West Coast Wind Quintet will be joined by composer and pianist Ron Levy and by jazz vocalist Dewey Erney to present several world premieres for concert series Music at the Point on Sunday, February 25, 2024, at 3pm. The performance will be held at Grace Presbyterian Church in Long Beach.
The program is entitled “Out of this World”, and Levy has composed a new three movement work – “Star Sonata“– especially for the occasion.
About the piece, Levy says “It’s a journey. You will hear new things and be taken on a trip to faraway places, some of which are outside of our galaxy. Way outside! So buckle up and prepare for the ride.”
Other works on the program include Levy’s “Space Waltz”, “Spacewalk”, and his new set of arrangements of space-themed jazz standards. Works by composers Mason Bynes, Robert Denham, Gustav Holst, Marc Mellits, Jeff Russo and Christopher Ziemba will complete the program.
A Sweet Collaboration
Ron Levy began collaborating with West Coast Wind Quintet in 2020. Their first project was “Odd Beethoven” – a set of pieces composed to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth. A concert was planned and off we went!
Immediately after this concert, the Quintet went into the studio to record “Odd Beethoven”. To complete the CD, the Quintet also recorded everything else Levy had composed for wind quintet over the course of four decades, making it a true retrospective. Levy also wrote some new compositions for the project, including several adaptations of earlier pieces he had composed for various ensembles.
The resulting recording, “Odd Beethoven: A Retrospective”, exhibits a wide range of musical styles, from the absurd to the sublime. The album is available in high resolution download as well as for streaming from Levy’s Bandcamp site:
https://ronlevy.bandcamp.com/album/odd-beethoven-a-retrospective
About the composer
Ron Levy is the composer of several orchestral works including Modigliani’s Arm, Breathless, and Dance Symphony. He was bestowed with the prestigious Henry Mancini prize and has worked with luminaries including the great comedian and Groucho Marx champion Frank Ferrante, and Academy and Emmy winning singer/songwriter Paul Williams.
Ron is inspired primarily by his search for The Great Taco. He hasn’t found it yet but will continue looking for as long as the mighty Pacific Ocean reaches the shore in sunny Southern California.
About the West Coast Wind Quintet
The West Coast Wind Quintet was formed in 2012, and is a group of five passionate and talented young musicians who are dedicated to performing and promoting wind quintet music. They are committed to expanding the quintet repertoire by working with living composers, as well as performing standard and rarely performed works. The quintet has commissioned and recorded and premiered many new works, and has appeared at countless chamber music series across Southern California. For more, check out their website: westcoastwindquintet.com
