About the Program

When asked to compose an original work for my residency at Strathmore, I wanted to create an ambitious, large-scale work. I imagined creating something like the symphonies and concertos that I had idolized as I grew up listening to and performing classical music. I discovered, however, that the past few years of regularly performing jazz and klezmer had transformed my musical language. Chamber Symphony for Jazz Octet emerged from my desire to bridge classical symphonic tradition with the living languages of jazz and klezmer.

Each instrument was chosen to represent a part of my musical heritage. Violin, viola, and cello embody the romantic sound of a classical string trio. Bass and guitar provide the solid groove of a jazz rhythm section. Clarinet, trumpet, and trombone express the lively improvisations of New Orleans jazz and klezmer. Together, the eight musicians embody the synthesis of my musical background. 

This synthesis extends beyond instrumentation to the very architecture of the music itself. The traditional symphonic four-movement structure remains intact, while jazz progressions and klezmer melodies provide the harmonic and melodic foundation. The result is a work where improvisation breathes spontaneity into carefully crafted structures, and where familiar chord progressions from jazz standards create moments of recognition for both performers and audience. This symphony creates a dialogue between composition and improvisation, between the formal elegance of classical music and the expressive freedom of vernacular traditions.

Movement I: Swing
Opening with a call-and-response in the strings, the first movement boldly introduces each instrument with an improvised solo. This movement contrasts two musical ideas, echoing the characteristics of the classical “sonata form.” In this form, the two ideas are presented in succession before they are fragmented and combined. The central tonal conflict arises from the characteristic movement between minor and relative major themes found in classic jazz standards like "I Found a New Baby" and "St. Louis Blues."

The first melody draws from Benny Goodman's "A Smooth One," reimagined in a minor key, while the contrasting theme employs "rhythm changes"—the popular jazz form based on Gershwin's "I Got Rhythm"—orchestrated in the style of the master big band arrangers like Count Basie and Thad Jones. The middle “development” section fragments Gershwin's progression through various keys, culminating in an extended trombone solo over a sustained dominant pedal.
Movement II: Waltz and Zhok

Reimagining the classical “Minuet and Trio” form, this movement contrasts two European dance forms. The waltz begins with an intricate guitar melody that is passed across the ensemble, referencing the virtuosic Romani musical tradition. Guitar and clarinet improvise cadenzas at the end of each waltz in the klezmer style. The middle section introduces a zhok—a klezmer circle dance with a characteristic loping feel that contrasts the waltz's triple meter. 

Movement III: Ballad

The third movement develops an original melody composed during an orchestra trip to Poland when I was a teenager. Beginning intimately with the violin and bass alone, the theme is passed across the string quartet, gradually transforming into a jazz standard, then an extended trumpet cadenza before reaching a powerful climax with the full ensemble.

Movement IV: Freylekh

The finale takes its name from a freylekhs, a joyful klezmer dance traditionally performed at weddings. Opening with a somber cello-led introduction, the movement alternates between the celebratory freylekhs and a blues, providing each instrument opportunities for an improvised solo.

The symphony concludes with a final klezmer-inspired melody, referencing the opening of the first movement with an inversion of the first theme. The melody builds gradually as it is layered in canon between the instruments, culminating in a cacophonous celebration.