Search - Mrk Atkins :: Philip Glass: Voices for Organ & Didgeridoo

Voices for Organ & Didgeridoo was commissioned by the City of Melbourne to relaunch the Melbourne Town Organ in 2001. This piece was the first collaboration between Glass and didgeridoo player Mark Atkins. The two would later work together on ORION. This world premiere recording of the piece is performed and produced by Michael Riesman, organist and music director of the Philip Glass Ensemble. Initially Voices began as an idea for combining the music of two established musical traditions - the organ representing the European church and art music and the didgeridoo representing the indigenous music of Australia. I knew Mark Atkins only by his recording and was extremely pleased when he agreed to come to New York to work on integrating his didgeridoo playing with the music I composed. We spent about a week together last January, fitting his music into the composition. I think we were both pleased and even a little surprised at how well the two musics came together. - Philip Glass The second half of the album is dedicated to a new published edition of Glass works arranged for organ by Riesman including pieces from Powaqqatsi, Glassworks, and Naqoyqatsi. Riesman performs on a privately owned instrument in New York State.