Ashes to Impulse
Gregory T. Glancey composer
ASHES TO IMPULSE is an extroverted, highly expressive album of redemption and realization, where harmonies become metaphors and dissonance transforms into catharsis. Conceived by Berklee music professor Gregory T. Glancey, these compositions delve into the core of human struggle, mirroring the very process of creation – a journey from the ashes of doubt to the ignition of artistic impulse.
A glimpse into Glancey’s labyrinthine mind, ASHES TO IMPULSE unearths emotions as if from a hidden wellspring. These are all chamber music pieces, but they are almost symphonic in their profundity. As a flicker becomes a flame, these musical landscapes transcend with unbridled energy and fiery candor.
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Track Listing & Credits
| # | Title | Composer | Performer | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Under a Shattered Moon | Gregory T. Glancey | James Baker, conductor; Barry Crawford, flute; Benjamin Fingland, clarinet; Emilie-Anne Gendron, violin; Chris Gross, cello; Matthew Gold, percussion; Mike Trusdale, percussion | 8:44 |
| 02 | Out of the Fray | Gregory T. Glancey | Nara Shahbazyan, cello; Yoko Hagino, piano | 11:17 |
| 03 | Caprice | Gregory T. Glancey | Duo Zonda | Orlando Cela, flute; Wei Zhao, flute | 6:14 |
| 04 | Elegy for Parrhesia | Gregory T. Glancey | Junghwa Lee, piano | 7:11 |
| 05 | Effervesce | Gregory T. Glancey | Rogier de Pijper, flute; Paolo Gorini, piano | 13:19 |
| 06 | Identity Crisis | Gregory T. Glancey | Ronald Stewart, trumpet | 6:45 |
| 07 | From the Four Winds | Gregory T. Glancey | Nemø Ensemble | Kevin Hendrickx, conductor; Ben Bertrand, bass clarinet; Freya Bovijn, clarinet; Esther Coorevits, viola; Bert De Rycke, piano; Elisabeth Klinck, violin; Jasmijn Lootens, cello; Wim Pelgrims, percussion; Esther-Elisabeth Rispens; soprano; Arno Roesems, saxophone; Mar Sala Romagosa, flute | 13:48 |
| 08 | One Perfect Rose | Gregory T. Glancey | Joni Fukuda-Prado, soprano | 1:54 |
| 09 | Experience | Gregory T. Glancey | Joni Fukuda-Prado, soprano | 0:45 |
| 10 | Two-Volume Novel | Gregory T. Glancey | Joni Fukuda-Prado, soprano | 0:38 |
| 11 | Pattern | Gregory T. Glancey | Joni Fukuda-Prado, soprano | 3:43 |
| 12 | Theory | Gregory T. Glancey | Joni Fukuda-Prado, soprano | 1:17 |
| 13 | General Review of the Sex Situation | Gregory T. Glancey | Joni Fukuda-Prado, soprano | 0:33 |
Track 1
Recorded August 10, 2018 at Brandeis University’s Slosberg Recital Hall in Waltham MA
Session Producer Greg Glancey
Session Engineer & Mixing Anthony DiBartolo
Mastering Will Holland
Track 2
Recorded January 8, 2018 at Berklee College of Music in Boston MA
Session Producer Greg Glancey
Session Engineer, Mixing & Editing John Escobar
Session Assistant Engineer James Donahue
Mastering Will Holland
Track 3
Recorded November 5, 2022 at Chillhouse Studios in Charlestown MA
Session Producer & Editing Greg Glancey
Session Engineer, Mixing & Mastering Will Holland
Track 4
Recorded January 6, 2023 at Southern Illinois University’s Old Baptist Recital Hall in Carbondale IL
Session Producer & Editing Greg Glancey
Session Engineer Christopher Walczak
Mixing & Mastering Will Holland
Track 5
Recorded October 19, 2017 at Duntz Studios in Oudenbosch, Netherlands
Session Producer Greg Glancey
Session Engineer, Editing & Mixing Gé Bijvoet
Mastering Will Holland
Track 6
Recorded March 24, 2023 at Chillhouse Studios in Charlestown MA
Session Producer & Editing Greg Glancey
Session Engineer, Mixing & Mastering Will Holland
Track 7
Recorded August 29, 2022 at the HERMESensemble Hall in Stokerijstraat 29/B22 bus 6 2110 Wijnegem, Antwerp, Belgium
Session Partners Cultuur Gent, HERMESensemble
Session Producer Ward De Jonghe
Session Engineer Lise Daelemans
Editing Greg Glancey
Mixing & Mastering Will Holland
Tracks 8-13
Recorded January 10, 2005 at Crossroads Studios in Ladera Ranch CA
Session Producer Greg Glancey
Session Engineer & Mixing Chris Taylor
Mastering Will Holland
Executive Producer Bob Lord
A&R Director Brandon MacNeil
A&R Chris Robinson
VP of Production Jan Košulič
Audio Director Lucas Paquette
VP, Design & Marketing Brett Picknell
Art Director Ryan Harrison
Design Edward A. Fleming
Publicity Aidan Curran
Artist Information
Gregory T. Glancey
Glancey’s music embodies a unique blend of traditional and progressive musical elements, and expresses a fervent harmonic language, coloristic textures, and intricate formal designs. A background in and affinity for all popular styles and film music infuse his writing with sonic freshness and rhythmic energy. His music has been programmed throughout the United States and Europe, as well as featured in a number of independent films.
Yoko Hagino
Yoko Hagino was born and raised in Japan, where she began her piano studies at the age of 4. As a child, she performed her own compositions, which took her to Europe and the United States, including performances as a concert soloist with the Czech Symphony, the University of Southern California Symphony, Kyoto City Symphony, and Ensemble Orchestra Kanazawa. Hagino has appeared as a soloist with Osaka Century Orchestra, UMass Boston Chamber Orchestra, Key West Symphony Orchestra, White Rabbit Sinfonietta, and has also performed various piano recitals ranging from the music of Bach to contemporary repertoire. Hagino is a prize winner of the Steinway Society Piano Competition, the First International Chamber Music Competition, the All-Japan Selective Competition of the International Mozart Competition, and Chamber Music Competition of Japan.
Orlando Cela
Venezuelan born musician Orlando Cela is committed to engaging audiences with lively performances that open new worlds of experience. Known for his engaging performances using imaginative programming, Orlando has premiered in over 100 works, both as a flutist and as a conductor. In concert, Cela regularly offers short lively introductions to selected works, offering audiences entry points into unfamiliar works, to easily connect the music with other life experience.
James Baker
Barry Crawford
Benjamin Fingland
Emilie-Anne Gendron
Chris Gross
Mike Trusdale
Nara Shahbazyan
Wei Zhao
Rogier de Pijper
Paolo Gorini
Matthew Gold
Percussionist Matthew Gold is a performer, ensemble director, and educator committed to presenting innovative and adventurous programs featuring new voices. As the Talea Ensemble’s percussionist and Director of Operations he has performed with the group across the United States and at international festivals. He is also a member of the New York-based percussion group, Talujon. Gold is an Artist in Residence in Percussion and Contemporary Music Performance at Williams College where he directs the Williams Percussion Ensemble and New Music Williams, and is the Artistic Director of the annual I/O Festival of New Music. He serves on the faculty of the Composers Conference and Contemporary Performance Institute and is a frequent Artist in Residence at the Walden School’s Creative Musicians Retreat. Gold has been a featured artist on recent festivals including Time:Spans 2019, Festival Les Musiques in Marseille, Festival Musiques Démesurées in Clermont-Ferrand, and has appeared with the New York Philharmonic on its “Philharmonic 360” program at the Park Avenue Armory. Gold performs regularly with, among others, the Mark Morris Dance Group and the Albany Symphony.
Junghwa Lee
Pianist Junghwa Lee, a native of Korea, performs actively in solo recitals, chamber concerts, and lecture recitals, and has frequently appeared in concerto performances as a soloist and has presented solo performances in 16 countries.
Winner of many competitions in Korea, including Sonyun-Hankuk-Ilbo, Wolgan-Eumak, Seoul National University Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition, and the Korean Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition, Lee received the Performer’s Certificate from the Eastman School of Music, along with the Max Landow Memorial Scholarship and the Liberace Foundation Scholarship for Performing/Creative Artists. As an active collaborator as well as soloist, she received the Excellence in Accompanying Award from the Eastman School.
Ronald Stewart
Ron Stewart holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education from SUNY Potsdam and a Master’s Degree in Music Performance from University at Stony Brook. He has performed for several conductor/composers, including Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland, Ralph Shapey, Elliot DelBorgo, Robert Washburn, and Howard Hanson among others. During his career, Stewart has performed 50 world premieres representing composers Gregory Glancey, Susan McDonald, Kent Marks, Dan Weymouth, Peter Winkler, Sean O’Laughlin, Dan Becker, Ed Harsh, John Lessard, Lori Dobbins, Louis Ballard, and others. Currently Stewart resides in Baldwinsville NY with his wife, Chris.
Nemø Ensemble
Nemø ensemble was founded in September 2017 and performs contemporary, experimental music. The collective aims to connect existing repertoire with new pieces by young artists that are not afraid of crossing boundaries between different genres and artistic disciplines. The group challenges the conventional concert format by exploring different forms of presentation. This gives rise to immersive performances that overcome the distance between those who listen and those who perform.
For Nemø, art means bringing people together in a context outside the rush of everyday life. Each show is conceived as an “intensified context” for the audience to fully engage in the material moment of the now. Therefore, Nemø ensemble not only acts as a performer but also as a curator that frames music. In collaboration with other artists, they search to play with light, space and movement in their overarching performances.
Kevin Hendrickx
Kevin Hendrickx studied piano with Christine Baeten and choral conducting with Geert Hendrix in Lier. In 2013 he continued to study orchestral conducting with Bart Piqueur in Ghent, which he graduated from in 2017. Afterwards, he studied composition and conducting at the Royal Conservatory of Ghent with teachers such as Kristiina Poska, Daan Janssens, Filip Rathé, Johan Duijck, and Florian Heyerick.
Joni Fukuda-Prado
Dr. Joni Y. Prado, soprano and associate professor of vocal studies at California State University, Fullerton earned a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in vocal arts at the University of Southern California where her areas of specialty included vocal performance, choral music, music education, and jazz studies. She holds a Master of Music degree in vocal performance from California State University, Fullerton and a Bachelor of Arts degree in music and psychology from California Baptist University. Prado’s teaching areas include private vocal studies, foreign language diction, song literature, vocal pedagogy, and leading vocal workshop.
Lise Daelemans
Lise Daelemans is a music producer, songwriter, and musician. She teaches music production and songwriting at the academy of Sint-Agatha-Berchem and De Poel in Ghent. In 2019, she obtained her Master of Arts in creative music: music production and music education in Ghent. In 2016, she founded UMM, her own musical project with which she released two EPs and an album (Deep Sea Diver, 2022).
Notes
ASHES TO IMPULSE is a collection of original music that stands as a significant creative statement and good representation of who I am as an artist. These specific works explore themes of redemption and/or realization through struggle, both musically and metaphorically. A number of these compositions were stirred from musings on the origins of emotion. While pulling this collection together, I couldn’t help but recall how each piece took a lot out of me to express. The writing process is rarely easy for me, but these compositions seemed particularly arduous. My writing experience is less like creating something from nothing and more like unearthing something that is already there. I am but a clumsy fool groping in the dark, fumbling to make sense of the things I find. It is agonizing, and I am always perplexed where the motivation to work is conjured from. Yes, deadlines help, but the desire to want to work is a whole other issue. Each piece begins with no passion — no life, no spark, and no fire in me to sit at that desk and work. Only dread at the looming deadline and the thought of slogging through the onerous task to make meaningful art. The endeavor is not magical — it is rather monotonous and stressful. However, in due time it always happens. A small flicker, as if from some mystical place, suddenly changes the aura. Gestures begin to swirl and make sense, ideas I put aside begin to connect and lead to others, and ultimately a concept for the whole emerges. Then, voilà, impulse is ignited and the music gradually comes to life, or is unearthed. Though, it still doesn’t get easy.
The included program notes are personal allegories describing how the music spoke to me during the writing process. They are not meant to guide the listener. My hope is for each person to have his or her own unique experience with the sounds, and in the end to be moved by the music (though it will require attentive listening). I don’t aim to break new ground with my compositions, nor to be revolutionary. My intent is to be genuine. Aesthetically I’m drawn to certain things and certain things live inside me, and these things all blend together to create a particular soundscape at a particular time. Excluding From the Four Winds and the song cycle One Perfect Rose, which have poetry as the bedrock, titles and metaphors for pieces come much later in the writing. The general vibe and ebb and flow of the music typically maps with something I’m feeling, going through, or pondering at the time. Maybe my subconscious shapes the musical details to resonate with my soul in the moment — hard to know for sure. All I know is that my gut always finds an appropriate title for the music by the time I have to deliver the goods.
A note of thanks:
To all the performers. Listening over and over again to these recordings drew my attention to your exceptional playing and attention to the details. What a blessing! I appreciate the opportunity to make this music together. To my parents for your support and instilling a solid work ethic in your children. Dad, you were the one who encouraged me to leave my blue-collar career and go to school for music. Then, years later when my spirit waivered, you urged me to “just finish that degree already!” To fellow composer and friend Christopher Walczak. For the countless commiseration sessions and your moral and technical support. And most importantly to my wife, Alona, and two daughters, Brianna and Camille. You have to endure this grumpy, disengaged grouch brooding around the house until the creation is done. I love you dearly and could not do this sort of thing without you.
“Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.” (1 Corinthians 15:51-52) Ashes to Impulse. Soli Deo gloria!
— Gregory T. Glancey