Exaras joins Maestro Kitsopoulos and the Queens Symphony Orchestra for a special concert

On Saturday, February 21, 2009, the Queens Symphony Orchestra and Maestro Constantine Kitsopoulos will perform a concert entitled New Sounds at the Queensborough Performing Arts Center.

By Dina Pinos

Commemorating Leonard Bernstein on what would have been his 90th birthday this season, the Orchestra will present works by composers who influenced him greatly; Prelude & Fugue for Strings, Op. 29 by Benjamin Britten and Suite from “Pulcinella” by Igor Stravinsky. The Orchestra will also debut a world premiere work by Greek guitarist and composer Spiros Exaras featuring the Spiros Exaras World-Jazz Ensemble, comprising some of New York's greatest musicians, Henry Hey, Mike Pope, Joel Rosenblatt, Earthman and Lefteris Bournias. Spiros Exaras blends Greek instruments and rhythms, jazz and classical styles of music with his jazz fusion ensemble and the Orchestra to create an all new musical sound. NEO Magazine interviewed Spiros as he prepares for his ground breaking debut.

As a musician, what is the significance of this event?

This project is much like a life-time achievement. It is an accumulation that is truthfully, even beyond my dreams. As a musician trying to broaden my range, I am always thinking of various angles to perform my music. But, I had never dreamed of something like this!!! I have been composing and arranging for an acclaimed symphony orchestra. This is a very complicated task. It is not easy and not an everyday thing. This project requires a combination of skills, ideas, numerous sleepless nights - "blood, sweat and tears!!!" in order to all get it down on paper. I feel that my music will obtain some kind of imposingness. In other words, people are going to pay attention to something different.

How have you prepared, been inspired, organized your musical skills for this event and how have you worked together with the other musicians involved to compliment your talents?

Organizing one's skills is always a challenging task. For this project I really had to search deep within myself! I had to pull out all of my arranging chops and combine them with any new ideas that recently sparked in my brain! This project is one where talents have combined to work together - the musicians of my World-Jazz Ensemble play a remarkable role in it. They are all world-class musicians with abilities to perform and improvise in many different styles of music. This concert and its music requires a large diversity. It is important for me to acknowledge the significance of the brilliant talent of the conductor, the Musical Director of the Queens Symphony Orchestra Mr. Constantine Kitsopoulos. He is a very talented musician who has worked in numerous projects that have crossed over classical music, from Broadway shows to contemporary composers and several symphony orchestras throughout the world. His assistance in organizing the musical arrangement of this concert is tremendous.

Have you performed other concerts such as this one in the past? Compare them for us.

In my career I have performed numerous times with classical orchestras or other smaller chamber ensembles. I have played music from classical composers as well as contemporary ones. I have participated in several big bands, but I have never performed MY MUSIC with a symphony orchestra before. I cannot emphasize the importance of how significant this concert is as an accumulation of my entire career's work.

Spiros, you are a musician with a great range. How do you do it??? This is quite a talent for a musician. Some musicians specialize in classical …in doing jazz ...rock'n roll ...You seem to be able to do it all. How do you accomplish this? What is in your background that gives you an edge for this feat?

Thank you for your observation. Actually, this really all depends on how you see some things. Many classical musicians are very arrogant. They believe that classical music is the most difficult and intellectual music. While on the other hand, many jazz players think that jazz is the most creative and free style of music. I listen to many Greek folk players (laikous organopaiktes). They claim that their music is "the jazz of Greece." In a way, it is embarrassing in making such a a claim. In my opinion they are all missing the point. If you take and envision music without putting it in a box, then you will realize that all kinds of music has something to offer which is different and fulfills certain moments or feelings. When I was studying classical guitar and composition, I was also playing hard rock in a band. In addition, my childhood background is very rich. I was raised in Greece, a country with a wealth of culture and a very interesting traditional music heritage. It is like a bouillabaise of sorts. Mixing all these elements together and combining them with my personality is what has encouraged me to perform all these different styles. Educating myself about them, I respect all of them for what they are.

What has been the feedback for concerts such as this one? How have you used this feedback and other feedback, in general to improve your range, style, talent?

Music is like cooking. Music is like a recipe. You are "cooking" a project, selecting and combining all the different ingredients before you put them on the fire ...But you don't know how is going to sound until you "taste" it! That's when you get the feedback!! For a musician, it is very important to "study" people's comments and reactions of your performance. This is where you will grow, improve your style or correct certain things you did incorrectly in the past. I always try to record my performances. This is how I can hear my weak spots, either in ideas or techniques. It helps me immensely in avoiding going in the same direction but to move on to my next one. And on the other hand if I tune into something nice I did, something that sounds pleasant, unique, I can take that idea to another level and create something else. For me, self-criticism is very important. Creativity is an all around process -- the good with the bad, -- appraise with criticism. This is where one grows and attains other plateaus!!!!!!!!!!

Please discuss in overall terms, what is life for a musician today? You are competing with young talent ...or NO TALENT that is recorded in studios with other musicians, if I can even call them that, singing, writing, other producers calling the shots. Give us an overall view of what is life like for you and your colleagues today. What is the competition like, how do you see the future?

Thank you for addressing this question. I think it is really overlooked in industry. I cannot tell you how terrible it is for us, musicians, in today's world to compete with an UNTALENTED musician. We feel that all our efforts go to waste. I was never afraid of any talented person. I actually admire them. But today, a large slice of the entertainment business has a lot to do with either the technological achievements or what is considered as fashion and fashionable involvement or even both.

We have on the one hand, all the technology that helps any untalented or uneducated musician or singer to produce a record and to accommodate his nonmusical skills. For example, your vocal technique is extinct but protools come and do the correction on any note that you sang out of key. This technology appeared in the early 1990s. In other example, a musician can build up his solo, little by little and be able to take parts, or steal them rather, from another spot of the same piece due to his luck of technique or creativity. These aids are only aids. Making what you call music this way is a kind of rip-off, a short cut of unfairness. Using these modern “assistants,” or techniques, we are missing the feeling and sophistication of creation. That is why the old fashioned school of learning is so important.

A musician or a listener with a sophisticated ear goes to a concert and really gets disappointed from listening to a favorite artist because you soon realize what a terrible musician he or she really is …They have lost the entire scope of musicianship. Now, don't get me wrong. I like technology, if it is used as part of a performance or a composition from a knowledgeable producer. This is also a process of creativity. But, when it is used to cover mistakes or play the role of a composer, then this is another story!

The subject of fashion in the music industry is another can of worms. Priorities have changed in a way. Once upon a time, a song writer was striving to come up with a melodic line or sophisticated lyrics. Today, the influence and power of fashion in our world has guided artists in other directions. Believe it or not, many performers spend hours and hours a day in front of a mirror trying out several designers or hair styles. I suppose this has to do a lot with our contemporary lifestyle. We are all living in a very flashy, materialistic and less spiritual world.

Honestly, I try very hard to refuse to become victim of the image makers! I still believe that true art, and especially music, is the reflection of the world. I don't know what the future will be. I am always optimistic as a person, but I am sure in one thing: As more and more technology continues to enter our life, the less sensitive and spiritual we will become.

©2009 NEOCORP MEDIA

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