News

Upcoming Events

June 26, 2011, The Showroom, San Francisco, CA
Concert with the San Francisco Jazz Quartet – Ode to Swing CD Release Party
See News.

July 2, 2011, Petaluma Historical Museum, Petaluma, CA
Lecture: “Cosmic Reflection: Musical Depictions of Physics and Cosmology” (stemming from Nolan’s forthcoming book, Were All Musicians: Music, Science, and the Art of Living). Part of the Smithsonian exhibition: Beyond: Visions of Planetary Landscapes
See News.

July 7, 2011, Southern Pacific Smokehouse, Novato, CA
Concert with the San Francisco Jazz Quartet

November 2, 2011, Linda Hall Library, Kansas City, MO
Lecture: “Pandora Radio and the Music Genome Project: What Musicology and Science Reveal About Our Musical Tastes” (stemming from Nolan’s forthcoming book on music and science). Part of the Library’s Year of Innovation Lecture Series

September 28, 2012, Green Music Center, Weill Concert Hall, Sonoma County
Grand opening of new state-of-the-art Weill Concert Hall with debut concert by the Santa Rosa Symphony, featuring my new Green Overture, commissioned by Maestro Bruno Ferrandis and the Santa Rosa Symphony
See News.

Spring 2013 (date TBD), Zellerbach Auditorium, Berkeley, CA
Premiere of Nolan’s new opera, The Secret Garden (based on the novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett), libretto by Carey Harrison; commissioned by San Francisco Opera

News

The Secret Garden – A New Opera Commission from San Francisco Opera

Cosmic Reflection – Baltimore Symphony Recording and Upcoming Release

Green Overture – A Commission for the Opening of Green Music Center

We’re All Musicians – A Book in the Works!

Benny & Joon: The Musical ­­– Producer Deal Signed and Gearing Up

The Secret Garden – A New Opera Commission from San Francisco Opera

In late 2009, Nolan was introduced to David Gockley, the acclaimed General Director of San Francisco Opera. David was initially made aware of Nolan’s skills as a pianist during a set of jazz concerts, though only tangentially aware of his identity as a classical composer. After receiving some nice compliments, Nolan felt emboldened to inform David of his more serious efforts, and specifically to relay his interest in the prospect of writing an opera.  Happily, David was responsive – aided no doubt by his love of Pandora Radio, which offered him another reason to think well of Nolan’s musical abilities. The two arranged to meet for breakfast shortly thereafter, during which Nolan went into greater detail of his background as a composer and musicologist, and reinforced his strong desire to write an opera for SF Opera. David agreed to consider the prospect and requested that Nolan send him a sample CD of his compositions, along with a set of proposed topics for the libretto.

One early advantage in this ambition was that Nolan had already selected his librettist, Carey Harrison – son of famed actors Rex Harrison and Lilli Palmer. Readers of this site will recall that Carey and Nolan had previously collaborated in the premiere performance at the Kennedy Center of Nolan’s narrated symphony Cosmic Reflection (see related News item), where Carey performed the role of the narrator. From this collaboration sprung a close friendship, and the two almost immediately began devising ways to work together on a theatrical piece; Carey is himself a celebrated and prolific playwright and novelist, and has a lifelong love of the opera. The two imagined several potential scenarios for their opera, including one or two based on Carey’s own novels.

A number of months passed, not surprisingly, after David received the materials. At long last, in August 2010, Nolan received an email from David with wonderful, though surprising news. He indicated that he had spent the previous months listening to his music, and loved it; he also liked several of the proposed libretto topics. The problem he had, however, was that the company was already too booked up with regular commissions – through 2015 – to take on another one, and thus an immediate working relationship could only happen if Nolan were interested in a different kind of production that David was envisioning for SF Opera: a children’s opera. Though it was not something they had considered, Nolan and Carey immediately realized what a terrific opportunity it was, and instantly said, “yes”. The wheels were then set in motion to select a source. Some serious deliberations went on regarding what the “perfect” source would be, with some fairly unusual sources, e.g., Kafka’s Metamorphosis, presenting themselves – given the current interest in dark topics (vampires, graveyards, sorcerers, etc.) among children’s books and movies.

In the end, however, all parties selected what all agree is indeed the perfect – and less macabre – source, Frances Hodgson Burnette’s 1910 classic, The Secret Garden. This timeless and inter-generational tale of friendship, of loss and tragedy, of hope and renewal, and the healing powers of nature is an ideal vehicle for a family opera. Nolan and Carey are already at work devising the framework for the libretto, and have scheduled a “libretto retreat” in New York for the weekend of April 16-17. At the time of this writing, a couple of potential – and highly acclaimed – directors are being considered, and the actual composition will likely begin in May. As for the production, things are naturally still vague, with a premiere slated for the 2012-2013 season – meaning early 2013. As this is a chamber opera, the premiere will likely take place at Berkeley’s Zellerbach Auditorium, and details will follow. Certainly, SF Opera is very excited about this venture, and the production will likely be a major civic event when it comes out – and who knows from there? Stay tuned!

Back to list

Cosmic Reflection – Baltimore Symphony Recording and Upcoming Release

As will be recalled by readers of this site, Cosmic Reflection is the second, and grander, of the two commissions I received in conjunction with NASA’s Fermi (originally GLAST) space telescope, and was premiered at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. on November 2, 2009 as part of the Fermi International Symposium. The 40-minute work for orchestra and narrator depicts the full history of the Universe (!), and was received with tremendous enthusiasm from the packed hall of physicists and non-physicists alike (e.g., called “a truly heavenly experience” by Science News; and “lush and delightful” by the Washington Examiner), with much clamoring following the concert for access to the work in CD and DVD – not least by the large number of science teachers in the audience.

Realizing this goal is no easy feat, but great progress has been made. In late 2010, Cosmic Reflection was recorded in a studio environment by the world-class Baltimore Symphony Orchestra under top conductor Marin Alsop, and produced by 15-time Grammy Award winner Steven Epstein. The final mix is now complete, and Carey Harrison will record the narration on April 15, 2011 in New York City. At this point, the video, perhaps in conjunction with Discovery Networks and/or under the supervision of celebrated science filmmaker David Kaplan, will begin production in both HD and IMAX formats. The full production and distribution – with prospects including several major labels and networks, as well as media outlets such as WGBH Boston – is being shepherded by Nolan’s new composition “rep”, Joe McKesson, a very talented and well-connected figure in the classical music scene. No date is set for release, but hopes are for early to mid-2012.

Back to list

Green Overture – A Commission for the Opening of Green Music Center

Since 1999, residents of Sonoma County have been anticipating the arrival of a truly state-of-the-art concert hall, the Green Music Center – initiated by a generous $10 million founding grant by Donald and Maureen Green. After years of recession-led delays, some very good news was received in March 2011, in the form of a $12 million grant from Joan and Sandy Weill – whose other arts philanthropy includes Weill Hall at New York’s Carnegie Hall. With this generous gift, the GMC is now officially slated to open in fall 2012. The center, which features a superb concert hall modeled after Seiji Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood, and designed by the same architectural firm, William Rawn Associates of Boston, will be the new home of the Santa Rosa Symphony under Maestro Bruno Ferrandis.

Nolan received some terrific news of his own in this regard as well, as the Santa Rosa Symphony and Maestro Ferrandis will be commissioning him to compose a special Overture to inaugurate this superb new hall! Details are still in the works, but Nolan has provisionally entitled his new work, Green Overture. The musical world will be watching this opening concert, and thus it will be a big moment for Nolan to flex his musical chops on behalf of his beloved Sonoma County.

Back to list

We’re All Musicians – A Book in the Works!

During the month of February 2011, Nolan was a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Sage Center for the Study of the Mind at UC Santa Barbara, where he was asked to make four presentations of his choosing. The invitation came from Nolan’s friend, the very distinguished Professor Michael Gazzaniga, the father of cognitive neuroscience and a great music lover. From the onset, Nolan saw this as a terrific opportunity to further explore his ever-growing interest in the intersection of music and science, with the vague dream of someday forging his thoughts into a book. Two of the four presentations given at UCSB were centered on topics related to this music-science confluence; a third concerned the mix of music and culture, and the fourth was a concert/lecture on the intersection of jazz and classical – for which Nolan brought up the other three members of the San Francisco Jazz Quartet (see other News item). Happily, all four were very well received, but the enthusiasm for his music-science discussions was surprisingly exuberant.

Nolan had presented the general theme of this intersection in several previous lectures, under the title, “Music, Science, and the Art of Living.” The opportunity to flesh out the topic in the UCSB lectures, combined with the encouraging response from faculty and students, allowed the idea of actually pursuing a book path to grow in Nolan’s mind. It then reached a culminating height when Mike Gazzaniga offered to put Nolan in touch with his own literary agent, the famed John Brockman – whose other clients include the likes of Brian Greene, Steven Pinker, Leonard Susskind, Richard Dawson, and Brian Eno. To Nolan’s delight, John responded with great enthusiasm that this indeed had the makings of a successful book – to be written for the general educated reader; Nolan thus began a set of communications with John and his wife and business partner Katinka Matson, upon which he began working on an actual book proposal.

The proposal has now been submitted, under the title: We’re All Musicians: Music, Science, and the Art of Living. The book relates the myriad ways in which music is reflected in various disciplines of science – mathematics, physics, cosmology, biology, genetics, chemistry, etc. – all of which yields a simple truth: music is an inherent and inevitable product in our lives and in the universe around us, and indeed all of us are endowed with natural musical talent. In other words, we’re all musicians, and it is thus incumbent upon us to realize an element of knowledge and proficiency in music in order to enjoy healthy and fully realized lives. The book explains the rationale for this claim, and empowers the reader with the confidence that they can reach their musical potential, providing tools to help them achieve it. This book-publishing thing is a new road for Nolan, and he isn’t exactly sure what to expect; but he, John, and Katinka are optimistic that We’re All Musicians will be available in bookstores near you before too long. Stay tuned!

Back to list

Benny & Joon: The Musical ­­– Producer Deal Signed and Gearing Up

As reviewed in several past News updates, Nolan’s first musical venture, Benny & Joon: The Musical is officially in the works. To quickly review, in 2008 Nolan was invited by MGM On Stage head Dean Stolber to select an MGM film property as the basis for a Broadway-type musical; he selected the 1994 film, Benny and Joon, starring Johnny Depp, Mary Stuart Masterson, and Aidan Quinn; he then teamed up with lyricist Mindi Dickstein to write and produce a demo of 4 songs – which was approved by Mr. Stolber in early 2010. The next step was to find a Producer, which they did in the person of Larry Hirschhorn, a veteran Broadway producer who recently won a Tony Award for the 2009 Revival of Hair. Larry heard the demo and happily loved it, and provisionally signed on to produce the musical – pending signing a deal with MGM. As these things go, finalizing a deal between a producer and a major entity like MGM is no mean feat – and this one took nearly 9 months of back-and-forth. But finalize it they did, in January 2011, and so now Benny & Joon officially has its lead producer as Larry Hirschhorn and H2H Productions. Next up is to sign a Book Writer – the last key step before Nolan and Mindi can begin writing the rest of the songs. The three of them have a terrific wish list, and hopefully soon will have a committed partner – and be one step closer to Broadway. Fingers crossed!

Back to list

Ode to Swing – A New CD by San Francisco Jazz Quartet
Fans of Nolan are likely aware of his long-time association with three great Bay Area jazz musicians, Roger Glenn (vibes, reeds), Terry Miller (bass), and Andy Eberhard (drums), who have worked together at various public and private gigs for nearly 10 years. As noted in the last update, the quartet decided to produce its first CD, Ode to Swing, which is now complete and available! The group, stylishly dubbed the San Francisco Jazz Quartet, is just now beginning its promotion and concert plans, and things are really starting to cook! They have a couple of concert dates set – including a CD release party on June 12 (see Events), and some big ambitions to bring their unique blend of jazz and classical elements to jazz clubs, colleges, and private events around the country. Their dedicated website – www.sfjazzquartet.com – is up and running, and the CD is now available on Amazon and iTunes. Please visit their website for more info, and if you’re in the area, join them for their upcoming concerts. A swingin’ time is guaranteed for all!

Back to list

PREVIOUS NEWS POSTINGS