News & Views

Headlines

Cleveland Music School Settlement Names Gould Director of Department of Music

Cleveland, OH -- August, 2007

The Cleveland Music School Settlement, one of the nation's oldest and largest community music schools, named Eric Gould Director of the Department of Music. He will head a faculty of over 60 with a student enrollment of over 1,000.

The Settlement offers music instruction in three major areas; the Department of Music, which serves students from early childhood to late adulthood, Music Therapy, which serves students with a variety of special needs, and Early Childhood, which caters to children in their formative years. The faculty at The Settlement includes members of the Cleveland Orchestra, the Cleveland Chamber Symphony, the Jazz Heritage Orchestra, Red: An Orchestra, and many other acclaimed ensembles.

Back to Top

 

Gould's "Diaspora of the Drum" featuring Savion Glover to premiere in April, 2008

Tap dance phenomenon Savion Glover and the Grammy Award-winning Cleveland Chamber Symphony will perform Eric Gould's composition "Diaspora of the Drum" at the Allen Theatre in Cleveland's Playhouse Square on April 5th, 2008. The work is composed for orchestra, jazz ensemble, African percussion, and tap dancer.

The concert is the second annual benefit for the Cleveland Music School Settlement. Last year's benefit concert featured the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra's "Congo Square."

Back to Top
   

Canton Symphony Premieres "An American City" at Bicentennial Event

The Canton Symphony Orchestra capped off the bicentennial celebration of Eric Gould's "An American City" in May, 2005. The work was commissioned under a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts which placed Gould as a composer-in-residence. The piece reflected on the City's history, from Native American hunting grounds to an industrial crossroads, and up to today. A large and appreciative crowd witnessed the premiere, which featured narrations by the Mayor of Canton and several high school students from Canton McKinley.

Back to Top

 

Gould leads an All-Star tribute to Oscar Pettiford at Tribeca Performing Arts Center


Legendary bassist Ron Carter performs on piccolo bass with Eric Gould on piano

"Bohemia After Dark," a tribute to legendary bassist Oscar Pettiford premiered at the Tribeca Performing Arts Center in June, 2006. The program featured another legendary bassist, Ron Carter, backed by an eight-piece ensemble featuring saxophonists Antonio Hart, Patience Higgins and Don Braden, trumpeter Sean Jones, trombonist Robin Eubanks, bassist Leon Lee Dorsey, drummer Vincent Ector, and Gould on piano. The band performed arrangements by Gould of the music of Oscar Pettiford in front of a sold-out crowd.

Back to Top
 

All That Jazz at the NFL Hall of Fame Festival

Vanessa Rubin performs with the Eric Gould Ensemble at the NFL Hall of Fame Festival

"All That Jazz" was the theme for this year's NFL Hall of Fame Festival fashion show at the Canton Civic Center in Canton, Ohio. The annual event, always a glitzy and glamorous affair, was attended by an audience of over 4,000 customers who turned out to witness a spectacle involving runway models, large screen projections, and an all-star jazz ensemble under the direction of pianist/composer/arranger Eric Gould. The ensemble, including vocalist Vanessa Rubin, saxophonists Antonio Hart and Lance Bryant, violinist Christian Howes, drummer Cindy Blackman, percussionist Bill Ransom and bassist Glenn Holmes, performed Gould's arrangements of "Night in Tunisia," "Superwoman," "The Way You Look Tonight," and "Canteloupe Island." Rubin played the role of jazz diva to the hilt, singing with authority and sporting a $150,000 diamond-studded necklace for the event.

"Jazz made the day," reported the Evening Independent. "The live jazz was phenomenal. The eight-member, All Star Jazz Band, all tops in their own right brought members from Cleveland and New York City to perform." The producer of the event, Joel Solloway of Eventworks Inc., has since retained Gould as the Music Director for the company, which has offices in Las Vegas and Cleveland.

Back to Top
 

Gould Introduces The Dameron Project at
Tri-C JazzFest

Legendary saxophonist Jimmy Heath performs with Gould's Dameron Project at the Tri-C JazzFest

This year's 25th anniversary edition of the Tri-C JazzFest featured a performance by a stellar ensemble that was assembled to pay tribute to one of the great jazz composers of all time, Tadd Dameron. The eight-member ensemble, under the direction of pianist-composer Eric Gould featured saxophonists Don Braden, Howie Smith and George Shernit, trombonist Robin Eubanks, trumpeter Derrick Gardner, drummer Yoron Israel, bassist Glenn Holmes, and as special guest the legendary saxophonist Jimmy Heath. The group performed Gould's own arrangements of Dameron's music to an appreciative packed house at Tri-C's Main Stage Theater.

The list of tunes performed included "Mating Call," "On a Misty Night," "Our Delight," "If You Could See Me Now," "Lady Bird," "Good Bait," and "Hot House." The intricate arrangements were handled expertly by the ensemble, and with an impressive array of soloists, the crowd responded very enthusiastically. Asked to comment after the performance on the experience, Jimmy Heath responded: "Eric Gould is a composer/arranger with exceptional depth and musical understanding. It is a pleasure to play or listen to his music. I am very impressed with his skills."

Though Dameron was a native Clevelander and still has family in Cleveland, this was the first time that Tri-C JazzFest had ever offered a tribute to him. "There is no Cleveland musician in the history of jazz with greater prominence and significance than Tadd Dameron" says Gould. "The Tri-C JazzFest should find a way to honor him at every festival, through a series dedicated to his name, and what he stood for musically."

Gould plans to record a CD with the Dameron Project in the future. The ensemble, which now includes saxophonist Antonio Hart, is available for performances, clinics, and workshops at colleges, festivals, and events.

More Information

Back to Top
 

Gould Receives OAC Composition Fellowship

Composer Eric Gould has received an Artists Fellowship Award for Music Composition from the Ohio Arts Council for 2004. The award is based upon an anonymous review of works in several different disciplines by panels of experts in the respective discipline, and rewards artistic excellence for Ohio artists. Gould, who teaches Theory and Electronic Music at Cleveland State University, has been active as a composer for many years, but is most widely known in the area for his work in jazz. The Canton Symphony Orchestra, the Cleveland Chamber Symphony, the Cavani String Quartet, pianist Halida Dinova, and many others have performed his works. This is his first award from the Ohio Arts Council.

Back to Top
 

Gould Selected for Residency with Canton Symphony Orchestra

The Canton Symphony Orchestra has received a $15,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to support the Community Heritage Celebration. A new work by composer Eric Gould, based on the history and diversity of the city's neighborhoods, will be created and presented with the involvement of school students and other community members. The residency will begin in January 2005, and will culminate in a performance of the work by the orchestra. Details of the event have yet to be disclosed.

Back to Top
 

EventWorks Inc. Makes Gould Music Director

Eventworks Inc., an event production company with offices in Cleveland and Las Vegas, has named Eric Gould as Music Director. The company specializes in event and video production, and has worked such large-scale events as the NFL Hall of Fame Festival, the Regional Emmy Awards, and most recently, the Vice-Presidential debate.

The foray into offering music services is a significant step for the 10-year old company, because many of the projects that they are currently involved in have a music component. Bringing a music operation in-house means having additional control over the final product.

Gould was Music Director for the NFL Hall of Fame Fashion Show produced by Eventworks in August, 2004.

Back to Top