James Newton (Composer/Flutist) is one of the world’s true flute virtuosos....

James Newton (Composer/Flutist) is one of the world’s true flute virtuosos in numerous musical idioms. His compositions and performances encompass chamber, symphonic, and electronic music genres, compositions for ballet and modern dance, and numerous jazz and world music contexts.


Mr. Newton has been the recipient of many awards, fellowships and grants, including Guggenheim and Rockefeller Fellowships, Montreux Grande Prix Du Disque and Downbeat International Critics Jazz Album of the Year, as well as being voted the top flutist for a record-breaking 23 consecutive years in Downbeat Magazine’s International Critics Poll. 


Described as a musician’s renaissance man, Newton has performed with and composed for many notable artists in the jazz and classical fields, including Mingus Dynasty, Buddy Collette, the New York Philharmonic, Anthony Davis, David Murray, Aurèle Nicolet, Donald Mc Kayle, Vladimir Spivakov and the Moscow Virtuosi, Sir Roland Hanna, Jose Limon Dance Company, Bennie Maupin, Cecil Taylor, the Los Angeles Master Chorale, John Carter, Andrew Cyrille, Wu Man, Red Callender, Southwest Chamber Music, Bobby Hutcherson, Dino Saluzzi, Zakir Hussain, San Francisco Ballet, Jon Jang, Kenny Burrell, Herbie Hancock, Frank Wess, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic New Music Group.


Newton currently holds a professorship at the University of California at Los Angeles in the Department of Ethnomusicology. He has also held professorships at University of California at Irvine, California Institute of the Arts and Cal State University Los Angeles. In May of 2005 Newton was awarded a Doctor of Arts Degree, Honoris Causa, from California Institute of the Arts.

Projects

I am sincerely grateful for a fruitful summer 2010, which combined very productive compositional work, rewarding family time and rest. 

I received a residency award from the Alpert Foundation, which enabled me to travel to the Ucross Foundation in rural Wyoming, to finally begin work on a St. Matthew Passion. The Ucross Ranch is an amazing environment.  I worked in a wooden cabin that had a Yamaha grand and an inspirational view of a lovely creek with grazing deer.

Because of work and family commitments, I had never before accepted any summer residency opportunities.  It is something that I am looking forward to doing more in the future. In addition, I could not have asked for a better group of fellow artists to spend time with during the residency. Our discussions inspired each of us to take that extra step to push our art to higher areas. 

The Passion has continued to pour out since its initial stimulation during the Ucross residency. I am working on producing enough material to seek grants, other sources of funding and some opportunities for workshops. The Passion forces are composed for a quintet of soloists mainly singing spirituals, classical vocal soloists, chamber choir, a small chamber orchestra and rhythm section. 

Prior to the Ucross residency, in July my wife, Jo Ann, and I, our children and my mother visited Aubrey and Little Rock, Arkansas to attend a family reunion. We also visited the Civil Rights Museum and Beale Street in Memphis and the Blues Museum in Clarksdale, Mississippi.

I found myself so deeply moved, reflecting on the dignity and resolve of the Civil Rights Movement and the eloquence and elegance of its leader, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I have found myself once again listening to many of his speeches over and over and pouring through his writings.

All of these elements are helping to make The Passion burn inside of me like no other composition. It brings together Spirituals (recreated with new arrangements), Contemporary Classical, Jazz and World Music elements in new ways.  One of my mentors, the great visual artist Sam Gilliam, states that it is in times like the ones that we are currently experiencing that we must take our biggest risks as artists.

The St. Matthew Passion is my humble offering back to Jesus for all he has given to us. In these times when so much hate is being spewed out in the name of Christianity, one has to combat myopic, dangerous and false representations of Christianity. In the Passion I want the music to voice Christ’s love for the world and His giving of the ultimate gift of love by the exchange of His life for our sins.  His Way is open to all so the music has to incorporate many languages, representing the diversity of cultures within the Faith. 

I have also been increasingly touched by the power of the dialogue between the Old and New Testaments (I refer to this as the Ultimate Call and Response) and how that power inspires many to learn to love in greater degrees.

My trip to Jerusalem further enlightened this feeling of love when Gethsemane, The Wailing Wall, the Upper Room and David’s place of burial profoundly touched every part of me. I have also found great inspiration in the writings of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, Thomas Merton, Howard Thurman and Robert Alter.

As a warm up for the Passion, in June and early July I composed “Revelation Diptych” for solo piano. The two movements within the Diptych are entitled, “The Sixth Seal” and “St. John Consumes The Little Book”.  I am increasingly finding that the piano is an excellent vehicle for working out new expansions and discoveries within my compositional language. In each of the last four years I have gone to this medium to produce a new work. I pray that I may continue on this path.

On the 28th of September, pianist Gloria Cheng premiered my solo piano work, “Looking Above, The Faith of Joseph” at Zipper Hall in Los Angeles as part of the Piano Spheres series. On October 20th there was a concert of my chamber music at Conrad Prebys Hall, at University of California, San Diego.

In the coming months there will be two very important concerts at Disney Hall. On May 22, I will co-conduct with Grant Gershon the sacred music of Duke Ellington and on November 13 the American premiere of my Mass will be conducted by my dear friend, Grant Gershon, and performed by the Los Angeles Master Chorale.

 In March 2011, a new recording of my Sacred Works will be released on New World Records. It features my “Mass” conducted by Grant Gershon, “Between The Cherubim” for solo piano played by Gloria Cheng, and a solo Cantata for Soprano, Clarinet, Bassoon and Piano featuring soprano Elissa Johnston.

God bless you all,

James Newton

Musicians

Elissa Johnston, soprano; Tracy Van Fleet, mezzo-soprano; Daniel Chaney, tenor; Abdiel Gonzales, bass-baritone; Gary Woodward, flute; Gary Bovyer, clarinet; RalphMorrison, violin; Kazi Pitelka, viola; Cécilia Tsan, cello; David Young, bass; Vicki Ray, piano; Lynn Vartan, percussion; Gloria Cheng, piano; Julie Feves, bassoon; Mark Menzies, piano; Grant Gershon, conductor

The centerpiece of the new CD Sacred Works is the Mass. James Newton’s desire to compose a Mass was greatly impacted by two concerts performed in the last decade. In these performances at Disney Hall, the Los Angeles Master Chorale and the LuckmanJazz Orchestra surveyed the sacred music of Mary Lou Williams and Duke Ellington.

The joy of co-conducting with Grant Gershon was a truly unforgettable experience for him. Though non-improvising classical ensembles commissioned the majority of this music the music is infused with the language of James’ experiences as a composer/improviser. The Credo was commissioned by Southwest Chamber Music with the support of Meet The Composer’s/ Commissioning Music USA.

After the premiere of the Credo, the Metastasio Festival in Prato, Italy commissioned the completion of the Mass. The World premiere of the full Mass took place on February 4, 2007 at the Chiesa di San Francesco in Prato, Italy.

In the late summer of 2009 Grant Gershon assembled a wonderful group of Los Angeles-based singers and instrumentalists from the Los Angeles Opera and the Los Angeles Master Chorale and recorded the Mass in Zipper Hall at the Colburn School in Los Angeles. In December 2009 In A Moment, In The Twinkling of An Eye was recorded.

It is a work for soprano voice, clarinet, bassoon and piano inspired by both John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme and Olivier Messiaen’s Quatour Pour La Fin Du Temps. During February 2010 pianist Gloria Cheng recorded Between The Cherubim, a work for solo piano in three movements. Each of the movements is dedicated to pianists Jason Moran, Don Pullen and Emanuele Torquati.

The Mass was influenced by the fact that it is celebrated at different times on the Sabbath by a huge diversity of cultures across the world. Imagine that as the day progresses through different time zones others echo this worship through their unique culturalresonances. A priest once described how the rooftops of different churches open up and the Glory of God pours in for the holy celebration. This cultural plurality, holy infusion and movement of time intone the journey of bringing together a work that reflects the colorful rainbow of God’s creation.

An important mission of the music was to combine diverse musical languages to create and define new common ground that reflects our challenges, aspirations and dialogue with the God of God.  James Newton endeavored to adapt his experiences as a composer/flutist and conductor, who has worked in Jazz, Classical and World Music, to the music just as God has connected diverse people for His glory.

For Newton the Credo is the centerpiece of the Mass. It is the profession of one’s faith, one’s belief in the Holy Trinity and the radiance of the Light of Christ shining through the luminescence of eternity. It acknowledges His perfect sacrifice and the inimitable gift of all gifts that Christ has given his believers and it invites all to accept Him as Savior.

In the process of composing the Mass, Newton was deeply touched by the writings and speeches of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as well as the writings of Thomas Merton. The quiet beauty of his family’s surroundings in Corrales, New Mexico, also enthused the nine-month journey of completing this humble offering of faith.