The Bill Horvitz Expanded Band Presents: THE LONG WALK: In Memory of Phillip Horvitz

THE LONG WALK is Sonoma County musician/composer Bill Horvitz's moving and inspiring tribute to his late brother Philip, an inspired writer, director, actor, dancer, and choreographer. Explains Horvitz, "Philip was a man who deeply loved many kinds of music. He was generous and kind, playful and curious, dramatic and impassioned. He had the largest group of extremely close friends of anyone I've ever known." Composed after Philip passed away suddenly of heart failure on March 30, 2005, The Long Walk incorporates the same characteristics-playfulness, curiosity, generosity of spirit-that defined Philip during his short but extraordinary life.

Friday November 13th 8PM
Community Music Center
544 Capp St.
San Francisco
General $10/ Students, Seniors $5 at the door (all ages)
(415) 647-6015
http://www.sfcmc.org/site/index.php?id=10

Saturday, November 14th 8PM
The Glaser Center
547 Mendocino Avenue
Santa Rosa
Sliding Scale admission $1 to .... (all ages)
(707) 568-5381
http://www.glasercenter.com/

"About a year after Philip died," says Horvitz, "I began hearing the beginnings of new compositions that felt in some way related to him. I spent the next many months composing the music and imagining the group of players I would like to have perform. As I wrote, I realized that I wanted a fairly large ensemble that included instruments from jazz as well as some more often found in chamber groups. The resulting pieces are a mix of folk, jazz, funk, and new-music works that have come out of the enormous range of emotions I've felt since Philip's death, and though they are not 'his music,' they have been influenced by him nonetheless. "

Many of the pieces that comprise The Long Walk have been performed in the Bay Area and in New York City to extremely enthusiastic audiences. The program has a universal appeal, beautifully illustrating how the loss of someone very close can, through honest and innovative artistic exploration, be turned into a work of healing, acceptance, and love.

The Bill Horvitz Expanded Band is a 17-piece conducted ensemble that plays original works drawing on jazz, funk, folk, and new-music. The band includes a stellar line up of some of the Bay Area's (and beyond) finest musicians. The compositions are highly composed and arranged and also contain sections of conducted improvisation, at which point conductor Omid Zoufonoun spontaneously brings instruments in and out to create solos and small groups and then return to the scored arrangement. Omid is a highly skilled conductor and musician and brings a strongly intuitive and musical sense of improvisation to the ensemble.


Omid Zoufonoun: conductor
Kyle Bruckman: oboe
Aram Shelton: clarinets
Steve Adams: flute/alto sax
Sheldon Brown: tenor sax
Jon Raskin: baritone sax
Michael Cooke: bassoon
Hal Forman: trumpet
Darren Johnston: trumpet
George Hines: French horn
Liam Staskawicz: trombone
Kim Allen: tuba
Sarah Zahrako: violin
Jessica Ivry: cello (Nov. 13th)
Wayne Horvitz: piano
Dan Seamans: bass
Vijay Anderson: drums
Bill Horvitz guitar/composer

The Long Walk is presented at The Glaser Center as part of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation's ongoing Arts & Culture Ministry to Sonoma County.