Cultural Events
American Composer Demetrius Spaneas Brings American Music to Life (02/29/2008)
On February 29 the U.S. Embassy’s weekly Chay Chat Conversation Club featured American musician Demetrius Spaneas. Mr. Spaneas, who plays the clarinet, flute, and saxophone, composes and performs both classical and contemporary music.
He is also the founder and leader of the world music ensemble BALKANASIA, which combines music from the Balkans and Near East with jazz and rock, and he is the co-director of the Sapphire Ensemble, a New York-based chamber group. His trip to Uzbekistan was part of a 2007-08 season in which he is presenting concerts, lectures, and festivals as both a performer and composer throughout Europe and Asia. The support that the US Embassy provided allowed Mr. Spaneas to make this trip to Uzbekistan to help educate young audiences, both specialists and the general public, about modern American musical trends.
Approximately 90 high school and university students attended the Chay Chat and had the opportunity to hear Mr. Spaneas talk about the culture and music of America and also perform musical pieces by George Gershwin, Molly Thompson, and Carol Alban. His lecture engaged the audience with interesting facts about American music and encouraged the students to ask a variety of questions. Audience members inquired about the difference between Jazz and Blues, Mr. Spaneas’ inspirations as a composer, and about different instruments and types of music. Mr. Spaneas talked about his experience in the music world. The Chay Chat guests, who had just watched the movie “Ray” to commemorate Black History Month, were particularly impressed to hear that Mr. Spaneas had played with Ray Charles. The students enjoyed learning how Mr. Spaneas forged his own path in life, which has allowed him to travel around the world and introduce American music to many different audiences. As he conversed with the young audience, he interspersed musical performances, selecting pieces to suit the audience’s interests and tastes.
In addition to his Chay Chat presentation at the Embassy, Mr. Spaneas also performed in Tashkent at the Ilkhom Theater’s Omnibus Blackbox Music and Vision Festival. At this festival, he performed solo to short American films, including Not Waving, But Drowning by Denise Broadhurst, BAJALICA by Natasha Bogojevich and Hurt McDermott, and Native New Yorker by William Susman and Steven Bilich. He also conducted the Omnibus Ensemble in a premiere performance of an orchestral version of Elastic Stronghold, which he himself wrote with Justin Heim.