Andrew Rosciszewski - Composer

I've always had this stereotype in my head about composers being uptight snobs who felt that no other genre could compare to orchestral music. Thankfully, Rebecca Brandt proved me wrong earlier this year with her album, Numbers & Shapes. Now, Andrew Rosciszewski has further shown me that composers do find inspiration in genres outside of classical compositions.

Rock music sounds fantastic when backed by an orchestra. The late '60s were full of mixing the two styles of music, the Moody Blues did it on Days of Future Passed, Scott Walker on his first four solo works, even the Beatles utilized an orchestra throughout Sgt. Pepper. Over the decades, plenty of rock bands have found the magic that a orchestra can add to their sound: Metallica, Styx, Queen, Grizzly Bear, The Last Shadow Puppets, and My Morning Jacket. You've heard Peter Gabriel's latest albums, Scratch My Back and New Blood, right? That's probably the most basic list that I can give you, but it's really a never-ending rabbit hole. Look at prog rock and metal, they've been addicted to adding in classical music since the birth of each genre.

Rarely have I heard of the situation the other way around. Well, there is the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, I guess. Sure, other orchestras and symphonies have played the hits of established rock bands to pull in an audience, but I've never really heard of a composer completely crafting an album around influences such as Rush and Frank Zappa. Andrew Rosciszewski has done just that with his debut album, Fantasie for Rock Band & Orchestra. The album is comprised of just two songs that are broken down into several parts. Very prog. The title track is made up of bold arrangements that, at times, completely break into an all out, hard rock jam session. In between the heavy guitars and pounding drums are lush moments of true beauty that really allow you to appreciate the power of classical music before you return to rocking out. "The Marimba Trilogy" is more curious and urgent piece of music. It sounds as if the three "Fantastic Adventures" could have been plucked right from the score of a light-hearted spy comedy. There's an exciting and playful undertone to the trilogy, but it still sounds as if there's an important job that needs to be done.

Andrew Rosciszewski's album is a complete joy to listen through, whether you're a fan of classical music or not. It becomes more than just the instruments heard. A story is told, and it's the story that you make it up to be. Fantasie for Rock Band & Orchestra allows your imagination to run wild with ideas and visions of what the meanings behind the music might be. Check out Andrew's website to find more information about his music, and if you like what you hear, get the album on iTunes or CDBaby.com. - The Record Stache

Rock musicians and classical instrumentalists play for different teams in different leagues, and yet, they're interested in each other, curious, maybe even excited.
They speak the same language, but with a different accent or idioms.
Or, that's how it seems until they actually get together. A hook-up either works or it's complicated, troublesome and not worth reprising.
Musical Chairs Chamber Ensemble (MCCE) which marked its seventh anniversary last week with a concert at the Staten Island Museum, may have devised a helpful formula: Keep it small, cool and acoustic.
Its collaboration with composer/bassist Andrew Rosciszewski and percussionist Vincent Livolsi went unusually well. They joined MCCE members Tamara Keshecki (flute), Christine Kim (cello) and Maria Antonia Garcia (piano) for a two song section of "frail'ty," a piece by Rosciszewski's band, Eyes On Infinity.
The young composer is an experienced collaborator. For a previous piece, Rock Band Concerto, he and his musicians played with the Vermont Philharmonic.
The "frail'ty" numbers are relatively delicate, intelligent, fugue-like items in which precisely interwoven musical thoughts collide and interact. They were listener-friendly, but fresh, with a nice shimmer applied by the percussionist. - The Staten Island Advance

STATEN ISLAND, NY — Rules — spoken and unspoken — govern the survival rate of small, ambitious groups like the Musical Chairs Chamber Ensemble (MCCE).

Or so you’d assume. The Island-based ensemble has broken or stretched several: It is composed of mostly young performers, aged 35 or under, many of them women. It’s interested in new music and finds ways to commission fledgling composers.

It has initiated unusual collaborations with jazz and rock musicians. (Some audience members will applaud such a move. Others are almost certain to find it confusing).

There’s more: Half or more of MCCE’s seven-year history has taken place during exceptionally tough financial times for not-for-profit organizations. Corporate and public coffers aren’t so full as they used to be. Chamber music has become a tough sell in many markets.

And yet, here’s MCCE with a seventh-anniversary celebration April 30 at the Staten Island Museum, 75 Stuyvesant Pl., St. George. Tickets are $15 general admission; $5 for students.

Breaking the rules and scoffing at risks has paid off.

True to form, MCCE booked a world premiere by composer-in residence Laura Kaminsky (artistic director of Symphony Space in Manhattan) for the program.

Called “Inlets,” it’s a five-movement trio for cello, flute and piano. Ms. Kaminsky, who wrote the piece this past winter during a retreat at the Hermitage Center on the gulf coast in Florida, took the title from the surroundings.

As she explains it, “The Hermitage is on Manasota Key with an open expanse of the gulf to the west, and across the road, an inlet with quieter waters.”

Tamara Keshecki, flutist and founder of MCCE, will play, with Clarice Jensen, cello and Maria Antoni Garcia, piano.

The other unusual feature of the program will be composer Andrew Rosiciszewski’s “faith & chaos” and “kwiksand & koolade” Both pieces were written originally for his progressive metal band Eyes on Infinity. He and Ms. Keshecki have performed together previously.

The program also has Martinu’s Trio for Flute, cellio and Piano, Carl Maria von Weber’s Trio in g minor and Frank Martin’s “Ballade.” - The Staten Island Advance

For Bayonne native and composer Andrew Rosciszewski, blending elements of Eastern European folk sounds with classical music and progressive rock has been a way to create his own music style.

And on Nov. 13 the results of his experimental fusion will be heard when he performs in the Musical Chairs Chamber Ensemble in Staten Island.

By day, Rosciszewski, works as a music teacher at Bayonne's Washington Community School. But when he's not molding young minds in the classroom, Rosciszewski moonlights as a composer and bassist for the progressive metal band Eyes on Infinity, a three-musician outfit he began with his college friend Vincent Livolsi, who plays drums, and which features singer Sara Lauren.

Among Rosciszewski's influences are such classical composers as Bela Bartok, and contemporary classic composer Henryk Gorecki, along with progressive rock bands like Rush and Porcupine Tree. Rosciszewski describes both rock and classical as dark and heavy.

"In some way, they are mirror images of each other," Rosciszewski said in a recent interview.

Rosciszewski has been a part of the Musical Chairs Chamber Ensemble - a consortium of mostly young musicians who specialize in playing chamber music -since 2002.

The upcoming concert will also feature Rosciszewski's college friend and founder of MCCE Tamara Keshecki, playing the flute, Clarice Jensen on cello, Maria Antonia Garcia on piano, and percussionist Vince Livolsi.

Tickets are $15 for general admission and $5 for students ages 22 and under (with a valid student ID) and can be purchased by visiting http://www.mcensemble.org, e-mailing info@mcensemble or calling (718) 907-3488. - The Jersey Journal