Exploring Unknown Avenues.. Dr. Mark Mantel

May 23, 2007

Tired of the same old same old music scene? Looking for some thought-provoking songs that explore music’s relationship to other art forms? Than Dr. Mark Mantel’s CD pre-release concert Friday night at the Crooked Tree Arts Center is for you.
Mantel moved to Petoskey in 2004 from California where he had been executive director of the International Interdisciplinary Performance Festival in Long Beach. He began his exploration of interdisciplinary music while pursuing his Ph.D in New York.
“I have always been intrigued by the connectivity and relationship between creative disciplines,” said Mantel. “I like to explore the creation and layering of dense musical materials derived from physical models. Some of my compositions are text-driven, with real time live electronic and theatrical elements. My music seeks to explore unknown avenues and takes artistic chances.”
On the surface, this may sound a little bit technical or scholarly, but Mantel’s work has been recognized internationally. Music critics from the “New York Times” and the “Los Angeles Times” have praised Mantel’s work as being “expressionistic” and “engrossing and idiomatically pianistic,” respectively.

A CHALLENGE
Mantel wants to engage the audience with his compositions.
“As a composer I want to challenge the audience, get them to think about things,” said Mantel. “But people also come to be entertained as well.”
The composer uses several local musicians who perform with CRESCENT, the faculty ensemble of the Crooked Tree Arts Center that he oversees, as well as some international musicians Mantel has recorded with over the years.
“I felt that it was important to use musicians from my backyard for this project,” said Mantel. “There is a lot of talent here.”
The concert is free and Mantel will take orders for the CD that will be released in mid-June. The concert will feature a collection of works from the CD project titled “Direct to the Public.”
“We will start with a compostion set to texts of such powerful poets as Joseph Brodsky, Samuel Beckett, and Charles Bukowski,” said Mantel. These will be heard, in their full theatrical settings, along with some unique chamber music and some rippin’ free jazz.”

CHANCE TO ENGAGE
As a modern American composer, Mantel hopes audiences will appreciate his works while he is still around.
“We have a tendency to spend a lot of time with composers who are no longer with us and less time appreciating those that are still living,” said Mantel. “Ironically the great composers of all time also were faced with the same dilemma.”
Northern Michigan rarely has the opportunity to engage so intimately with living American composers, who, through interdisciplinary works openly invite audiences to think and rethink their conceptions of the current. So the “Direct To The Public” CD project and concert by Dr. Mark Mantel offers that chance.
His precious live performance of his composition “Junk Bonds, Junk Bombs” at Crooked Tree was well received by the full house.
Mantel plans to take his production on the road with performances around the Midwest and at some universities.
“The response to this project has been overwhelming,” said Mantel. “I have found Petoskey a wonderful community to be creative.”

For more information contact the Crooked Tree Arts Center at www.crookedtree.org , 231.347.4337or Dr. Mark Mantel at 231.348.1179, or drmdmantel@yahoo.com. The concert is free and open to the public and starts at 7:30 p.m. in the Ross Stoakes Hall. A wine reception and casual discussion will follow in the gallery.