Citywater: The Origin Story
Before the six of us came together, it wasn’t unusual to find at least five of us at one time in the practice rooms of Sacramento State University, focusing on the individual stressors of our instruments, and then running outside to cry to each other about it. I’ve never been one to remember exact times or dates, but I remember certain events very clearly. I remember getting a call from Ben Prima (percussionist) who wasn’t too far away from us, also practicing, and he wanted to come upstairs and ask if I’d take a look at a piece he was thinking about programming on his recital. Now, I’m a violinist, and we all know that entails at least six hours a day more than likely looking at fast running sixteenth notes you know you’ll never be able to learn in one day, so I welcomed the break.
We collapsed into some chairs and he pulled out these huge pieces of sheet music that must’ve been at least 11,000 X 17,000, and he started talking to me about composer Steven Mackey, who wasn’t actually a name I’d heard of yet. Not uncommon, because there’s a lot of repertoire and composers I have yet to come across. But as Ben was talking about him and telling me about the music he’d come across that this composer had written, there was a brightness about him. An excitement. It’s the kind of excitement that comes across when you hear something new and realize, thank God, that there’s more of it out there. I remained skeptical. Not of the music, but of these large sheets of paper that were waiting to craft my doom. Nevertheless, I signed myself on, and he started talking about other people who might be interested.
I had worked with Tim Stanley (cellist) and Cathie Apple (flutist) a few times before, and happened to know that they both had a lot of new music experience under their belt, and more than that, they felt a real passion about it. Somehow, Ben knew that too, and was off to stamp ‘em down. Jennifer Reason (pianist) and myself had worked together on my very first piece of new American chamber music during my second year of school, and we had a blast which formed a pretty long lasting friendship and working relationship. Another friend of ours, who was currently auditioning for conservatories, was the talk of the town when it came to clarinet. We had only known each other through casual conversation and never had the chance to work together. If ever there were a time, and she had the space open, it seemed like the perfect place to start. And before we knew it, we had a little chamber ensemble that was going to meet about twice a week and struggle with this new language none of us had ever come across before.
Ben’s recital came and went successfully, with a couple of glitches here and there, but that’s life’s way of teaching you some humility. Backstage as we were all packing up, I heard Tim and Cathie huddled in the corner together, whispering about something devious. Whenever I catch the two of them with their heads together, talking quietly about something music related, I want to stock up on disaster supplies because I know I’m going to have to shut myself in for a long season of rehearsal, stress, tears, and fear. After the hugs and patting each other on the back, somehow, we slipped into Hey, this could be an actual thing. We have a pretty good group here.
I don’t even remember what happened after that.
A year or so later, we were invited to play at the Festival of New American Music with such notable musicians as Nancy Zeltsman and Pauline Oliveros, and after that, a couple of Emerging Artists series’ who were starting to catch the Citywater buzz (a group name as part of a water theme that Tim and Cathie had floating around in their heads for a long time). Then, Steven Mackey himself got in touch with us about his coming out to California for a semester-long residency at Cal Berkley, and the possibility of performing some of his music in a special concert presented by UC Berkeley’s Fine Arts Department, which thankfully turned into us performing an entire concert of his music. It’s funny to think about where things come from and how they start.
After some personnel changes, with Milun Doskovich (clarinet) joining us in 2007 after our friend moved onto conservatory, we gained a new ally in him, and started walking on a path that none of us are really sure where it’ll end up. That’s a scary thought, but the thing that calms us down is this: Along the way, we enjoy each other’s company and what the other person has to say. You can’t go wrong with that for as long as you can get away with it. More importantly, it’ll be interesting to see just what happens next.
-Chase Spruill, violinist
Citywater New Music Ensemble