Month: September 2015

Masatora Goya

OVERVIEW

It is often not until the brutal weight of loss and grief bears down upon us that we are forced to ponder the meaning of life and reconsider our own path of existence. Composer Masatora Goya presents his debut Ravello Records release, DREAM OF SAILING, a collection of chamber works inspired by the life and passing of Goya’s father, Masahiro.

As a hard working marine engineer, Masahiro dedicated great lengths of time at sea, often spending months away from his family. The ocean was where Masahiro belonged, a refuge to which he’d find himself repeatedly returning. Within this album Goya expresses a somber tribute to his father while also reflecting on his own life as a composer and man.

In the title track, guitarist Scott Hill and flutist Melanie Chirignan capture the imagined last journey of Goya’s father returning to sea, sailing into the blissful lights of a fading dawn. Where It Begins, Where It All Ends depicts the cosmic voyage of our consciousness, challenging our understanding of emotions and our place in the universe. Questioning our conception of death, the elegiac work Distance reflects on our uncertainty of and detachment from death as well as the purpose of its existence. The album concludes with Sunset on the Hudson in which guitarist Oren Fader brings to mind a beautiful sunset, fulfilling and comforting, yet at the same time unsettling and lonesome. Goya challenges listeners to accept our ultimate fate by embracing the satisfactions as well as the regrets of life.

This album features a web-application which includes liner notes, composer and performer biographies, and more:

www.ravellorecords.com/dreamofsailing

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HIGHLIGHTS

– Goya is the assistant director of Vox Novus Composer’s Voice, a concert series which provides composers an opportunity to express their own aesthetic or personal voice

– He is the recipient of the ASCAP Plus Award, the Jerome Fund for New Music, and the Diversity Doctoral Fellowship at SUNY Purchase, among others

– Goya received a BA in Integrated Human Studies from Kyoto University and a Master of Music from New Jersey City University

– Alturas Duo, the group comprising of guitarist Scott Hill and violist Carlos Boltes, took first prize at the 2006 New England International Chamber Music competition and won the 2009 CMA/ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming. The Duo is a Goodwill Ambassador for the Chilean-American Foundation and has recently been named Artist in Residence for the Intake Organization

– Guitarist Oren Fader can be heard on over 40 commercial recordings and has premiered over 400 contemporary guitar music, working closely with composers such as Babbitt, Boulez, Carter, Davidovsky, and David Lang. Since 1994, Fader has been on the guitar and chamber music faculty of the Manhattan School of Music

– Violist and violinist Conway Kuo is currently the Associate Principal Second Violin of the New York City Ballet Orchestra and performs regularly with the New York Philharmonic and Philadelphia Orchestra

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BIOGRAPHY

Masatora Goya is a composer extensively writing a new kind of chamber music for everyone. Trained as a vocal performer first, he explores the musical landscape of drama, space, and emotion. Described as a “composer of cultural crossroads” by American Composers Forum, his unique eclecticism has attracted many musicians performing in nontraditional chamber ensembles.

masatoragoya.com