The play album - fivebyfive (Releasing February 19, 2023)
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The Play Album was inspired by the Playful Music project, produced by fivebyfive in collaboration with The Strong National Museum of Play and The Rochester Public Library. Designed to inspire all through the power of play, the project included the commissioning of new musical works inspired by toys from the National Toy Hall of Fame and the presentation of four public performances along with uniquely engaging interactive activities. This album includes pieces from the Playful Music collection as well as other pieces inspired by play!
THE PLAY ALBUM
fivebyfive:
Laura Lentz, Artistic Director & flute
Marcy Bacon, clarinet
Ken Luk, electric guitar
Eric J. Polenik, bass
Haeyeun Jeun, piano
Marc Webster, Technical Director & audio engineer
1. Flytrap - Nick Revel
2. Ball: Rolling - Sherri Chung
3. CLUE® GAME: Who Dunnit’ - Sherri Chung
4. Get Soaked! - Olivia Keiffer
5. Hacky Sack - Marc Webster
Marc Webster plays drum machine and cymbals on Flytrap
Joëlla Becker plays cello on Flytrap
Sungmin Shin plays electric guitar on Hacky Sack
PROGRAM NOTES
Fly Trap
Nick Revel, composer
When Nick Revel is not touring as founding violist of the GRAMMY™ Nominated PUBLIQuartet, he is composing, producing, and performing original solo pieces, audio engineering ensembles of various shapes and sizes, and teaching students of all ages. His recent compositions have won the Red Jasper Award Shortlist, the Catalyst Quartet's CQ Minute competition, fivebyfive's 2020 call for original scores, and placement on top podcasts like Doug Fearn's My Take on Music Recording. These works will appear on his forthcoming album Dream Collider, available on all major platforms. He has served as artistic and executive director of the Norwalk Youth Chamber Ensembles, co-creator of the New York String Studio, and on the board of the Seabury Academy of Music and the Arts in Norwalk, CT.
Track notes:
FlyTrap was my first piece for layered violas (and a handful of digital instruments) using Ableton Live as a looping program. I premiered it in January 2018 and have shifted it from a live performance version into a studio version, and now an arrangement for fivebyfive. The core of this piece lies in a deep sense of ensemble groove, a sparkly eighth and sixteenth note ostinato line, and soaring melodies. Elements of the performance are adaptable to various situations including the instrumentation, the choice of accompaniment in solo sections, and expression. I hope that this arrangement, which is a considerable departure from the original, allows for a greater variety of sounds, interactive chamber music energy, and FUN. Thank you!
Ball: Rolling
CLUE® GAME: Who Dunnit’
Sherri Chung, composer
Award-winning composer Sherri Chung has been recognized internationally as a trailblazing composer for film and television. Her music transcends genre, and fuses inspirations—both traditional and emerging—in support of filmmakers’ visions worldwide.
Sherri currently composes the scores for Kung Fu (CW), HBO Max/Amblin’s upcoming animated series Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai, and most recently, the upcoming Netflix feature film, Happiness For Beginners and NBC’s upcoming drama, Found. Frequently recognized for her other television credits, including the CW network series Batwoman and Riverdale, NBC’s Blindspot, and Ava DuVernay’s limited series The Red Line, she has also scored numerous feature films, documentaries, and commercials. Recent film credits include Warner Bros Studio’s Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase, and The Lost Husband, the latter which garnered her a Society of Composers and Lyricists nomination for Best Score for an Independent Studio Film. She also composed the score for The Other Side of Home, which was shortlisted in the 2017 Oscars for Best Short Documentary.
Not only a composer, Sherri is also a pianist, vocalist, performer and songwriter. As a vocalist, she has recorded for films, commercials, trailer music, and television (ABC’s Resurrection, CW’s Arrow and NBC’s Blindspot). Her voice can also be heard on the Netflix documentary series The Keepers (Emmy nominated for Outstanding Documentary).
An active member of the film music industry, Sherri also serves as Governor of the Music Branch of the Television Academy.
Track notes:
Ball - I think one of the simplest toys that ever existed is the ball. But in writing a piece inspired by it, I found it anything but simple. I thought about the way a ball can move from rolling fast or slowly, to bouncing high at slower speeds, to bounces at a shorter and quickened pace. It can move any way one can imagine! In thinking of how that might translate to music, I thought, if we couldn't see the ball and know what obstacles or objects made it move the way it did, could we still tell what it was doing and how it was moving just by listening? I'm not sure - let me know!
This is the journey of one toy ball as told through music and imagination only.
Clue - This game has been one of my favorites growing up and remains so even now. (Of course, much of my love for it was piqued by the 1985 movie, Clue, that was based on the game.) And while I've always been captivated by a good murder mystery, I especially love the setting of this game: an old isolated mansion, secret doors and pass-throughs, the formalities of a dinner party. Within that context, this piece is meant to capture those very moments of a true 'whodunnit' scenario, where fear and finger pointing keep the mystery (and entertainment!) alive.
Get Soaked!
Olivia Kieffer, composer
Olivia Kieffer is a composer, percussionist, and educator originally from Wisconsin. Her music has been described as "immediately attractive", "like a knife of light", and "honest, to the point, and joyful!".
Track notes:
Get Soaked! was written for fivebyfive, for their Playful Music Project. fivebyfive asked me to write a piece based on a toy, chosen from a special list of toys from the Strong Museum of Play in Rochester. I chose the Super Soaker!
Hacky Sack
Marc Webster, composer
Hacky sack is a game where players stand in a circle and toss a small bag among themselves using only their feet, with the goal of keeping the bag from touching the ground. This piece features a section which is essentially a game of hacky sack played in music.
In the Hacky Sack section (starting at 1:39), the flutist starts with the "hacky sack", plays a 4 bar solo, then tosses it to the next player, who plays a 4 bar solo, then tosses it to the next player. Just like the game of hacky sack, the order of the players is improvised, but follows the traditional rules of "don't hog the hacky sack, make sure to pass to players who have not gotten it recently, etc".
The score provides a technique of practicing improvisation within the 4 bar phrases as well. The score provides each player with several 4 bar lines written such that any player can play any line, or even switch mid-line at any time, and the ensemble will work. If the ensemble becomes comfortable with that level of improvisation, the score also provides the rules so that player can also write or improvise their own lines as well. The point is to pick a level that is fun for the players and fun for the audience, and challenging enough that the ensemble grows in its ability to improvise. One of the most interesting things about this piece was watching fivebyfive play this piece over the course of the season as their improvisation performance became more interesting, more complex, and more original - I love their improvisation we captured in this recording, hats off to fivebyfive!
We are excited to share this playful music with you!
-fivebyfive