Syntax CD

Great writers and poets do not create new languages; creativity in literature lies in the inventive use of the existing lexicon, and music is no different. The most ingenious composers of any time search for new phraseology, new syntax within the language of music, absorbing the knowledge of the past and using it to claim new ground. On this album, I have brought together some composers who achieved this mark of ingenuity in the twentieth century. These great works are interspersed by the musings of one who does not even rise to the level of a composer. My contributions to this album are just simple interludes between musical treasures, and I only hope they are not distracting. Matt Curlee From his innovative programming to his recent unveiling of Neos, a jazz-fusion quintet with organ, Matt Curlee has developed a reputation as a fresh voice in the organ world. Winner of the 1996 Grand Prix de Chartres, one of the most prestigious organ competitions in the world, he has been listed In International Who's Who in Music and Musicians, and has performed throughout North America and Europe, both live and in radio and TV appearances. His engagements have included premieres of new instruments, such as the acclaimed E.M. Skinner organ, refurbished and installed in Jacksonville's Jacoby Hall, which he inaugurated in two sold-out concerts with the Jacksonville Symphony in 2001. In Neos, Matt collaborates with fellow Eastman graduates Courtney Orlando, violin, Ted Poor, drums, Lawson White, percussion, and Ike Sturm, bass, performing an all-new repertoire of groove-oriented music written by some of the most promising young composers of today. Using the organ in an entirely unexpected way, one presenter recently wrote that the textures and colors explored by Neos were "nothing short of amazing."Matt's recording credits include Syntax (2001, Suigeneris Creative Productions), a listener-friendly tour through some of the more intriguing sounds, colors, and textures of the Twentieth Century, and his 1999 Pro Organo release, An Austrian Neurotic in Graf Kaiserling's Court. Of this disc, which features an unlikely pairing of two strangely parallel works, Bernard Durman of The Diapason worte, "This CD contains some of the finest Bach playing I have ever heard, from any artist, on any organ, period...prize-winning playing from a prize winning artist!"A graduate of the Eastman School of Music where he was a student of David Higgs, Matt holds Bachelors in organ with the Performer's Certificate, and a Masters in Pedagogy of Music Theory. Matt is Director of Music and Organist at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Penfield, a suburb of Rochester, NY, where he lives with his wife Alisa, a highly sought-after collaborative pianist in the Rochester area.