Visit MYSPACE .... for more music and information

Visit Music Licensing of Hollywood where my work is featured.

RECENT NEWS:

• Bombastiq Brass is performing my 'Theme and Variations on a Tune by T.'Fat' Waller'.

• The film 'Little Courage' (link above) - Veronica Ceicedo's film for which I did music and sound was recently screened at the Lower East Side Arts Festival.

................. Christopher Kaufman at Carnegie Hall .....................

On 1/31/09 I delivered a speech representing OBAMA Music, Arts and Entertainment. The brilliant New York Empire Trio, of the Bulgarian Virtuosi, performed. Their concert included a work by Bulgarian composer Roumi Petrova which I also introduced. I spoke about ObamaMae, the founder Marla Turner, of my experiences with ObamaMae and the participation of myself and other artists in Barack Obama's successful Presidential Campaign.

The New York Empire Trio performs at Canegie Hall (Weill Recital Hall)

visit their site by pressing their name. Hristo Popov, violin - Kalin Ivanov, cello - Joshua Pierce, piano.

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QUINTET OF THE AMERICAS just commissioned a new work. It will build on the work of MUSIC FROM EARTH (below) and be the next of my 'naturemusic' pieces. The working title for the new work is 'Hudson Valley Quintet' and it will detail and celebrate the beauty and nature of the Hudson Valley as well as delivering a message concerning environmental preservation.

About this commission Barbara Oldham, of Quintet of the Americas, writes:

This piece will be one of several the Quintet is commissioning as part of its celebration of its 30th anniversary season in New York City. The Quintet’s anniversary coincides with the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson’s first sail up the Hudson River. The Quintet’s project is called the Mannahatta Project and has been inspired by the Mannahatta project of Dr. Eric Sanderson and the Wildlife Conservation Society.

Kaufman will utilize in his composition the actual sounds of wildlife which lived in the Hudson Valley in this time as well as of those which live there now. His recent work with nature sounds and electronics in his Music From Earth has impressed the Quintet very much. We look forward to providing the means for Mr. Kaufman to create an imaginative new work which will fit our project and will take his new work with acoustic, electronic and pre-recorded sounds to a new level.

Quintet of the Americas is planning to connect with the public outreach of the WCS Mannahattan Project. This will include concerts at venues such as the Museum of Natural History in NYC, the New York Botanic Garden, Wave Hill (Toscanini’s former home on the Hudson in the Bronx), locations in Harlem, Inwood and Westchester, and the Doctorow Center in Hudson, NY. These concerts will take place in the summer and fall of 2009. The Quintet has a long history of outreach concerts and continues to reach under-served audiences (lower income, various ethnic groups and immigrant groups, and seniors) with its many concerts in Queens. As an example of our extended outreach, the Quintet will present 44 concerts and workshops in Queens this next season serving community organizations, senior centers, schools, libraries, etc. We plan to bring Christopher Kaufman to at least five of these venues and perform his new work where the audiences will have a chance to meet the composer and join in discussion of the project.

"Mark Sutton is the host and producer of Liberal Arts, the radio show that explores the arts from an unapologetically political perspective." Visit his site here: Liberal Arts Radio

INTERVIEW

I was recently interviewed by Mark Sutton on his show the week of October 20, 2008. Feel free to visit the link and listen to the interview - you also hear the full interview above - which includes my setting of Barack Obama's North Carolina Victory Speech and our discussion of political action. You can also hear the featured work CALL FOR CHANGE - Victory N.C. on the music player above. Also you can listen to Mark's interview (on his site) with Marla Turner who founded the site Obama Music Arts and Entertainment where I was FEATURED ARTIST OF THE MONTH (August):: and where you can find my member page and download politically inspired music. All thanks to Mark and Marla! - two very impressive individuals.

Won the LOFTCITY VIRAL AD *AWARD - with writer/director Julian Overall.

Scored the film AZREAL with Italian director Eliana De Paolis. Completed full sound design for film 'THE LAST SON...' with Indian writer/director Varun Shah.

My music has been used for the Wall Street Journal 'Foward Thinking' campaign viewable here:Forward Thinking and 'J.D.Robb Salvation' for cable tv with Peter Cascone (4-D Creative Media).

Demetrius Spaneas - composer for film and concert stage / virtuoso performer (saxophone, clarinet, flute) - world traveling new music champion - read more about him and listen to his music by visiting his site.

MUSIC FROM EARTH: - for Alto Saxophone Soloist and Tape of Western/Eastern Orchestra, Electronic and Natural Sounds::

MUSIC FROM EARTH was composed during the last two weeks of August, 2007 for Saxophonist and New Music Champion Demetrius Spaneas. It is part of a series of works inspired by Environmental Awareness, the leadership of Al Gore and others, my own sense of these issues and my love of the sounds involved. Demetrius has premiered the work in Tashkent, Uzbekistan (11/7/7) and performed it at the DOM Cultural Center in Moscow. He continued to tour the work with a number of other pieces of American music (including his own) in locations such as Kyrgyzstan, the Ukraine, Bulgaria, St. Petersburg and Riga, Latvia. Now we will perform it in America. When possible the performances include a film of natural imagery. This film, which I created, uses microscopic images and images of familiar forms close up so as to appear abstract as well as recognizable natural images such as creatures and geographical forms. Here you can read the journal blog Demetrius wrote of his travels Demetrius's Blog.

HEAR EXCERPTS from MUSIC FROM EARTH on my AUDIO PAGE::

*[All Sounds are 'watermarked' for protection and copywritten.]

Other sites:

On my YOU TUBE SITE you can see a number of short films: 'Kaufman's Film Class'.

... and you can find me on the American Composers Forum, the American Music Center and others.

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Previous Newsletter:

Visit my Older Composer page: which has news from previous years.

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Acknowledgements: Thanks to the many who have helped me on my way: my family, my teachers, my many artistic friends and collaborators, and advisors. - all new and old. And especially my dear wife Maryclare for her love and constant support.

VISIT the impressive sites of my brilliant sisters;

Alexandria Pallas, Ph.D. - and read about her fascinating - 'The Indifference Project'.

And Alice Cotton - Illustrator, Artist, Award Winning Teacher and Musician.

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OTHER LINKS:

Jeffrey James Arts Consulting

International Trombone Soloist Haim Avitsur

The Music of Jon Liechty

Demetrius Spaneas

Robert Dick

Susana Weingarten

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