Memories of New York

for alto saxophone, percussion, viola, violoncello, and contrabass

total duration app. 15 minutes

1. Fanfare at Grand Central – 1:15
2. Looking South Across the JKO Reservoir – 2:30
3. The Taxi Ballet – 1:30
4. Sleazy Dudes with Designer Dudes – 3:30
5. The Times Square Charmin Bathroom – 1:30
6. The Scene in the Village – 1:30
7. The Saw Mill Road Race – 3:15

Program Notes:

Memories of New York was written for the Sophisticates, a new music ensemble based in Hartford, CT.

As the title suggests, Memories of New York is a collection of some of more indelible memories from my early visits to New York City. My first visit was in the fall of 2004, shortly after moving to Hartford, CT for graduate school. Rob Cimitile, another Hartt grad student let me accompany him when he went in for a visit.

Over time and other visits I established a few places where I enjoyed spending time: the reservoir in Central Park from which a great panorama of New York emerged, Battery Park and the exciting commerce emerging out of fanny packs, briefcases and garbage sacks, the one remaining dirty brick in Grand Central station, a reminder of the days when all the trains ran on coal…, a ridiculous evening where I spent thirty minutes in line to use the Charmin bathroom in Times square, all the fun restaurants and interesting people that populated Greenwich Village, and the Saw Mill Parkway, a twisting, bulbous road that I am convinced is the basis for most driving video games… Of course there are many more memories of New York, for each time I go I encounter a new adventure, but for the present these are the ones that stuck in my mind. Enjoy!

-Ryan Jesperson
March 2011

Memories of New York has not yet been premiered.

The future: Bobby Watson and the UMKC Big Band will premiere Rhapsody for Dean Moriarty in Kansas City, MO.

The future: Ashly Evans will premiere Birdsongs in Houston, TX.

The future: Jeux pour Jumeaux will be premiered in San Francisco, CA.

fall, 2013: Ryan Ford will perform BA(da)SS in Hartford, CT.

summer/fall, 2013: The Agosto Duo will premiere a new work for oboe and english horn.

summer, 2013: David Tayloe will premiere A Page Out of Zen.

summer, 2013: Hebdomas Squatinae will be performed by the SoundScape Trio in South America.

June, 2013: Hebdomas Squatinae (new version for fl, asax,pno) will be premiered by the Verismo Trio in Wyoming at the WMTA convention.

May 26th, 2013: Joseph Abad and Marko Stuparovic will perform Icarus in West Hartford, CT.

April 22nd, 2013: Jordan Jacobson will perform fragments and memories with the HICO Orchestra in CT.

April 20th, 2013: Jordan Jacobson will perform fragments and memories with the HICO Orchestra in CT.

April 19-20, 2013: The UMKC Opera Dept. will perform portions of Songs from Behind the Curtain.

April 7th, 2013: Joseph Abad and Marko Stuparovic will premiere Icarus in West Hartford, CT.

March 24th, 2013: Getz Going: A Suite for Eddie Sauter will be performed by Sheri Brown and the West End String Quartet in Hartford, CT.

February 21st, 2013: Not Death, but Love will be performed by the Ouroboros Quartet at a Misha-maya-gat event in Manchester, CT.

October 18th, 2012: Sheri Brown and others will perform Getz Going: A Suite for Eddie Sauter in Manchester, CT.

October 14th, 2012: Sheri Brown and others will perform Getz Going: A Suite for Eddie Sauter in Hartford, CT.

August 23rd, 2012: Sheri Brown and others will premiere Getz Going: A Suite for Eddie Sauter on a Hartford Phase Shift concert.

June 23rd, 2012: Ryan Ford will perform BA(da)SS at the New Hampshire Bass Fest

June 7th, 2012 7pm: A concert of the works of Ryan Jesperson will be presented at the Hartt School in West Hartford CT.

Performers: Joseph Abad, Chris Belluscio, Sheri Brown, Ryan Ford, Jordan Jacobson, Anastasia Seifetdinova, Sarah Washburn, The Hartt Vocal Quartet, and The INEO Sax Quartet!

Works: BA(da)SS, Boombox Serenade, fragments and memories, Not Death, but Love, Obscure Songs, Romanza for Alto Sax and Violin

May 31st, 2012: The Invisible, Magic, Soccer Phone will be premiered in Middlefield, CT.

May 27th, 2012: Jordan Jacobson and Anastasia Seifetdinova will perform fragments and memories on a CCI concert in CT.

EVENT HISTORY