pC Awarded Grant from Miami-Dade!

Project Copernicus has just been awarded a $6,000 grant to fund a summer concert at Arts at St John's on Miami Beach! The concert theme is "From the Land of the Budda" and will feature eastern-influenced music composed by a wide variety of living composers. We obviously couldn't be happier about the support that Miami-Dade is offering us, and we are honored to be receiving their support. We will keep you posted on the details of this concert, but most likely the timing for this event will be mid-August.

Additionally, Project Copernicus will be performing music of lesser-known Italian composers on May 6, 3:30pm at Vizcaya Museum & Gardens. Come listen to the world-class sounds of pC while surrounding yourself with some breathtaking gardens and natural landscape. It is sure to be an event you won't want to miss! Feel free to email us at info@projectcopernicus.org with any questions.

We always appreciate your support and suggestions, so keep them coming!

More Updates

pC has once again made great strides for the future as we are submitting (4-9-07) a complete grant proposal to the City of Miami-Dade, and we are planning to submit a proposal to the State of Florida very soon. We have had an immense amount of help from Dana Pezoldt and the Miami-Dade Department of Cultural Affairs, and their support in helping us apply for our first grant has been remarkable. And Carol Hoffman at Arts at St. Johns has guided us through this process with amazingly helpful advice and knowledge, and we could not have done it without her. We look forward to developing a strong relationship with the Department of Cultural Affairs, and we hope to garner their support for the future.

Additionally, we are very excited about the upcoming concert series in May, and it promises to be an exciting mix of high-quality and diverse music. Stay tuned to the website and updates here for more detailed information, but as we said in earlier posts the dates are May 6 (Vizcaya Gardens) and the weekend of May 11-13 (Venues TBA). As always, your input/suggestions/comments/thoughts are always welcomed and appreciated, so feel free to post here or email info@projectcopernicus.org.

Blog on Blog

Hi All,

Palm Beach Post music Critic Greg Stepanich has written a thoughtful and lengthy piece on his blog about our concert at St. John's on Jan. 21. Here's a link:

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/palmbeach/stepanich/entries/2007/03/copernicus_conc.html

We're moving on several other fronts right now. We've got Matthew Sarelson, a lawyer on South Beach doing our 501c3 filing for us pro bono, we finally have a checking account open courtesy of Emilio Vazquez at Coconut Grove Bank and some money to put into it thanks to the generous people who donated money during our last concert cycle.

Speaking of which...

We have two concert cycle coming up. One a baroque concert featuring lesser known Italian baroque composers including Leonardo Leo and Francesco Geminiani at beautiful Vizcaya Mueseum and Gardens on May 6 (vizcayamuseum.org, check it out-it's gorgeous) and the second a cycle of music from the near and far east featuring pC percussionist Rod Squance running from May 11-13th. Lots of cool stuff going on. More to come...

Updates

Hello all Copernicans,

It has been a while, but we've been up to things. Most importantly, we've tentatively scheduled concerts for the 10-12 of May (info here: http://projectcopernicus.org/Concerts.html) featuring Rod Squance, one of our fine percussionists. We're still working on firming up venues, and we're looking to extend our reach into Broward (Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood) and West Palm Beach. We'll get those firmed up soon and let you know when we do.

Steve and I have decided to start a press out of pC (http://projectcopernicus.org/pC%20Publishing.html) to help disseminate the music of our artists as widely as possible. We have many talented composers and arrangers on our roster and we're going to make sure they get heard!

Next up on our to do list is a major fundraising campaign. We've been meeting with several people who have been extremely successful at fundraising efforts in Miami and they have been extremely generous with their advice and encouragement. Everybody we've come across is rooting for us to flourish and have been unstinting in their efforts to make it happen.

One last thing: We're official! pC has incorporated in the State of Florida and we're lucky enough to have Miami Beach lawyer Matthew Sarelson (sarelson.com) handling our 501 (c)(3) filing on a pro bono basis. He is very generously donating his expertise through the Miami-Dade County Bar Association's Put Something Back pro bono program. He's a great guy and very enthused about pC.

Moving ahead one step at a time. Drop us a line anytime and let us know if you'd like to have a copy of our debut concert CD. We'll put one in the mail for you right away.

Soft Wind Sunday

Steve's piece beautifully sung by Monica and Brandon.

Next Concert on the Horizon

Friends and fans of Project Copernicus:

pC is tentatively planning our next concert series for mid-May. We are currently considering several programming ideas, and we would love to hear YOUR thoughts! Please post any ideas you have for programming, or any pieces you would like to see us perform on the upcoming concerts or future concerts further down the road. I can't tell you exactly what the concert will consist of at this point, but I can promise you this; it will be fun, interesting, fresh, and unique. Well, it's already February, so we better get to work!

-Steve

Successful Concert Series by All Accounts

Friends of pC:

We apologize for not posting a blog last week, but things were a little busy in preparation for our first concert series. We were thrilled to have large, supportive audiences at both of our venues this weekend, and there was a genuine sense of excitement and appreciation from the public. Additionally, everyone involved with pC felt as though this was a special experience. Musically, the concerts were nothing short of inspiring for many people, including myself, and the biggest question that came up was...when is the next concert? Well, we're working on that as we speak, and we will do our best to have another concert series ASAP.

Larry Johnson of the Miami Herald was in attendance Saturday night, and he has written a very thoughtful and positive review in the Herald. I invite you to view the article here:
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/entertainment/music/16515463.htm

Stay tuned for details of our next series, and please feel free to contact us about any thoughts or comments you may have. The more input we have about our project, the better off we will be.

-Steve

A Little More

This article in Playbill:

http://www.playbillarts.com/news/article/5828.html

Kind of summarizes the other two. It's amazing how a little press can snowball. We'll be getting a lot more after the concert so keep in touch.

Project Copernicus makes headlines in Miami Herald

Larry Johnson of the Miami Herald has written a fantastic article about Project Copernicus.
It can be found online here:
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/entertainment/music/16392796.htm

Here is an excerpt:
"Project Copernicus, a new chamber orchestra created to present the kind of envelope-pushing concerts that, apart from Seraphic Fire, are currently lacking in Miami."

As a result of this article, and the blog post by Greg Stepanich, we have received several emails and calls from patrons who want to purchase tickets, join our mailing list, and just generally offer their excitement and support.

We have also created an electronic version of our press kit and sent that by request to the Coral Gables Gazette, who may be covering the event. If you would like a copy of the electronic press kit, simply email us at info@projectcopernicus.org, and we will get it to you ASAP.

Ok, stay tuned for more!

Press and More Press

Here are some excerpts from Greg Stepanich's blog:

What we see here is a group with a very modern outlook: it has an active Web site, a press packet with a DVD and CD featuring Park's conducting and Danyew's music, collaboration plans, outreach proposals, and a focus on contemporary music that it's willing to leave undefined and forever explored. That strikes me as the kind of business plan that is alert to today's music-business reality.

And:

I'm planning to attend one of the group's first concerts, and I hope that the youthful energy evident in the founding vision of this ensemble leads to wonderful music. This is the kind of operation that we're likely to see much more of over the next few years, as younger musicians marry their interest in new music with the necessity of reaching audiences they have to educate.

That is the world we live in, and Project Copernicus understands that. I wish them good luck, and hope everyone interested in the new face of classical music will give them the benefit of the doubt as they strike out on their demanding path.

Read the entire post here:

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/palmbeach/stepanich/entries/2007/01/post_5.html

Heady stuff. We're going to do everything we can to bring Greg's kind words to fruition. Many thanks to Greg Stepanich and the Palm Beach Post!

Chung has also been in very close contact with Larry Johnson of the Miami Herald, having spoken with him several times in the past few days. Mr. Johnson is not only an insightful critic, but he uses his forum to be an advocate for the arts, encouraging Miami's audiences to broaden their horizons. Larry will put a short article about us in the paper today, with a longer one to follow in a couple of weeks. We'll have excerpts and links to both of those articles when they appear. Thanks to Larry Johnson and the Miami Herald for their help in getting the word out about what we're doing!

The press we've been getting has been just fantastic. Now it's time for us to knock 'em dead with our musicmaking.

Miami Herald

Chung had a great conversation today with Larry Johnson, the new music critic at the Miami Herald. Larry is very excited about our vision and he will be doing a short writeup about pC to go into the paper this week, with a longer feature on the week of the concert. In addition, he'll be in attendance at our debut concert. With the level of talent that we have and through our hard work we'll do our very best to impress him and all of the concertgoers. The buzz about pC has been just amazing, and frankly, a little surprising. This whole endeavor feels a little bit like Frankenstein's monster - it's taken on a life of it's own, but this is what our wiki-orchestra is all about, and with the people we've got involved all they need is a little room to run and they'll take care of the rest.

Hope you all had a great holiday!

Press on the Palm Beach Post Blog

Hi everyone,

I hope you are having a great holiday season, and best wishes for a safe and happy new year. Chung recently sent press kits and letters to several local music writers, and we have already heard back from one--Greg Stepanich from the Palm Beach Post. I spoke with Greg yesterday and we had a great conversation about pC and our upcoming concerts. Greg is going to write a little something about us on his blog- http://www.palmbeachpost.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/palmbeach/stepanich/ and he is going to try to attend one of the debut concerts! We are flattered that he is interested in our project, and that he would consider writing about us. Stay tuned to his blog (linked above) to see what he has to say. I can't wait to see everyone in a few weeks! -Steve

The Calm Before the Storm and an e-mail from Sunny Climes

Hello All,

Steve and Chung are safely ensconced with family (and dog) in chilly Vermont and Chicago, but still working away. Chung has reverted to hermitdom with the score to the Mahler/Stein Symphony No. 4, while Steve continues working on publicity materials and all of the other print essentials for our debut concert. Even in the midst of this quiet reverie we have exciting news to report, as we received a very nice e-mail from Greg Stepanich, the music critic for the Palm Beach Post, about doing a post on his blog featuring Project Copernicus. He even said that there might be some interest in doing a feature article in the Post, so we will be sure to be as interesting as possible when we speak with him!

In other news: Carol from Arts at St. John's has very generously provided us with 5000(!) postcards, 4000 of which we Project Copernicus members will distribute and post. Let's drum up lots of interest and pack the houses on Jan. 20 and 21.

Father Perry and everybody at St. Matthew's have been simply spectacular. They have really gone above and beyond, providing rehearsal space, housing guest artists, and now handling the reception. Jean Carmichael at St. Matthew's has been described as the "Hostess with the Mostest" and Jeff Alban, the Music Director at St. Matthew's reported that this is the case several times.

We're looking forward to a long and fruitful relationship with both of these wonderful organizations going ahead.

Hope everybody has had a wonderful holiday season thus far, and all best wishes from Project Copernicus for a safe and prosperous New Year.

NTV News Feature on Monica Yunus

Unfortunately, the user who posted the fantastic Peace Prize ceremony video has removed it from YouTube, but this video will give you a different look at our featured artist.

Featured Artist Monica Yunus Peace Prize Performance

Updates and more good news.

Chung had a great breakfast meeting with Father Perry, the priest at St. Matthew, and Jeff Alban, the music director. They are very excited to be working with us and they've been extremely generous with time and facilities. They'll be able to accommodate us for all of our rehearsals as well as concerts, and that is a huge coup for our group. Chung went over to visit and they have a beautiful sanctuary with a gorgeous and acoustically advantageous wooden ceiling. The pews were actually quite comfortable and there is ample parking. There is a very nice dining room and the reception's going to be lovely. The real big news that came out of this is that St. Matthew's is very interested in having us there for a four concert series, and Chung also broached the possibility of doing a holiday concert. Chung's going to meet with the vestry (church council) on Thursday evening to discuss the concert series as well as finalize details for our debut concert. The only downside is that they don't have a piano there, so we'll have to work with a digital piano for the moment, but Jeff's working on this and we hope to have something worked out as we move forward.

More soon, and some pictures of our venues if Chung can figure out how to get pictures from the phone to the computer!

Details

Hello All,

Steve was in Miami and it was a whirlwind weekend. Got tons done.

The YMO concert was a huge success. Mark Hart, the executive director of the Coral Gables Community Church Community Arts Program, thinks there were at least 1400 people in attendance. The church holds 1,800, and it was hard to find an empty seat. There were people standing in the back! The Steel Pan Orchestra outdid themselves. They played incredibly intricate and lengthy works completely from memory, and the standards for ensemble precision and dynamic contrast rivalled some of the best classical ensembles I've heard. Most of the members of this group were in their mid-teens with some much younger than that. Everything they did was simply amazing.

On to our first concert. Most of the personnel are set, with Cristhian Rodriguez, a tremendously gifted undergrad from UM playing clarinet/bass clarinet, and Seth Ruse, a percussionist from NWS, also joining us. Rounding it out will be Jamecyn Morey on violin, David Bebe on 'cello, Rod Squance (who just played with Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Ensemble) and three others to be named on oboe, flute and harp. Steve, Karen and Chung worked on strategic planning for this concert series and beyond, and Steve took on the huge responsibility of getting the program together. Karen, (whose background in the business world has been invaluable to our group as we plan for the future), is taking care of strategic planning and organization. No detail escapes her eye. It's a great team, and a huge honor to work with them.

Steve and Chung met with Dean Hipp this morning. He looked over our press kit and was very impressed. It was great to have someone of his experience and stature encouraging our efforts, and his door has always been open to us. He is an extremely positive and knowledgeable person, and one gets the definite sense that he considers all of us UM people to be part of an extended family.

Chung's going to meet later this week with Jeff Alban and others from St. Matthew the Apostle Church to go over details for our debut concert, including publicity and (very important!!) the reception.

So many details! We've got a great start, though, and, we'll just keep plugging along.

We're for real

Hello All,

We're for real. We have two concert dates set: on Jan. 20 at St. Matthew the Apostle in Miami and on Jan. 21 Arts at St. John's in Miami Beach. Here's the poster/postcard mailer for this first cycle:



and the back:


Missing some pertinent details, obviously, but we'll get those in tomorrow. The concert is called "Hausmusik" in reference to the masterful reductions done by Schoenberg and Stein to make these works accessible to fine amateurs, and Steve's intimate work fits right in in spirit and scope. We're going to find a chair like Van Gogh's and have it for the concertmaster. Hope he likes it! We love it from a branding perspective, and I'm sure you've all seen ad campaigns similar to this. There was one a few years ago on the Chicago PBS affiliate that used a big, blue, leather easychair that made random appearances all over Chicagoland. Wouldn't it be great if we could do something similar with our more modest Van Gogh chair? Maybe we will!
It's also an homage to the great director Akira Kurosawa and his movie Dreams. One of the dreams represented shows a man at an art gallery suddenly finding himself in a Van Gogh painting. Martin Scorsese plays the mad painter, and the genius of the moviemaking shows itself full-force when you stop deciding what is "real" and what is a "painting". It's this magic we're aiming to recreate in our concerts.

We have most of the personnel set for this first concert as well, with Blake coming down from New York and Randy coming down from Boston. Of course, our featured artists, Brandon and Monica, are coming down from NYC to sing the Mahler and the Danyew. The rest of the group will be filled out with pC members from UM and New World Symphony.

We've been up to other things, as well, including business cards:



letterhead and a press kit. (I think we owe Jim Stephenson a mug for winning the slogan contest!) Happy to send a press kit to you if you can think of someone who might be interested in having us, or even if you're just curious. Just let us know.

We're both involved in a wonderful concert with the Young Musician's Orchestra, the Miami Steel Pan Symphony, Chuck Bergeron Quartet, Bob Heath, organ and Craig Morris, trumpet. Steve did the arrangements for jazz quartet and strings, and Chung's conducting this monster, which literally has something for everyone. Believe me, if you haven't heard Leroy Anderson's Christmas Festival played by steel pan ensemble and orchestra you have not lived. It's a hoot. The Miami Steel Pan Symphony, led by Leon Foster Thomas, is a truly impressive ensemble. They hadn't heard the work a scant month and a half ago. They played it today from memory! Their energy, musicianship and dedication were truly inspirational, as was the spirit of giving and collaboration with which they approached this endeavor. What an honor it was to hear and work with them.

More soon.

Really Rolling Now

We've finally got a real concrete date (Jan. 21) for our first concert and we've lined up several performers, including Monica Yunus soprano from the Met and Brandon McReynolds, a fine tenor who has sung with the Florida Grand Opera. In addition, we have Blake Espy, a New York freelancer on violin, Randy Wong, who teaches ear-training and allied courses at NEC on bass and most likely several performers from the New World Symphony. The program will be the one we've been kicking around for a while now: Steve's beautiful Soft Wind, the Debussy/Schoenberg Afternoon of a Faun, and the Mahler/Stein/Platt Symphony No. 4. The concert is entitled "Hausmusik" in reference to these arrangers intentions to bring these pieces down to a size that (good!) amateurs could play at home. We're still looking for a second venue for Saturday the 2oth and I'm confident we'll find one.

On the education front, Chung has been working with the beautiful children at Creative Children's Therapy for almost a month now, and really getting comfortable and enjoying getting to know the kids. It has been a challenge at times, but they've made great strides and will be presenting a concert this Saturday the 2nd of holiday music, with the kids playing tone chimes, drums, tambourines and autoharps.

Much more to write but it's very late. We're forging ahead and pretty soon, this whole thing's going to be for real.

Hi all,

This is the logo that we have decided to go with for now. We may make a few slight changes to it, but this will be the general feel of the logo. We think it has a very musical feel, with a sense of constant motion and direction. As always, we would love to hear your thoughts and comments.

-Steve