New York City Guitar Orchestra & Jason Sagebiel
Biography New York City Guitar Orchestra & Jason Sagebiel
The New York City Guitar Orchestra
has undertaken an ambitious project of commissioning seventeen new works for multiple guitars. The result is Spectra, an exuberant celebration of the possibilities afforded by the guitar orchestra format and the variety of compositional approaches taken by the composers who were involved in the project.
Frederic Hand’s poignant Chorale opens the program, threading lyrical, contrapuntal lines through the ensemble in a warm opening. The piece intensifies with a driving, mixed meter middle section before a return of the opening thematic material.
David Leisner’s Medanales Morning is inspired by the vibrant colors and effervescent signs of life in the New Mexico desert at sunrise. Leisner uses an aleatoric score to allow the sonic ecosystem to evolve organically, providing the performers with a series of evocative gestures, including bends that explore microtonal shadings of pitch, repeated cells and scalar gestures, and a cyclical, modal bass figure. As the performance grows, and the desert “wakes up,” the overlapping harmonic implications create a cacophonous halo.
Dave Hart’s Granada is an earnest, lilting portrait of the Spanish city so central to the guitar’s lore.
João Luiz’ Three Brazilian Pieces is a musical portrait of three forms of expression from his native country. The opening movement is inspired by the Brazilian martial art of capoeira, in which the fight (jogo) occurs inside a circle (roda) and incorporates dance and acrobatics within the discipline which Luiz evokes through an infectious, syncopated rhythm. A toada is an Amazonian style that melds Indigenous, traditional, and African influences; “Kirsten” features a triplet motif that glides easily through the shifting melodic material. Maracutu is a collection of styles from Pernambuco in Northeastern Brazil; in “Alfaia e Mare” a clock-like repetitive figure in harmonics serves as an anchor for a pugnacious theme.
Jason Sagebiel
is the founder of Sage Music School, faculty at the City University of New York, and director of the NYC Guitar Orchestra. He is a US Marine veteran of Iraq where he served as a Scout-Sniper, yet also studied Iraqi music and the oud with the locals.
After suffering a traumatic brain injury in the war, his recovery that led him to the research of how people best learn and function. Through this, he became fascinated with the learning process. This led to his founding of Sage Music School.
Beyond just teaching music, Sagebiel teaches people how to learn best. This allows his students maximize potential in all areas of their lives. This has resulted in his students staying enrolled 3 times the industry average, and caused students to fly from all over the US to study at his school in New York City.
In addition, Sagebiel has had an exceptional career as a musician.
He has given more than 30 world premiere performances. He has conducted at Carnegie Hall multiple times, and has appeared as a soloist and conductor.
He has appeared on multiple recordings. And he’s worked with members of the Philip Glass Ensemble, The Metropolitan Opera, Nine Inch Nails, the B-52s, and several and several Grammy and Emmy award winning artists.
He is published by Earth Songs Music.
His inspiring story has been featured on TV, radio, and in two books: Listening to War, and Sound Targets.
