Classical Jam, a five-member chamber group, will be in residence at Strathmore for several public performances this week as well as conducting workshops, rehearsals, and concerts with the Maryland Classic Youth Orchestras (MCYO) from May 19-23 in Silver Spring and Baltimore. 

The ensemble includes Jennifer Choi (violin), Cyrus Beroukhim (viola), Wendy Law (cello), Justin Hines (percussion), and Marco Granados (flute).  The diverse program includes a fusion of classical and Eastern music, with an emphasis on the latter.  It will also be participatory - in an attempt to get the audiences involved - collaborative with the MCYO, creative, and original. During this time there will be three world premieres performed.  To check out their offerings and schedule go to: www.classicaljam.org/newsflash_.html. 

To get a better sense of the group's music, I interviewed two of its members via e-mail.

DramaUrge:  For Eastern music, in which key and tempo are the works usually set?  (i.e., how is the music distinguished from the Western tradition?) 

Justin Hines: Eastern music appears in both traditional keys (major and minor modes) and scales (pentatonic, etc.) The range of tempos is wide, though Indian influenced music is famous for blazing fast tempos, virtuosic runs, and unison passages. Some Eastern music is written with quarter tone technique, but we approximate with trills, note bending and other techniques.

Marco Granados: This depends on what area of the East we are referring to.   For example, Middle Eastern music can be more up tempo than Far Eastern music because of the percussion instruments used.

Key and tempo in Eastern music is perceived in a whole different way than Western music. There's a lot of use of microtones, and tuning is not the same as what we are accustomed to in Western music. The scales and the intonation can also depend on the instruments used. Again we find a lot of microtones, for example, in the Indian flute as well as the Turkish Nay.

DU: Can you think of any popular musical works that would seem similar? 

JH: Debussy and Ravel were both fascinated by the Far East and incorporated many of the music's attributes into pieces like "La Mer" and "Daphnis and Chloe."

MG: The music of Ravi Shankar.

DU: For classical music, to what should I be listening to prepare my ear? 

JH: Non-traditional harmonic movement, rhythmic cycles as opposed to measured phrases, odd meters and exotic instrumentation.

MG: The pieces that Ravi Shankar wrote for Jean-Pierre Rampal are a good cross between Western and Eastern Music. 

DU: Is there anything else that a reader would be interested in?

JH: The pieces we are playing incorporate improvisation within the performance based on Eastern and Middle Eastern scales and techniques.

MG: Reading up about the instruments used in Justin's piece, Payton McDonald's "Devil Dance," as well as Randy Woolf's piece. That alone would give the listener a good grounding into the rep.