Tag Archives: Takuma Itoh

The Ecological Harp, Yolanda Kondonassis’ Five Minutes for Earth


Azica ACD-71349

Yolanda Kondonassis‘ name is practically synonymous with her instrument, the classical concert harp. Her discography (via discogs) numbers over 50 albums, most of which demonstrate her interest and dedication to music of our time. She has played both as soloist and as orchestral musician with many major orchestras and has had many works written for her. If you collect new music recordings you probably have one or more of her recordings (I certainly do).

So this album continues her ongoing legacy promoting new music for her instrument. But it also demonstrates her interest in ecology with these 15 compositions written for her, at her instigation, on the theme of Earth in many of its guises as chosen by the composer. The project begun in 2020 features compositions written over the last two years in response to her request.

The project, by her description, has grown beyond its original plans and has included videos, live performances of these works, publication of these pieces as well as a collection of works for younger musicians. Each time one of these pieces is reported as having been performed a donation is made via the Kondonassis’ charity organization Earth at Heart to various ecological organizations.

These 15 composers are a delightfully diverse group, some well known, some rising stars. All reportedly responded quickly with 15 similarly diverse compositions (2-8 minutes in duration) inspired by the theme of the commission, all with the composers’ unique perspectives on the subject. This writer hopes that more composers will participate in this worthy project which promotes ecology, the harp, and expands the repertoire for her instrument. No electronics, no other instruments. Just the lone harp in all its glory.

This beautiful and thoughtful production includes useful liner notes (which enhance the listener’s perspective on the music) from Ms. Kondonassis and brief biographies of each of the composers (with more notes available on her website). Technical analysis of this music is beyond this writers expertise so let me just say that each of these works are compelling additions to the solo harp repertory and are concise, carefully conceived pieces that benefit from repeated hearings. You might be challenged but you won’t be bored. Here’s hoping that this disc gets many hearings and furthers the artist’s goals for the instrument and the planet upon which she plays it. Brava!

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Donut Robot! Post-Haste Duo


OK, so I go to the post-office, to my little PO Box and I find one of those nice flat envelopes with the bubble wrap inside. Nothing unusual so far. When I pull out the disc I see post-apocalyptic cover art that could have come from the pen of Matt Groening (that is a compliment). And looking at the inside I recognize none of the musicians and none of the composers (also not unusual). Bassoon and Saxophone? Sounds iffy at best. And these folks hail from Idaho. Idaho? The last time I heard the name of this state in relation to classical music La Monte Young was being discussed (he was born in Idaho). They now hail from Portland.

Sean Fredenburg

But when I put this disc in my CD player while on one of my longish drives (we drive a lot in California) I was delighted and mesmerized. These two musicians, both professors at Idaho university, seem to have cast their net into minimalist waters. The variety within that definition of a musical style demonstrates the apparently boundless creative ways of working within that style and the limitations of the term in helping listeners know what to expect.

Well, expect virtuosity, expect clever invention, and expect to be entertained. Despite the pop art cover (the entire production will be my exhibit A when I propose a law requiring a minimum 12 x 12 packaging for all music and video releases) the music consists of some really solid compositions which send quite a challenge to the artists while leaving the listener enthralled (no easy task). The only mistake is putting the liner notes one line. Die hards like yours truly will seek out and read these (actually very useful notes) but I think most listeners will not make the effort. Ah, well.

Usually these solo instruments are accompanied by a piano or a guitar when they are not a part of a larger ensemble. When these two instruments play together one might choose a strategy of having one instrument accompany the other. The compositions here utilized a variety of strategies, many of which place some serious physical demands on the musicians. What all these compositions manage to do is to sound as though they were intended to come out exactly as you hear them in this recording (also a daunting and frequently unaccomplished task).

These machinations stem from the efforts of the Post-Haste Reed Duo consisting of Sean Fredenburg on saxophone and Javier Rodriguez on bassoon. These works are commissions written for them (who else?) and presented here in their world premiere recordings.

The composers (Ruby Fulton, Drew Baker, Michael Johanson, Edward J Hines, Andrea Reinkemeyer, and Takuma Itoh) presented me with yet another research task (also not uncommon with the unusual music that comes my way), that of finding out who these people are and, frankly, if I should file these names away in my future successes file, keep them on the radar in the hopes that they will continue to produce work of this quality. I’d say odds are good.