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I’ve been waiting for this for a while, Christopher Tin’s debut album Callings all Dawns is now on presale!  The album’s official release date is Oct 1st and those who order now will receive an autographed hard copy and a complimentary digital download of the full album.

Calling All Dawns was recorded at the world-famous Abbey Road Studios with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Performers on the album include the Grammy-winning Soweto Gospel Choir, Grammy-nominated opera singer Frederica von Stade, Portuguese fado sensation Dulce Pontes, early-music quartet Anonymous 4, and Iranian singer Sussan Deyhim among many others.  Calling all Dawns was recorded and mixed by three-time Grammy-winning engineer John Kurlander.

Calling All Dawns consists of twelve songs in twelve different languages and opens with “Baba Yetu” the theme song for Civilization IV that won Chris the 2007 GANG Awards for Best Original Vocal Song and Rookie of the Year. Kris, Maz and I recorded taiko and percussion parts for the Japanese song “Mado Kara Mieru” and I programmed an electronic drum machine track for the French song “Rassemblons-Nous”.

I’ve had a chance to hear this album at different points of its’ development and it’s fantastic.  Chris’ talent for great melodies and orchestration and his ability to weave influences from around the world into his work really set him apart.  This album is a powerful artistic statement from a great composer with a unique point of view and full of great performances, what more could you want?

On Ensemble does a sound check before our performances.  Step one is to make some noise on each mic’ed instrument so the sound engineer can test things out.  Step two is to play a set of instruments in context so she/he can get a sense of the overall mix of things.

Kelvin ends his sound check on the drum kit with a “whole kit” jam, playing until the sound person says okay.  He’s just goofing around and making it up as he goes, but it’s always awesome.  It’s so good, people often say something like, “Great song, but the ending sucked…”

Here’s an example…

We had a fantastic time yesterday performing at the Pasadena Levitt Pavillion!  Each of the five Levitt Pavillion venues puts together 50 free concerts every summer (an amazing achievement!) and On Ensemble finished off the series in Pasadena.  Thank you to the Friends of the Levitt and all the great audience members in attendance!

Maz is sexy!

The Center for Intercultural Performance is now accepting applications from US choreographers and composers for the 2010 Asia Pacific Performance Exchange Residency which will take place Feb 1-21 in Bali, Indonesia.

APPEX 2010 is a three-week intensive residency in Bali, Indonesia. For five days a week, artists will engage in master classes, studio workshops, experimentation, collaborative projects and public performances. On weekends participants will be introduced to the vibrant arts and culture context of Bali through specially planned field trips and concerts. A total of 16 artists will participate in the APPEX 2010 program. An equal number of American and Asian participants will take part in the program. Asian participants will be recruited from India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Cambodia.

The rich, interactive workshop environment of APPEX provides artists with the opportunity to develop the ability to collaborate across discipline and culture; learn mutual and self-reflective critical techniques; and initiate life-long friendships and professional networks.

Who Should Apply: Traditional and contemporary performing artists from USA are invited to apply. Special care will be given in the selection process to ensure a balance across disciplines. Artists who are active in the community as educators, artistic directors, and cultural workers are encouraged to apply.  More information can be found on the Center for Intercultural Performance website.

On a personal note I was fortunate to participate in the 2006 APPEX program held at UCLA.  I can say without hesitation that it was one of the most amazing creative experiences I’ve ever had and it has had a profound influence on my direction as an artist.  It’s hard to describe what APPEX is like I can only say it was a life changing experience and I would highly recommend applying for this program.

A HUGE thank you goes out to all of the organizers, volunteers and participants at the 2009 North American Taiko Conference!  Darren you are amazing thank you for all of your work and support!  Yuri thank you for all of your work on making Taiko Jam ‘09 a success.  Janet, Jen and Terry thank you for all of your work on making the conference happen.  And last but definitely not least a huge that you to all of the volunteers who helped coordinate and host all the Taiko Conference events from workshops, to performances to receptions.

Here’s a link to some photos from our performance at the Californai WorldFest by Tony Finnerty:

http://flipperty.smugmug.com/gallery/8976487_pYHhS/6/600596645_8GTEo#600595720_MnYor

We’ll be performing on the main stage at the California World Fest at 5:30pm on Saturday evening and the performance will be broadcast live on KVMR 89.5FM, Nevada County’s public radio station.  You can also listen to the broadcast on-line at the KVMR website!

We’re having an amazing time at the World Fest so far!  We had two performances today and then stayed to watch the Wailing Souls and the Indigo Girls.  I’ll post more soon!

There are only three more days till the end of the Netflix Find Your Voice competition and Jon Goldman’s film: Paul Sussman’s Eleven-Step Guide to Self-Actualization is right on the verge or making it to the next round.  If you haven’t voted for his film please vote!  Jon is using a track that we did with Patrick Graham for his entry and having his film win would be fantastic for us and for Jon!

Vote here: http://www.netflixfindyourvoice.com/