Joe Maneri

Joseph Gabriel Esther "Joe" Maneri (February 9, 1927 – August 24, 2009), was an American jazz composer, saxophone and clarinet player. Violinist Mat Maneri is his son.

After decades of obscurity, Maneri's distinctive saxophone and clarinet works gained praise and relative fame in the 1990s. To conventional Western sensibilities, some of his passages may sound 'out-of-tune'- but there is a consistent, internal logic to his unorthodox playing; critic Charlie Wilmoth describes Maneri's playing as "a slippery, space-filled alien blues".

Biography

An Italian-American born and raised in Brooklyn, Maneri played clarinet and saxophone in various dance bands and on the Catskill circuit as a teenager, often performing traditional Greek, Turkish, and Syrian music or Klezmer at weddings and other gatherings. He would later incorporate some elements of such music in his own compositions. He studied with Josef Schmid (not the tenor but a conductor and student of Alban Berg) for a decade before being commissioned by conductor Erich Leinsdorf to write a piano concerto for the Boston Symphony Orchestra, which was rehearsed but never performed in concert.

Mat Maneri

Mat Maneri (born October 4, 1969, in Brooklyn, New York) is an American composer, improviser and jazz violin and viola player, specifically derivatives such as the five-string viola, the electric six-string violin, and the baritone violin. He is the son of the saxophonist Joe Maneri.

Maneri has recorded with Cecil Taylor, Matthew Shipp, Joe Morris, Joe Maneri, Gerald Cleaver, Tim Berne, Borah Bergman, Mark Dresser, William Parker, Michael Formanek, John Lockwood, as well as with his own trio, quartet, and quintet. He has also played on various band releases: Club d'Elf, Decoupage, Brewed by Noon, Paul Motian's Electric Bebop Band, Buffalo Collision.

Maneri started studying violin at the age of five and received a full scholarship as the principal violinist at Walnut Hill High School and New England Conservatory of Music, before going on to pursue a professional career in jazz music.

He started releasing records as a leader in 1996 and has performed and recorded worldwide. Maneri has worked with Ed Schuller, John Medeski, Roy Campbell, Paul Motian, Robin Williamson, Drew Gress, Tony Malaby, Ben Monder, Barre Phillips, Joëlle Léandre, Marilyn Crispell, Craig Taborn, Ethan Iverson, David King and many others. Maneri has taught privately and at the New School.

New England

New England is a region which comprises six states of the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by New York to the west, Long Island Sound to the south, the Atlantic Ocean and the Canadian province of New Brunswick to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the north.

In one of the earliest English settlements in North America, Pilgrims from England first settled in New England in 1620, forming the Plymouth Colony. Ten years later, the Puritans settled north of Plymouth Colony in Boston, thus forming Massachusetts Bay Colony. Over the next 126 years, New England fought in four French and Indian Wars, until the British and their Iroquois Confederacy allies defeated the French and their Algonquin allies in North America.

In the late 18th century, the New England Colonies initiated the resistance to the British Parliament's efforts to impose new taxes without the consent of the colonists. The Boston Tea Party was a protest to which Great Britain responded with a series of punitive laws stripping Massachusetts of self-government, which were termed the "Intolerable Acts" by the colonists. The confrontation led to open warfare in 1775, the expulsion of the British authorities from New England in spring 1776, and the Declaration of Independence in July 1776.

Coming Down the Mountain

Coming Down the Mountain is a 2007 British television film which was shown on BBC One, written by Mark Haddon (author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time) and directed by Julie Anne Robinson. The television film was based on a radio play also written by Haddon.

Plot

David and Ben Philips are teenage brothers who live in London. Ben has Down's syndrome. David resents the protective attention his parents lavish on his younger brother and how much they rely on him to look after Ben. The family move from London to Derbyshire so that Ben can attend a special school, meaning David has to leave his friends and girlfriend, Gail, behind. Ben makes friends and finds a girl friend. David has difficulty fitting into his new school, suffering at the hands of bullies. David discovers that Gail has moved on from him only five weeks after their break up, which leads him to self-harm. David decides to kill his brother. He takes Ben hitchhiking without telling his parents, and they camp in Snowdonia. Climbing the mountain, David plans to murder Ben by pushing him off a high ridge. At the top, David changes his mind but following taunting by Ben pushes him in a fit of rage. Ben survives the fall relatively uninjured, but goes to hospital. David kidnaps him from hospital, but Ben stands up to him. He becomes the stronger character and after an evening talking round the camp fire David sees the real Ben for the first time and the brothers become reconciled. They both stand up to their parents' excessive molly coddling who for the first time see Ben as a young adult. Ben explains that he has a girlfriend and wants to work on a farm. David writes to Alice - a girl he met while at Snowdonia - and the two bond.

New England Conservatory of Music

The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) in Boston, Massachusetts, is the oldest independent school of music in the United States, and it is widely recognized as one of the country's most reputable music schools. NEC is especially known for its strings, woodwinds, and brass departments, and its prestigious chamber music program.

The conservatory, located on Huntington Avenue of the Arts near Boston Symphony Hall, is home each year to 750 students pursuing undergraduate and graduate studies along with 1400 more in its Preparatory School as well as the School of Continuing Education. At the collegiate level, NEC offers the Bachelor of Music, Master of Music, and Doctor of Musical Arts, as well as the Undergraduate Diploma, Graduate Diploma, and Artist Diploma. Also offered are five-year joint double-degree programs with Harvard University and Tufts University.

NEC is the only music school in the United States designated as a National Historic Landmark. Its primary concert hall, Jordan Hall, hosts approximately 600 concerts each year.