The Elegant Savages Orchestra In concert
TTU Celtic Ensemble
with assisting guests: Ms Zoe Carter (voice); Dr Ben Robinette (voice); Professor Roger Landes (English bagpipe)
This event will be streamed online at https://www.youtube.com/user/ttuschoolofmusic 09.22.14 8pm (-6 GMT).
On Monday September 22, at 8pm in Hemmle Recital Hall at TTU School of Music, the TTU Vernacular Music Center?, the College of Visual and Performing Arts, The Caprock Celtic Association? and the Roots Music Institute present an evening of “symphonic folk” with The Elegant Savages Orchestra.
Admission is free. Students, families, and seniors are especially welcome.
About the Music
The Elegant Savages Orchestra arose from the ashes of the Soviet-era Bassanda National Radio Orchestra. Founded by Yezget Nas1lsinez some time in the late 1940s, when Bassanda National Radio first went on air with funds from the State Directorate, the Ulusal Radyo Orkestrasi (or BNRO) drew its personnel from all over Bassanda, in addition to various adventurous expatriate musicians from the West. Until the 1930s, when the Central Committee finally brought all regions of the mountainous interior and rocky coast under state political control, Bassanda had been the home of a wealth of highly regionalized and distinctive music, dance, and song traditions.
Recognizing that centralization of state communications risked the erosion of regional styles and resulting “cultural grey-out,” Nas1lsinez, who came from a family of traditional bards but who had also trained in Paris in the ‘20s with Boulanger, and had been an early informant of John Lomax senior, argued passionately for the recognition and protection of these local traditions, both through an ambitious though underfunded field-recording program and through the foundation of a state ensemble showcasing these idioms.
The BNRO board and programming committee were the site of ongoing, sometimes contentious debates between Nas1lsinez, who fought for the integrity and inclusive presentation of the regional idioms, including those which came from Bassanda’s often-persecuted ethnic minorities, and state commissars, who insisted that the Orchestra must present a unified, “sophisticated” and culturally-competitive face of the Nation to the rest of the world. By the late 1980s, with the growth of glasnost and perestroika, and the example of the Bulgarian and Cossack state ensembles before them, the very elderly Nas1lsinez and his musicians’ leadership committee made the decision to divest of the last vestiges of state funding and control, and go into exile in the West. They began a peripatetic “never-ending tour” of the rest of the world, as a cooperative and collective enterprise, under the name of The “Elegant Savages Orchestra” (the new title was a paraphrase of a possibly-apocryphal quote from one of Nas1lsinez’s anonymous musical sources, who, upon hearing his lyrical description of the BNRO’s mission and plan, commented sardonically “well, yer a foine buncha elegant savages, are ye not?”).
Especially in the wake of the disintegration of (most) colonial states, Nas1lsiniz and his musicians intentionally broadened their sources of repertoire, explicitly in order, they said, to "obliterate the boundaries between musics that want to be free." Also over time, the personnel evolved as elder musicians retired or deceased, but the ESO’s core principles, as envisioned by Nas1lsinez and evolved and carried forward by his musical lineage and the musicians’ cooperative committee, continued: ‘No boundaries. Fierce dedication to the traditions and to one another.’
Correspondence, personal biographies, timelines, galleries, historical & archival commentary at:
www.elegantsavagesorchestra.com; likewise search Facebook for “Elegant Savages Orchestra”
Individual titles will be introduced from the stage
Co-sponsored by the Vernacular Music Center, the School of Music, and the Roots Music Institute (rootsmusicinstitute.com)
We thank our brother & sister Ben and Zoe for helping out on their signature pieces!
Special thanks as always to School of Music Director William Ballenger a/k/a “Vilyum Balandjeor”
VMC staff
Media contact: Director Christopher J Smith (christopher.smith@ttu.edu)
Administrative Coordinator: Abi Rhoades (thegoddessreborn@hotmail.com)
Administrative Assistant: Candice Holley (candice.holley@ttu.edu)
Documentarian: Marusia Pola Mayorga (marusia.pola@ttu.edu)
The Elegant Savages Orchestra (formerly “The Bassanda National Radio Orchestra”)
Dr Christopher Smith (director)
Ashley Allen (fiddle); Chris Arcy (bass); Zac Barron (percussion); Heather Beltz (flute, whistle); Rachel Boyd (piano, guitar, voice); Anthony Cahill (clarinet, whistle); Xavier Degrate (fiddle, banjo); Nikit Desai (viola); Rachel Elder (fiddle, voice); Jesus Espinoza (cello); Carrie Evans (clarinet, whistle); Joanna Gatlin (flute); Mark Gurrola (accordion, trumpet, piano); Kathryn Mann (voice, dance); Garrett McNutt (viola, tenor banjo, voice); Corey Metcalf (fiddle); James Patterson (percussion); Jaclyn Paul (percussion, voice, dance); Jakob Reynolds (fiddle, bouzouki); Abi Rhoades (fiddle, voice, dance captain); Felicia Rojas (fiddle, voice, dance); Nasr Sheikh (viola); Steve Stallings (guitar); Stephanie Streseman (voice, dance); Cassie Vandersloot (flute, voice, dance); Morgan White (voice, whistle, dance); James Wilkinson (ukulele, voice)
Eagle’s Heart Sisters Dance Company director & choreographer:
Nicole Wesley
The Vernacular Music Center Scholarship at Texas Tech University
The competitive Vernacular Music Center Scholarship at Texas Tech University provides financial assistance to a student in the College of Visual and Performing Arts (in 2007-08, Ms Lauren Joiner; 2008-09, Ms Kalli Burk; 2009-10, Ms Jillian Schmitt; 2010-11, Ms Bridgette Mireles; 2011-12, Ms Emily Furillo; 2012-13, Mr Ben Robinette; 2013-14, Mr Jakob Reynolds; 2014-15, Mr James Patterson) who is a practitioner of one or more traditional performance idioms. For more information, please be in touch with Dr Christopher Smith at christopher.smith@ttu.edu
The VMC Outreach Scholars Program helps fund young performers of great promise for attendance at workshops, summer camps, and festivals, in order that they may develop teaching skills to share in future with their communities.
To find out more about the Outreach Scholars, and for news & information on VMC events: visit vernacularmusiccenter.org
Can I participate?
Yes! If you are interested in participating in one of the VMC ensembles or partners (Celtic Ensemble, Tzumba World Music, Early Music Ensemble, Irish Set Dancers, Caprock Morris, Americana Ensemble, Balkan Ensemble, Mbira Group, Elegant Savages, Mariachi Los Matadores, or other), feel free to contact their respective directors (see vernacularmusiccenter.com/ensembles.html). Auditions typically occur in the first weeks of each academic semester.
You can donate directly in support of the VMC Scholarship, Outreach Scholars, and Concert Series. Visit Give2Tech.com and search “Celtic Ensemble VMC Gifts” to make an online, tax-deductible donation.
VMC photographer: Dr Tiffany Holmes
tifholmes.com
Social Media Wrangler:
Christopher Hepburn
Brewmasters:
Milhouse Brewing Co.
Upcoming Vernacular Music Center Events:
September 29: Balkan Ensemble, HRH
October 8: World Music Ensemble, HRH
October 30: Caprock Morris with TTU University Symphony Orchestra
October 31: Pirates & Cowboys Halloween Ball at Yoga Bean (3135 34th St)
November 21: Early Music Ensemble, St John's Methodist Church
December 11: 14th Annual Caprock Celtic Christmas, Maedgen Theater
January 20: José Guzman, guest teacher
February 8: Celtic Ensemble / ESO Winter concert “Into the West,” HRH
February 13: Jazz-Age Mardi Gras with the VMC, Yoga Bean
March 9-10: Carlos Núñez & Band, Legacy
March 28: Dancing with Mr Darcy and Dr Who, TTU Art Museum
VMC Partner: Roger Landes-curated House Concerts at Yoga Bean (3135 34th St):
November 15: Steve Smith & Tim May
November 22: Landes/Flanagan/Milton
January 31 2015: Randal Bays
Broadcast
We are recording and streaming live tonight, and we appreciate your participation! However, because of this, we ask you to be especially thoughtful about cell phones, pagers, and any extraneous noise during the performance. Many thanks!
Notice Regarding Electronics
Please refrain from use of flash photography during this concert. Such use is an infringement of TTU copyright policy and represents a safety hazard for performers. Thank you for your consideration.
Websites:
http://ttucelticensemble.com
http://vernacularmusiccenter.org
http://elegantsavagesorchestra.com
Facebook Event at: http://on.fb.me/QJlZez
Live stream here: http://bit.ly/OfOpe3
