Sigma Alpha Iota

saI-NaTIONal.ORg WINTER 2015 PAN PIPES 17 s AI Honorary Member and SAI Composers Bureau member Judith Lang Zaimont was espe- cially prominent on the world stage in November 2014. Her large-scale fourth symphony, Pure, Cool (Water), received its world premiere performance in Vienna, Austria on Novem- ber 24, 2014 by the Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Niels Muus. e premiere took place in the Grand Saal of the Vienna Konzerthaus, the hall where many Mozart operas were performed. e world-renowned orchestra will perform the symphony in the Czech Republic and subsequently record it. Maestro Niels Muus is an opera specialist, currently artistic advi- sor for Mozarthaus Vienna, music director of Musikfestival Steyr, Austria, and professor/ music director of the opera department of Konservatorium Wien University. Pure, Cool (Water) - Symphony No. 4 is a fiy-minute long composition for full orchestra exploring water in its various natu- rally-occurring states. Over the course of five separate movements, listeners experience a specific musical connection with this most essential natural resource in all its natural states of being. Zaimont has positioned her five-pronged "poem in tones" to fulfill a tradi- tional symphonic structure of Moderato - Lento, abstract - fast Scherzo - Adagio - Allegro vivace giusto. e five movements are: in a current (e River) / frozen (Ice) / falling drops (Rainshower) / still (e Tarn) / in waves and torrents (Ocean) e symphony was written entirely in Mari- copa, AZ, between 2011 and 2013 and is the lat- est in a long line of Zaimont's works inspired by contemplating the wonders of the natural world. "I have always been most enthralled, and humbled by contemplating the amazements of nature, from the micro level to the exhilaration of spirit prompted by the vast reaches of space," Zaimont said. "I began the new symphony in summer 2011, walking in the cool of the evening when a few sprinklers seem to li the fragrance of trees, cactus and the occasional lawn into the air. A melody came to me as I walked, and I wrote in my head, eventually completing a thin strand for oboe over massed strings, very still and quiet. is music turned into the start of the fourth movement, e Tarn, my interpretation of a deep mountain lake." e entire Symphony ties together through a single motif expressed differentially in each movement: e word "water." a short- long rhythm accented on the first note (similar to the sarabande motif ), heard as a rising or falling small interval (usually a second) or a single pitch reiterated in that rhythm. e motif in fact forms the very first notes of the opening movement, e River, as a current begins to flow in low double basses. e composer has connected deeply with the Symphony's subject from childhood: "Pure, Cool (Water) is absolutely a piece 'from the heart.' Water quality control and conservation were subjects of key importance to my family when I was growing up. Improving water quality was my father's life work; as a chemical engineer he served three New York City mayors as Water Commissioner and was also elected president of the national Water Pollution Control Federation (now the WEF, Water Environment Federa- tion). Later in life he consulted with developing countries around the world on ways both to enhance their water quality and to implement the most effective modes for delivering potable water to far-flung populations. e Symphony is dedicated to my father. "Since I became an Arizona resident in late 2005 conserving this precious resource has been renewed in emphasis for me. It was inevitable that I would turn to 'water' as the inspiration for a big new piece." e Symphony was the cited project when Zaimont was named "2014 Commissioned Composer" by e Sorel Organization, an international foundation headquartered in New York, committed to elevating women's accomplishments in concert music through- out the world. Also in November, a significant critical appraisal of Zaimont's compositional output overall -- 114 works to date -- will be published in the international music magazine, IAWM Journal. e article, "Judith Lang Zai- mont - Consummate Composer," by California musicology professor Dr. Kimberly Greene, concentrates on the music of the last 14 years, with detailed discussions and music examples drawn from the two middle Symphonies, the SONATA for Piano (which has been recorded 4 times and was performed by both gold medal- ists at the 2001 Van Cliburn Competition), and Zaimont's first string quartet e Figure. In an initial observation, the author characterizes Zaimont's music as follows: Her music engages and challenges the audi- ence due to the depth of the intellectual and emotional content and to its propensity to forge uncharted aesthetic domains, creating works through new musical languages that generate unprecedented artistic effects. As a consequence, Zaimont has attained the status of an interna- tionally recognized composer, which is dem- onstrated through her prodigious composition awards and commissions as well as the reputa- tion she has garnered through the performances of her works worldwide. Zaimont and her husband, artist and musi- cian Gary Zaimont, have been full-time residents of Maricopa since November 2005. Formerly the head of the music composition program at the University of Minnesota School of Music in Min- neapolis, she locally serves as a Co-Director of Maricopa ARTS Council (MAC), and performs with Maricopa Music Circle (MMC), a chamber orchestra she co-founded with two other area musicians in 2010. — Desert Rose newsletter of the Phoenix Alumnae Chapter A PREmIERE EvENT Zaimont's latest Composition Debuts in Vienna For more information, visit jzaimont.com clicK For more SAI Honorary Member Judith Zaimont

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