Da Capo Conversations with Gabriela Lena Frank and Anthony R. Green

For Good Measure, by Ensemble for These Times (E4TT)
Episode 82: Da Capo Conversations with Gabriela Lena Frank and Anthony R. Green

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Today we revisit  Gabriela Lena Frank’s and Anthony R. Green’s perspectives on their musical journey and what inspires them. If you enjoyed today’s conversation and want to know more about Gabriela Lena Frank and Anthony R. Green, check them out here and  here. Parts of this episode originally premiered on June 21, 2021, click here, and March 15, 2021, click here.

This podcast is made possible in part by a grant from the California Arts Council and generous donors, like you. Want to support For Good Measure and E4TT? Make a tax-deductible donation or sign up for our newsletter, and subscribe to the podcast!

Intro music: “Trifolium” by Gabriela Ortiz, performed by E4TT (Ilana Blumberg, violin; Abigail Monroe, cello; Margaret Halbig, piano), as part of “Below the Surface: Music by Women Composers,” January 29, 2022
Outro music: “Lake Turkana” by Marcus Norris, performed by E4TT (Margaret Halbig, piano), as part of “Alchemy,” October 15, 2021

Transcription courtesy of Otter.ai.

Co-Producer, Host, and E4TT co-founder: Nanette McGuinness
Co-Producer and Audio Engineer: Stephanie M. Neumann
Podcast Cover Art: Brennan Stokes
With assistance from Hannah Chen, Sam Mason, Renata Volchinskaya

Transcript

Nanette McGuinness  00:00
[INTRO MUSIC] Welcome to For Good Measure, an interview series celebrating diverse composers and other creative artists, sponsored by a grant from the California Arts Council. I'm Nanette McGuinness, artistic executive director of Ensemble for These Times. In this week's episode, we continue our Da Capo Conversations, a mini series where we'll be giving familiar segments a topical twist [INTRO MUSIC ENDS]. Today we revisit Gabriela Lena Frank's and Anthony R. Green's perspectives on their musical journey and what inspires them. Here's what Gabriela Lena Frank had to say:

Gabriela Lena Frank  00:41
I've had a lot of good models in my life, teachers that were very articulate, very gracious, really full of hospitality, they just conveyed a deep interest in who their listeners and who their collaborators were. I think, some in public school, but starting with my music training, I think my primary piano teacher, Jeanne Fischer, was a really big influence in that way. She was just so warm and giving, her husband Norman was really wonderful with audiences. Sam Jones, my first really significant composition teacher, was wonderful in terms of just oozing that kind of openness about who he was and the way he was able to talk about the things he loved and why he wanted to share this with people. And I've had primary teachers at my second alma mater, University of Michigan, the first being Rice University, the second at University of Michigan. I remember one talk with my primary piano teacher, Logan Skelton, who turned me, really turned me on to Bartok. He was a big Bartok pianist, and, and one of his specialties was also Liszt. And he was going to a small conservative community of older school teachers, piano, piano teachers, that liked a lot of the old classics and really didn't like a lot of modern music. And he wanted to introduce them to Bartok, and I went with him and I watched what he did was, it was really masterful, he started off with Bartok juvenilia, little pieces he wrote as a little boy, and then brought Bartok through the ages. And by the time he got to playing the big solo piano sonata, that audience was eating out of his hand. And he was super charming, and they all felt like his mom and dad, and it was really, really great. So I think that left a big impression on me about being open about your loves, and how that has informed your choices as a music maker.

Nanette McGuinness  02:56
Here's what Anthony R. Green had to say:

Anthony R. Green  02:59
I had the pleasure of living in Boulder, Colorado for almost five years of my life. And I remember the first time that I climbed the foothills, up to the royal arch, which is a path that starts in Boulder, I remember coming across this feeling of grandeur, and just marveling at the beautiful sights, and the smells, and the quality of the air and all of the wonderful things that are associated with doing this hike. And oddly enough, I didn't compose "...on top of a frosted hill..." when I was in Colorado, I composed it when I was in the Netherlands, in a summer trip, because at that time, I spent summers in the Netherlands, and then returned to Colorado. Now also at that time, I was in a cello piano duo with my wonderful friend, Mathieu D'Ordine, and we, of course, were looking for repertoire, and, of course, I wanted to compose a piece for him. I've been wanting to, I had been want wanting to compose a piece for him for quite a while, so it was great to get the opportunity to do this. And I remember sitting at the piano, thinking about Boulder, and then all of a sudden this icy slow, cold, serene music just started to come out of me. And that turned into "...on top of a frosted hill...". In terms of a favorite instrumentation, I do have to say I am very much so a fan of the original cello piano instrumentation. That's how the piece was conceived, and that's still where my heart lies. But I have to say, for all of the people who have performed the piece, they have all done such a wonderful job with the piece and poured their hearts and souls and their top musicianship within this piece, so I'm really just happy when anybody plays it, and gives it that special something from within themselves to make the piece come alive.

Nanette McGuinness  05:15
[OUTRO MUSIC] Thank you for listening to For Good Measure's Da Capo Conversations and a special thank you to our guests for joining us today. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to our podcast by clicking on the subscribe button, and support us by sharing it with your friends, posting about it on social media, and leaving us a rating and a review. To learn more about E4TT, our concert season online and in the Bay Area, or to make a tax deductible donation, please visit us at www.e4tt.org. This podcast is made possible in part by a grant from the California Arts Council, and generous donors like you. For Good Measure is produced by Nanette McGuiness and Ensemble for These Times, and designed by Brennan Stokes, with special thanks to co-producer and audio engineer Stephanie M. Neumann. Remember to keep supporting equity in the arts and tune in next week "for good measure" [OUTRO MUSIC ENDS].