The project's main objective was to bring focus to the universality of our experiences. Since the catalyst
for the whole project was the piece of music by Benjamin Britten, titled 'Lachrymae op.48a', it made sense that the universal language
of music needed to be a part of this project.
The Lachrymae score composed by Max Baloian followed the same principals of equivalence that guided the rest of
the project. Like the tears covering the paper, the simple melodic pattern repeated throughout the score creates a structure which frees
performers to work individually, but ultimately collective, to author a single voice. In this spirit, the music isn't domain to the composer
or the performers, but hopefully invoked within the listener.
Max Baloian on accordion. Daniel Baer on violin. Jason Ditzian on clarinet. The limited edition
Lachrymae compact disc is available for purchase.
Track II, 2nd movement (excerpt from the Lachrymae score*)
Track V, Intro (excerpt from the Lachrymae score*)
Max Baloian - Composer, Accordion
Born in Fresno, California, Max Baloian has been composing and
performing music in various ensembles for the past ten years.
While earning his degree in cinema from San Francisco State
University, Baloian was given the opportunity to compose for
film and other multimedia events. His original pieces for the
spoken word/photography project Eclipses have been performed
in the Bay Area as well as on the East Coast and were awarded
grants from the Peninsula Community Foundation and Redwood
City School District. Most recently, he has devoted his time to
film production and working with the Bay Area ensemble Nanos
Operetta where he has been able to fashion music based around his
love of film scores, Eastern-European folk melodies, and 20th
Century chamber music.
Daniel Baer - Violin
Daniel Baer started playing the violin as a first-grader
in Lexington, Kentucky, in the mid-1970s. Since moving to San
Francisco eight years ago, he has played in various local
groups, ranging in style from klezmer to classical to punk.
He is currently the violinist for Jill Tracy and the Malcontent
Orchestra, whose score for the silent-film classic Nosferatu
has become a Bay Area Halloween stand-by. Working primarily as
a documentary filmmaker, Daniel earlier this year completed
The Hotel Upstairs, an hour-long film about life in a North
Beach residential hotel, which screened locally this fall at
the Mill Valley Film Festival.
Jason Ditzian - Clarinet
Hailing from Wayland, Massachusetts, Jason graduated from
George Washington University in 1999, and traveled to California
where he had a revelation that after 14 years of saxophony,
his true identity was that of clarinet player. Jason is also
a freelance travel writer, who just recently returned from a
5 month expedition through India and South East Asia. As of
late, he can be found studying Indian classical music at the
Ali Akbar Khan College of Music and trying to keep up with
Max Baloian's compositions in the Bay Area ensemble, Nanos
Operetta
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