What The Critics Say
about "Hallelujah Games"
from Sonoloco Record Reviews:
“Amy Rubin is a composer of many guises, many stylistic venues...she lets all those traditions filter through her personality and the result is manifold and varied but with a distinct Rubin feel to it.”
“the music is delicate, dancing, fairytale - like”
“absolute music touching your intellectual and emotional strings”
“atmospheric with an impressionistic luster; beautiful displays of overtones, in a prismic splendor”
“like glass at times, clear, transparent, cool...rendering a personal sophistication inside an encoded environment”
“hypnotically repeated cross rhythms”
“inner visions or remembrances....translating into audible vibrations”
“styles and their offspring fashions and trends mean very little to her. She keeps on keeping on, like Bob Dylan put it.”
from 21st Century Music:
“Just how important is stylistic continuity? Not very, when you're Amy Rubin, and you're good at just about everything. Hallelujah Games, the opening work in the identically named release from Mode, is a bang-on post-minimal post-pop essay for marimba and piano. While the piece is meant to address ‘the ongoing effects of colonialism in Africa,’ it is no surprise that the sounds bespeak of her familiarity with Reich's muse: the music of Ghana.
Whose America?, on the other hand, has an earlier African/New Yorker melding in mind. These texts "The Farewell of a Virginia Slave Mother to her Daughters Sold into Southern Bondage," "Brother of the Ku Klux Klan," and "Grandma's Song" mine a updated vein of African-American music which inspired George Gershwin.
Trifocals for flute, clarinet, and bassoon, and Journey for flute and piano are new-music marriages with Caribbean and Turkish music respectively, with emphasis on the new-music. Rubin's short piano works tell of soulful jazz, languid Satie, a certain almost-cinematic romanticism, and classical dignity. In Two-Train Toccata, Rubin leaves us with a nice minimalist neoclassic puzzle:
Train X leaves San Francisco heading east at a speed of 95 miles an hour. Train Y leaves New York going west a s speed of 110 miles an hour. Where and when will they pass each other? Is this likely, given that speeds tend to be faster in the West? And what about mountains? Assuming no stops, perhaps the next day in Nebraska… would be a long haul of a piece, that. This is a worth journey that can occupy tracks beside Glass, Honegger, Reich and Villa-Lobos.
Rubin winds up close to where she began, with a brief marimba two-player piece entitled Mallet Cycles. Like Reich, here's another composer who finds that marimba and minimalism go hand in hand, hands on sticks, and hands-down handily.”
from Classics Today:
“Spiked with blues, jazz, African drumming patterns and Latin dance rhythms... Rubin’s music is appealing and often playful.”
“Her intricate passagework spins out like a nimble improvisation. Soprano Christine Schadeberg, flutist Kathleen Nester, and marimba player join her as magnificent partners.”
about the “Rubin-Clement Dialogues”
from the “NewMusicBox”; chosen as one of top choices of the month:
“Composer/pianists Amy Rubin and Dawn Clement combine forces to extend the pianos already complex sonic capabilities. These two infuse the music with a certain shimmering energy through both their playing and composing.”
about “Like Ships That Pass”
from “The New Music Connoissieur”:
“There is magic and enchantment.and a particularly colorful palette. Behind Ms. Rubin’s syncopated melodies is a delicate, intelligent structure, and the music delights. The piece breathed life and vitality. Way to go!”
about “La Loba”
from “Fanfare”:
“free and fearless in her ability to synthesize different materials, open and fluent in her use of various media.”
“highly accessible in its infectious tune and rhythms”.
from “The Tab” :
“The selections are north of the border... the most successful of them, Rubin’s jaunty “La Loba” in which the composer joins the the quintet on piano, is heavily influenced by Latin sound and sensibility.”
from “The Daily Freeman” :
“Amy Rubin is a pianist, composer and instrument. If she didn’t write music she would dance it, which anyhow, she does as an electrified medium, jolted by percussive-melodic contact with the keyboard.”
“a primal, tripled-faceted genius”.
about “One World”
from “The New York Times” :
“She manages to bring world cultures home....to stretch familiar images into fresh perspectives...presenting landscapes that we already know but that are transformed by unusual palettes.”
from “The Computer Music Journal”
“The most virtuosic performance of the day was turned in by Amy Rubin, whose keyboard performance of her “One World” was a smorgasbord of mixed meters, polyrhythms and references to many Third World rhythms, timbres, and forms within the context of the composer’s Western sensibility.”
Articles & Reviews
Read articles about Amy Rubin by clicking on the links below:
FDU online magazine: Anything But The Same Old Song and Dance
Self–Published Composers Explain What They Do and Why
Towards An African Pianism: Keyboard Music of Africa and the Diaspora
Workshop at Monroe Reformatory with Seattle Symphony Musicians
- Photos of: Workshop at Monroe Reformatory with Seattle Symphony Musicians
What Colleagues Say
Amy as Educator:
Paul Taub, Flutist & Executive Director, Seattle Chamber Players
“Amy is someone who is able to draw a very diverse public into the world of contemporary music and creative process She is equally adept at engaging an audience at a small festival in rural Washington State, young impressionable students at Cornish, and the sophisticated audience at Benaroya Hall. She has a knack for creative interactive situations with an audience, involving them in the creative process with enthusiasm, verve and spirit.”
Dr. Akin Euba, Nigerian composer and ethnomusicologist, Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Music, University of Pittsburgh
“Ms. Rubin has contributed to the development of contemporary interculturalism as composer, performer, theorist. She is an outstanding musician and has mastered the techniques for successful intercultural composition. Her presentations are lucid, authoritative, eloquent and superbly organized. The recital she gave in NYC in which she included music by African composers was ground breaking.”
Ralph Jackson, Assistant Vice President of Classical Music, BMI
“Ms. Rubin is a consummate musician who lives and breathes music without borders or subdivisions. Her music is direct, expressive and she moves seamlessly between jazz, classical and world music. She is an impressive, articulate speaker with important insights to share.”
Kenneth L. Brown, U.S. Ambassador to Ghana
“Ms. Rubin developed working relationships with Ghana’s National Film and Television Institute, GBC TV and the School of Performing Arts at the University of Ghana. She gave generously of her time and energy and as a talented musician and teacher was an outstanding representative of her country.”
Professor Sheila Silver, State University of NY, Stony Brook
“Her own musicianship is superb: as a result she is quite innovative in her approach to teaching.“
Matt Sullivan, oboist, Buffet Crampon Artist, Visiting Associate Prof. at Princeton University
“When we were faculty members at the international European Mozart Academy in Poland, Amy’s classes in Hearing Beyond the Boundaries of Style opened the students up to new ways of hearing and to hearing different kinds of music. She had classical violinists from Russia and Korea performing and analyzing folk music from Africa, Appalachia, and was able not only to teach the music, but help the students gain an understanding of the differences in their respective cultures. It was an exhilarating learning experience for all.”
Alastair Willis, former assistant conductor for the Seattle Symphony Orchestra
“Amy is a dedicated musician, composer, pianist, performer, collaborator and educator with many impressive professional national and international credits. She has been one of the leading proponents for new music in the Seattle community, and has led by example.”
Patricia Costa Kim, Ph.D. Seattle Symphony Director of Education and Community Programs
“Amy is an engaging educator, performer and composer. She is articulate and enables the listener and the learner to enter the music with simple profundity. She is able to present insights to the audience and to bring people of varying skill levels to a very special relationship with her musical statements. She has a deep understanding of the expression of art music and its role in the transmission of history and culture.“
Tracy Moore, Operations, Education and Outreach Manager, Seattle Chamber Music Society
“As a consultant, Ms. Rubin shared a wealth of innovative ideas and approaches for presenting music education to young students. In addition Ms. Rubin presented a lecture for our Educate Your Ear adult lecture series titled, “Transforming the Familiar into a New Shape and Sound.” She clearly possesses an in-depth knowledge of cultural influences on music and provided great examples. Attendees rated her lecture as “exceptional” and expressed a strong desire to hear her lecture again.”
Amy as Composer:
Laura DeLuca, clarinetist, Seattle Chamber Players & Seattle Symphony Orchestra
“Her writing is versatile, has wide appeal with rhythmic punctuation of Latin American and African music along with melodic expression ranging between introspection and bursting with joy. Her harmonic language is sprinkled with quirkiness that delights and surprises the ears.”
Faculty evaluators from State University of NY at Stony Brook
“Her compositions lie outside the boundaries of academic propriety.”
Dent Davidson, Director of Liturgical Arts, Saint Thomas Episcopal Church, Medina, Washington
“The complex soul of this artist is perhaps best reflected in her compositions. What she puts on a page is not contrived but authentic. Often employing an improvisational style, her music touched me in many ways, from feelings of exuberance to unspeakable grief. One cannot sit and listen passively. Fire is the term I always use when I talk about Amy’s performing. She draws the listener into community with her.”
Dr. Akin Euba, Nigerian composer and ethnomusicologist, Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Music, University of Pittsburgh
“Ms. Rubin has contributed to the development of contemporary interculturalism as composer, performer, theorist. She is an outstanding musician and has mastered the techniques for successful intercultural composition.”
Ralph Jackson, Assistant Vice President of Classical Music, BMI
“Ms. Rubin is a consummate musician who lives and breathes music without borders or subdivisions. Her music is direct, expressive and she moves seamlessly between jazz, classical and world music.”
Dr, Chen Yi , Distinguished Professor in Composition, University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory
“Her music is energetic, gripping and colorful.”
Jonathan Kramer, Professor of Music, Columbia University
“Amy is a fine composer and all-round musician whose work demonstrates flawless craft and an impressive command of material. Her pieces are engaging and reflect her deep understanding not only of the Western classical tradition but also of American jazz, Brazilian folk music, and African idioms which lend an international flavor and a real depth to her work. She is also a fine pianist who plays with an impassioned commitment; beneath the easy-going surface of her pianism lies the thoughtful concerns of a deeply understanding and talented musician."
Prof. John Hilliard, Chair of Contemporary Music Festival, School of Music, James Madison University
“Amy’s abilities are exceptional. Her music is luminous, full of rhythmic energy and vitality, using technical skill to create lovely, infectious works which serve the grand purpose of sincere musical expression. Quite frankly, I believe her to be one of the greatest composers in America."
Professor Sheila Silver, State University of NY, Stony Brook
“Her music is original and engaging and it reflects her own background-- a highly trained ‘classical’ pianist and composer who is fascinated with popular and ethnic musics of all kinds; this has resulted in a unique and original voice."
Patricia Costa Kim, Ph.D. Seattle Symphony Director of Education and Community Programs
“Amy Rubin’s music creates synergy as she integrates stylistic mediums from different periods and modalities--- classical, jazz, rock, fusion. She respectfully presents the voices of the past in the sounds of the present as we move towards the future. Her compositions contribute to the great musical conversation as a evolving sound of our American artistic identity.”
Steve Knipp, former Director of GenPride, Seattle
Amy Rubin worked on an audiobook project with me that required collaboration with several musicians and authors. She composed several short mood-setting pieces and provided expert artistic direction. Her commitment to providing the highest-caliber musical performances elevated the project from excellent to extraordinary.
Levi Fuller, Jack Straw Recording Studios, Seattle
Amy is not only a brilliant musician and performer and a gifted composer, she's a generous and open-hearted collaborator, organizer, and storyteller. From her earliest Jack Straw recordings with Dawn Clement, to an engaging performance for our Piano Series, to coordinating and sharing her own story as part of GenPride's Unmuted audio book, it's always a joy to experience the works Amy brings through the studios of Jack Straw Cultural Center.
From Steve Peters, director of the Wayward Music Series, Seattle
"Amy Rubin skillfully weaves together elements of jazz, classical, African and Latin music to create a hybrid that is both rigorous and whimsical.”
Amy as Pianist
Egberto Gismonti, composer/pianist/guitarist
“Amy is a brilliant pianist! Her transcriptions and concept of my music bring me a big excitement.”
“As you should know, I am a big fan. I love your playing. I love to follow your music. I have "saudades" (longing, nostalgia) from your playing. Um abraço, Egberto” (email from Egberto to Amy)
Asociacion Dominicana de Academicos Fulbright
“Your piano concert, “Music from Jazz Sources” touched every one who had the opportunity to hear your brilliant interpretations of the American composer George Gershwin and the Brazilian Egberto Gismonti. Your own compositions reflected your inner strength, pervasive feelings and your love of beauty and human kind. We hope you many continue to spread world understanding through the international language of music."
Student Testimonials
Kevin Sun
"Amy's teaching style is marked by her unparalleled patience, extensive experience, and profound knowledge of music composition. She has a remarkable ability to adapt her teaching approach to cater to the individual needs of each student, ensuring a personalized and effective learning experience. What sets Amy apart is her diverse expertise in various musical genres, including classical, jazz, Latin, and improvisational styles.
One of Amy's most inspiring qualities is her encouragement for students to experiment, make mistakes, and grow at their own pace. Her unwavering support has created a nurturing environment where I felt free to explore my musical instincts and push the boundaries of my creativity.
Her passion, expertise, and personalized approach make her an invaluable mentor, and I am grateful to have had the privilege of learning from such a talented and dedicated teacher."
Luca Millard-Kish
Amy was more than a teacher to me. She used her deep knowledge and passion for all different musical worlds to guide me towards opportunities that changed the course of my creative path. Time and again, she went above and beyond to make my creative dreams feel possible, and I'm so grateful.
Evan Rossi
Amy not only understood how to develop my evident technical needs, but also - and just as importantly – was always able to intuit the appropriate tool to introduce to my compositional arsenal at just the right moment. I found this gift of enormous musical empathy to be invaluable.