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Ron Wasserman, Composer
Ron Wasserman's tonal and listenable music is
influenced by a wide range of styles, but no matter where his eclectic tastes
take him, he retains a special affinity for writing music for the dance. Since
his first recording was produced in 2004, Ron has had several interesting
opportunities come his way. In July
2005, he received his first orchestral commission from the New York City Ballet
to compose a short introductory fanfare celebrating the 40 year residency of
the Ballet at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center that summer. In January 2005, Ron arranged several Astor Piazzolla Tangos to accompany the new production of Peter
Martins’ reworked ballet, “Todo Buenos Aires.” He also wrote pieces for violin and piano to
accompany various New York City Ballet educational programs, one of which
involved Christopher Wheeldon extemporaneously
choreographing short dances for children called onstage from the audience.
His
orchestral work, “Lament and Restoration,” a 9/11 memorial concerto for
violinist, strings, and harpsichord was recorded in 2004 by the micro-label Red
Bandanna Records, along with his “Suite of Historical Dances.” “Lament and Restoration” was previously
performed in Sant’ Oreste,
Italy, and Nyack, New York. In May of
2005, “Lament and Restoration” was made into a ballet entitled, “Red Bandanna,”
choreographed by Margo Sappington for a performance by Valentina Kozlova and
her Dance Conservatory Performance Project at Symphony Space in New York
City. He has also composed several
highly regarded arrangements of traditional spirituals, jazz numbers and rags
for the Westchester Philharmonic and the New York City Ballet Orchestra.
Two pieces from Ron's second recording,
"Tango Sonata," and "Trilaterus," are enjoying many current
and future performances. There will be
performances at chamber music series' in
As a
veteran of the classical music business, Ron has long been concerned with the
financial health of the American symphony orchestra, and has dedicated himself
to several imaginative fundraising efforts. He is extremely happy that at
almost half of the proceeds from his first recording have gone to support the
non-profit classical performing arts industry.
At least half of the proceeds from "Trilaterus" will also go
to the organizations that sponsor performances, or facilitate sales.
In
recent months of this writing he has finished part one of “Unrealized Dreams?”
a song cycle for baritone and piano, with excerpts from recent presidential
inaugural addresses as its text, and several of what will ultimately be twenty-four
preludes and fugues for piano in all keys somewhat in the style of Bach. Most
ambitiously, he is working on a full-length children’s ballet for orchestra to
his own libretto. He is in the planning
stages of making his return to the jazz world (after about twenty years) with
his third CD being big band music, and he is also planning a Stephane Grapelli tribute album
with Kurt Nikkanen.
Ron Wasserman, Bassist
Since his first professional gig in 1979 at age eighteen, Ron has
played well over 4,000 performances as a bassist in an unusually wide range of
musical settings. About six-hundred of these have been of Tchaikovsky’s
“Nutcracker” as the principal bass of the New York City Ballet Orchestra, a
position he has held since 1988. He has
also served or substituted as principal bass of many other orchestras including
the Long Island Philharmonic, The Brooklyn Philharmonic, The American
Composer’s Orchestra, The Westchester Philharmonic, and the Bard Festival
Orchestra. In 2000 he appeared onstage
at the New York City Ballet as a soloist in the Miriam Mahdaviani’s
Diamond Project ballet, “Appalachia Waltz,” becoming one of only a handful of
bassists to recreate the music of Edgar Meyer.
He has also performed onstage at the ballet in the above mentioned “Todo Buenos Aires,” and in Peter Martin’s Thou’ Swell, in
which he is part of a jazz combo on a set that looks like an old movie.
For the past several years he has
had the high honor of substituting from time to time with the great New York
Philharmonic, accompanying them on two tours to the Far East.
Before his orchestra career became
full time, Ron played for many years as a jazz, pop, and commercial musician in
countless of New York’s sundry recording studios, Broadway theaters, concert halls,
and clubs. In his earlier, more jazz
oriented days he had the great pleasure of appearing with Dizzy Gillespie,
Lionel Hampton, Don Elliott and many other famous, near famous,
or non-famous musicians.
Ron attended Indiana University,
studying bass with Stuart Sankey, and jazz
performance with David Baker. He studied
with the late, great David Walter at both the Manhattan School of Music, where
he received his Bachelor’s degree, and the Juilliard School, where he received
the Master of Music degree in 1985.
Ron lives in New City, New York and
is married to Kathleen Brennan, an interior decorating consultant. Kathleen can be reached at kath925@verizon.net. Ron and Kathleen met
on the Internet, and, coincidentally enough, her father, Ted Wald, is an old
time jazz bassist. Ron has two pre-teen children, both dancers and singers, and
a step-son who attends college.
Contact:
914-714-0586
