Local audiences who have been regular
supporters and fans of GYBSO— Greater Boston Youth
Symphony Orchestras — will most likely remember
the sometimes almost overwhelming musical presence
of percussionist Sam Solomon, who reigned over the
playing of pretty much anything he could hit
during his GYBSOstint in his Sharon High School
years.
Solomon has since gone on to a full scholarship
at Juilliard, majoring in percussion, and now
spends a great deal of his time exploring the many
avenues of contemporary classical music. He
returns to the area as part of the Yesaroun’ Duo,
in which he plays with fellow GYBSO veteran, reed
man Eric Hewitt, at Temple Ohabei Shalom in
Brookline on Feb. 17.
The Yesaroun’ Duo? What kind of name is
that?
" It’s actually a little filler lyric in the
Black Crows tune, ‘Hard to Handle,’ which was
written by Otis Redding, " says Solomon. " But it
means nothing. One of the reasons we were
attracted to it is because it didn’t mean
anything. And part of what we do is we don’t limit
ourselves to any one sort of thing because of the
possibilities in percussion and saxophone and the
music we play, which embraces every culture, every
time period, every sort of style of music. So we
didn’t want to have a name that locked us into
having to mean something. "
It’s become quite clear quite quickly that
Solomon is totally wrapped up in his music. Yet
exactly what that music is, or what it should be
called, isn’t that easy for him to explain.
" It’s kind of been a struggle throughout the
last century to make a name for what’s going on
now, " he says. " The answer is that you can’t
really come up with anything because there are so
many different styles coming in at so many
different angles that influence each other in so
many different ways. A lot of times people will
call it ‘serious’ music. But the only reason you
would say that is to try to separate the style of
music we’re doing from the style that Britney
Spears is doing, which at this point, especially
in the upcoming program, the boundaries between
those two worlds are very, very thin. "
Solomon is a well-rounded percussionist,
playing everything from standard drum kit to
tympani, with a specialization in marimba. But he
began his affair with music on the piano when he
was 5.
" I took six years of lessons, and then I
stopped because I hated the piano and I wanted to
play drums, " he says. " Actually, my mom says I
told her that I didn’t love playing the
piano. Then years later when I actually needed
some of those piano skills back, they were all
gone, and I had to build some of them back. But I
always wanted to play the drums. I was always up
in my brother’s room whacking along with the
radio. I asked my parents if I could play the
drums, but they said no. I finally convinced them
to let me start taking lessons in the fourth grade
when they were offered at school. That developed
and I finally started playing orchestral
percussion, which led to keyboard instruments and
other stuff, and then it developed into everything
you hit. "
What also developed was the fact that other
people started catching on to his talent. Solomon
has spent five summers at Tanglewood, early on as
part of the Boston University Tanglewood
Institute, and for the past two years on a
fellowship with the Tanglewood Festival
Orchestra.
Last year, when he was 20, he played Carnegie
Hall.
" My teacher, Dan Druckman, recommended a few
of us from Juilliard to audition for this gig, "
he says. " Every year the New York Youth Symphony
has a program where they premiere a new young
soloist at Carnegie Hall. They also have a program
with premieres of new pieces. For this concert
those two things lined up because one of the
composers decided to write a concerto, a
percussion concerto. And I was chosen. "
When Solomon and Jamaica Plain-based Hewitt
were in GBYSO, they respected each other’s playing
and had one piece they were always trying to
perform, but never had the time to rehearse.
" Finally I was thinking about creating some
ensembles that I would do outside of school, "
recalls Solomon. " This was in the spring of ’99
and I said, ‘Hey, why don’t we start a duo?’ So we
started putting together some repertoire and it
became this. "
Their Brookline performance will consist of
commissioned pieces by the Minimum Security
Composers Collective, a group of four composers
who met at Yale.
" They would team up and do projects all
together, and they’ll team up with an ensemble
like us, " says Solomon. " The ensemble will
commission all four of them, all four would write
a piece and then the ensemble provides two
concerts and then they book two concerts. The deal
is we get four pieces, they get four performances,
no money is exchanged and everyone is happy. "
Some of the works at the upcoming concert
include the rock-based " +8, " a solo bass
clarinet piece, " Tsmindao Ghmerto, " a solo drum
piece called " Le Corps a Corps, " a duet for
percussion and alto sax, " Nothing if Not, "
another for percussion and baritone sax, " WATT "
and a special piece, arranged by and featuring
Solomon’s father, Cantor Robbie Solomon, "
Hashkivenu, " for sax, marimba and cantor.
It’s this last one in which Solomon will be
showing off his marimba skills.
" I play a five-octave marimba, " says Solomon
of the huge wooden instrument. " In the past
marimbas have been four octaves, then it turned to
four and a third octaves, and that was the
standard for a while. The five-octave goes lower
and it’s about eight-feet long and it’s the most
pain in the ass thing to move around. We had to
make sure our next car purchase was a mini-van
just so we could move it. "
Solomon doesn’t deny that much of the music on
the program is complex, but he also feels that the
experience will be quite accessible to all
audiences.
" There’s so much going on onstage, " he says.
" There’s a lot visually from the percussion. A
lot of this program is avant-garde in some sense,
but there’s still plenty for a lay listener to
grasp on to. And we’ll probably be speaking about
the pieces before we play them, to help out some
of those people who might not be familiar. As far
as what to expect, this particular concert is very
rock based. Other than that, I would hope to
expect a very complete experience musically, one
that provides a whole new perspective on looking
at avant-garde music and new music. A lot of
people are scared by that because so much of it is
hard to grasp. But generally we’ve had good luck
with people getting things out of the concert that
we’re hoping to give them. "
The Yesaroun’ Duo performs at Temple Ohabei
Shalom in Brookline at 8 p.m. on Feb. 17. Tickets
are $12; seniors and students, $8. Call (617)
277-6610.
