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This is great news for musicians! A Federal Aviation Administration bill has passed in Congress, which will allow musicians to safely carry their instruments on to airplanes. For more information, check out this article:

http://www.artsjournal.com/slippeddisc/2012/06/just-in-congress-passes-bill-allowing-instruments-in-aircraft.html

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We had a fabulous time collaborating with the wonderful Joy Ike for her CD release on
January 27 at the New Hazlett Theater in Pittsburgh’s North Side.

A few years ago we recorded on Joy’s last album, Rumors. We also played for her CD
release at that time. This past summer, Joy contacted Symbiotic Collusion to record for
her newest album, All or Nothing. Of course we said yes!

It was so much fun to collaborate with Joy again! Her sound has evolved over the past
few years, which is exciting to hear. This time around we had the pleasure of working
with Saul Simon MacWilliams, who produced, arranged, and recorded this album. He
has worked with a lot of great artists, including Ingrid Michaelson. Joy really knew what
sound and groove she wanted for All or Nothing. Her vision, coupled with Saul’s ability
to help realize this vision, made for easy and fun recording sessions that flew by!

Our collaboration culminated in Joy’s CD release party in January. The Chamber Light
Players got together for a rehearsal at the Sound Gallery with Joy and members of her
band. We were super excited to use Symbiotic Collusion’s newly acquired acoustic
electric instruments from G. Edward Lutherie. These are awesome acoustic instruments
with built-in pickups. We have used them for our own shows with the Symbiotic
Chamber Orchestra, and we were thrilled to use them for Joy’s show. They sound
great when plugged in. The built-in pickups take away the complications of amplifying
acoustic instruments and allow for all the subtleties of acoustic instruments to come
through the sound mix.

The show itself was a blast. Joy brought so much energy to the concert, and the audience
was really receptive to her music. The event took place at the New Hazlett Theater,
which was a cool space to play in. A few hundred people came out to support Joy and to
pick up their copies of her album.

We really enjoyed making music again with Joy Ike and her band. Her album, All or
Nothing, is officially released! I highly recommend taking a listen. Go see a show, or pick
up a copy of the new album! The music is interesting, the groove is great, the lyrics are
touching, and her voice is captivating. Oh yeah, and the strings on the album sound pretty
good too!

You can check out more about Joy and hear some of her music here:

http://www.joyike.com.

-Ashley

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Here is an article from the Washington Post that lists some very important skills that children can obtain from participating in the arts. If you are a music teacher, then you probably already know these things, however it is still a good reminder for those who don’t normally think about these issues.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/01/22/top-10-skills-children-learn-from-the-arts/

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It was the end of January in 2001 at three in the morning and I was getting ready to depart for a journey that would change my life forever.  Most Cubans get up in the morning to either get ready for an extremely undercompensated day of work or in my case to go to school and confront the everyday struggles for survival in Havana.  I was almost done with high school, majoring in violin performance.  If I wouldn’t have left the country I most likely would have applied for the ISA (Instituto Superior de Arte), the main music institute in Cuba for higher education in music, to become a professional musician.  Although Cuba is very well known for its cigars, rum, coffee and doctors, it has also produced world renowned musicians such as Paquito D’Rivera, Arturo Sandoval, Gonzálo Rubalcaba, Chucho Valdéz and the Buena Vista Social Club to name a few.

Education for Cuban nationals is free, but foreigners have to pay for room and board or have an agreement with their home country’s educational organizations.  In exchange for graduating from high school, I would have had to spend a year or two in the military and then freelance without the possibility of having a secure source of income.  This is what is expected of nationals who enjoyed their “free” education in Havana.  I remember how sometimes teachers at my music school would be absent for days and the school principal would have no idea of their whereabouts.  Whenever that happened, my friends and I would have no other choice but to get out of the classroom and practice in the hallway.  Sometimes we would even just leave the school to buy something to eat, considering lunch in Cuban schools were (and still are) non-existent.  Those were the days that whenever one of us had some cash and the others didn’t, we would pool whatever change we had among us so that we all could eat a slice of pizza at a non government-owned business.

There are two things that any Cuban national is looking for when they get off of the island:  freedom and change.  Because of the regime’s restrictions and the U.S. trade embargo, many doctors, musicians, construction workers, school teachers and even government officials, who are supposedly having a better life than any person in Cuba, have been forced to leave the country.  Unless there are drastic changes in the Cuban economy, people are not going to be successful with whatever they pursue in life.  In Cuba there’s no such thing as the pursuit of happiness.  Just survival.

Cuba used to be allied with the former Soviet Union and therefore it was able to have constant trade with them.  Cuban nationals were privileged to receive scholarships to travel and study abroad without any trouble from the government.  We got many music scores and rare documents that would be difficult to find in Havana.  Food products weren’t so difficult to get at the supermarket.  I remember vividly getting rationed canned products at government owned and controlled supermarkets and then seeing them disappear shortly after the communist collapse.  After this event, and in addition to the U.S. trade embargo, Cuba was forced to depend on its own economy through tourism and foreign charity.

These were hard times for Cubans after all these global changes.  Food and electricity were extremely rationed around the whole country.  We had what we called the “Special Period” at the beginning of the ‘90s.  From then on we had blackouts that would last from four to seven hours a day, one piece of bread per person in the family, about a pound of black beans, rice and only the most fundamental things such as soap, detergent and a toothbrush.  Due to the blackouts and the shortage of gas, my family got to the point where we had to destroy wooden artifacts around the house so that we could build fires to cook on the patio.  By the time I was thirteen years old, I was pretty serious about violin.  Blackouts and the lack of food around the house did not stop me from practicing.  I would put a candle next to a music score and practice in the dark or until the electricity was restored.  This also made me memorize things quickly.  A good sense of humor was helpful during these times, too.  My family would gather in a circle and tell jokes pretty much about anything.

I came to the US in late January of 2001 with an invitation from the Boston Philharmonic and the New England Conservatory Youth Philharmonic Orchestra conductor Benjamin Zander.  When I played side by side with the other kids back then it was as if a new world opened up for me.  I was really moved by the energy and enthusiasm of these young musicians.  From then on I had one thing on my mind and that was to get out of Cuba and come to the U.S. to pursue further studies in violin performance.  My family had to do a lot of things to make my transition as smooth as possible.  I was eighteen years old and the year of my high school graduation was approaching quickly.  This meant that I would have to be drafted into the military as this was required for young men who were in their late teens and about to graduate from high school.  We had to sell things around the house.  There was a rare piece of furniture that belonged to my great-grandmother that we sold in order to afford the $600 round trip plane ticket to New York (this was assuming that I would be returning to Cuba).

The U.S. Interest Section gave me a U.S. visitor visa for four months so that I could play side by side with the New England Conservatory Youth Philharmonic in Boston.  I was supposed to go back to Cuba after doing the performances with the group.  Even though it was the hardest decision for an eighteen year-old to make, eleven years later I still think it was the best decision I have ever made.  I didn’t go back home and haven’t been back since.  I don’t think I would have any of my current accomplishments if I would have stayed back home.  I would still be hoping for something to happen for me, as many Cubans currently living there still are–or at least the younger generation is.  I just hope that the relations between Cuba and the U.S. open up one day and Cubans can enjoy the same freedoms that Americans do.

- Sandro Leal-Santiesteban

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Artists Include Symbiotic Chamber Orchestra, Freya String Quartet, John Russell, & Visual artist Derek Reese

PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania, December 20, 2012 –Symbiotic Collusion will be presenting innovative, genre-bending music and art on December 31 from 7-11 at the Sound Gallery as part of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s First Night celebration. Musical performers include the Symbiotic Chamber Orchestra, John Russell and the Freya String Quartet. Visual artist Derek Reese will be presenting his art installation Wonder Bred.

First Night will mark the first performance of Symbiotic Chamber Orchestra–part indie rock, part classical, and a completely new sound in music. They will be performing The Ghost & Mister Able, a tale of one mans journey to the realization that he has free choice. Also performing is John Russell. Presenting the solo violin in a unique light, he uses  two full pedal boards, drums, and string quartet, taking the listener to modern places through known styles, from hints of old Texas fiddle to shades of modern electronica. The Freya String Quartet will be presenting a suite of lighter classical pieces by Sean & Richard Neukom.

Reese’s Wonder Bred was inspired by his upbringing in West Virginia. “The region in which I grew up felt to me at times like a stale bag of Wonder Bread amidst an artisan bakery world. Growing up it seemed that any semblance of cultural pride was taken from West Virginia decades ago and had been filled with strip mines and Wal-Marts. As I grow older, however, I feel a growing sense of interest and pride in my cultural roots. My artwork attempts to celebrate, denounce, mock, and legitimize certain aspects of Appalachian culture. Through constructed artifacts, assemblages, concrete and abstract imagery, video, and performances, I attempt to stitch together a narrative of real, invented, and embellished aspects of my life in order to get to a more authentic sense of the culture that has made me who I am today.”

All performances will take place at the Sound Gallery, 131 7th Street Downtown. The Sound Gallery is part of Project: Pop Up, a collaboration of the Urban Redevelopment Authority, the Department of City Planning, and the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership. Admission to Symbiotic Collusion’s performances and all First Night Pittsburgh events is $8, and may be purchased at trustarts.org. All First Night events are family friendly.

____

Symbiotic Collusion is an arts organization dedicated to developing innovative music and self-sustaining business models for artists and other arts organizations. Artists include the Symbiotic Chamber Orchestra, Freya String Quartet, Chamber Light Players, and visual artist Derek Reese. Symbiotic Collusion is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization.

Contact: jason.hohn@symbioticcollusion.com
Name of Media Contact: Jason Hohn
Company Name: Symbiotic Collusion
Contact Phone Number: 412-805-9920
Website URL: http://www.symbioticcollusion.com
Project Pop-Up Pittsburgh: http://www.downtownpittsburgh.com/about-pdp/pdp-initiatives/project-pop-up
First Night Pittsburgh: http://www.firstnightpgh.org
Photo Credit: Jamie Rennich (Otis and James Photography)
Photo By-Line: Symbiotic Collusion L-R: Jason Hohn, Jason Neukom, Ashley Buckley, Katya Janpoladyan, Sean Neukom.

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Here is a very interesting article that addresses just one of the reasons the violin is so hard to play, described by a mathematician.  The author speaks about the violin, but really what he is discussing applies to all bowed string instruments.  Here’s the article:  http://plus.maths.org/content/os/issue31/features/woodhouse/index

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Here is an article written by Eric Nilsson, an attorney who has family members in the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, which (as you might know) is currently dealing with a musician lockout.  He offers some insights regarding the current orchestra crisis that is going on and we thought it would be worth sharing.  Here is the article:  http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2012/10/18/nilsson/

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