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D.J. Sparr

D. J. Sparr Leads Inaugural Memphis Composers Institute as Artistic Coordinator; Premieres New Viola Concerto

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The Memphis Composers Institute, a new collaboration between the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, The Walden School, and the University of Memphis, debuts this February as a unique opportunity for emerging composers to develop their orchestral writing. The program culminates in a February 9 concert featuring the world premieres of four new orchestral works, including D. J. Sparr’s viola concerto, Extended Play, performed by Kimberly Sparr.

The Memphis Composers Institute was Sparr’s brainchild, and he reflects on the collaboration, saying, “I’m honored that The Walden School, Memphis Symphony, and University of Memphis came together to create the Memphis Composers Institute. More than anything, I’m excited for Sina Karachiani, Soomin Kim, and Evan Erickson to hear their orchestral pieces come to life and participate in this incredible weekend of music-making and camaraderie.”

As Artistic Coordinator, Sparr helped shape the program into a weekend of rehearsals, mentorship, and collaboration. A faculty member at The Walden School’s Creative Musicians Retreat, D. J. is also a frequent collaborator with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra as an electric guitar soloist and composer. A distinguished composer-performer, his work has been praised as “exemplary” (Gramophone) and “iridescent and wondrous” (The Mercury News).

The Memphis Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Kyle Dickson, will perform these new works at Harris Hall, University of Memphis, on February 9, 2025, at 2:00 PM.

Read more about the Memphis Composers Institute:

https://waldenschool.org/memphis-composers-institute-2025/

 

The Tao of Muhammad Ali-podcast

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With a host of world-class producers and under the auspices of Ron Howard and Brian Grazer’s Imagine Entertainment and IHeart Media, Davis Miller dedicated three years to producing, writing and hosting this show, the first genuinely visceral telling of his life-transforming, life-enlarging, genuinely unique and life-affirming friendship with the Great Man.  This is not your typical podcast series; it is instead an uncompromisingly tender, artfully detailed, immersive fathers-and-sons sound movie based on his no. 1 international bestselling book, “The Tao of Muhammad Ali.”

Miller worked with co-librettist Mark Campbell and composer D.J. Sparr to create the acclaimed opera Approaching Ali based on the book. For more information, please click here.

To listen to the podcast, please visit your favorite podcast app:

Apple Music

Spotify

IheartRadio

Amazon

Sparr Concerto for Jazz Guitar premieres in Arkansas

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logoASOThe Arkansas Symphony will give the premiere performances of D.J. Sparr’s new Concerto for Jazz Guitar on April 9 and 10, with Ted Ludwig as soloist. Writing for guitar often stymies composers, but Sparr is unique in that he himself is an excellent guitarist who has premiered many new works, including Michael Daugherty’s Gee’s Bend.

The Arkansas Symphony Youth Orchestra will perform Sparr’s The WOW! Signal in May, rounding out this celebration of Sparr’s music in Arkansas.

D. J. Sparr: Playing Well with Others from NewMusicBox on Vimeo.

Momenta Quartet premieres Sparr AVALOCH

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Momenta-Quartet

D.J. Sparr’s new string quartet, Avaloch, was given it’s premiere by the Momenta Quartet at the Tenri Cultural Institue.

New York Classical Review’s George Grelia reported:

“Avaloch set the aesthetic tone for the entire concert, the unique sound of American homespun experimentation, free of ideology and full of curiosity. The piece revolves around an agitated, yearning tune, and the music has a rough-hewn quality, like shape-note singing, particularly in the counterpoint. There is also pre-recorded music that played asynchronously from smart phones held inside ceramic pots by each musician.

Avaloch has a fulfilling sense of waywardness, disregarding obvious formal considerations and searching for a shape organic to itself. That quality, and Momenta’s weighty, lyrical playing gave it a social quality that is fundamental to the Ivesian conception of music making.”

Read the full review here.

Sparr Houston Grand Opera Premiere

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On This Muddy Water: Voices from the Houston Ship Channel

Wednesday, December 10, 5:30 p.m.
Tudor Gallery, Julia Ideson Library
550 McKinney Street, Houston

HGOco presents the world premiere of On This Muddy Water: Voices from the Houston Ship Channel by D. J. Sparr and Janine Joseph—a 30-minute song cycle for voices and chamber ensemble commissioned to celebrate the Ship Channel’s centennial. Sparr and Joseph combed through hours of oral histories collected by the Houston Arts Alliance to create this compelling portrait of the men and women at the heart of one of Houston’s most vibrant centers of industry.

For more information, click here.

Approaching Ali debuts at Washington National Opera

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Photo by Scott Suchman.

 

In two premiere performances, composer D.J. Sparr and librettists Mark Campbell and Davis Miller‘s hour-long opera tells the story of a reporter’s transformative meeting with the boxing legend Muhammad Ali. Approaching Ali features Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Soloman Howard (Joe in Show Boat) as Muhammad Ali, David Kravitz as Davis Miller, Aundi Marie Moore as Odessa Clay, and Ethan McKelvain as Young Davis. The opera will be performed with a chamber orchestra conducted by Steven Jarvi, and receive a complete staging by director Nicole Watson and a design team with mentorship provided by WNO Artistic Director Francesca Zambello.

“’Approaching Ali’…features an imaginative score by Baltimore School for the Arts alum D.J. Sparr. His harmonic style is nicely spicy, but fundamentally tonal, and he reveals a good sense of propulsion; like Ali in his prime, the score is nimble on its feet.” –Baltimore Sun

“…Sparr knows how to send a vocal line soaring vividly, and how to extract a great deal of color from a 10-member orchestra…” –Baltimore Sun

“…”Approaching Ali” makes a worthy calling card for the American Opera Initiative. It also demonstrates Sparr’s considerable potential; his first attempt in this tricky genre lands some very solid punches.” –Baltimore Sun

“Creating a modern opera work without alienating audiences seems to be no small feat.” –Maryland Theater Guide

“The audience obviously wanted more after the world premiere of Washington National Opera’s Approaching Ali. The 50 minute work… received a standing ovation from an enthusiastic crowd whom over ninety percent actually stayed for a 15 minute Q&A, an awesome feat for any Modern Opera production…The show is a contemporary human story set to a 21st century score, and polished with an accessible finish.” –Maryland Theater Guide

“Some of the most alluring music was written for the character of Odessa Clay, Mr. Ali’s mother, beautifully enacted by Aundi Marie Moore. She spun out the bluesy humming with a honeyed tone, one of several Americana elements of the score.” –The New York Times

“In a genre dominated by four-hour behemoths, it’s pleasantly rare to feel that a work is too short, with the somewhat abrupt conclusion here leaving you wanting more.” – The New York Times

“… Miller’s well-respected book—reduced to a simple yet surprisingly deep libretto by everyone’s favorite American librettist, the skillful Mark Campbell and set to music by D. J. Sparr, a composer we had previously not encountered—has been transformed into a compact, intensely emotional work of musical theater that explores the tragedies and triumphs of the human inscape in unexpected and at times powerful ways.” –Washington Times

“Some of the best vocal writing, however, fell to Domingo-Cafritz alumna Aundi Marie Moore … who had a coffee-rich tone as Odessa, full of maternal savvy and bluesy vernacular touches.” –Washington Post

Read more about the premiere here.

California Symphony debuts D.J. Sparr’s Violet Bond: Concert-Overture

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California Symphony’s Young American Composer-in-Residence, D.J. Sparr, will debut his new work Violet Bond: Concert-Overture for Electric Guitar and Orchestra this May. His tenure as Composer-in-Residence was recently extended to three years because of his inspired commitment to the post. Walter Collins, Executive Director of the CA Symphony, says, “D.J. Sparr’s artistic vision for the position, his commitment to the California Symphony’s mission, and his dedication to educational outreach made the choice to extend his residency an easy one. It is rare to find a composer willing to balance the demands of first-rank composition with dedicated community outreach on behalf of an orchestra. We’re honored to have D.J. as our Young American Composer in Residency for three years.”

Robert Trevi­ño will lead the California Symphony for three concerts on May 3 at the Bankhead Theatre in Livermore and on May 4-5 at the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek. This program features Berlioz’s powerful Symphonie fantastique, Beethoven’s Violin Concerto performed by the violin virtuoso Caroline Goulding, and the world premiere of Sparr’s Violet Bond: Concert-Overture.

This debut work pays homage to the memory of Sparr’s great-grandmother, Violet Bond. Nanny, as her family called her, was a staid music lover and would draw family members around her piano as she led the group in hymns. Sparr also remembers watching He-Haw with Nanny at her home and attempting to imitate Roy Clark and Buck Owens guitar playing with a broom. Perhaps she just wanted her broom back, but for Sparr’s fourth birthday Violet gave him a ukulele, thereby inspiring his tremendous career as an electric guitarist and composer.

Sparr says of his work, “The composition of this piece is not directly related to any of these memories and does not tell a story in a linear fashion. It is more the “feeling” of all of this which inspired me to create (hopefully) the most beautiful electric guitar concerto yet written.” Sparr emphasizes the pure natural sonic qualities of the electric guitar, rather than its potential for distortion. As he puts it, “I don’t think Nanny would enjoy the idea of me on stage with a heavy-metal guitar blasting everyone’s ears off!”

This work integrates the inherent improvisational aspect of the electric guitar with musical play between guitar and orchestra. Using a “loop effect,” Sparr assigns an orchestral role to the electric guitar while playing over the “loop” and highlighting the solo melody.

An accomplished composer and electric guitarist, D.J. Sparr has caught the attention of critics with his eclectic style. San Jose Mercury News described  his music as “pop-Romantic…iridescent and wondrous” and The New York Times said it “suits the boundary erasing spirit of today’s new-music world.” The Los Angeles Times praises him as “an excellent soloist” and the Santa Cruz Sentinel says that he “wowed an enthusiastic audience…Sparr’s guitar sang in a near-human voice.” Sparr currently holds the Young American Composer-in-Residence position with the California Symphony, an acclaimed program that has seen the likes of Mason Bates and Pulitzer prize winner Kevin Puts. During this tenure, Sparr’s works have been conducted by Nicholas McGegan and Donato Cabrera, among others. Sparr has also had recent world premieres performed by the Dayton Philharmonic, Richmond Symphony, Eighth Blackbird, and the Hexnut Ensemble.

This Summer, Centaur Records is releasing a CD of Sparr’s chamber music, entitled 21207 which was supported by a grant from New Music USA’s CAP Recording Program and in June, the Washington National Opera will premiere Sparr’s “Approaching Ali,” commissioned on behalf of their American Opera Initiative, based on the acclaimed novel “The Tao of Muhammad Ali” by Davis Miller.

Sparr was awarded the $10,000 grand prize in the orchestra category of the BMG/Williams College National Young Composers Competition and has received awards and recognition from BMI, the American Music Center, Eastman School of Music, George Washington University, the League of Composers/ISCM, and the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble. A fast rising star, D.J. Sparr’s musical vision is bound to catapult him to the realm of indispensable American composers.

This season, the California Symphony is trying on seven different guest conductors. Ninety candidates applied for the maestro’s job, says symphony Executive Director Walter Collins. After an extensive interview process, seven finalists were selected to design a concert, work with musicians and perform for symphony audiences. Robert Treviño is the final guest conductor during this 2012-2013 season, aptly entitled “The Search is On.” Other music director candidates performing this past season have been Robert Moody, David Commanday, Michael Butterman, Sean Newhouse, Alastair Willis and Donato Cabrera. Audiences, including those at the upcoming concerts in Livermore and Walnut Creek, are invited to participate in choosing the symphony’s next permanent music director by filling out a survey on the Symphony’s website. The symphony’s board of directors will make the final decision later this spring.

D.J. Sparr to be Composer-in-Residence with the California Symphony

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On the eve of its 25th anniversary season, the California Symphony has announced the selection of D. J. Sparr as its new Young American Composer-in-Residence. The critically acclaimed California Symphony’s YACR program will give this young American composer an opportunity to work with a professional orchestra in a two-year residency during which the Symphony commissions and performs one of his works each season, preceded by multiple reading rehearsals which are recorded, and direct feedback from the Music Director, the California Symphony musicians and music librarian. Said BMI Foundation President Ralph Jackson, “We know of no other orchestra anywhere in the world doing this type of groundbreaking work with young composers.” The composer will also be involved in educational programs in the schools and community at large, visiting local schools to discuss the ideas and changes surrounding the commission and to work with composition students. Students and teachers will be invited to attend three reading rehearsals and the world premiere.

Of the six composers who have participated in the California Symphony’s YACR Program since its inception, five have won the prestigious Rome Prize for Composition, and two went on to win the BBC International Masterprize competition (one with a work commissioned and premiered by the California Symphony). The ‘94-‘96 resident composer, Christopher Theofanidis, is a now a Grammy-nominated and multiple award-winning composer,  whose first full-length opera has been commissioned by the San Francisco Opera and will premiere there in 2011.

Said California Symphony Executive Director Walter Collins, ““We are delighted to announce the selection of D.J. Sparr as our latest Young American Composer in Residence. His work is refreshing, alternative, and exciting. We know our audiences will be intrigued to follow along as he creates new works and unveils them for us. D. J. represents the ideal choice for this program—he is an emerging American composer who is already garnering top international awards. Additionally, his experience working with young people in composition and improvisation will further expand the reach of this program into our schools.” D. J. Sparr is a prolific American composer and guitarist trained in a striking variety of musical styles, including both the classical and the vernacular. He has performed with the Fondazione Arturo Toscanini, Eastman’s “Musica Nova” Contemporary Music Ensemble, pop bands, and as a studio musician.

Mr. Sparr’s music has been performed, premiered, and commissioned by various ensembles, including the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras, the Albany Symphony Orchestra, eighth blackbird, the Dayton Philharmonic, and the “Late Show” with Jay Leno’s band. He received the $10,000 Grand Prize in the orchestra category for the BMG/Williams College National Young Composers Competition, was an alternate for the 1998-9 Rome Prize from the American Academy in Rome, and has won two BMI Student Composer Awards. His recent work “Precious Metal: A Concerto for Flute and Winds” was commissioned by a consortium of 33 colleges led by the University of Washington and was featured on its 2010 tour of Japan.

Prior to his current residency, Mr. Sparr was the composer-in-residence with the Richmond Symphony Orchestra’s education and community engagement department.  Mr. Sparr received his Bachelor of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music, his Master and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from the University of Michigan, and is a graduate of the Baltimore School for the Arts.  His composition teachers include Michael Daugherty, Augusta Read Thomas, and Pulitzer Prize winners William Bolcom, Christopher Rouse, and Joseph Schwantner.