Matt Zarley “Trust Me” Remixes CD cover

Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) April 10, 2012

Billboard dance sensation, Broadway veteran and People Magazine “Hottest Bachelor” Matt Zarley has received critical acclaim as an LGBT artist for more than a decade. In his latest music video, “Trust Me,” he asks the question – “Is America ready for an openly gay president?” This sure-to-be controversial music video infuses disco, a Presidential political sex scandal, homosexuality and social and self-acceptance – and will certainly ruffle the feathers of the G.O.P. (This is the video Rick Santorum probably doesn’t want anyone to see.)

Written by Zarley, Mark Picchiotti and Joe Hurt, “Trust Me,” is poised to race up the US and UK charts this summer – already becoming a favorite of DJs on both continents. The track featured in the music video is by Cahill, one of the hottest remixers in the business (Lady Gaga, Rihanna and Leona Lewis), and was directed by Benjamin Pollock and choreographed by Benjamin Allen. The video is sure to have people talking very much like Zarley’s music video, “WTF,” which received hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube and other online media outlets in 2011; along with the song spending the summer on the Billboard dance chart.

“Trust Me,” is the third single from Matt’s critically-acclaimed CD, “Change Begins With Me,” and is also creating a buzz with the media. The Advocate calls the song “yet another irresistible disco anthem from out performer Matt Zarley.” Named one of Billboard magazine’s “Critics Top 10” picks for the year in 2008, Matt has continued to deliver hits that touch the heart, and the dance floor! Critics alike have embraced “Change Begins with Me” with rave reviews, including: “A sexy collection of swoon-worthy songs,” (The Advocate); “Matt Zarley is our idea of perfect” (Instinct); “Soulful and inspiring” (Out Q on Sirius XM); “Inspirational!” (Washington Blade); and “Emotionally charged!” (Homorazzi).

Matt’s passion for songwriting resulted in his first solo album, “Debut,” which was released in 2002 and featured the Billboard dance hit, “You Always Want (what u ain’t got)” and “Say Goodbye”; which is also featured on the all-star Human Rights Campaign (HRC) benefit CD, “Being Out Rocks.” Matt scored additional Billboard Dance Chart hits with “Where Did You Come From,” as well as a cover of the Steve Winwood classic “While You See A Chance,” featuring Billy Porter.

Zarley is also an internationally published songwriter and has had numerous songs recorded and released overseas by some of the biggest names in international music. In addition, Matt has the distinction of being named the first openly gay bachelor in People Magazine’s “Hottest Bachelors” issue in 2002 – opening the door for other openly gay men to be featured in the mainstream publication.

Matt began his career at 12 years old starring in national commercials and, subsequently, his career led him to Broadway where, still just a teenager, he made his Broadway debut. Zarley has appeared in numerous shows including “Chicago,” “A Chorus Line,” and “Cats,” and has played the title roles in both “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” and “The Who’s Tommy” on Broadway. He has also has the pleasure of performing with Whitney Houston, Vanessa Williams, Brandy and Usher.

“Trust Me” (and its remixes) is currently available on iTunes and other digital outlets, along with his full music and video catalog. Matt can also be seen across the country this summer performing at various Pride festivals and LGBT events. For more information visit http://www.MattZarley.com or follow Matt on Twitter and Facebook @MattZarley.

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The influence of Beethoven’s No. 9, “Choral,” is immeasurable. As the first symphony to include full chorus and orchestra, Beethoven’s Ninth brought the genre to a magnitude that had never been previously conceived, thereby radically changing the future of orchestral repertoire. With its uplifting text and its universal recognition, the finale of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony has been used to mark historic events, including the fall of the Berlin Wall, and now serves as the European Union’s anthem. The symphony was inspired by the writing of Friedrich Schiller, who in his poem An die Freude or “Ode to Joy” states that joy is found when “all men are made brothers.”

Expansive, operatic and passionate, Te Deum by Anton Bruckner is no doubt one of the many compositions inspired by Beethoven’s Ninth. Written as five interrelated movements, Bruckner’s Te Deum contains text from Psalms, as well as motets and masses associated with the Catholic Church. Although many settings of Te Deum throughout the ages have been tied to political events, Bruckner wrote out of his steadfast faith in God. According to musicologist Dr. Kern Holoman, Bruckner said that when he should meet his maker, “I will show him the score of my Te Deum, and he may judge me accordingly.”

Peter Oundjian, conductor

Toronto-born conductor Peter Oundjian, noted for his probing musicality, collaborative spirit and engaging personality, has been an instrumental figure in the rebirth of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra since his appointment as Music Director in 2004. In addition to conducting the orchestra in dynamic performances which have achieved outstanding artistic acclaim, he has been greatly involved in a variety of new initiatives which have strengthened the ensemble’s presence in the community and attracted a young and diverse audience. In 2004, he established an annual celebration of new music, showcasing new and premiering commissioned works. Now an audience favorite, the New Creations Festival celebrates the best in contemporary orchestral music and attracts celebrated contemporary composers.

In his tenure with the TSO, Mr. Oundjian has also released five recordings on the orchestra’s self produced record label, tsoLIVE. The award-winning documentary “Five Days In September: The Rebirth of An Orchestra,” chronicles Peter Oundjian’s first week as music director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.

In addition to his post in Toronto, Peter Oundjian has been named music director of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, starting in the 2012-13 season. Mr. Oundjian was principal guest conductor of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra from 2006 to 2010 and played a major role at the Caramoor International Music Festival in New York between 1997 and 2007. He has served as a visiting professor at the Yale School of Music since 1981. In May 2009, Mr. Oundjian received an honorary doctorate from the San Francisco Conservatory.

Peter Oundjian was educated in England, where he studied the violin with Manoug Parikian. He then attended the Royal College of Music in London, where he was awarded the Gold Medal for Most Distinguished Student and Stoutzker Prize for excellence in violin playing. He completed his violin training at the Juilliard School in New York, where he studied with Ivan Galamian, Itzhak Perlman and Dorothy DeLay. Peter Oundjian was the first violinist of the renowned Tokyo String Quartet, a position he held for fourteen years.

Baltimore Choral Arts Society

The Baltimore Choral Arts Society, now in its 45th season, is one of Maryland’s premier cultural institutions. The Symphonic Chorus, Full Chorus, Orchestra, and Chamber Chorus perform throughout the mid-Atlantic region, as well as in Washington, D.C., New York, and in Europe.

In the summer of 2007, Tom Hall led the Chorus in a successful, 3-city tour of France including sold-out performances in Paris and Aix-en-Provence, and the Chorus has also appeared at Spain’s prestigious Festival of the Costa del Sol.

For the past 15 years, WMAR Television, the ABC network affiliate in Maryland, has featured Choral Arts in an hour-long special, ‘Christmas with Choral Arts,” which won an Emmy Award in 2006. Mr. Hall and the chorus were also featured in a PBS documentary called “Jews and Christians: A Journey of Faith,” broadcast nationwide, and on National Public Radio in 2001. On local radio, Mr. Hall is the host of “Choral Arts Classics,” a monthly program on WYPR that features the Choral Arts Chorus and Orchestra, and he is the Culture Editor on WYPR’s “Maryland Morning with Sheilah Kast.”

Baltimore Choral Arts’ latest CD is “Christmas at America’s First Cathedral,” released on Gothic Records in September 2010. A recording with Dave Brubeck, featuring Brubeck’s oratorio, “The Gates of Justice,” was released internationally on the NAXOS label in 2004. Choral Arts has two other recordings in current release: “Christmas with Choral Arts” and a live recording of the Rachmaninoff “All-Night Vigil.” Mr. Hall produced “Let Freedom Ring!,” a highly successful recording for Gothic Records featuring the Washington Men’s Camerata, as well the soundtracks for “Legends” on the Learning Channel.

Choral Arts has appeared with the National Symphony, and has made regular appearances with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Acclaimed artists collaborating with Choral Arts have included Chanticleer, Dave Brubeck, the King’s Singers, Peter Schickele, Sweet Honey in the Rock, Anonymous 4, and others. Tom Hall’s innovative programs often feature both choral and orchestral music, stage and theater works.

Tom Hall, director

Tom Hall is one of the most highly regarded performers in choral music today. Appointed Music Director in 1982, Mr. Hall has added more than 100 new works to the BCAS repertoire, and he has premiered works by contemporary composers including Peter Schickele, Libby Larsen, Robert Sirota, James Lee III, Rosephanye Dunn Powell, and many other internationally acclaimed composers.

In addition to his position with BCAS, Mr. Hall is active as a guest conductor in the United States and in Europe including appearances with the Handel and Haydn Society in Boston, the Choral Arts Society of Philadelphia, the Berkshire Choral Festival, Musica Sacra in New York, and Britten Sinfonia in Canterbury, England. His 2005 concert with Orchestre de Chambre de Paris was broadcast on French television. Mr. Hall has prepared choruses for Leonard Bernstein, Robert Shaw, Helmuth Rilling, and others, and he served for ten years as the Chorus Master of the Baltimore Opera Company.

Mr. Hall is also a well known teacher, lecturer, and writer. He has served as the President of Chorus America, a panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts, and he has been an Artist in Residence at Indiana University, the Eastman School of Music, the University of Cincinnati, Temple University, and Syracuse University. He has been the Director of Choral Activities at Goucher College for 25 years, and has also taught at the Peabody Conservatory, the University of Baltimore, Towson University, Morgan State University, and the Johns Hopkins University.

Joyce El-Khoury, soprano

Soprano Joyce El-Khoury is a 2011 graduate of the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. Also a graduate of the Academy of Vocal Arts (AVA) in Philadelphia, Miss El-Khoury performed the roles of Tatyana in Eugene Onegin, the title role in Massenet’s Manon, Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte, the title role in Puccini’s Manon Lescaut (Act II) and Violetta in La Traviata.

She has performed as the soprano soloist in Rossini’s Stabat Mater, and Mendelssohn’s Elijah, also with AVA. Miss El-Khoury spent the summers of 2006 and 2008 at the Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Program, where she covered First Lady in Die Zauberflöte and Alice in Verdi’s Falstaff. Other recent engagements have included Nedda in Pagliacci at the Crested Butte Music Festival and with Knoxville Opera, Marguerite in Faust with Opera Camerata of Washington, D.C., the soprano soloist for Mozart’s Requiem and Vesperae de Dominica with Coro Vivo Ottawa; and the soprano soloist in Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis with the Riverside Symphonia.

She is a First Prize winner of the Opera Index Competition, First Prize winner of the George London Foundation, Second Prize winner in the Gerda Lissner International Voice Competition and International Semi-Finalist in Plácido Domingo’s Operalia Competition. She was also the First Prize winner in the Mario Lanza Vocal Competition, First Prize winner and WRTI Radio audience favorite in the Giargiari Bel Canto Competition.

Mary Phillips, mezzo-soprano

Internationally acclaimed mezzo-soprano Mary Phillips is particularly in demand in the repertoire of Wagner, Verdi, Beethoven, and Mahler. In 2010–11 she appeared at the Metropolitan Opera as Schwertleite in Wagner’s Ring. She has sung Fricka and Waltraute in Die Walküre and Waltraute in Götterdämmerung at Canadian Opera; Erda for Scottish Opera, and Wellgunde and Rossweise with Seattle Opera. Also hailed for her Verdi, she has sung Eboli in Don Carlo for Canadian Opera and Azucena in Il Trovatore at Seattle Opera. She is perhaps best known for her Amneris in Aida, which she will reprise in 2012 with the Hawaii Opera Theatre.

Concert highlights include Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 with the New York Philharmonic, Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with the Atlanta Symphony (recorded for Telarc), the Los Angeles Philharmonic and in Beijing as part of the 2008 Summer Olympics festivities. Her many performances of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 include the Boston Symphony Orchestra under James Levine and the Philadelphia Orchestra under Charles Dutoit, Utah Symphony and Opera, the National Symphony and the Hong Kong Philharmonic. She has recorded Beethoven’s Opferlied and Symphony No. 9 with the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra.

Brandon Jovanovich, tenor

Winner of the 2007 Richard Tucker Award, Brandon Jovanovich is renowned for his passionate stage portrayals in French, Italian, German and Slavic operas. Acclaimed for a multitude of roles, The San Francisco Examiner proclaimed his Pinkerton “hit with the force of a revelation. Tall, blond and ridiculously handsome… his vocal performance, delivered with plenty of effortless power and deep, baritonal colors.”

In the 2011-12 season, Mr. Jovanovich appears as Don José with Deutsche Oper Berlin and the Bayerische Staatsoper, as Bacchus in Ariadne auf Naxos with Lyric Opera of Chicago, as Cavaradossi in Tosca with Oper Köln and Canadian Opera Company, and as the title role in Don Carlos with Houston Grand Opera. In concert he appears at the Hollywood Bowl performing Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and Choral Fantasy, both with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, as well as with the Gürzenich Orchester Köln performing Mahler’s Eighth Symphony.

Comfortable in a variety of repertoire, next season will see Mr. Jovanovich sing the title role of Lohengrin with San Francisco Opera. Mr. Jovanovich will also reprise one of his signature roles of Pinkerton in a new production of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly with LA Opera. Highlights of previous seasons include Froh in Das Rheingold and Siegmund in Die Walküre at San Francisco Opera and Don Jose in Carmen with The Metropolitan Opera.

Mr. Jovanovich trained at Northern Arizona University and Manhattan School of Music. He is a founding member of the Seattle Young Artists program and was a member of the Santa Fe Opera Apprentice program, where he was given the Anna Mackay Case Award. He won the Crawley Award from the Young Patronesses of the Opera/Florida Grand Opera Voice Competition and in 2004 he was given the prestigious ARIA Award.

Morris Robinson, bass

Morris Robinson is quickly gaining a reputation as one of the most interesting and sought after basses performing today.

A graduate of the Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, Mr. Robinson made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in their production of Fidelio. He has since appeared there as Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte (both in the original production and in a new children’s English version), the King in Aida and in roles in Nabucco, Tannhäuser and the new productions of Les Troyens and Salome. He has also appeared at the Dallas Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Opera Company of Philadelphia, Seattle Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Opera Theater of St. Louis, the Wolf Trap Opera and the Aix-en-Provence Festival. His many roles include Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte, Osmin in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Ramfis in Aida, Sparafucile in Rigoletto, Commendatore in Don Giovanni, Grand Inquisitor in Don Carlos, Timur in Turandot, the Bonze in Madama Butterfly, Padre Guardiano in La Forza del Destino, Ferrando in Il Trovatore and Fasolt in Das Rheingold.

Also a prolific concert singer, Mr. Robinson has appeared with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (in Chicago and at the Ravinia Festival), Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, Houston Symphony, Ft. Worth Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony, Met Chamber Orchestra, Nashville Symphony Orchestra, São Paulo Symphony Orchestra, New England String Ensemble, and at the Ravinia, Mostly Mozart, Tanglewood, Cincinnati May, Verbier and Aspen festivals. He also appeared in Carnegie Hall as part of Jessye Norman’s HONOR! Festival. In recital he has been presented by Spivey Hall in Atlanta, the Savannah Music Festival, the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C., the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

COMPLETE PROGRAM DETAILS
BSO Classical Concert: Beethoven’s Ninth
Thursday, May 24, 2012 at 8 p.m. – Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall (JMSH)
Friday, May 25, 2012 at 8 p.m. – JMSH
Saturday, May 26, 2012 at 8 p.m. – Music Center at Strathmore

Peter Oundjian, conductor
Joyce El-Khoury, soprano BSO DEBUT
Mary Phillips, mezzo-soprano
Brandon Jovanovich, tenor BSO DEBUT
Morris Robinson, bass
Baltimore Choral Arts Society
Tom Hall, director

Bruckner: Te Deum

Beethoven: Symphony No. 9, “Choral”

Tickets range from $ 34 to $ 68 and are available through the BSO Ticket Office, 410.783.8000 or BSOmusic.org.

Proportion is a word often associated with another word for artists, stress.  But I’m here to share with you that it doesn’t have to be a stressful word. Can this really be true?  A simple way to warp speed techniques when measuring proportion?  Yes, I’m here to say that it is true.

Proportion…How big should the head be?  How long should the legs?  How long should I draw this line?  These are questions, we as artists, face everyday.  It doesn’t matter what kind of artist you are…getting the most out of figure drawing with accurate proportions will explode your art to new levels. There are several tools and methods to help artists with proportions.  Without correct proportions, your figure will be inaccurate and lacking at best.

There are certain proportion formulas, such as the figure being a certain many heads tall, or the head of the figure being so many eyes wide.

I like to know these formulas and use them as a guide.  The human form being so individual you can never go strictly off of these formulas alone.  As an artist, it’s important to know these formulas to be able to recognize the deviations from the formulas in the model/subject you are drawing.

Measuring

Measuring is a little bit different for every artist.  It is a tool for proportions not to overlook.  Just as someone aiming a poolstick or firing a gun does it differently than the next person, so goes it for the artist.  Some artists, while measuring, will shut the left eye and some the right, while others will keep both eyes open (just never keep both shut LOL).  You’ll need to see what’s right for you.  Then, hold your pencil between your thumb and fingers with your fingers wrapped around the pencil.  Measure from the top of your thumb to the end of your pencil.  You can hold your pencil vertical or horizontal for this technique, keeping it at shoulder high.

Your measurement from your thumb to the end of your pencil may only be ½ inch, but on your drawing it could be an inch or more.  All of your measurements are comparative.  For example, if an artist wants to know how long a leg is, he can compare it’s length with the length of the subjects head.  Using the measurement method we discussed with the pencil, it’s easy to compare.

These simple methods, once applied, will soar your drawings, paintings or whatever you are working on.  The advice practice, practice, practice, coupled with masterful technique will help you advance your art quickly and masterfully more than anything else.

This is a brief overview on proportions and measuring.  For more information on proportions, measurements, drawing people or faces, and much more…Please email us at info@learning2draw.com.