Paul Schwartz

March 11, 2008 :: GLIMPSES OF SAPPHO

The cd of my new song cycle, GLIMPSES OF SAPPHO, is now availalble. This is part of my new exploration of theatrical ideas. There is now a plan to stage this piece, with the singer joined by a single dancer. It will be the first part of a two-part event. I am already working on the 2nd half of the evening, more on that later.

Check out the new piece here: GLIMPSES OF SAPPHO

November 4, 2007 :: New CD

I have just finished recording GLIMPSES OF SAPPHO, a new song cycle. I wrote it for the Danish soprano Susanne Elmark, who was the star of the ARIA show in Denmark last year.

This is something of a new direction for me, or rather a return to my roots: a truly classical piece for voice and piano only. It's a little more complex musically than some of my records. And it in a loose way tells a story. There will be more posted about it on the site in the coming weeks.

March 7, 2007 :: AWARDS

SOG III won best cover art, best neo-classical album, and Album of the Year in the New Age Reporter's annual awards. I am quite proud of this, because these awards are voted on by the broadcasters who program the music, which means they hear everything.

January 1, 2007 :: Current projects

Just to let everyone know what's coming up:

I have a huge variety of projects lined up for the next 12 - 18 months. I am finally going to do that solo piano record I've been promising for years now. In fact, what I may do is two solo piano records: one being the HOURS idea that I've been kicking around, and another being a series of Nocturnes: little vignettes like the Nocturne on Earthbound.

In addition, there is a young singer named Stefanie Rose that I have been working with, and who I hope to get signed to a major label soon. Here is a link to her site: Stefanie Rose

And lastly, I have been asked to write an opera for a company in Denmark. Right now I am developing the story with Simon Crow (who wrote some of the lyrics on STATE OF GRACE II). More on that as it comes along.

November 18, 2006 :: Contest

Use the link below to go to the Acid Planet remix and video contest page:

link to contest

September 29, 2006 :: DAY AFTER ARIA IN DENMARK PREMIERE

I am seriously hung over.

However, it was something of a triumph. I am told that in this part of Denmark audiences tend to be very conservative and polite, but the audience last night gave us a stomping standing ovation that went on forever.

I had some production people in from Austria and Germany who came to see if a touring version of this could be made, and they were all completely blown away. So it may happen.

OK now I go back to sleep.

September 27, 2006 :: ARIA LIVE IN DENMARK

So I've been here for a week, and the show is really beginning to come together. I am very excited, and I tend to not say that out loud, so I must be REALLY excited to be writing it here.

I have a feeling that this show will have a life after Denmark. Just a hunch. It's really beautiful and atmospheric and sensual. And hearing this music live for the first time is so strange and wonderful. Live strings, live drums and percussion, two singersl, a choir..... It can be a little overwhelming at times. There's the idea of a European tour in the air, and that would be just fantastic. Let's hope.

July 31, 2006 :: STATE OF GRACE 3, and ARIA live

SOG III is now done, and into the whole manufacturing-marketing process. October 17 is the release date. if you are interested you can go to my myspace page:

click here

and hear the first song.

Also, on September 29, there will be a world premiere performance of ARIA, a music-theater piece developed and created by a team at the MUSIK DRAMATISK TEATER in Hostelbro Denmark. They have taken 17 of my ARIA tracks, and built an evening-length piece around them. There will be a full orchestra, choir, two singers, and a ballet company. I will be going over around two week before the premiere to tie things all together musically. It will open in Hostelbro, and then tour Denmark, with the final performance being in Copenhagen. Dates TBA.

July 4, 2006 :: State of Grace 3

I have finished the recording process for the new State of Grace record, and am about to mix. Very exciting! For many reasons, mostly to do with availability, I did not record at, and am not mixing at Abbey Road this time. My constant engineer, Peter Cobbin, was completely booked until September, and I have to have the record finished by mid July in order to make a Christmas release.

So I recorded the orchestra and choir in New York, and am mixing in Vancouver, with an engineer named Greg Reely (Delirium, Balligomingo, Sarah Maclachlan etc.....).

Lisbeth also came to NYC to record her vocals.

I will post one song sometime in the next month.

June 4, 2006 :: More SOG3

I'm now 7 songs into the new cd.

Last week I was in the studio by 5 AM for four consecutive days. That's something of a record, even for me. I've done a choral setting of the AGNUS DEI text, a version of a very early hymn called CHRISTE REDEMPTOR, and a couple of new songs. Last week Lucia Micarelli and I recorded a new piece for piano and violin. She is playing fantastically.

This is the hard point: I'm starting to get tired. I have to push through for this coming week, and write two new songs, because starting on the 11th, Lisbeth is here to do vocals.

I do the orchestra and the choir on the weekend of the 24th, and then I'm off to mix on July 3rd.

Really really quick.

yikes

April 29, 2006 :: STATE OF GRACE 3

I am hard at work, buried in the studio, making the next STATE OF GRACE record. Among others, it will feature vocals by Lisbeth Scott (of course) and a violin solo by Lucia Micarelli.

The interesting thing about this one is that I am releasing it myself, under the banner of my own new record label. I will update as we go along.......

January 21, 2005 :: New Song Cycle

After sitting on it for 18 months, Lisbeth and I have started writing a collection of songs for just voice and piano. The aim is to record them some time within the next 9 months and then perform them as much as possible starting in the Fall.

We will be performing some of these songs informally as a "work in progress" (as well as songs from STATE 1, STATE 2 and EARTHBOUND) on March 10 at 7 PM at the Nyack Center in Nyack NY. Admission is $10. The concert is a benefit for the Nyack Center. The address is 58 Depew Ave, at the corner of Depew and Broadway in Nyack NY. There is no advance purchase, but you can call to get on a reservation list: 845 358 2600.

November 23, 2004 :: Update

Well everyone, I am obviously not too good at keeping the news going.

Lucia Micarelli's record was recorded in June, and released in late July. I am very pleased with how it came out. She is a real artist: not just some classical babe that they are trying to market. She should have a long and prosperous career.

ARIA 3, as many of you know, was finally released this fall, and is climbing the charts. In addition, Barnes and Noble have packaged all three ARIA cds as a boxed set, and these are also beginning to sell quite well.

On a completely different note, I did my first ever Ironman Triathlon on November 6, in Panama City Beach. I've been competing in Tris for a few years, but only up to the 1/2 Ironman distance. This was the first time at the whole thing. I finished in 12 hours and 52 minutes, which was just barely within the time I wanted to do. I had hoped for low 12s, but anything under 13 was OK with me. It's an amazing experience to go through: physically, psychologically, and even socially in terms of the people racing with you and the crowds around you. The people who line the course probably have no idea of the impact that they have upon the competitors. Every cheer, every encouragement is like an angel lifting your body and your spirit. My thanks go out to all of them.

May 16, 2004 :: Long silence

It's been a really long time since I added anything to this area of the site. I guess that means I've been busy!

I am currently producing a new record for a violinist named Lucia Micarelli. She is the featured instrumentalist on the Josh Groban world tour, and she has been signed to her own record deal by Warners. There are three new pieces by me on the cd, plus a version of the NOCTURNE from Earthbound, which she performs live in the Groban show.

She is the real deal: not some Vanessa Mae or Bond pop fiddle player dressed in revealing lingerie, but rather a Juilliard-educated superb musician, with a sound that just grabs you and won't let you go. I am quite excited about this.

I go to Abbey Road in 2 weeks to finish up, and the cd comes out in July.

For all of you very VERY patient people waiting for ARIA 3.... I am now told September. This seems to be a solid date. Finally all the record company execs did their thing, and got their ducks in a row. We now have a real release date. Closer to the time I will send out a proper email with more details.

That's it for now........

January 19, 2004 :: Live Appearance in Los Angeles

I will be appearing live at Hotelcafe on Sunday February 15 at 9:00 PM. The club is located at 1623 (and a half) N. Cahuenga Blvd, in Hollywood, between Sunset and Hollywood Blvds. Lisbeth will be singing........

For more info call 323.461.2040.

January 17, 2004 :: NYC Gig

The Joe's Pub event went really well, despite the fact that my computer crashed irrevocably, so the whole set was truly live.

Thank you all of you who came!

October 24, 2003 :: CDs and Paypal

I've gotten email to the effect that some people are having problems dealing with the Paypal interface when trying to buy CDs from this site.

Unfortunately I can't do phone orders, but if you don't want to deal with Paypal, you can send checks or money orders to the address below, and your order will be filled. It is $16 per CD, plus $3 shipping ($5 if your address is outside the USA). The shipping charge is for your whole order, it is not charged per individual CD.

The address is:

PAUL SCHWARTZ
PO Box 159
Nyack NY 10960
USA

October 12, 2003 :: State of Grace II

State II was released officially on Oct. 7. However, I am getting some emails and posts on the forum to the effect that people are having trouble finding it in the stores. It can sometimes take a little while for the staff of the record stores to know where everything is, and frequently "release date" means the day that the box of cds arrives at the shop where it remains in the back for a week or two.

If you are having trouble find the record, it is available from this website, the Barnes and Noble website, and Amazon. It should be in all the Barnes and Noble stores that have music, as well as Borders.

By the way, they are telling me that ARIA 3 is due to come out in early Spring...........

July 28, 2003 :: IN LONDON

I am here in London on the 2nd -to-last day of mixing STATE OF GRACE 2, and I very excited about it. This has been perhaps the best 10 days of recording and mixing I've ever had. Everything is sounding great, the artwork that the label has commissioned is beautiful, and the release date is October 10 (I think, but definitely somewhere around there).

Lisbeth really sounds amazing on this one. I got her to come over here to Abbey Road to do some of the vocals live with the orchestra, something I've never been able to do before.

When we set her up in the vocal booth, Peter (the engineer) had two identical mikes set up for her: one right-way-up, and the other upside down. I said to him "what's with the 2 mikes", and pointing at them he replied: "That one's Paul's vocal mike, and the other one is John's".

June 6, 2003 :: Shimoon

I've been getting a few emails asking when the Shimoon cd was coming out.

Well, the bad news is that it appears the answer to that question may be never.

The band has unfortunately become the victim of yet another corporate reshuffling at BMG. Starting in August of last year, virtually all of the executives who were behind them advocating for them within the company, have left. That leaves no one with decision-making power to authorize the spending of the 100s of thousands of pounds it costs to promote a new pop act.

Labels quite frequently do this, as little sense as it seems to make to the public. (They've spent all this money making the record: why just write it off without trying to at least make some money off of it?)

This however does not preclude that the record may surface at another label. But it's very unlikely that it will be this year.

May 28, 2003 :: Work and working

I am now about half way through State of Grace 2. Typical for a big record label, BMG got involved in yet another corporate reshuffling this Spring (the third reshuffling since I got involved with them 3 years ago), and in the midst of the slaughter in the cubicles, neglected to send the paperwork that indicates that I should start writing until May 10. The delivery date never changed though: mid-July. So I was left with only 10 weeks or so to write the whole thing. In the middle of this I got a call from David Foster to write a couple of songs for the new Josh Groban record, and had to fly out to LA for a week to work on that. So it has been a busy May. I like it this way, however, although don't anyone tell the label. Too much time makes me lazy.

Aria 3 should be out for Summer: maybe in July. The last mix was just finished.

March 26, 2003 :: NPR

My commentary ran today on NPR's Morning Edition. It is posted on this site in the PAUL'S NOTES section.

I must say, it was very odd to hear myself introduced as:

".......composer and commentator Paul Schwartz.........."

Enough of this political stuff. I have a record to write.

March 23, 2003 :: Speech

A few days ago I sent an email to a few of my friends and colleagues, urging them to support the Dixie Chicks who are being targetted in a somewhat scary way for having made an anti-Bush comment. I've posted this letter in the PAUL'S NOTES section of this site.

(By the way, it's not that I agree with the remark, it's that I don't think they should be punished for having opinions.)

A few days ago, someone at NPR who saw the letter invited me to do a commentary about freedom of expression in a time of war for Morning Edition. It should air next week, possibly Wednesday. I'll post the date and time as soon as I know.

March 21, 2003 :: STATE OF GRACE

It's hard to believe, but I'm already getting going with the new STATE cd. The first song is sketched out: just voice and piano, Lisbeth and me. I've also sketched the outlines of two of the new choral-vocal pieces that I'm doing.

I've never done this before: gone straight from writing one project to the next. It feels really good to have momentum.

I don't have a cd project lined up to follow STATE 2, but I'm thinking of taking some time away at a retreat, and composing a series of solo piano pieces. Interestingly, I seem to get a great deal of email about the little piano pieces I seed into my records, and I've been toying with the idea of doing an all piano cd for a while. Maybe even build a concert around it.

I have a very conflicted relationship with the piano: I was one of those kids that was forced to practise 2 to 3 hours a day by a very ambitious mother. As a result, for much of my adult life I have hated the instrument. I fear it: I fear the possibility of failure. Sometimes when I'm recording, I warm up and feel fine, and then the red light goes on and I am overtaken by doubt to the extent that my fingers stop working properly. Usually I don't get anything useful until the fourth or fifth take. So I'm viewing this solo piano thing as a chance to exorcize some of these demons......

March 9, 2003 :: ARIA 3

Aria 3 is basically done. Just a few tiny tweaks left to do.

Hopefully, it will be out by the Summer.

December 5, 2002 :: Update

I realized that nothing's been added to the "news" section of the site in quite some time, which I suppose is an indication that I've been busy.

ARIA 3 is about 1/3 done: three songs recorded, 2 more in partial states of completion. The target date of late February to finish the orchestra recording and then mixing is still on. Rebecca Luker will be singing.

It now seems that STATE OF GRACE 2 is a definite go-ahead, and I will have to start immediately upon finishing ARIA. They want it by July.

The presentation of SUMMER in Cardiff went extremely well, and it appears that as a result of being seen there, we will get a production of it in the US during the 2003 -2004 theatrical season. More info to follow as that develops.

Both ARIA 1 and 2 are being re-issued, and will be available to buy through this website. If you are interested make sure that you are registered with the site, and you will be emailed when everything's set up.

Happy holidays to all. It's about to snow buckets where I live: 6 - 8 inches today, so I am feeling appropriately wintry...........

October 21, 2002 :: More Activity on Paul's Musical SUMMER

This evening Paul is presenting two songs from SUMMER at a private showcase organized by the Gersh Agency in New York, who represent the show. Then on Sunday the 27th he is off to Wales for rehearsals and subseqently performances in Cardiff the weekend of Nov. 1.

August 26, 2002 :: SUMMER, Paul's Music Theatre piece

Another side of Paul's work is going to get a very prestigious presentation this coming November.

Paul, collaborating with Erik Haagensen, has written a new musical based on the novel SUMMER by Edith Wharton. As part of the Cardiff Festival of Musical Theatre, SUMMER will open the series of Showcases of new musicals chosen after a highly selective international search. For more information, click here

SUMMER is a very modern story, given the period in which it was written, and is largely regarded as the first feminist novel. In comparing it to her most famous novel, ETHAN FROME, Wharton called SUMMER: "My hot Ethan....." To buy the novel click here

August 9, 2002 :: NAV Chart

EARTHBOUND stays strong on the NAV chart, coming in at #6 for July.

August 2, 2002 :: Next Project

Paul has begun work on Aria 3, due for release early in 2003.

July 24, 2002 :: Santana

It can now be revealed that in the Spring, while working on the Shimoon record, Paul co-wrote and associate-produced a track with Carlos Santana and his long-time producer KC Porter. Scheduled for Carlos' next release, the piece entitled Curacion: Sunshine On Water is based on Paul's song Miserere from his CD State of Grace. Carlos Santana heard Miserere and was sufficiently taken with it to re-arrange it with KC. They then sent it to Paul who added some new synth parts, an orchestra, and a full choir. The result is rich elegaic piece with Carlos' unique guitar sound in the foreground.

July 23, 2002 :: Remix

The British DJ team Indochina have created a remix of DARK OF THE NIGHT from Earthbound. You can download an mp3 of it here :

CLICK HERE FOR REMIX

July 14, 2002 :: Nav Chart

In it's 2nd month, Earthbound has climbed to #3 on the NAV radio chart.

June 21, 2002 :: Billboard Chart

Earthbound enters the Billboard New Age chart at #19

June 15, 2002 :: Special Recordings

Paul has contributed a track to a special CD for Windham Hill entitled A Windham Hill Christmas. He took the traditional carol "Lo, How A Rose E'er Blooming", and created a new contemplative piano solo out of it. Other artists on this compilation include Jim Brickman, Liz Story and Snuffy Walden. The release date is Oct. 25.

Paul also produced a track for Windham Hill Adagio, a compilation due to be released in Feb. 2003. He took the famous D minor Sarabande by Handel, and crafted a snaky dancy track out of it. Other artists on this recording include David Benoit, Edgar Meyer/Mike Marshall and Paul McCandless.

June 4, 2002 :: NAV Chart

Earthbound enters the NAV radio chart at #7

June 4, 2002 :: More SOG3

I'm now 7 songs into the new cd.

Last week I was in the studio by 5 AM for four consecutive days. That's something of a record, even for me. I've done a choral setting of the AGNUS DEI test, a version of a very early hymn called CHRISTE REDEMPTOR, and a couple of new songs. Last week Lucia Micarelli and I recorded a new piece for piano and violin. She is playing fantastically.

This is the hard point: I'm starting to get tired. I have to push through for this coming week, and write two new songs, because starting on the 11th, Lisbeth is here to do vocals.

I do the orchestra and the choir on the weekend of the 24th, and then I'm off to mix on July 3rd.

Really really quick.

yikes

June 4, 2002 :: More SOG3

May 22, 2002 :: Shimoon

Paul has just finished producing and arranging the debut recording of Shimoon, a Dublin based duo. They appeared as guest vocalists on Earthbound, on the song Nevermore. Paul wrote 6 new songs for them. A spring 2003 release is planned.