Joseph Franklin[1] is a composer, an artist-administrator, and writer. Known as the co-founder and long-time executive-artistic director of the Relache Ensemble, Inc.,[2] he has produced concerts and concert series’, international tours, residency programs, recordings, radio programs, and media events. He has composed musical works for mixed instrumental/vocal ensembles, film, video, theater, and dance and is the author of Settling Scores: A Life in the Margins of American Music,[3] published by Sunstone Press. Joseph is the founder and president of Metadesign Associates, a consulting and project development entity.
Career
Born and raised in Philadelphia, Joseph Franklin’s [4] early experiences were informed by musical studies and athletic activities, both of which have been and continue to be essential aspects of his life and lifestyle. After service with the U.S. Navy, he returned to Philadelphia to study music composition and performance (percussion) at the Philadelphia Musical Academy (now the University of the Arts) and Temple University. Early studies of Jazz and musical collaboration were essential components in his artistic development and led to a variety of performance experiences throughout the Philadelphia area with small instrumental ensembles. While pursuing academic degrees he was exposed to twentieth-century music and the avant-garde, forever changing his musical outlook. In 1976 Joseph began organizing performances of “new” musical works by small ensembles and in 1977 he co-founded a performing ensemble dedicated exclusively to new performative and inter-media works, eventually becoming The Relache Ensemble[5]) which evolved into Relache, Inc. From its inception until 1999 Joseph served as the executive artistic director of Relache. Subsequent, moves to Montana, Louisiana, and New Mexico [6] offered a variety of opportunities to consult, teach, write and serve as executive director of Chamber Music Albuquerque.
Concert productions – Relache series
Relache at The Mandell Theater, Drexel University (Philadelphia);[7]
Relache at the Wilma Theater for “Bertolt Brecht and Song” (Philadelphia);
Festivals
Relache in concert at Bang on a Can Festival (New York, NY);
Relache in concert at the Interlink Festival, Tokyo, Japan – in conjunction with the American Embassy, Tokyo;
Relache at the Latin American New Music Festival, Caracas, Venezuela;
Relache in concert at the Prague Spring Festival, Prague;
Relache in concert at the Vienna Festvolken;
Relache in concert at New Music America, Hartford, Connecticut;
Relache in concert at New Music America, Philadelphia;
Relache in concert at New Music America, Miami, Florida;
Relache in concert at the Composer to Composer Festival, Telluride, Colorado;
New Music America 1987 Festival– Philadelphia [13][14] – in collaboration with arts organizations and the City of Philadelphia, produced the seventh festival of the eleven produced in the U.S.
Concert tours
Managed tours for the Relache Ensemble throughout the United States, Europe, Japan and South America;
Atlantic Center for the Arts – Created and Co-Directed a six-year program named “Music in Motion,” [15][16] a project to create new musical works in the context of audience development in five U.S. cities, with five chamber music ensembles in residence at twelve arts centers and music schools and 32 participating composers;[17]
Fundraising
Extensive fundraising experiences having raised operational and artistic funds from major national and local (Pennsylvania) foundations and corporations, among them The Pew Charitable Trusts, The Rockefeller Foundation, Wallace Funds, The William Penn Foundation, The National Endowment for the Arts, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts;[18]
Tide Warnings an electronic score commissioned by the Tina Croll Dance Company and Dance Theater Workshop;
Flamedance for voice, flute, and piano;
The Silent Zero for voice & 11 instruments;
Synthasia for clarinet, oboe & tape;
Soliloquy from the Insanity of Mary Girard for soprano & 5 instruments;
Monads -with text by Maralyn Lois Polak for voice, English horn, vibraphone, and electronics;
Prelude to the Insanity of Mary Girard for soprano & 11 instruments;
Prelude to a Vision, a tape piece for voice, flute, clarinet and electronics that served as a prelude to the play, The Insanity of Mary Girard by Lanie Robertson. Commissioned by the Trans– Atlantic Theatre Company for its performances at the Edinburgh Festival other European performances;
Noumenal Suite for flt, oboe, vlc.;
Double–Wing 50, On Two for voice, flute/alto flute, oboe/Eng. horn, bass;
Double–Wing 50, On Three for voice. accordion, flute;
Everything Going Out for flutes oboe/Eng. horn, bass;
Everything Going Out, Again for voice, alto & baritone saxophones, piano;
Everything Going Out, Again for voice, alto & baritone saxophones, piano;
^(2) Ruth Dreier: “Relache – New Music to Philadelphian Ears.” Chamber Music Magazine – The Official Publication of Chamber Music America. Fall 1987.
^(3) (3) From Settling Scores: A Life in the Margins of American Music, p. 9:
“…Among them is the late Grant Beglarian. At lunch in a very exclusive New York City restaurant, Grant, a respected educator, arts administrator, and composer, confided in me that, at 70 years of age, he had become an ‘echo man.’ In response to my question of what or who is the echo man, Grant described the three stages of a man’s life. “The first stage,” he explained is ‘the initiate, when one learns his craft.’ ‘The second stage,’ he continued, ‘is the warrior stage where one, essentially, kicks ass.’ ‘The final stage,’ he concluded, ‘is the echo man, where one serves as an echo for everyone’s questions.’ Somewhat remorsefully he concluded, ‘I guess I have become an echo man.’ He then looked me dead in the eye and said with a knowing smile, ‘Don’t worry, Joseph, you’re still a warrior.’”
^(4) Jody Kolodzey: “The Intensity of the Contrarian Artist.” Seven Arts – The Philadelphia Cultural Review. January 1994
^(5) Peter Burwasser: “At Relache Experimental Music with Real Substance.” The Welcomat. June 9, 1982.
^(6) Daniel Webster: “Avant-garde Dreamer Decides to Head West – Joseph Franklin Says He Leaves with A Sense of Accomplishment.” The Philadelphia Inquirer. December 2, 1997.
