, by musicians as Ronald Romm, John Manning or groups like Orchestra Turina, Tritantic Ensemble. Has won several international prizes in his short but promising carreer.

    This 'Prelude' is a work dedicated to the pianist Daniel Sachs. Within the theme 'Hommage à Ravel', the piece shows a quick-changing coloristic modal armony over a fixed rythm of 5/8, framed in a brilliant scripture for piano. The structure is a micro-ternary form of one-minute lenght.

  • Mirror's Edge

    David Obaniyi

    Good Afternoon. I was born on August 19, 1991, and I was a little kid I have always love music: classical to modern. I started writing at an early age and ever since I wanted to give back passion and emotion to the type of music I write now.

    The type of emotion I want for this piece is the feeling when you're encountering countless reflections of yourself when looking at one mirror.

  • Valse Euphorique

    Árpád Solti

    Árpád SOLTI (1986) graduated in 2011 at Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music, Budapest (professor: Gyula Fekete). As a doctoral student he studied in Brussels Conservatory with Jan Van Landeghem. His very first one-act opera La Violetta was performed in the National Opera House, Budapest. More information: www.arpadsolti.com

    I composed Valse Euphorique for the call of 15-Minute of Fame, dedicated to Daniel Sachs. In the very short (55 seconds) composition I tried to evoke of the spirit of the piano style of Maurice Ravel to use rich chords, playfulness, and characteristic of the Viennese valse.

  • Souvenir de Ciboure

    Jean-Pierre Vial

    Jean-Pierre Vial, French, born in 1946, former software designer. At an early age, he learned the piano, the organ, and composed several pieces for both instruments. Over the last two years, various soloists and small ensembles have performed his music in France, UK, Italy, Israel and in the USA.

    In Souvenir de Ciboure, the theme is inspired by the French piano melodies in vogue in Ravel's times. Ciboure is the small town where Ravel was born in 1875.

  • Hommage

    Frank E. Warren

    Frank E. Warren, award-winning composer, publisher and educator, enjoys working on multi-discipline projects. His early training was in Jazz composition and arranging, which still informs his chamber and choral writing. His music has been performed and broadcast on five continents, and he's been guest artist at colleges and libraries throughout the USA.

    The concept of composing miniature, yet complete works, has been the center focus of my writing for many years. In this piece for Daniel Sachs, requiring a duration less than 60-seconds, capturing the essence of Ravel becomes quite a challenge. What else can one do but borrow Ravel's own music?