You Got Your Wish

Resident in New Zealand since 1974, he has composed on commission for the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, the Royal N.Z Ballet, Auckland Philharmonia, the Wellington Symphonia, and the New Zealand String Quartet (touring schools with them in 1994). Jonathan has led his own New Music groups,most notably the Besser Ensemble (1987-1997). He is also the founding member of Free Radicals (electronic music) and Triphonics, touring China with Triphonics in March 1996.

On 'You Got Your Wish', Jonathan has created acoustic and electronic music in collaboration with leading writers, choreographers, musicians, visual artists and filmmakers. Those include Gaylene Preston, Mary Jane O'Reilly, Warwick Broadhead, Keri Hulme, Ross Harris, Michael Parmenter, Don McGlashan, Billy Apple and the Australian author Roger McDonald. He's composed original music for many film, radio, stage and TV productions.

The group Bravura features the following musicians:

• Miranda Adams -Violin
• Tatiana Lanchtctikova -Accordion
• Nigel Gavin -Guitar
• Peter Scott -Electric Bass
• Jonathan Besser -Piano

Plus special guests:
• Don McGlashan -Percussion
• Jackie Clark -Singer

"As a child one of the earliest musical memories is of my parents dancing to Latin music, with its jagged lines, solos, and rhythmic piano. Life began down the hall from my grandparents in Washington Heights, Manhattan until I was six, when we moved to New Jersey.

1950 's New York City glowed on the horizon from my suburban window. The revolving light beam from the Empire State Building flashed a constant rhythm in the night sky. Six other musicians with diverse backgrounds perform on this CD; three New Zealanders, another New Yorker, a Londoner and a Russian.

How we all arrived at this musical point is a very NZ story. These performances are a celebration of life ...inspired improvisations crisscross over my composed scores.

The Tangos:
I began to compose the Tango series in 1999.Auckland was a new city for me, tidal and humid. I wanted to create a rhythmic and passionate sound that came from both my Jewish musical traditions and my life in New Zealand. Lee's Tango is a gift to my extraodinary mother, who at 81, still dances in New Jersey.

Other Pieces:
'A Man Digs a Hole' (lyrics by Warwick Broadhead) was first performed in Broadhead's 1997 Wellington show called 'The life and times of Constance Flux Classical Challenge' was commissioned for choreographer Mary Jane O 'Reilly 's Crater Dance in 1997. 'Descending Minors 2' (2001) is a quirky experimental improvised piece using all 12 keys and shifting minor chords. The Rumi songs ('You Got Your Wish' and 'A Bird Without Wings' were both composed after September 11th as a response to those events.Rumi is a 13th century Sufi poet who was born in Afghanistan." -JONATHAN BESSER