Notes
Explorations for Keyboard and Orchestra - The story begins back in the 1970s at the Juilliard School of Music, where I first began my musical explorations. I once had the opportunity at Juilliard to watch Pierre Boulez conduct Stravinsky's 'Rite of Spring". Passion burst out of each note of the piece, and the intense power of the full orchestral sound made an astronomical impact on me. Fast forward to the present... In early 2010, my dear friend, the Venezuelan impresario, Emanuel Abramovits, invited me to play a few solo concerts. Emanuel was interested in my classical music background and promised me that, if I wrote an orchestral piece, he would find an orchestra to premier it. In a serendipitous twist of fate, days after I received Emanuel's invitation, I heard a recording of a student orchestra in Turkey performing versions of Dream Theater songs. Eren Basbug, who at that point was only 18 years old, had single-handedly orchestrated and organized that impressive project. The stars had aligned, and through the magic of YouTube, I had found my orchestrator. Eren and I worked closely (thanks to Skype) as I worked on my composition, and by October, 2010, Explorations for Keyboard and Orchestra premiered to a sold out crowd at Centro Cultural Corp Banca in Caracas, Venezuela with me at the keyboards and Eren conducting. Challenges arose when it became time to find a method of recording this piece with a professional orchestra - a process that is costly and complicated. I decided to hold a crowdfunding campaign in order to raise what I would need to pay for the project, and I was amazed when, a few months later, my goal had been reached. At this point, an even larger obstacle emerged: how to find an orchestra that could handle this score. The music is both rhythmically and technically complex and it's progressive sections would be especially challenging for traditionally trained classical musicians. Yet, again, the magic of the Internet connected me to Michal Mierzejewski and Sinfonietta Consonus in Poland. They had just released "Symphonic Theater of Dreams", an album of orchestral versions of Dream Theater music. By their impressive grasp of DT music, I was confident that they would be able to conquer Explorations, and so it was decided that the orchestra would rehearse and record for several months in Gdansk, Poland while I lay my piano tracks down in New York, and then, in November, I would fly to Gdansk to put down some of my additional keyboard and iPad parts and work with the team in person. I've sat in front of my synthesizers for years, twisting the knobs, trying to recreate the vast aural intensity of a live, acoustic orchestra. With Explorations for Keyboard and Orchestra, I am finally able to hear one of my own compositions brought to life by that unmistakable sound. In writing this composition, I was able to bring together the elements of the most influential classical music I've experienced, along with the rock power and intensity that I am known for in my work with Dream Theater. Explorations for Keyboard and Orchestra is a total 'progressive' music experience. 'Progressive' in that it is a forward thinking composition fusing my classical and progressive/metal sensibilities, but progressive also in showcasing new music technology. Thanks for listening, Jordan Rudess December, 2013 Screaming Head I wrote this piece in 2004 in honor of the loud arrival of my daughter, Kayla, into this world. Life at home raising two teenage daughters and our menagerie of pets is not a retreat of Zen calm, but the everyday chaos at my home in the woods is where my inspiration flows deepest. This song originally appeared on my 2004 album "Rhythm Of Time". The original recording featured an amazing guitar solo by Joe Satriani and the incredible Rod Morgenstein on drums. In the years since I composed this piece, it has become a staple of my solo performances, so it is gratifying to present it in this new orchestral form. Shou
