Mark G. Simon, farewell concert

[diegobueno]

I have been living in Ithaca, New York for nearly 30 years. I have been employed as the music cataloger at the Cornell University Libraries, as clarinet and music theory teacher at the Community School of Music and Arts, and as music critic for the Ithaca Times, in addition to playing gigs and composing music. In a month I will leave all of that behind and move to the Washington DC area in order to marry Owlice, whom many of you will remember as a former frequent poster. I hope to find increased opportunities for playing, teaching and composing in my new home.

Tomorrow, Feb. 11, at 4:00, I will be playing a farewell concert at the Community School, featuring:

Mark G. Simon, clarinet
Christopher Morgan Loy, piano
The Ezra Clarinet Quartet

The program will include:

Pseudonym for solo clarinet, by Simon
Contemplations for piano, by Loy.
Olive Branch Rag for clarinet quartet (3 Bb clarinets & bass clarinet), by Simon
Première Rapsodie for clarinet and piano, by Debussy.
and
Partita for clarinet quartet, by Loy.

The latter is a 30-minute, 6-movement work written for me and the Ezra Quartet by Christopher Loy. It's quite a substantial piece of music, and I'm finding it very rewarding to work on. I'm glad that I can present this performance before I leave town.

The Ezra Quartet is a group of very good clarinet players who happen to work at Cornell. One of them is a Cincinatti Conservatory graduate who's married to a composition grad student at the Cornell music dept., another is a Latin prof. and another is a physics lecturer. All of them are good players and fully up to the challenge of playing this very difficult score by Loy. Previous performances by this group have included a Divertimento for clarinet quartet by Alfred Uhl, and Square Dance by Karl Henning, as well as works by me, and arrangements of string quartets by Beethoven and Mozart.

My two compositions on the program are extremely varied in nature. Pseudonym is a wild 12-tone piece, so difficult I find myself questioning my sanity for having written it (others have found different reasons for questioning my sanity, but I won't go into that). The Olive Branch Rag is, just as the title implies, a ragtime piece, basically in the manner of Scott Joplin. I find I enjoy writing rags. In the years that I have been leading a clarinet ensemble at the Community School, I would take the group to nursing homes, and the old folks especially enjoyed hearing the rags. I always try to work in some interesting twists. This one has a short fugue in the last strain.

[Werner]

Lots of luck, Mark, in your big step into the future. You'll leave a "sgnature tune" behind, and I'm sure the occasion will be an impressive one for performers and audience alike.

Fortunately, you won't have to forgo CMG - I understand the connections to the DC area are intact, and we'll look forward to hearing from one or both of you.

[jbuck919]

It's finally happening. Mm, mm, good. Best of luck.

[Ralph]

All best wishes.

[diegobueno]

Lots of luck, Mark, in your big step into the future. You'll leave a "sgnature tune" behind, and I'm sure the occasion will be an impressive one for performers and audience alike.

Fortunately, you won't have to forgo CMG - I understand the connections to the DC area are intact, and we'll look forward to hearing from one or both of you.

Thank you. I have no plans to abandon my online hangouts.

I've known for quite a while that it was time to move on, but it took the ewige Weibliche to actually lead me down the path. I'll miss Ithaca, I'm sure.

I had a good final rehearsal today, so I'm looking forward to a fun concert. As an encore, I've prepared an arrangement of Heinrich Isaac's Innsbruck, ich muss dich lassen.

[Lance]

Mark - I'm positively shocked that you're moving. Ithaca ... one of the great places in New York State! This takes ... nerve, my friend, especially to leave such a grand, musical city! I well remember our summer get-together - you, me and Owlice - and taking in the zoo here and enjoying some good food and time together. I wish you and her the very best and know that you will still be amongst us with your erudite input as our Winds Specialist!

When do you actually leave for D. C.?

[BWV 1080]

Best of luck, Mark

[johnQpublic]

It always take a lot of nerve to make a career change especially when you spent a goodly number of years in one location.

I did it myself this past year. The change was delightful for me...new people, new environment, new challenges. My family has had a harder time adjusting however.

You'll do fine, Mark. Especially with Owlice by your side.

[GK]

Congratulations and good luck in finding the work you want in the Washington area. As you probably know, the University of Maryland and Catholic University have active musical departments.

[diegobueno]

It always take a lot of nerve to make a career change especially when you spent a goodly number of years in one location.

That's one thing people always say about me, that I've got a lot of nerve. (usually when they're mad at me)

I did it myself this past year. The change was delightful for me...new people, new environment, new challenges. My family has had a harder time adjusting however.

Bravo to you, then.

My new family is going to have to do some adjusting, and I hope that's not too disruptive.

You'll do fine, Mark. Especially with Owlice by your side.

She's a good one.

[Gary]

GRATULATIO!

[Steinway]

Mark..

My sincere congratulations on your career in Ithaca and best wishes from one member of your fan club on the NYTimes forum.

Owlice is a special person and the two of you are a success waiting to happen!

Much luck to you both.

[johnQpublic]

I just got this announcement Mark....it won't hurt to apply


The Benjamin T. Rome School of Music at The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, is announcing a search for a full-time, tenure track position (Assistant Professor) in composition and theory, to begin August 2007. A completed doctorate in composition or theory is required.

The official posting of the position may be found on the university's Human Resources site:

http://humanresources.cua.edu/positions/current.cfm

[dirkronk]

What? You two couldn't work your schedules so you could be married on Valentine's Day? That not only would have been romantic...it would have eliminated the possibility of EVER forgetting your anniversary years hence.


Still...best of luck in the move and every blessing in your marriage--whatever the date of the wedding.

Dirk

[diegobueno]

Well, I proposed to her on Valentine's day. Two years ago, on the New York Times classical music forum I changed my tagline to "My dear Owlice will you marry me?", and she changed hers to "My darling Diegobueno, YES!"

And I think April is a very romantic month to have a wedding in DC. Think cherry blossoms.


John Q.: Definitely worth a try. Thanks.

[Brendan]

Another heart-felt congratulations (and please pass on our best wishes to Owlice) from Down Under. Planning the music for the blessed occasion should also be a joy!

[diegobueno]

I've just finished writing a song for the occasion. A setting of a love poem "In Your Two Arms" by the Hungarian poet Miklós Radnóti, translated into English by a friend from the New York Times forum, and to be sung by another friend from the the NYT forum.

[Joe Barron]

Washington is a great area. I lived there for ten years and miss it terribly. You should have a great time. And marryng Owlice, too! I'm always the last to know these things.

For myself, I relocated twice for the sake of relationships, and I have vowed never to do it again.

[diegobueno]

I hope never to do it again