East Bay composer takes shrill piccolo to new depths
The music was so demanding — the structure was based on Picasso Cubism — that Spell felt entitled to ask the composer to write a work reveling in the rich low tones of his beloved piccolo and simple enough for a good player to sight-read.
“He said I owed him,” recalls Rokeach, a prolific Bay Area composer and music professor at St. Mary’s College in Moraga, whose “Nocturne for Piccolo and Piano” has been performed many times since.
“I said it would be fun to write a piccolo concerto, and she said, ‘Yes, it would be fun,’ and she talked to Michael Morgan about it,” says Rokeach, 62, referring to the symphony’s vibrant music director, who green-lighted the project.
Because the instrument lacks the tonal and textural range of a violin or piano, Rokeach had to create a rich orchestral palette.
“Writing something that is supposed to be no-apologies beautiful, you risk comparison to the greatest classical music in the repertoire,” he adds.
“She has worked incredibly hard and is owning the piece,” says Rokeach, who agreed to the suggestions Likar made regarding phrasing and tempo.
The three winners of the 2016 Steve Silver Foundation/Beach Blanket Babylon Scholarship for the Arts awards will get $15,000 each, which is up $5,000 from previous years.
Bay Area high school seniors can apply for scholarships in acting, dance or voice by sending a completed entry form and a three-minute performance tape by 11:59 p.m. April 29.
The 79th annual Carmel Bach Festival launches on an aquatic note July 16 with three watery works chosen with Carmel-by-the-Sea in mind: