Raymond Wojcik

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"Akin To Fire"
The Orchestral Music of Raymond Wojcik
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"At a time of technical gimmicks and stylistic uncertainty, Raymond Wojcik writes music from the heart that speaks directly to an audience in a distinctive voice."
David Schiff, composer and writer on music

" The music of Raymond Wojcik is always about something that resides in the human heart. It can be spacious or rousing, but it is always that way because the composer wishes to share his experience."
Paul Somers - Editor, Classical New Jersey Society Journal

"Raymond's music spoke to the [Amadeus] orchestra and audience alike with an immediacy that is all too rare in contemporary music. Raymond has his own compositional voice, which, again, is a rarity that must be valued in this world of "dumbing down" and compromise. There are very few composers that we would give the time of day to but Raymond Wojcik is most definitely one of them"
Philip Mackenzie, Music Director, Amadeus Orchestra and Chorus, London, U.K.

Raymond Wojcik’s work as a composer, conductor and educator has been lauded in the U.S., Europe and Asia. The 2003- 2004 season saw the premieres of two commissioned orchestral works, and multiple performances of these works and others taking place from Grand Rapids, Michigan to Bejing, China. “Jubilee”, commissioned by the New Jersey Youth Symphony for their 25^th anniversary was premiered in the youth orchestra version by the NJYS at their gala concert, and the Bass School of Music Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Mark Parker premiered the professional version of the work and took it on their tour of China. Additionally, the work was recorded by Moravian Philharmonic conducted by Joel Suben. “Cape May Reflections” commissioned by the Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts for their “Sights and Sounds” educational program was premiered at the opening concert of the Cape May Music Festival (NJ) by the Bay-Atlantic Symphony, conducted by Jed Gaylin and was repeated for their “Sights and Sounds” young people’s concert. “Vanishing Lands” was a featured work at the American Harp Society’s 2004 national convention in Philadelphia and The Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra performed “Divertimento from Lord Sedley’s Masque’ under the direction of David Lockington in December of 2003. “Vanishing Lands” was commissioned and premiered by the Southhampton Chamber Music Society in 2001, and repeated at Kean University’s “Ars Vitalis” new music festival in 2002. “Akin To Fire,” commissioned by the Colonial Symphony and premiered under the composer’s direction in 2001, and given its U.K. premiere with the Amadeus Orchestra the same year under the composer’s direction. Residencies as composer-in-residence/conducting mentor have included The 2000 Conductors Institute at Bard College in the U.S., and the Amadeus Orchestra in the U.K. Mr. Wojcik is a recipient of grants for composition from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and The Helen Leztgo Foundation.

In December of 2003, Wojcik guest conducted the Colonial Symphony with soloist Eugenia Zukerman in a program that included the world premiere of David Sampson’s “Concerto for Oboe and String Orchestra”. With the Arbor Chamber Music society, Wojcik conducted a highly acclaimed production of Stravinsky’s “L’Histoire du Soldat.”. As music director and conductor of the Garden State Philharmonic, a position he held for ten years, he lead the GSP to regional prominence through his innovative programming, new music initiative, award-winning educational programs and critically acclaimed performances. Wojcik has collaborated with soloists Lang Lang, Claude Frank, Scott St. John, David Finckel, Eugenia Zukerman, David Jolley, Maria Bachmann and many others. Mr. Wojcik has also served as music director and conductor of the Brunswick Symphony and the Shore Ballet Orchestra. Guest conducting appearances have been with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, Rutgers Summerfest Orchestra, The Pleven Philharmonic (Bulgaria), The New Amsterdam Symphony, The New Jersey All-State Orchestra and numerous festival, theater and ballet orchestras. His conducting teachers have included Harold Farberman, George Manahan and Michael Charry. He also has been selected for national conducting masterclasses through the American Symphony Orchestra League with Riccardo Muti, Leonard Slatkin, Pierre Boulez and Edo DeWaart.

An engaging and effective speaker on music, Mr. Wojcik provides the pre-concert Insights lectures for the international orchestra series at the State Theatre in New Brunswick, NJ. In addition, he leads the Discover! workshops in classical music for teachers at the State Theatre. [www.Statetheatrenj.org] His original educational projects for young students have repeatedly received foundation grants and have touched the lives of thousands of young audiences.

For his innovative educational programming, he has received grants from the Bergen Foundation and The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation. He holds degrees from the Manhattan School of Music, The University of Denver, Lamont School of Music, and has studied at the Juilliard School, Tanglewood, The Aspen Music Festival and the Conductors Institute. His composition teachers include David Schiff, and Donald Keats.

Akin To Fire (12') - Akin To Fire begins with a single musical thought that transforms and journeys through a landscape of emotions and states that encompass longing, searching, anxiety, anger, playful innocence, and ultimately triumph. "Transformation is at the root of "Akin To Fire" - both a transformation of musical elements and the transforming power of human experience...[it] is a taut muscle of counterpoint, heaving with emotion" - Newark Star Ledger, 5/8/2001

"The audience responded with a long and enthusiastic ovation" - Classical NJ. 5/23/01

Commissioned and premiered by the Colonial Symphony Orchestra (May 2001). (Second performance: Amadeus Orchestra (UK) October, 2001.)
3(picc.).2.2.2/4.2.3.1/timp/2 perc

A Heart in Winter (7') The powerful and lyric second movement of Dance Suite can stand alone as a concert piece. This elegiac work expresses the deeply felt emotions that come along with the experience of great personal loss. 2(picc.).2(e.h.).2.2/4.2.3.0/hp./ pn & cel /3perc/str.
(see optional reduced orchestration under chamber orchestra - Dance Suite)

Cape May Reflections (17') a seven-movement work inspired by the abstract art work of children. The work is an eclectic suite that captures the elements of the original art works yet stands on its own musical terms. Cape May Reflections was premiered in May, 2004 by the Bay-Atlantic Symphony under the direction of music director Jed Gaylin.
2(picc.), 2(eh),2.2/4.2.3.1/hp/timp./3 perc./str.

Closer to Home (8'30") This beautiful and richly melodic suite is drawn from the score to the award-winning film. Closer to Home is an accessible, and moving concert work that has broad audience appeal. 2(picc.).2(e.h.).2.2/4.2.3./-timp/2perc./hp./str. (optional piano)
Performance: Garden State Philharmonic, May 2000

Dance Suite (18') Commissioned for the 2000 Conductors Institute at Bard College. The four-movement Dance Suite is an exciting, rhythmically-driven work that draws upon diverse elements such as Bop, Nuevo Tango, Latin and the composer's distinctive lyricism. The opening Prologue is jazz-informed, nervous and contrapuntal, A Heart in Winter is the elegiac second movement, De-Tangoed is a tribute to Nuevo Tango composer Astor Piazzolla, Street Play is the joyous finale of this "tour de force of the imagination."
2(picc.).2(e.h.).2.2/.4.2.3.0/hp./ pn & cel /3perc/str.
(see optional reduced orchestration under chamber orchestra)
Performances: Amadeus Orchestra, July 2000, New American Chamber Orchestra, 1997

Declaration (6') A celebratory, yet reverent musical statement intertwining fanfare motives and expansive hymn-like themes cast in a distinctively American voice and evocative of its spirit.
2(picc.).2.2.2/4.2.3.1/timp/2perc./str.
Performances: Garden State Philharmonic, July & October, 1999, Huntington Youth Symphony, 2000

Jubilee (5'30") is a joyous, lyrical and rhythmically propulsive work that is an excellent "opener" for a concert. 2(picc.).2.2.2 / 4.3.3.1 / timp / 3 perc. / strs.
Performances: NJ Youth Symphony, Bass School of Music Symphony Orchestra, 2004.
Recording: Moravian Philharmonic, Joel Eric Suben, conductor

Dance Suite - Reduced orchestration of full orchestra version 2(picc.).2(e.h.).2.2/2.2.2.0/hp (opt.)./ pn & cel/2perc/str.

Lord Sedley's Masque - (or The Revels of Love Revealing) (23'): is an imaginative and entertaining score written in the style of a Renaissance masque, but for a modern instrumental "consort" and singer/actor. The masque alternates renaissance-style dances with verses telling the story of the amorous adventures of "Young Corridon and Phylis" - "(...and something else, but what I dare not name!")
2 flutes, oboe/e.hn, bassoon, violin, viola, cello, bass, harp, piano/harpsichord/celeste (one player)/ 2 percussion /singer-actor

Divertimento from Lord Sedley's Masque (13') a suite of the dances from the masque.
Lamont Chamber Players, New American Chamber Orchestra

Sea Songs (13') : a haunting and evocative four-movement work inspired by vivid images and feelings of the cold, vast, desolate seacoast of New England. Sea Songs is a unique and moving concert work embraced by audiences in the U.S. and Europe. 1.1.1.1-1.0.0.0/pn/hp/accordion/str. Optional version for solo violin and orchestra: 1.1.1.1-1.0.0.0/pn/hp/str. Both versions can also be performed with single strings.
Performances with: Pleven Philharmonic (Bulgaria), Garden State Philharmonic, New American Chamber Orchestra

Vanishing Lands (10'), is a musical response to the disappearance of American farmland and its culture. "Americana" nostalgia contrasted with contemporary elements makes this poignant work a subtle, but powerful statement about the passing of a simpler way of life. Flute, violin, viola, cello, and harp.
Commissioned and premiered by the Southhampton Chamber Music Society

Weston (3.5') - a lyrical tribute to the composer's beloved Vermont village.
Flute, violin, viola, cello, and harp

Love Song (3.5') for soprano, flute, and harp. This beautifully melodic work is effective for concert performance and appropriate for wedding ceremonies.

Three Fitzgerald Songs, Soprano and piano. Texts from poetry by Jeanne Fitzgerald - "Love's Poor Bird", "Waiting", and "Catechism".

Audio Samples
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    II     A Heart in Winter
             1. audio sample

    III    De-Tangoed (Hommage a' Piazzolla)
              1. audio sample

    IV    Streetplay
              1. audio sample
              2. audio sample

Sea Songs
     1. audio sample: Winter Sea
     2. audio sample: Sea Dreams



Divertimento from Lord Sedley's Masque
     1. audio sample: Intrada
     2. audio sample: Pavan