STL Ocarina Blog

I have always believed that the ocarina is a very simple instrument, and everyone can learn to play it. At the same time, I feel that it has great potential that we have yet to explore.  While in the world of classical music, the ocarina is not yet taken seriously, I believe it deserves the opportunity to demonstrate its capabilities in a traditional concert setting.

Last August, I asked a long time colleague to write a concerto for ocarina and orchestra.  While the concerto is the most challenging musical genre for any instrumentalist, no composer had ever written one for the ocarina.  It is a musical form that showcases the capabilities of the featured instrument as well as the skill of the soloist. The technical demand on the solo instrument is tremendous. At the start of the project, I was not sure that the ocarina could rise to the challenge.  I was pleasantly surprised.

“Visions and Fantasies” composed by Dr. Kristopher Maloy, is a concerto in five movements: I. Flight, II. The Machine, III. Prayer, IV. Romp, and V. Fiery Flourish.  Each movement depicts a particular fantasy.  Both in the orchestration and in the solo part, this concerto is characterized by the use of many tonal colors to create the dream-like visions.  In the first and third movements, the soloist has the opportunity to show the lyrical nature of the ocarina. As for the other three movements, the ocarina part often consists passages that are very technically challenging.  Throughout the concerto, the composer explores many woodwind techniques such as glissando, flutter tongue, and double tonguing. The boundary of ocarina technique was pushed to the limit.

History was made on May 2, 2010 when this concerto was premiered by Heather Scott with the Town and Country Symphony Orchestra under the direction of David Peek.  After all those months, it was exciting to see this project come to fruition.  I am very grateful to have been a part of it.  I would like to thank Dr. Maloy, David Peek and the members of the orchestra, as well as everyone else who helped make this event possible.  I hope that this performance was just the first of many to come.

Dr. Dennis Yeh

Director,

STL Ocarina