Joseph Bertolozzi

Last updated

Joseph Bertolozzi (born 1959) is an American composer and musician with works ranging from full symphony orchestra and solo songs to immense sound-art installations. With increasingly numerous performances across Europe and the United States to his credit, his music is performed by groups ranging from the Grammy-winning Chestnut Brass Company to the Eastman School of Music, and he himself has played at such diverse venues as the Vatican [1] and The US Tennis Open. [2]

Contents

Works and performances

His most well known project is Tower Music : a musical composition using only sounds sampled from the surfaces of the Eiffel Tower itself, with no added digital manipulation or alteration of the sounds. The resulting 2016 album "Tower Music" (on the innova label #933), reached #11 on the iTunes Classical charts and #16 on the Billboard Classical Crossover Music chart. [3]

Tower Music is a sister project to Bridge Music . Like Tower Music, Bridge Music allows listeners to hear the sounds of New York's Mid-Hudson Bridge played like a musical instrument. The work was created for New York's 400th anniversary observance of Henry Hudson's voyage up the Hudson River. Originally intended to be a live performance piece, [4] [5] [6] this "audacious plan" (New York Times) to compose music for a suspension bridge using the bridge itself as the instrument brought Bertolozzi wide international attention. [7] A recording of the results, the 2009 CD "Bridge Music" (on the Delos label DE1045), entered the Billboard Classical Crossover Music Chart at #18, [8] and has been released globally. [9] [10] In addition to the album, Bridge Music exists as a free public audio installation on the bridge itself and in nearby parks. [11] [12] [13] [14]

Bertolozzi also has created concert music and theatrical scores, including "The Contemplation of Bravery," which was an official 2002 Bicentennial commission for The United States Military Academy at West Point , and his incidental score to "Waiting for Godot," used at the 1991 Festival Internationale de Café Theatre in Nancy, France. In addition, he has a large body of liturgical music for use in both Christian and Jewish worship. [15]

As a longtime concert organist, he has performed his own compositions as well as those of the classical literature in the US and in Italy (including St. Peter's Basilica), [1] Poland, Spain [16] and Portugal (for the U. S. State Department). [17] He is Organist and Choirmaster at Vassar Temple in Poughkeepsie, NY and St. Joseph's Church in Middletown NY. He also performs and composes for his percussion project "The Bronze Collection," a collection of over 60 gongs and cymbals from around the world. [18]

Biography

Joseph Bertolozzi was born in Poughkeepsie, New York, one year after his parents and sister emigrated from Lucca, Italy. When, at an early age, his interests turned to music, he read biographies of composers, music encyclopedias, and ultimately musical scores from the local library. He began organ lessons not in order to perform, but to learn how to notate the compositions he wished to create.

He went on to receive his B.A. in music from Vassar College, and did further study at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana (with Xenakis and Donatoni), Westminster Choir College, and The Juilliard School, as well as numerous professional workshops with ASCAP, The American Music Center, and Carnegie Hall (including contemporary conducting techniques with Boulez).

Related Research Articles

Beacon, New York City in New York, United States

Beacon is a city located in Dutchess County, New York, United States. The 2020 census placed the city total population at 13,769. Beacon is part of the Poughkeepsie–Newburgh–Middletown, New York Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as the larger New York–Newark–Bridgeport, New York–New Jersey–Connecticut–Pennsylvania Combined Statistical Area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pipe organ</span> Wind instrument controlled by keyboard

The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air through the organ pipes selected from a keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ranks, each of which has a common timbre and volume throughout the keyboard compass. Most organs have many ranks of pipes of differing timbre, pitch, and volume that the player can employ singly or in combination through the use of controls called stops.

Organ (music) Keyboard instrument

In music, the organ is a keyboard instrument of one or more pipe divisions or other means for producing tones, each played with its own keyboard, played either with the hands on a keyboard or with the feet using pedals.

Sharon Isbin Musical artist

Sharon Isbin is a multiple Grammy Award winning American classical guitarist and the founding director of the guitar department at the Juilliard School.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Poughkeepsie, New York</span> City in New York, United States

Poughkeepsie is a city in the U.S. state of New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsie is in the Hudson River Valley region, midway between the core of the New York metropolitan area and the state capital of Albany. It is a principal city of the Poughkeepsie–Newburgh–Middletown metropolitan area which belongs to the New York combined statistical area. It is served by the nearby Hudson Valley Regional Airport and Stewart International Airport in Orange County, New York.

Annea Lockwood American classical composer

Annea Lockwood is a New Zealand-born American composer and academic musician. She taught electronic music at Vassar College. Her work often involves recordings of natural found sounds. She has also recorded Fluxus-inspired pieces involving burning or drowning pianos.

Crossover is a term applied to musical works or performers who appeal to different types of audience. This can be seen, for example, when a song appears on two or more of the record charts which track differing musical styles or genres. If the second chart combines genres, such as a "Hot 100" list, the work is not a crossover.

New-age is a genre of music intended to create artistic inspiration, relaxation, and optimism. It is used by listeners for yoga, massage, meditation, and reading as a method of stress management to bring about a state of ecstasy rather than trance, or to create a peaceful atmosphere in homes or other environments. It is sometimes associated with environmentalism and New Age spirituality; however, most of its artists have nothing to do with "New age spirituality", and some even reject the term.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mid-Hudson Bridge</span> Bridge in New York and Poughkeepsie, New York

The Franklin Delano Roosevelt Mid-Hudson Bridge is a toll suspension bridge which carries US 44 and NY 55 across the Hudson River between Poughkeepsie and Highland in the state of New York.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vassar Clements</span> Musical artist

Vassar Carlton Clements was an American jazz, swing, and bluegrass fiddler. Clements has been dubbed the Father of Hillbilly Jazz, an improvisational style that blends and borrows from swing, hot jazz, and bluegrass along with roots also in country and other musical traditions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walkway over the Hudson</span> Pedestrian bridge in New York, United States of America

The Walkway over the Hudson is a steel cantilever bridge spanning the Hudson River between Poughkeepsie, New York, on the east bank and Highland, New York, on the west bank. Built as a double track railroad bridge, it was completed on January 1, 1889, and formed part of the Maybrook Railroad Line of the New Haven Railroad.

Nox Arcana is the American dark neoclassical, dark ambient musical project of Joseph Vargo. The group was founded in 2003 as a duo with William Piotrowski, who left the group in 2008 to pursue a career in film score composing and Vargo continued on as a solo act under the name. Piotrowski still acts as Nox Arcana's studio engineer. The name in Latin translates to "mysteries of the night." All of Nox Arcana's music is released independently on the Monolith Graphics label, a publishing company owned by Vargo. With their third album, Nox Arcana became a Billboard Top Ten charting artist in the holiday genre.

Kronos Quartet discography Band discography

The discography of the Kronos Quartet includes 43 studio albums, two compilations, five soundtracks, and 29 contributions to other artists' records. The Kronos Quartet plays classical, pop, rock, jazz, folk, world and contemporary classical music and was founded in 1973 by violinist David Harrington. Since 1978, they are based in San Francisco, California. Since 1985, the quartet's music has been released on Nonesuch Records.

<i>Bridge Music</i>

Bridge Music is a public sound art installation. Additionally, there is an album of the same name featuring music from this installation.

Kate Sara Chittenden

Kate Sara Chittenden was an American professor of music, music school founder, and piano teacher.

Tower Music, is a musical project and album (2016) by composer and musician Joseph Bertolozzi. The project used microphones placed on the surfaces of the Eiffel Tower to capture the sounds of the tower. The resulting samples were used to create a musical composition using only the sounds of the tower itself, with no added digital manipulation or alteration of the sounds.

Lady Lucille (Wallace) Curzon (1898-1977) was an American-born harpsichordist and student of the classical musicians Artur Schnabel, Wanda Landowska and Nadia Boulanger. She was also the wife of classical pianist Sir Clifford Curzon.

Lee Orville Erwin was an American theatre organist who played an important part in a revival of interest in the silent film era. His career began as an organist accompanying first-run silent films in the 1920s. He received classical training in Cincinnati and France, and then began a career as organist and arranger for radio, significantly at WLW and CBS Radio, the latter in association with Arthur Godfrey, that lasted through the mid-1960s. When his radio career ended he was commissioned to provide complete new scores for silent films exceeding seventy in number, and in this capacity and as an organist for silent film tours and exhibitions he received widespread critical acclaim. Erwin was active into his early 90s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kitt Wakeley</span> American musician

Kitt Wakeley is an American composer, songwriter, musician, and music producer best known for his album, Symphony of Sinners & Saints which peaked at #1 on Billboard's Classical Crossover and Classical charts and at #18 on Hot Hard Rock Songs. Singles, Conflicted, Forgive Me, and Sinners and Saints, all peaked at #1 on Billboard's Hard Rock Digital Song Sales as well as charting in the Top-10 Hot Hard Rock Songs chart. He has released four studio albums that feature Nuno Bettencourt, Nita Strauss, Kenny Aronoff, Andy Timmons, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and the London Voices, among others.

<i>Symphony of Sinners & Saints</i> 2021 studio album by Kitt Wakeley

Symphony of Sinners & Saints is a concept studio album by American orchestral composer, songwriter, pianist/keyboardist, and music producer Kitt Wakeley. The album peaked at #1 on Billboard's Classical Crossover and Classical charts and at #18 on Hot Hard Rock Songs.It was recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London, UK and released on May 21, 2021, by Studio Seven Media record label. The album was recorded with an orchestra, several choirs, and a rock band, with elements of Rock, EDM, Classical, and Symphonic Rock. Feature guest appearances include Joe Satriani, Andy Timmons, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Voices, and the Dallas Gospel of Light Choir, among others.

References

  1. 1 2 Poughkeepsie Journal (9 August 1979). "Poughkeepsie man will play at Vatican." Poughkeepsie Journal (New York).
  2. ↑ "Google Translate". Archived from the original on 2012-11-13. Retrieved 2016-11-13.
  3. ↑ "Classical Crossover Albums : May 14, 2016 | Billboard Chart Archive". Billboard. Retrieved 2017-07-13.
  4. ↑ Young, Alison (1 July 2007). "It's all in the ears of the beholder." Archived 8 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine , Minnesota Public Radio (Minnesota).
  5. ↑ "Reuters Video: Hudson River Bridge Used For Music.", Reuters.
  6. ↑ "New York State Bridge Authority Mid Hudson Bridge Page" Archived 2012-07-28 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ↑ "Global Press".
  8. ↑ AOL News (12 April 2010). "Musician Hammering Out Deal to Play Eiffel Tower." Archived 27 May 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ↑ http://www.classicalmusicstore.co.uk/search.asp?search=bertolozzi&I1.x=17&I1.y=5%5B%5D
  10. ↑ "Bridge Music".
  11. ↑ Wakin, Daniel J (19 March 2009). "Traffic Jams: Extracting Music From a Bridge.", New York Times ArtsBeat.
  12. ↑ Aaron, Peter (27 February 2009). "Take It To The Bridge.", Chronogram (New York).
  13. ↑ "Rundown 6/3: Bridge Music (3 June 2009).", WBUR Boston Public Radio (Boston).
  14. ↑ "On The Town (August 2009).", Hudson Valley Magazine (New York).
  15. ↑ "Mass of St. Mary, Mother of the Church, Wings of eagles/Flight of doves, the Balkan suite".
  16. ↑ The American Organist, May 1983, vol. 17 (no.5), p. 38.
  17. ↑ The American Organist, November 1985, vol. 19 (no.11), p. 84.
  18. ↑ Video on YouTube
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.