Steelpanist
and
composer
Andy
Akiho
and the
Yale
Philharmonia
Connecticut,
USA
- In
his latest
work,
featured as
one of four
composers
premiering
their music
at Yale
School of
Music’s
Sprague
Hall
earlier this
month, Andy
Akiho took
those within
earshot on a
journey that
was limited
potentially
by only the listener’s
own ability,
to
comprehend
the daring freedom
of Akiho’s
vision.
Andy
Akiho
practices
before
his
premiere
with the
Yale
Philharmonia
Whenever
this
visionary
young man
puts music
down, the
listener can
be certain
that there
will be
movements
and
combinations
that
challenge
one’s
concept of
music, and
the role of
steelpan
within same.
Akiho
retains his
devotion to
the steelpan
as his
primary
instrument,
even as he
continues to
proudly
showcase its
evolution as
it journeys
along with
him as he
musically
chronicles
his life
experiences
- resulting in
scintillating
and
evocative
music works.
Andy
Akiho
leans
forward
and
over,
and
brings
out
extra
percussive
elements
of
the
steelpan
instrument
for
his
concerto
The last
time When
Steel Talks
(WST)
had the
privilege of
witnessing
live, Akiho
at work and
‘play,’ was at
the Manhattan
School of
Music with his
Synesthesia
Suite
which
showcased
Andy and
Friends with
steelpans, a
jazz combo
and chamber
orchestra.
Andy is a
gradate
student at the Yale School
of Music.
The graduate
studies
program
facilitates
student
composers in
their second
year as they
present
their works,
usually supported by
the full
Yale chamber
orchestra.
This year
was a bit
different,
where about
half the
orchestra -
some forty
musicians -
worked with
the
composers.
Andy
primarily
plays with
four
steelpan
sticks/mallets,
and always
by his side
is a variety
of them,
including
‘chop
sticks’
which he
switches to
for extra
textures.
“I use them
to try to
create
different
timbre
combinations;
I do that
with
everything I
write....
[I] would
have the
steelpan
play with
chop sticks
because it
really
brings out
the
articulation
and attack
more, just
in the
overtone or
the sound
that pan
normally
gets.
It really
sharpens the
attack and I
just like
that effect.
You can play
hyper
rhythms and
they are a
lot more
clear when
you use
chop sticks.
So it sounds
like a
completely
different
instrument
too, to me -
especially
when you mix
it with
other
instruments
at the same
time,” Andy
says by way
of
explanation.
Birch
steelpan
instruments
and
sticks
(left of
double
second)
at the
ready
for steelpanist
and
composer
Andy
Akiho.
The
additional
tenor to
the top
is for
percussions
only
Andy is
currently
using an
interesting
combination
of the
double
seconds and
tenor
when he
performs. The double
seconds are
positioned
to the right
and left,
with the
tenor in the
middle of
both.
And through
using a
thinner
rubber on
his sticks,
Andy has
found a way
to use just
a single set
of sticks
(instead of
two types)
for both the
double
seconds and
tenor
simultaneously.
Says Andy “....Primarily
I use pretty
hard rubber
mallets; on
the regular
sticks, I
use a much thinner type
rubber.
That way on
the higher
octaves, it
really
brings out
the note
more. And it
makes it a
little bit
harder
[sound-wise] on
the lower
octaves, in
the way I
have it set
up, with the
double
seconds and
the tenor.”
With the
thinner
mallet
overall, and
knowing how
to play the
bigger,
lower notes
of the
double
seconds with
a lighter “touch,”
while
bringing out
the higher
notes more
on the
tenor, Andy
elicits just
the right
timbres from
both voices
of the
steelpan
instrument family with
a single set of
uniform
steelpan
sticks.
As to his
steelpan
double
seconds-tenor
configuration:
that was
originally
dictated by
his desire
to master
Bach’s
Violin
Sonata Fugue
in G Minor.
“I wanted to
learn it
note for
note, with
the exact
voicing of
the chords
that he
[Bach]
wrote,”
explains
Andy.
“The violin
goes down to
a low G and
below middle
C, and with
the extended
range of the
double
seconds, I
can get
that.”
With the
tenor
included, he
reaches the
high F, and
so had
access to
the full
range of
Bach’s
violin
sonata.
That
experience
inspired
Andy to
start
writing more
pieces
with
the extended
range
allowed within the
double
seconds-tenor
configuration.
World-renowned
and
highly
coveted
‘Birch Pans’
are steelpan
instruments
made by one
of the best
steelpan
manufacturers
and tuners
in the
world,
master
Bertram
“Birch”
Kelman,
and his are the
instruments
of choice
for Andy
Akiho.
The
musician’s
tone changes
to one of
reverence
when
describing
what it is
like for him
to own and
perform his
works on
‘Birch
Pans.’
The steel
pan concerto
performed at
Sprague Hall
is based on
ideas Andy
had for the
better part
of a year.
The main
body of work was
completed
during the
last
semester in
time for the
December
concert.
The
audience
in the
balcony
of
Sprague
Hall
takes in
the New
Music
for
Orchestra
concert
In years
past, Yale’s
second-year
graduate
music
students’
works for
orchestra
premiered in
the
significantly
larger
Woolsey
Hall, just
about a
block away
from Sprague
Hall.
In Woolsey
the full Philharmonia
orchestra
circa eighty
musicians
would be
utilized,
but unless
the venue is
full,
clarity and
acoustics
are not
necessarily at
their
zenith.
The smaller
setting in
Sprague
enabled
clarity and
allowed for
warmer
acoustics
with a
smaller
audience.
The trade-off was the
reduction in
size of the
Philharmonia
by half.
That did not
phase Andy,
however, as
his concerto
was also
suited for a
chamber
orchestra.
Hindustani vocalist Meena Shivaram performing in Reena Esmail’s Aria at the New Music for Orchestra concert
But, Andy
Akiho will still
get a taste
of Woolsey
Hall.
Because of
its premiere
at the New
Music for
Orchestra
concert,
his Steel
Pan Concerto
will be
heard in
Woolsey, as his
piece has
been
chosen to be
performed at
Yale’s next Philharmonia
concert January
21, 2011
- an
opportunity
he is
extremely
excited
about.
Flutists Ransom Wilson and Dariya Nikolenko performing in Martin Bresnick’s Pan Pensero
On that chilly
New Haven,
Connecticut
evening at
Yale’s Morse
Recital Hall
in Sprague
Hall, Akiho
shared the
evening’s
two-hour
card with
other
talented
musical
composers,
such as Reena Esmail
whose
Aria
featured
accomplished Hindustani vocalist Meena Shivaram,
Adrian
Knight’s
Comblé,
and Omar Surillo
who painted
a musical
tapestry
with
Partner in
Crime
that allowed
the
different
voices of
conventional
instruments
to operate
and achieve fulfillment
outside of what
could be
perceived to
be
their
‘norms’
within the
orchestral
format.
The
privilege of
closing the
evening’s
performances
belonged to music
instructor
Martin Bresnick,
whose
three-segment
Pan Pensero
featuring
flutists Ransom
Wilson & Dariya
Nikolenko,
pleased many
present for
the evening.
Sprague Hall, Yale Campus - New Haven, Connecticut
After the
two-hour
concert
music
patrons
were filing
out of the
auditorium, but not
without
first taking time
to chat with
and further
compliment
the
composers
whose music
had been
showcased for
the evening.
In one case
WST witnessed an
ever-modest
Andy Akiho
being asked
to autograph
a copy of
the event
program.
Afterward it
was a quick
ride
from the
Yale Campus
in New
Haven (where
WST had
journeyed to
catch Andy
live) via the
Metro North, back
to New York.
For those
unable to be
present for
the live
event, the
New Music
for Orchestra
concert
was streamed
live online
by the Yale
School of
Music.
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