June 8, 2009
For Immediate Release
Contact: Richard Holmes, Amberlight Productions
817-403-0927 or rholmes[at]amberlight[dot]com

Bringing Back Memorable Melody to the Concert Hall:
Two Orchestral Works by Composer Janet Dunbar to Premiere in Ukraine

Two orchestral works, Vision (2009) and Epiphany (2009) by American-born composer Dr. Janet Dunbar will be premiered by the Dnepropetrovsk State Philharmonic Orchestra under the able direction of Maestro Leo Walz. The works will be performed at the Dnepropetrovsk Philharmonic Grand Hall, Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine on June 11, 2009.

Pioneer of The New Elegant Simplicity, Dunbar reaches out to audiences with memorable melodies and countermelodies, straightforward harmony, rhythmic excitement and drive, dynamic and timbral contrasts, and mastery of tension and release in formal design. These principles are exemplified in the most recent works for full orchestra, Vision and Epiphany. Although the works synthesize many styles, the music remains highly melodic with strong classical influences, yet distinctly modern, in its rhythmic inventiveness and metric ingenuity.

Dunbar's recent premieres include Recuerdos de Segovia, a virtuosic tremolo piece for solo guitar, performed at the University of Oklahoma in March, and Spring Fever Triptych for two guitars, performed at the Austin Guitars Galore! Festival in April.

While earning a doctorate in musical composition at Stanford University, Dunbar worked at Stanford's CCRMA (Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics) on computer-generated, algorithmic compositions with strong melodic and rhythmic content. Excursions into world music motives, jazz harmonies, musique concrete, computer music and skill at text setting culminated in the 28-minute, ten part tour de force, Song of the Sea, recorded on her 1999 CD, Spirit Journey. Prior to earning a doctorate at Stanford, the composer also earned a master of arts in music from San Jose State University.

The composer currently resides in Colleyville, TX, where she divides her time between directing Amberlight Conservatory, attending frequent premieres of her works, and producing new compositions.

Maestro Leo Waltz holds a doctorate in conducting from the University of Miami and serves on the faculty at Miami Dade College. He has conducted a wide variety of repertoire in a multitude of national and international venues. His sensitive and highly appealing realization of Barber's Adagio for Strings in Sibiu Romania is available on http://www.youtube.com/leowalz.

The Dnepropetrovsk State Philharmonic Orchestra has been conducted by composers and conductors of international renown such as Khachaturian, Gauk, Gliere, Rakhlin, Kondrashin, Klimov, Khrennikov and many others in its greater than 65 year history. With fine orchestral players, many working as soloists, the orchestra is a regular participant in numerous international festivals and European tours.

For more information about Janet Dunbar, visit the website http://www.janetdunbar.com or contact Amberlight Productions at (817) 403-0927 or pr@amberlight.com.