a melding of disparate traditions into something distinctive and compellingAll About Jazz
methodically drifting compositions [that] blur the line between indie classical and free improvisation.New York Music Daily
Written after a five-year period of intense historical study, Cantata No. 1: An Island Seen and Felt explores themes of displacement, homesickness, spirituality, and nostalgia by expressing personal experiences of Crompton’s childhood, spent growing up in the Surf Coast Shire of Victoria, Australia. Through a unique combination of contemporary improvised music and counterpoint written in the sixteenth-century sacred style, the project aims to synthesize and unite discreet cultural and historical music elements on the one hand, and on the other, through this synthesis, to capture something of the remote, elemental power of that landscape.
featuring:
Aine Hakamatsuka, soprano
Rachel Mikol, soprano
Kate Goddard, violin
Masha Polishchuk, violin
Andrew Griffin, viola
Arnie Tanimoto, cello
Jonathon Crompton, alto saxophone
James Wengrow, electric guitar
Sound engineer: Joseph Branicforte
Videographers: Dani Gros, Mariana Meraz, and Tom Cryan
Video Editor: Dani Gros
Premiered at DiMenna Center for Classical Music, Cary Hall
Saturday, September 9th, 2023
Crompton’s 2019 debut album, Intuit, was hailed as “a substantial musical achievement” by All About Jazz. Featuring fellow saxophonists Ingrid Laubrock, Patrick Breiner, and Patrick Booth, bassist Adam Hopkins, and drummer Kate Gentile, the album celebrates the saxophone, Crompton’s first musical love. Its “coordinat[ed] polyphonies and contrapuntal movements” (Jazz Trail) contain the germ of polyphonic curiosity upon which Crompton would later build and in many ways augur his future development.
Australian composer, alto saxophonist, and scholar Jonathon Crompton
is forging a singular musical voice and challenging how music is defined through imaginatively synthesizing historical and contemporary styles. Although rooted in the traditions of jazz, he has recently deepened the historical elements in his sound through several years of sustained study of Renaissance counterpoint, which he was first introduced to by Queens College professor Donna Doyle. After graduating from Queens College with a Master of Music in jazz performance (‘15), he continued his studies with Professor Doyle privately in a time of deeply concentrated musical transformation. In the fall of 2023, Crompton continues his studies as part of Columbia University’s doctoral program, pursuing a PhD in music, where he plans to further hone his compositional voice, expand his knowledge of historical music theory, and strengthen his teaching skills.
Future projects include a second cantata and the completion and recording of a four-part vocal polyphonic mass, Mass for the Modern; its movements will be released serially in annual installments.