Haskell Small's Fantasy of the Red-Eyed Creature Premieres with Mount
Vernon Orchestra - Composer/Student Collaboration Funded by American
Composers Forum Grant

Fantasy of the Red-Eyed Creature, a new work created as a collaborative
project between Washington D.C.-based composer Haskell Small and 3rd grade
students at Mt.  Vernon's Fort Hunt Elementary School in Virginia, has been
very successfully premiered by the Mount Vernon Orchestra under conductor
Ulysses S.  James.

The April 3 Washington Post said of the premiere, "The 15-minute piece is
scored for orchestra and minimal narration, but it is not hard to imagine
the addition of dance and a more fully developed narration.  The story,
the adventures of three children who encounter a monster, is delightfully
reflected in the music.  The children gambol about in the lilting French
sounds of two flutes and a clarinet, while the monster cavorts in the
naughty suggestiveness of a piano, bass clarinet and string bass jazz trio.
Small is an exquisite orchestrator...this piece has real possibilities.
It got a first-rate performance and five of the children were on hand to
share in the applause."

This new work was funded by a grant from the American Composers Forum
for Mr. Small to work with the Mount Vernon Orchestra and students at
Mt.  Vernon's Fort Hunt Elementary School to create a complete musical
production.  The students worked with Mr.  Small to create a story and
he created the music to enhance the story's theatricality.  This project
is part of the business partnership between the Mount Vernon Orchestra
Association and the school.

For more information about Haskell Small, visit his website at:

   http://www.jamesarts.com/h-small/

For more information about the Mount Vernon Orchestra, visit their
website at:

   http://members.aol.com/mvorch/

For more information about the American Composers Forum, visit their
website at:

   http://www.composersforum.org/

This project fits in nicely with Ongaku Records recent release of Once
Upon a Time - Children's Tales for Piano and Narrator, with Mr.  Small
on piano, joined by narrator Robert Aubry Davis.  Selections on the disk
include Poulenc's The Story of Babar, Richard Wilson's A Child's London,
Soulima Stravinsky's Three Fairy Tales and Henry Barraud's Histoires pour
les Enfants.  The Washington Post has described this collection as "an
imaginative recording...There is a sophistication in this material and
performance that will appeal to adults as much as to the children."

For information about Ongaku Records, please visit:

   http://www.ongaku-records.com/

Haskell Small's compositions have been commissioned and performed by the
National Chamber Orchestra, the Washington Performing Arts Society, the
Three Rivers Piano Competition, the Paul Hill Chorale, the Washington
Ballet and the Amadeus Orchestra.  Hs is the winner of the 1999 Marin
Ballet Dance Score Competition.

As a pianist, Mr.  Small has performed at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully
Hall, Columbia University's Miller Theater, the Kennedy Center, the
National Gallery, Wolf Trap Farm, and the Spoleto Festival.  The
recently released recording of his Symphony for Solo Piano has received
wonderful reviews, including the latest from Records International at
http://www.recordsinternational.com/RICatalogDec00.html.  His A Game of
Go for two pianos has also been recorded by Quattro Mani for Klavier
Music Productions - http://www.klavier-records.com/new.htm.

For more information about Haskell Small, contact Jeffrey James Arts
Consulting at 516-797-9166 - phone and fax, or [log in to unmask]

Jeffrey James <[log in to unmask]>