Chris Olka/Samuel Jones Concerto

[dwaskew]

As many of you know, I'm lucky enough to live in Greensboro, NC, which, on it's own, is a great place to live, work, and raise a family. In the summers, the Eastern Music Festival comes to town, and provides the locals with some really world class orchestral and chamber music--for me, this means I get to hang out with and hear Lee Hipp and Demondrae Thurman for several weeks. (Demondrae's wife plays violin in the EMF Orch.) Last night, for the first time ever, EMF had a guest tuba artist as soloist. Chris Olka was here for the week--I hadn't met him before, but he is a tremendous player. Those in the northwest are fortunate to have him up there. He performed the Samuel Jones Concerto last night to a very appreciative and enthusiastic audience. The piece is quite challenging in many ways--it's not the hardest piece, not the highest, not the longest (although a healthy 25-ish min long) but it is a beast for orchestra and soloist. I must admit, not having heard it (but worked on it a bit, and having studied the piano score) I wasn't sure how it was going to "fly" as an introduction to the tuba for the EMF crowd. It worked beautifully. While definitely in a contemporary musical language, it's very listenable, without being "singsong-y". This was the perfect piece, and played by the guy who owns it (commissioned, premiered, and recorded it) ---the result was great. Sitting in an audience for the first time since the recent ITEC, amongst "regular" people, who didn't really know much about the tuba, at all, talking with some pre-concert, others post, this really turned out to be a great introduction of what we can do to a crowd that sort of knew about the "Christmas tuba thing at the mall".
I'd like to again congratulate Chris on a great performance (and insightful masterclass on Thursday) and encourage all of you to check out the recording of Chris and Seattle doing this piece when it comes out on Naxos later this year.

[keegan watson]

I agree completely with the previous post. The concerto last night was amazing. Mr. Olka performed the piece beautifully and my non-tuba-playing companions at the concert were blown away with his sound and technique. This was a great piece to listen to and I highly recommend looking it up or if possible see Mr. Olka perform it. Congrats again on a great performance Mr. Olka.

Keegan

[Norm in Bellevue]

I had the pleasure of hearing Chris and his wife at the piano do a run-thru several months prior to the world premier at Benaroya Hall in Seattle with SSO. Then I attended the "real" world premier. Both times were an amazing experience. I'm delighted that Chris and the Sam Jones Concerto have fans in another part of the country. And he's a fine teacher, too. This afternoon at the HPNWBBb recital a young student of his, Quinn MacKenzie, performed two movements from Bach's Third Suite for Cello. Well done!

[Chris Olka]

Hey guys, thanks for the kind words. I just got back from NC last night and saw Dennis' post. I really enjoyed my stay in Greensboro and all of the students and faculty were great. Lee Hipp, Dennis Askew, and Demondrae Thurman are some of the nicest cats you could possibly meet and Lee's hospitality was tremendous. After the concert it was a privilege to hang out for pizza and beer with these guys. Being out in Seattle the tuba/euph population is scarcer than most other places so to see the president of ITEA come to the concert was quite an honor. Most of the credit has to go to the students in the orchestra I played with. The score for the concerto is quite difficult and, along with maestro David Lockington, they did a fantastic job of playing it. I have to thank them for all of their hard work on the piece. I am thrilled to see the concerto get a great response and I hope to hear of many more performances abroad. The woman who commissioned the work, Sandra Crowder, was a huge fan of the tuba and it would have made her happy beyond words to know that it has continued to be played.

Again, thanks to everybody in NC and at EMF for the support and kind words and I hope you all have great rest of the Summer.

p.s. my only regret is missing Lee's chili at the EMF chili cook-off today!!!!!!!!!!!!
All the best,
Chris Olka

[Wyvern]

I have just got the new Naxos CD of the concerto.



What a great piece and super playing Chris! This is a tuba concerto which deserves to become established in the repertoire - showing off our instrument so well, while also at the same time being listener friendly. The Wagner Ring quote in the last movement is a nice touch to help listeners relate.

I liked the statement by the composer in the CD booklet;

The tuba has amazing range, agility, and versatility, and in the hands of a master performer it can command the stage on an equal footing with any instrument. I wanted to write a piece that would exhibit all this to the fullest extent, and that would spotlight [Seattle Symphony Principal Tubist] Chris Olka’s great artistry at the same time as it made an apt memorial to Jim Crowder’s life and work.

Does anyone know if the music is available with piano accompaniment? Would be nice to get and work on!

[ufoneum]

Available with a piano reduction:

http://justforbrass.com/index.php?main_ ... cts_id=916" target="_blank

Hope this helps.

- pat stuckemeyer

[Chris Olka]

Thanks again for the support on the piece. I believe the disc's physical release date in the U.S. is Feb. 24th. The music is published by Carl Fischer, so it should be available thru a number of music distributors. I hope to hear it played by better players than me (shouldn't be too hard) and see what the potential of the piece really is.

Again, thanks for the kind words.

Best,
Chris Olka

[Wyvern]

Chris, out of interest what model of tuba did you use to play the concerto? Sounds rather like an F to me.

[Mark]

Chris, out of interest what model of tuba did you use to play the concerto? Sounds rather like an F to me.

I've heard it live at least three times and every time Chris used a Yamaha YFB 822. I don't have my copy of the concerto in front of me; but I believe that the range is a pedal Ab to Ab above middle C.

[evan]

It looks like it's current available digitally from http://www.classicsonline.com/catalogue ... 5&affid=5#, but does anyone know where one can buy the disc? (In the US, preferably!)

Thanks.

[Mark]

It looks like it's current available digitally from http://www.classicsonline.com/catalogue ... 5&affid=5#, but does anyone know where one can buy the disc? (In the US, preferably!)

Amazon.com has it: http://www.amazon.com/Samuel-Jones-Symp ... 824&sr=8-2.

[Chris Olka]

Hey guys, yes, I used the Yamaha YFB-822 f-tuba for the premiere and recording. The range is pedal Ab to high Cb. The discs are out and shipping to stores now. They make great coasters, and double as Chinese throwing stars if you sharpen the edges! If you buy now you can get 2 for the price of 2!

Chris Olka

[RyanSchultz]

If you haven't heard this, you should really check it out. The premier in Seattle was great.

I was fortunate enough to be engaged for recordings with Seattle Symphony the same day that Chris was making this recording with SSO. I was packing up my horn after my part of the session was over and just stopped to listen to the great sounds coming over the backstage sound system as Chris was making the recording with SSO.

I'm definitely picking up a "throwing star" of my own. I suspect the Jones might make a nice Euphonium or Bass Trumpet Concerto as well if you have decent low chops on those instruments. . .