DARRYL THOMAS KUBIAN, VIOLIN, THEREMIN
Darryl Kubian is a member of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra’s first violin section under the direction of Maestro Neme Järvi and former principal second violin of the Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra with Lukas Foss, Dennis Russell Davies and most recently Robert Spano. The 2007-2008 season marked the premiere of Mr. Kubian’s concerto for electric/acoustic violin and orchestra ‘3-2-1′, which was commissioned by the NJSO and dedicated to Maestro Järvi and concertmaster/soloist Eric Wyrick.
Based on the work of renowned physicists, Lawrence M. Krauss and Glenn D. Starkman, ‘3-2-1′ traces the fate of the universe as it expands out from the big bang toward an unfathomable infinity. The solo violin conjoins the elemental with a human presence. Following the critically successful premiere of the concerto, Scientific American featured ‘3-2-1′ in its 60-Second Science blog, describing it as a ‘beautiful example of what happens when artists are inspired by scientific discoveries’.
In 2006, Darryl composed a special 70th birthday piece for Maestro Järvi entitled ‘The Maestro Waltz’ which was the featured encore for the final two weeks of the season as well as appearing in Maestro Järvi’s biography, ‘The Maestro’s Touch’. Mr. Kubian is presently working on a commission from The New Sussex Symphony for an overture entitled ‘Occam’s Razor’ celebrating the 50th anniversary of the ensemble. This new work will be premiered in May of 2009.
Darryl has been a featured soloist with the NJSO on theremin performing the ‘Cantelina’ from ‘Bachianas Brasilerias No. 5′, playing jazz violin with trumpeter Randy Brecker in a program of music by Charlie Parker entitled ‘Byrd Lives!’ as well as arranging and performing Duke Ellington’s ‘Sacred Songs’ in cooperation with the NJSO and the Jazz Studies Program at Rutgers University. Mr. Kubian’s improvisational skills have also been highlighted with artists such as Nigel Kennedy, Al Jarreau, Bobby Short and Rene Fleming. In addition to his many solo and chamber ensemble performances using modern, electric and period instruments, Mr. Kubian has performed in many Broadway musicals including ‘The King & I’, ‘Show Boat’, ‘Crazy for You’ and ‘Tommy’. He has also recorded with such noted artists as Trevor Pinnock, Malcolm Bilson, Meredith Monk, Bruno Weil, Zdenek Macal and Phillip Glass.
Mr. Kubian’s music production company Xtreme Medium is involved with many diverse projects which includes the completion of the score for “Living With Predators” for the Wildlife Conservation Society based at The Bronx Zoo. This DVD release, narrated by Glenn Close, is being used as a lobbying tool to save The Endangered Species Act, which is currently under threat. A lighter hearted project was the scoring of all of the Bronx Zoo’s video podcasts for use on their website and on-site kiosks. Other highlights include composing the music for the Discovery Channel’s ‘Jaws & Claws’ series, ‘U.S.S. Indianapolis’ and the docudrama ‘Raging Rapids’ which also ran theatrically at SONY’s High-Definition Television Theatre. Darryl’s scoring for National Geographic includes ‘Phobias’, ‘Killer Ice’, ‘Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union’ and ‘Really Wild Animals’ which starred Dudley Moore. Past projects include music for Pangolin Pictures, NHK, CBS, The Learning Channel, The Travel Channel, Discovery Health and the Disney Channel.
In 2004, Darryl released his first solo CD entitled ‘String Theory’. This CD explores the rich tradition of the violin as a solo instrument through original music and arrangements infused with the sounds, styles and techniques of modern music making. It features the Zeta 5-string MIDI violin, an 18-piece string section and is being distributed by CD Baby.com and the iTunes website.
Mr. Kubian has engineered and produced recordings for the NJSO/NY City Opera’s principal flutist Bart Feller, The Elements Quartet, The Oberon Quartet, The Halcyon Trio, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and members of The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra including principal flutist Michael Parloff and violinist Garrett Fischbach.
Mr. Kubian is looking forward to future projects that include a concerto for processed trumpet and orchestra, a chamber piece for strings and theremin and a continuation of the exploration of the boundaries of electroacoustic music.
Darryl received his BM and MM at Rutgers University where he studied violin with Arnold Steinhart and Hiroko Yajima, baroque violin with Benjamin Hudson, conducting with Jens Nygaard and composition with Charles Wuorinen.