Pro*Ject

Pro*Ject (pronounced either "PRAH-ject" or "pro-JECT") was commissioned by pianist Laura Leon as part of a multimedia work featuring photographic images by Barry Rosenthal and Eric Jacobson for the first two movements, "Laura's Dream" and "Two True Blues." The two movements making up the musical portion of the performance piece were fine in their original multimedia context, but the composer later added the third movement "Samba" for balance in "music only" situations. This is the composer's preferred version for performance. The overall title Pro*Ject is, of course, a bit of wordplay. "Project" as a noun is a planned enterprise designed, as dictionaries say, to achieve particular goals. As a verb it takes on several meanings: To extend outward; to move foward; to cause light or a shadow or an image to fall on a surface; and other definitions. Movement I, "Laura's Dream," unfolds slowly, always building from the first five-note phrase. The second movement "Two True Blues" indeed is comprised of two blues ideas, one in C minor and the other in the relative E major; the form, however is an overall A B A. The E blues was adapted from the composer's Suite for Harp ("Airs and Dances"). Pro*Ject is respectfully dedicated to Laura Leon, who in addition to commissioning the work has recorded it on her CD "Changing the Pace" (Musical Tapestries).