Michael Cooke

I currently stopped working on an opera because my style is changing. Improvisation has become important to my classical work as it is to my jazz work. I’ll beginning to blur my jazz and classical music. I have a new CD out called “Statements” that is the beginnings of the merger. I have also been performing with other classical improv music in the S.F. bay area, and studying with Larry Ochs to learn ways of developing my ideas. I was writing an orchestra piece for the SFCCO called “Channels” which is to be a concerto for chamber orchestra in a collage style. I’m was writing four movements each one in a different style and featuring a different section of the orchestra, then I’m planning to cut it up and mix them together. This piece became very large and complicated so I put it on hold but completed another one instead for the SFCCO. This work is called Pollock after Jackson Pollock the painter. It uses improvisation to create a sound style that match Pollock’s painting style. It is supposed to sound like him painting in that unique style of his. Pollock (Program Notes) was premiered on Oct. 4, 2002.

This entry was posted on Friday, October 4th, 2002 at 4:35 pm and is filed under Composition, Guided Improvisation, Orchestral. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.