The Counterpointe Chamber Ensemble was formed when the Counterpointe Dance Company, co-founded by Sarah Marcus and Erica Hartono commissioned original music for original choreography. I composed several pieces for the Ensemble which range from a Jazz piano trio “Violet Wreath”, to a full length ballet “Ghost Story” for 8 musicians including a string quartet, a string quartet plus bass clarinet and a piece entitled “Metamorphosis” which is written for String Trio, 2 Clarinets, and Piano. I also arranged Tchaikovsky’s “The Seasons” for Trumpet, Cello, Violin, Viola, Clarinet/Flute, and Clarinet of which was set on Berkeley Ballet Theater, and was choreographed and directed by Sarah Marcus.
Below are excerpts from Ghost Story, The Seasons , String Quartet no. 1, Metamorphosis, String Quartet Plus Bass Clarinet, and Woodwind Trio. Video clips of excerpts of the choreography coming soon!
Enjoy!
The following excerpts from the 1st and 2nd movements of the 3 movement feature for Bass Clarinet with String Quartet. The performance was recorded at a show in the ODC Theater in San Francisco. Rachel Condry is the Bass Clarinetist, Marc Chung – violin, Shane Carrasco – cello, -=—– violin, and —— viola
Counterpointe String Quartet plus Bass Clarinet – 1st movement
Counterpointe String Quartet plus Bass Clarinet – 2nd movement
The following is an excerpt from Metamorphosis. It is the end of the 1st section going into a short piano and cello cadenza and the 2nd movement. It is composed for Piano, Cello, Violin, Viola, and 2 Clarinets. It was recorded at a Counterpointe performance at the ODC Theater in San Francisco. The musicians are Paula Dreyer on piano, Soren Green on clarinet, Marc Chung on violin,—–on viola, Mitch Marcus on clarinet, and Shane Carrasco on Cello.
Metamorphosis, (Counterpointe Sextet) (excerpt)
This is a String Quartet written for an unusual instrumentation of 2 violins and 2 cellos instead of the usual 2 Violins, Viola, and Cello. This performance was recorded at Prince Street Studios in Rockridge, CA, by Chris Houston.
String Quartet no. 1
The Seasons was written by Tchaikovsky for solo Piano. Mitch orchestrated and arranged it for the Counterpointe Chamber Ensemble and was once again choreographed by Sarah Marcus, but this time for Berkeley Ballet Theater. The orchestration is for Violin, Viola, Cello, Clarinet/Flute, Clarinet, and Trumpet. The excerpt below includes snippets from February, April, June, October, November, and December.
The Seasons (excerpts)
Below is an excerpt from a full length Ballet and the first commission by the Counterpointe Dance Company titled Ghost Story. It is also from Prince Street Studios and again recorded by Chris Houston. The instrumentation is Bass Clarinet/Clarinet, Flute, Alto Saxophone/Flute, Piano, Bass, Cello, and 2 Violins.
Ghost Story (excerpt)
This is a Woodwind Trio for Clarinet, Flute, and Bassoon. It is slightly baroque in nature but with a modern, carnivalesque twist.
Woodwind Trio
Below are two excerpts which Mitch recently arranged for Opera on Tap, from a show that took place at Barbes in Brooklyn. They fall somewhere in the realm of Jazz/Classical crossover; famous arias given a fresh treatment. First is Donizettis Una Furtiva Lagrima from his Elixir of Love opera, followed by Verdis Tu Che La Venita from Don Carlos.
Una Furtiva Lagrima
Don Carlos, Tu Che Le Vanita (excerpt)
