Monday, March 7, 2011

Drawing Music :: Ecstatic Music Festival : Judd Greenstein & Olga Bell

"Heritage":  Composer Judd Greenstein performing Sh'lomo. 
drawn on paper + iPhone

Another beautiful Ecstatic Music Festival event!  This time, it was the festival's curator himself who was on stage. Judd Greenstein, an immensely talented New York-born-and-raised composer, presented 4 movements from Sh'lomo. The work tells the story of King Solomon and the Jewish people. Judd Greenstein brings his heritage and the wisdom of ancestors to modern life through shimmering voices of singers and his pulsating music. Truly ecstatic. 
I left humming the last musical phrase from Sh'lomo.  Turned out, I was not the only one...

Stage full of musicians.  Judd Greenstein's Sh'lomo. 
drawn on paper + iPhone

 
Singers from "Roomful of Teeth" performing Sh'lomo's 1st movement "These are the Sons of Israel". 
drawn on paper + iPhone

Composer Judd Greenstein performing Sh'lomo. 
drawn on paper + iPhone


Judd Greenstein shared the stage with Olga Bell, a Moscow-born/Alaskan-raised/New York-based musician and composer. Olga presented an ambitious piece in 7 movements that told the story of Russia's frontier lands. It is titled Krai and is sung in Russian. Similar to Judd Greenstein, Olga draws on her heritage, folk fables and even an ancient Orthodox prayer. 

Musician and composer Olga Bell (left) performing Krai. 
drawn on paper + iPhone

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