* Seth's Musical Triumph w/ The Chelsea Symphony, NYC

I had the honor of collaborating on a joint composition with Seth Bedford last year, and the result was a song entitled "Natal Date", which premiered in May 2009 @ The Triad Theatre, NYC, with moi on vocals accompanied by Seth on accordion, with his cabaret ensemble Huxley Vertical:



On February 13th & 14th, 2010 the Chelsea Symphony premiered our work as an instrumental- orchestrated and arranged by Seth- (entitled here "Waltz-Intermezzo") and inserted into a larger work he called "Three Songs for Chansonnier and Orchestra":



Here is an excerpt about his work in "Lucid Culture":

The Chelsea Symphony’s Valentine’s Day Concert 2010
February 16, 2010

"On the scale of holidays to avoid and stay home, Valentine’s Day ranks somewhere below New Year’s Eve but ahead of the Fourth of July. And the V-day concerts around town are a joke: which Holiday Inns in New Jersey do all these no-name performers retreat to after bringing their “Easy Listening for Lovers” shows to the West Village for a little extra pay? Happily, we have the Chelsea Symphony as an antidote to all that. Sunday’s program was a characteristically adventurous, stylistically puddle-jumping treat juxtaposing a world premiere with standards and a welcome rediscovery.

This particular show was front-loaded. Arrangers have been doing orchestral versions of cabaret songs for a century – on the other hand, the debut of Seth Bedford’s Three Songs for Chansonnier and Orchestra proved as notable for its shrewd, witty arrangement, making full use of the ensemble’s voices and textures, as for its tuneful lyricism. Part Brecht/Weill, part Al Jolson, the triptych sandwiched a playful overture between a somewhat noir tribute to dissolution and a ragtimish murder ballad sung from the point of view of the victim. In front of the orchestra, Brent Weldon Reno’s potent baritone resonated with wry, rakish defiance."

To that I add: I predict even greater musical triumphs for Seth in the future!

Lucid Culture: http://lucidculture.wordpress.com/2010/02/16/the-chelsea-symphonys-valentines-day-concert-2010/