Todd Hershberger: Inspiration for improvisation

Megan Morr

Todd Hershberger's Concerto for Free Improvising Alto Saxophonist and Jazz Orchestra had its world premiere this spring as part of the annual Milestones Gala Concert, co-sponsored by the music departments of Duke and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The performance featured the North Carolina Jazz Repertory Orchestra and German soloist and composer Frank Gratkowski, with Hershberger conducting the half-hour piece. The concert was the culmination of a process that had begun years earlier, when Hershberger A.M. '03, Ph.D. '08, casting around for dissertation ideas, heard Gratkowski perform at a small, now-defunct club in Carrboro, North Carolina.

Hershberger had written music for solo instruments and a variety of ensembles, including the Ben Adams Sextet, the Lawrence Chamber Orchestra, and several at the University of Kansas (his undergraduate alma mater). But something about Gratkowski's performance that night captured his imagination.

Concerto for Free Improvising Alto Saxophonist and Jazz Orchestra won the music department's William Klenz Prize in Composition. To listen to the work, visit www.duke.edu/~tbh5.

"I was astounded at the way Frank's approach to improvising combined the traditions of avant-garde jazz and experimental classical music," says Hershberger, a bassoonist who plays locally with the musical collective pulsoptional. "Over the course of the next year, I became involved in learning more about the tradition of free improvisation—which is the tradition that Frank does most of his playing within. On a return trip to the area, Frank invited me to participate in a recording session with him, so when it came time to submit my dissertation proposal, I presented the idea of writing an original score" inspired by these musical traditions in general, and by Gratkowski's work specifically.