paulbailey.us

Really??

just got this email from a pr flack at sony masterworks. i had to read it a few times before i decided it wasn’t fake.

yikes

“Heard around the world moments before Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th President of The United States of America, Air and Simple Gifts is now available for sale exclusively through iTunes. The piece, written by American composer John Williams for the Inaugauration (sic) of Barack Obama, premiered in Washington, DC, and on simultaneous broadcasts around the world in a performance by Yo-Yo Ma, Anthony McGill, Itzhak Perlman and Gabriela Montero.

Since January 20th, we have received a multitude of requests to purchase the piece performed by the quartet at President Obama’s inauguration. We are now pleased to make available “Air and Simple Gifts” exclusively on iTunes.

Below please find the press release and link to listen to Air and Simple Gifts for your review. Please let me know if you would like to set up contests or features on this release.

If you decide to cover this, I would greatly appreciate you forwarding me a link to the coverage.”

All the best,
Dana

MUSIC FROM PRESIDENTIAL INAUGURATION

RELEASED ON SONY MASTERWORKS

YO-YO MA JOINED BY ITZHAK PERLMAN, GABRIELA MONTERO & ANTHONY MCGILL IN NEW WORK – AIR AND SIMPLE GIFTS – WRITTEN ESPECIALLY FOR BARACK OBAMA’S INAUGURATION BY JOHN WILLIAMS

AIR AND SIMPLE GIFTS AVAILABLE FEBRUARY 11, 2009

Air and Simple Gifts, the classical work composed to celebrate the historic inauguration of Barack Obama as President of the United States, has been released on Sony Masterworks via iTunes. The work, written especially for the talents of cellist Yo-Yo Ma, violinist Itzhak Perlman, pianist Gabriela Montero and clarinetist Anthony McGill by the American composer John Williams, was first heard at noon on January 20, 2009, by millions of people around the globe, as Barack Obama officially became President. The recording of Air and Simple Gifts is available to the public on February 11, 2009.

Air and Simple Gifts is the first classical quartet to be played at a Presidential inauguration. Williams based the piece on the familiar nineteenth-century Shaker hymn “Simple Gifts” by Joseph Brackett. The source piece is famous for its appearance in Aaron Copland’s score for the ballet Appalachian Spring. Williams chose the selection knowing that Copland is one of President Obama’s favorite classical composers.

“We are thrilled to be able to make this historic piece of music available to the public as a special memento of the inauguration,” commented Alex Miller, General Manager of Sony Masterworks and the Victor label. “The public’s response to Air and Simple Gifts was as immediate and dramatic as the occasion itself, and captured the optimism and hope of the nation at a pivotal moment in America’s history.”

“I was deeply honored to be invited to participate in the Presidential inauguration with Itzhak Perlman, Anthony McGill and Gabriela Montero,” Yo-Yo Ma stated. “I am thrilled that this composition by John Williams, which so beautifully expressed the magnitude and emotion of the occasion, can continue to inspire people everywhere.”

Yo-Yo Ma has been enjoying one of the most successful recordings of his illustrious 30-year career with Sony Masterworks. The release of Songs of Joy & Peace debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Classical Overall and Classical Crossover Charts and reached #20 on Billboard’s Top 200 chart, Ma’s highest position ever. It also had the unusual distinction of selling more recordings in one week than any other in the history of his recording career.

Yo-Yo Ma is a world-renowned cellist, educator, and ambassador for the arts. His awards include the Avery Fisher Prize, the Glenn Gould Prize, and the National Medal of the Arts. Appointed a CultureConnect Ambassador by the United States Department of State in 2002, Yo-Yo Ma has met with, trained, and mentored thousands of students worldwide. In 2006, Secretary General Kofi Annan named him a U.N. Messenger of Peace, and in 2007 Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon extended his appointment.

Sony Classical, RCA Red Seal and deutsche harmonia mundi are labels of SONY MASTERWORKS. For e-mail updates and information regarding Sony Classical, RCA Red Seal and deutsche harmonia mundi artists, promotions, tours and repertoire, please visit Sony Masterworks

updated 1:10pm

sony music’s dana saltzman replied to my email this morning.

Thank you Paul. It is always good for us to stay in touch with what people are saying. We will always have people who love and people who hate the music that we release. I am glad that people have forums to speak their mind, but I do have to say, we have had such a large demand for this track that Yo-Yo’s site crashed from a high volume of traffic.

All the best,

Dana

Dana Saltzman

Sony Music Commercial Music Group

Manager, Digital Marketing

550 Madison Avenue # 1671

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This entry was posted on Thursday, February 12th, 2009 at 10:17 am. It is filed under Uncategorized and tagged with history, meme, press release, recording, review, sony. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.