Chamber Music from Hell Press Release - July 2020
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
New Music Collection by Chris Opperman and Kurt Morgan
Chamber Music from Hell
Contact: Chris Opperman
Email: oppermanmusicservices@gmail.com
Chamber Music from Hell album cover by Mark Buckingham (Fables, The Sandman, Miracleman)
Acclaimed composer, virtuoso pianist, orchestrator, and futurist Chris Opperman joins forces with masterful bassist, composer, and producer Kurt Morgan as they follow in their hero Frank Zappa's footsteps to bring you something both beautiful and strange -- Chamber Music from Hell!
Chamber Music from Hell, a contemporary classical album about a posthuman civilization and the music that follows, is an artistic experience for our socially-distanced time. The intrepid duo of Opperman and Morgan create a body of work that begins with “Where is Everybody?” This is marked by the opening of Opperman’s storyline in the accompanying 32-page booklet adorned with paintings by award-winning artist Mark Buckingham (DC Comics): “In the year 2XXX, The Lonely AI transfers their synthetic consciousness to different telescopes around the world in their never-ending search for intelligent extraterrestrial life.” In this epic tale, The Lonely AI discovers that analog civilizations are likely doomed to destruction before interstellar travel is possible. However, the AI puts these thoughts out of their head and continues to sing their song to the cosmos in the hopes that something interesting will answer.
Delivered in two Acts totaling 35 pieces, Chamber Music from Hell is a futuristic collection deftly and digitally realized, rendered, and produced by Kurt Morgan. Opperman and Morgan do enlist a few “analog people,” including guitarist Mike Keneally (Frank Zappa, Steve Vai and Joe Satriani), drummer Ryan Brown (Dweezil Zappa, The Young Royals, and Black Belt Karate), cellist Brianna Tagliaferro, trombonist/Tromotizer Jason Camelio, and the New Jersey Percussion Ensemble.
“Music has always been a powerfully expressive tool for abstract, narrative storytelling. As I’ve become more experienced as a composer, I’ve given an increasing amount of thought to this aspect. Closely watching classic films directed by legends like Akira Kurosawa and David Lynch has changed the way I pace my music and has inspired me to look at my music more cinematically,” says Opperman. “Producer Kurt Morgan was really encouraging in this regard. I think the two of us were very successful in creating a cohesive, evocative sound-world of a possible posthuman civilization.”
For his part, Morgan was fully on board with the project when he learned about the concept behind Chamber Music from Hell, he says. As well, the admiration and regard it indirectly gives to the well-known and accomplished musician and composer Frank Zappa also was appealing to him.
“As the title suggested to me, the record has strong links to the work of Frank Zappa and specifically, to his Grammy-winning record from 1985, Jazz from Hell. On that record, Zappa showcased his imagination through the possibilities of the then revolutionary synthesizer and music production tool, the Synclavier,” Morgan explains. “I view Chamber Music from Hell not only as an opportunity for Chris to have his musical ideas realized as accurately as possible, but as a collection of models that could be learned by musicians and performed by human ensembles in the future. I hope the ideas presented in Chamber Music from Hell will resonate with musicians as they have resonated with me and, if we are lucky, motivate them to perform these beautiful compositions live to a captive human audience one day.”
Chris Opperman (left), Kurt Morgan (right)
Chamber Music From Hell is available online at https://linktr.ee/chrisopperman.
There you will find two options for purchase: A physical CD with 32-page booklet or our highly recommended digital deluxe package with 24-bit files and 32-page digital booklet.
An award-winning composer, Chris Opperman has been carving his own niche in today's modern music scene for the past 20 years. His music is extremely varied in terms of genre and style and has become increasingly ambitious in scope. In addition to Chamber Music from Hell, Opperman has five other solo albums, including 2001’s Klavierstücke and 2010’s The Lionheart. In addition to his own music, Opperman has performed, recorded, and/or orchestrated music for such industry luminaries as Grammy-award winning guitarist Steve Vai, virtuoso musician Mike Keneally, Indian classical music masters L. Shankar (a.k.a. Shenkar) and Zakir Hussein, and former Duran Duran/Missing Persons guitarist Warren Cuccurullo, among many others. Opperman played piano on two of Steve Vai's Grammy-nominated compositions, "Lotus Feet" from Real Illusions: Reflections and "The Attitude Song" from Sound Theories, Vols. I and II, both with the Metropole Orkest and both nominated for Best Rock Instrumental Performance. Opperman's orchestration of Vai’s signature piece "For the Love of God," also from those sessions, has over 40 million views on YouTube.
https://www.chrisopperman.net/bio
Kurt Morgan is a bassist, composer, and producer who has toured with artists such as Dweezil Zappa, Tom Morello, Hilary Duff, Becca Stevens, Clark Terry, and more. For six years, he worked for Gail Zappa and the Zappa Family Trust as the official librarian for the orchestral music of Frank Zappa and, in 2013, he prepared a 311-page musical score of Zappa’s 200 Motels that was performed by the LA Philharmonic and conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen. The performance was nominated for a Grammy in 2014. As an educator and composer, Kurt has enjoyed speaking about creativity at Berklee College of Music and recently has had some of his original compositions performed by music students at Trinity Laban Conservatoire in London.
Kurt currently composes, teaches and performs in Los Angeles, CA.
https://www.patreon.com/kurtmorgan
https://www.zappa.com/news/frank-zappas-200-motels-suites-nominated-grammy-award-best-classical-compendium