Mark Ford, Marimba Motion Beyond Mark Ford is the coordinator of percussion activities at The University of North Texas in Denton, Texas. A marimba specialist, Ford has premiered a variety of new works for solo marimba and regularly performs concerts and clinics throughout the world. He is also the Artistic Director for the annual Drum Fest Marimba/Vibraphone Competition in Opole, Poland. His first marimba solo compact disc in 1996, Polaris, received excellent reviews from music publications including The Instrumentalist which stated Ford's performance is "superb and (Ford's) compositional style is equally outstanding." Other CDs by Mark Ford include Stealing a Moment (Dynasty Recordings) and Athletic Conveyances: Music for Tuba and Percussion (with Jeff Jarvis) AUR Recordings. As a composer Mark Ford has written several popular works for solo marimba and percussion ensemble including Kingdom Lore Fanfare, Stubernic Fantasy, Head Talk, Polaris, Motion Beyond, Afta-Stuba!, Marimba Heritage and Standup Shadow. His compositions have been performed at universities and concert halls throughout the world including the Taipei International Percussion Convention, The Eastman School of Music and PAS International Conventions. Mark Ford represents Dynasty/Bergerault marimbas and drums, The Zildjian Company, Evans Drums, Latin Percussion and Innovative Percussion as performing artist and clinician. Motion Beyond was written in 1998 and premiered at the PASIC convention that year in Orlando, Florida. The music is based on the concept of shifting ostinatos with a haunting theme that transforms throughout the work. The title refers to these swirling rhythms, as well as a desire to move ahead of the daily problems in life with a focus on important issues such as family, friends and loved ones. - Mark Ford Off Axis Sounds that we hear directly are considered to be “on axis” while the sounds that come to us indirectly (those reflected from walls, ceilings and other surfaces in any given space) are said to be “off axis.” The total sound that we hear, therefore, may be greatly influenced by these “off axis” sound waves. This is one of the reasons why a particular piece of music will be heard differently in different environments even when performers and instruments remain the same. In this case, the marimba is the primary sound source and the quartet becomes the reflecting surface which colors the ideas that are originated by the solo instrument. By reflecting a hard, fast and more exacting response during some sections and adding a totally different type of “off axis” color in others, the primary goal of the ensemble is to enhance the sound of the marimba and, ultimately, the total sound experience. The title refers to the conscious effort made during the compositional process to always work toward a total sound concept. - Lynn Glassock Variations on Lost Love was composed in 1977 for marimbist Leigh Howard Stevens. "Lost Love" refers to the poem of the same name by the English poet Robert Graves. The poem describes a person so distraught by lost love that he enters a state of hyperawareness..."His eyes are quickened so by grief, he can watch a grass or leaf every instant grow." He can hear "A noise so slight it would surpass credence - drinking sound of grass", or "the whir of spiders when they spin." And finally "This man is quickened so with grief, he wanders god-like or like thief, inside and out, below, above, without relief seeking lost love." My Variations are not formal variations on a theme. They are, rather, emotional pictures - a variety of moods, attitudes and feelings that arose from contemplating the poem. They range from mournful and tragic to lighthearted and whimsical. The marimba is a wonderful instrument for capturing these qualities of feeling, particularly in its ability to produce small and beautifully sustained sounds. It has been my pleasure over the years to have this music taken up by fine marimbists around the world. - David Maslanka Afta-Stuba! was premiered at the 2000 Percussive Arts Society International Convention in Dallas, Texas with the same performers on this disc: Shawn Hart, UNT Percussion faculty member Christopher Deane and myself. This piece is a sequel to my 1988 composition, Stubernic (Stew-bur-nick) which was recorded on my CD Polaris. Like Stubernic, Afta-Stuba! is written for three players on one low-A marimba. A few Stubernic motives are utilized in Afta-Stuba!, and the main theme is derived from the first three notes of the theme of Stubernic. In Afta-Stuba! each player plays in every register of the instrument at different times in the music. The work calls for the players to alternate positions behind the marimba, and even play the instrument from the front side. Generally Chris is playing the lower register of the marimba, Shawn the high register and I’m in the middle. My goal for Afta-Stuba! was to combine quality music with a little fun to celebrate the potential of the marimba. - Mark Ford Chamber Symphony No. 1 for Marimba and Winds This piece was premiered at the Southeast Chapter of the Music Educators National Conference in Winston-Salem, North Carolina in 1994 by the University of North Carolina-Greensboro Wind Ensemble and marimba soloist Michael Burritt. The lush outdoors of northwestern Michigan's lower-peninsula directly inspired the first and third movements, respectively "Deer Hunting in Michigan" and "The Stuff of Adventure." I have a strong attachment to this region, being born in Onekoma, Michigan, growing up in Bay City, Michigan, and attending the Interlochen Art Academy during my High School years. This composition is dedicated to my trumpet teacher at Interlochen, John Lindenau. The title "Chamber Symphony” was chosen to indicate that "the wind ensemble” is more intimately involved (musically speaking) with the soloist than a accompaniment as in a concerto. In this regard, the single winds and marimba are treated integrally although the marimba is the featured instrument. - Daniel McCarthy Lynn Glassock has received several awards for his compositions including winner of the Southwestern States composition contest in 1973; winner of the Festival of New American Music sponsored by California State University, Sacramento in 1987; and several Percussive Arts Society first place awards. Among his winning compositions are Five Songs for Voice and Marimba (recorded on Ford’s Polaris CD), Concerto for Percussion and Wind Ensemble, Lydeka for solo marimba, and No Exit for percussion ensemble. He is professor of music at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he teaches percussion, introduction to music technology and conducts the UNC Percussion Ensemble. David Maslanka was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts in 1943. He attended the Oberlin College Conservatory where he studied composition with Joseph Wood. He spent a year at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria, and did graduate work in composition at Michigan State University with H. Owen Reed. Maslanka's works for winds and percussion have become especially well known. They include among others, A Child's Garden of Dreams for Symphonic Wind Ensemble, and the Concerto for Piano, Winds and Percussion. Percussion works include marimba solos: Variations on 'Lost Love' and My Lady White; and three ensemble works: Arcadia II, Crown of Thorns, and Montana Music. In addition, he has written a wide variety of chamber, orchestral, and choral pieces. He has served on the faculties of the State University of New York at Geneseo, Sarah Lawrence College, New York University, and Kingsborough College of the City University of New York. He now lives in Missoula, Montana. Daniel McCarthy’s wind ensemble, orchestra, and marimba/percussion music is standard repertoire for college, professional, and high school musicians across the globe. His music has received several awards from the following: The National Endowment for the Arts, The Indiana Arts Commission, The Ohio Arts Council, Mary Anderson Center for the Arts, Arts Midwest Meet-The -Composer, The Indiana State University Arts Endowment, and the International Association of Jazz Educators. He has been recognized by The American Academy of Arts and Letters and was awarded the Theodore Dreiser Distinguished Research and Creativity Award at Indiana State University in 1998 for his accomplishments in music composition. In 2000, Dr. McCarthy became the Chair of the Composition and Theory Section at the University of Akron School of Music. He is also instructor of composition, theory, and computer music at the Interlochen Arts Camp. Eugene Migliaro Corporon is the conductor of the Wind Symphony and Regents Professor of Music at the University of North Texas. As Director of Wind Studies he guides all aspects of the program, including the masters and doctoral degrees in Wind Conducting. Mr. Corporon is a graduate of California State University, Long Beach and Claremont Graduate University. Having recorded over 400 works, including many premieres and commissions, his groups have released fifty recordings on the Toshiba/EMI, Klavier, Mark, Donemus, Soundmark, GIA, and Centaur labels. Performers: Off Axis – members of the UNT Percussion Ensemble: Stephanie Carr, Matthew Coley, Shawn Hart, and Mark Teal Afta-Stuba! – Shawn Hart and Christopher Deane, marimba Chamber Symphony for Marimba and Winds – members of the UNT Wind Symphony Jennifer Turner - Flute Cynthia Thompson - Oboe Micah Standley - Bassoon Gary Evans- Clarinet Eddie Garza - Bass Clarinet Jeremy Phillips - Saxophone Kate Pritchett - Horn Larry Jones - Trumpet John League - Trombone Roy Couch - Tuba Sandi Sheuerman Rennick – Percussion Thanks to: All of the performers and composers; Ray Dillard; Eugene Corporon; the recording assistants, Stephanie Carr, Chris Reidy and Ian Rollins; Erik Johnson and George Barrett of Innovative Percussion Inc.; William Penn and AUR; The University of North Texas College of Music; the UNT Assistant-Vice President, Chuck Fuller; Michael Robertson and Allmedia; and June Ford. Recorded in the Murcheson Performing Arts Center on the campus of the University of North Texas. This recording is partially funded by a creative activity/research grant from UNT. Daniel McCarthy’s Chamber Symphony No.1 for Marimba and Winds also appears on the UNT Wind Symphony CD, Time Pieces, Klavier CD K11122 Ray Dillard – Recording Engineer Allmedia Inc - Artwork Photography - Jonathan Reynolds A variety of marimba mallets by Innovative Percussion Inc. were used throughout this recording. They are the best! Digital reissue of this CD - November 22, 2015 Special thanks to my wife, Ewelina, and daughter, Emily, for their love and support. ***88 Copyright 2001 Mark Ford All Rights Reserved