Frank J. Oteri
Photo by Jeffrey Herman
MACHUNAS, his performance oratorio created with visual artist Lucio Pozzi and inspired by the life of Fluxus-founder George Maciunas, received its world premiere in Vilnius, Lithuania as part of the Kristoforo Festival in 2005. His quartertone saxophone quartet, Fair and Balanced?, has been recorded by the PRISM Quartet and his 36-tone rock band suite, Imagined Overtures, is the title track of the latest recording by the Los Angeles Electric 8.
Among his other compositions are: circles mostly in wood (for wind quintet in quartertones), the nurturing river (a cycle of 14 sonnets by James R. Murphy for wide ranged male voice and piano), The Return of the Rivers (a Brautigan cycle for solo voice, piano and synthesizer); Two Transfers (a Brautigan cycle for tenor and string quartet); Pity The Morning Light That Refuses to Wait for Dawn (a Brautigan requiem for soloists, chorus and chamber orchestra); In Watermelon Sugar (a Richard Brautigan opera in 31-tone equal temperament); if by yes (an e.e. cummings cycle for tenor and harpsichord), Take Me (a piano sonata); Brinson's Race (a three movement work for trumpet and string quartet which was recently performed by the Locrian Chamber Players); Spurl for solo saxophone in just intonation, Walking Naked (a Yeats cycle for baritone, alto recorder, mandola, eight cellos and double-bass); The Impatient Explorer (a Kenneth Patchen cycle for countertenor, theremin, clarinet, kalimba, banjo and trombone); depending on what the meaning of is is (comprising is 5, is 7, and is 11, all for solo harpsichord); as long as forever is (a Dylan Thomas cycle for male and female voices, two alto recorders, krumhorn, viola da gamba, and hand bells); and The Other Side of the Window (a Margaret Atwood cycle for female voice, two flutes, toy piano, guitar and cello) which has been performed at La Mama La Galleria in New York City, at Bennington College in Vermont, and as part of a week-long composer residency at the Cornish School in Seattle. His duet for two harpsichords, six of one, half a dozen of another, has been performed by Rebecca Pechefsky with Robert Heath and Elaine Funaro for the Miami Bach Society, the Boston Early Music Festival, and in the historic 18th century Morris-Jumel Mansion in Upper Manhattan; and Manipulacao (for solo guitar), which was premiered by David Starobin, was published in the Summer 2004 issue of Guitar Review magazine. Guy Livingston has performed his Last Minute Tango all over the world and has also recorded it on his DVD One Minute More.
Other musicians who have performed Oteri's music include vocalists Phillip Cheah, Harlan DeBell, Rob Frankenberry, Gilda Lyons, and Cybele Paschke; keyboardists Sarah Cahill, Trudy Chan, Jenny Lin, and Marvin Rosen; flutist Margaret Lancaster, recorderist Daphna Mor, guitarist Dominic Frasca, viola da gambist Judith Davidoff; the Roebling and Magellan string quartets, Pentasonic Winds and the Sylvan Winds. Oteri also performs himself on the 205-tone per octave tonal plexus with guitarist Jeffrey Herman and bassist Ratzo B. Harris in the improvisatory trio Tonally Perplexed, and with Herman, Harris, Mandola Joe Ornstein, Jim and Jonathan Murphy performs in The String Messengers, an old-timey/bluegrass band. With trombonist Chris Washburne, the legendary salsero Henry Fiol and his son Orlando Fiol, he performed his Just Salsa, for microtonal salsa band in 11-limit just intonation, as part of the American Festival of Microtonal Music; that performance has been released on the PITCH label.
In addition to his activities as a composer and performer, Oteri is a frequently published music journalist, a pre-concert lecturer at venues including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Columbia University's Miller Theatre, and Los Angeles's Walt Disney Concert Hall, a program annotator for Tanglewood and Naxos American Classics, and the Composer Advocate of the American Music Center where he founded the web magazine, NewMusicBox. Through his work at the American Music Center, Oteri also works extensively with the International Association of Music Information Centers (IAMIC), chairing its Promotion and Communication Committee.
Described as "passionate and knowledgeable" in the San Francisco Chronicle, Oteri is an outspoken crusader for new music who has given presentations about the importance of contemporary music and the breaking down of musical barriers on television and radio talk shows on four continents as well as in conferences for musical organizations around the world. His articles about music have appeared in BBC Music, Chamber Music, Ear Magazine, Stagebill/Playbill, Symphony, Time Out New York, and the Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians and his comments about music have been quoted in The New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, U.S. News and World Report, Billboard, the Guardian (U.K.) and Jazz Times, among other publications. He has served as the Master of Ceremonies for ASCAP's Thru The Walls showcase in New York City and Meet The Composer's "The Works" in Minneapolis. He also curates the series, 21st Century Schizoid Music, at the Cornelia Street Cafe.
Oteri holds a B.A. and a M.A. (in Ethnomusicology) from Columbia University where he served as Classical Music Director and World Music Director for WKCR-FM. While a student at New York's Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music and Art, Oteri appeared in the MGM motion picture Fame, was commissioned to compose the score for a children's opera by the Metropolitan Opera Guild. (He received a second commission from the Met while at Columbia.) In 2007, Oteri was the recipient of ASCAP's Victor Herbert Award for his distinguished service to American music as composer, journalist, editor, broadcaster, impresario, and advocate. A lifelong New Yorker, Oteri currently resides in the Inwood neighborhood at the northern tip of Manhattan.