American Composers Orchestra to Perform D. J. Sparr's Reimagining of Kaki King's 'Modern Yesterdays'

Thursday, March 16 (7:30 pm) marks the world premiere of composer/guitarist D. J. Sparr's orchestral reimagining of Kaki King's Modern Yesterdays, performed by the American Composers Orchestra under Daniela Candillari, with King as guitar soloist. The 20-minute suite, which features immersive video projections by Attilio Rigotti and Orsolya Szantho, is based on four selections from King's 2020 album of the same title, with the addition of The Divided Mind, a brand-new piece co-composed by Sparr and King.

Modern Yesterdays caps a lively and stimulating program that includes the world premiere of Carlos Bandera's Materia Prima, the New York premiere of Ellen Reid's Floodplain, and Carlos Simon's Fate Now Conquers performed by the American Composers Orchestra, including musicians llmar Gavilan (Harlem Quartet), Edward W. Hardy (The Woodsman), Monica Ellis, Kevin Newton and Brandon Patrick George (Imani Winds). Tickets for the concert, which takes place at Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall, are available at carnegiehall.org.

D. J. Sparr, a sought-after electric guitar soloist in his own right, has been hailed by The New York Times for compositions that embody "the boundary erasing spirit of today's new music world." King - described by Rolling Stone as "a genre unto herself" - has gained a widespread following for her propulsive guitar works, which often involve tapping on the fretboard with both hands.

Translating King's rhythmically intricate, non-notated pieces into this New Medium called for considerable ingenuity and imagination. It was Sparr's task to create an orchestral accompaniment out of whole cloth while preserving King's role as soloist. Working closely with King, Sparr developed ways to highlight the distinctive features of her writing.

Said Sparr, "Kaki uses unique open tunings, which can translate nicely to open strings and harmonics in the orchestra. Plus, some of her guitar harmonics have natural partners and equivalents in the winds and percussion. It's all just one big guitar!

"The accented notes of her rhythmic patterns don't always line up precisely with the strong beats of the measure - which makes it sound so exciting. That makes orchestration fun, because I can highlight the syncopated rhythms." The movements of Modern Yesterdays are as follows:

Default Shell
Godchild
Can't Touch This or That or You or My Face
The Divided Mind*
Puzzle Me You
*Co-composed by King and Sparr

Following the premiere of Modern Yesterdays, D. J. Sparr and librettist Mark Campbell's chamber opera Approaching Ali will be staged at Opera Las Vegas, March 18 + 19, and then at Opéra Louisiane, March 31 + April 1.

As a performer, he will take the solo role in his guitar concerto Violet Bond with the Memphis Symphony under Robert Moody, March 24. He will then premiere Daron Hagen's Concerto for Electric Guitar and Orchestra with the Wintergreen Music Festival Orchestra conducted by Andrew Litton, July 29 + 30.

A B O U T...D. J...S P A R R

Composer and electric guitarist D. J. Sparr, who Gramophone recently hailed as "exemplary," is one of America's preeminent composer-performers. He has caught the attention of critics with his eclectic style, described as "pop-Romantic...iridescent and wondrous" (The Mercury News) and embodying "the boundary erasing spirit of today's new-music world" (The New York Times). In addition, the Los Angeles Times praised him as "an excellent soloist," and the Santa Cruz Sentinel said that he "wowed an enthusiastic audience...Sparr's guitar sang in a near-human voice."

He was the electric guitar concerto soloist on the 2018 GRAMMY-Award-winning, all-Kenneth Fuchs recording with JoAnn Falletta and the London Symphony Orchestra.

In 2011, Sparr was named one of NPR listeners' favorite 100 composers. He has composed for and performed with renowned ensembles such as the Houston Grand Opera, Cabrillo Festival, New World Symphony, Washington National Opera, and Eighth Blackbird. D. J. was the Young American Composer-in-residence with the California Symphony from 2011-2014. His music has received awards from BMI, New Music USA, and the League of Composers/ISCM. Sparr is a faculty member at the famed Walden School's Creative Musicians Retreat in Dublin, New Hampshire. His composition works and guitar performances appear on Naxos, Innova Recordings, Albany, & Centaur Records.

A passion for musical performance grew from family encouragement at a young age. Three-year-old D. J. mimicked playing the guitar by holding his great-grandmother Violet Bond's straw broom in hand. Noticing this, Violet gave him a toy guitar for his third birthday and a Ukulele for his fourth birthday. By age five, D. J. was taking guitar lessons and was soon performing for a "captive" audience at his local music store, Coffey Music, in Westminster, MD.

In high school, D. J. spent his late-night and weekend hours writing and recording music with a Fostex X-26 4-track recorder. He attended Baltimore School for the Arts as a jazz guitar major. Surrounded by classical music, he began to write compositions for various instruments. He attended summer composition programs at The Walden School and the Boston University Tanglewood Institute. D. J. continued honing his compositional craft at the Eastman School of Music (BM) and the University of Michigan (MM, DMA) studying with composers William Bolcom, Michael Daugherty, Christopher Rouse, Joseph Schwantner, & Augusta Read Thomas.

D. J. lives in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, with his wife Kimberly, son Harris, Nannette the hound dog, and Bundini the boxer. D. J. Sparr's music is published by Bill Holab Music.