OF POWER Curtis J Stewart

• Coleridge Taylor-Perkinson (1932 - 2004):
• 1 Taylor-Perkinson: Louisiana Blues Strut - A Cakewalk 03:24
• Curtis Stewart: Improvisation on Paganini Caprice, No. 11:
• 2 Stewart: Improvisation on Paganini Caprice, No. 11: Andante 02:01
• 3 Stewart: Improvisation on Paganini Caprice, No. 11: Presto 03:56
• Charlie Parker (1920 - 1955):
• 4 Parker: Scrapple 01:46
• Curtis J Stewart, J. Rosamond Johnson (1873 - 1954):
• 5 StewartJohnson: Lift Every Voice and Sing 03:41
• Curtis J Stewart, Eugène-Auguste Ysaÿe (1858 - 1931):
• 6 StewartYsaÿe: 8:46 - Ysaye Solo Sonata, No. 2: I. Obsession 08:46
• Curtis J Stewart, Meg Pickarski:
• 7 StewartPickarski: SHOOK - Sum1 02:32
• Curtis J Stewart:
• 8 Stewart: StayWoke. 03:26
• Elektra Kurtis-Stewart:
• 9 Kurtis-Stewart: Mangas 05:12
• Curtis J Stewart:
• 10 Stewart: Magic Might 06:15
• Curtis J Stewart, J.S. Bach (1685 - 1750):
• 11 StewartBach: #HerName 02:23
• Curtis J Stewart:
• 12 Stewart: Until the Glass Breaks 05:10
• Curtis J Stewart, Ludvig Van Beethoven (1770 -1827):
• 13 StewartBeethoven: Beethoven 2020 02:18
• Curtis J Stewart, Charles Mingus (1922 - 1979):
• 14 StewartMingus: Our Past is a Privilege 02:20
• John Coltrane (1926 - 1967):
• 15 Coltrane: After the Rain 03:09
• Stevie Wonder (b. 1950):
• 16 Wonder: Don't you worry 'bout a THANG 04:07
• 17 Wonder: Isn't She Lovely 03:54
• Total Runtime 01:04:20

Info for OF POWER

A post-classical coming of agency album inspired by #BLM featuring songs of resistance and resilience for violin, voice, and electronics with five tracks. The album is comprised of original compositions and reimagined works by Charlie Parker, J.S. Bach, Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, Childish Gambino, John Coltrane, Paganini, Elektra Kurtis, Ysaÿe, & Stevie Wonder.

Mastered by Dave Veslocki & Prince’s on-demand sound engineer Derek Linzy, - Of Power is a contemporary coming of agency story about resistance, resilience, and the nature of power. Told through violin, verse, and electronics, Curtis’ original songs and reimagined works by Charlie Parker, Bach, John Coltrane, Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, Beethoven, Childish Gambino, Elektra Kurtis, Paganini, Ysaÿe, and Stevie Wonder weave a confessional narrative through the lens of a Black man searching for authenticity in the classical music world. Each track is accompanied by an original video available on all major streaming platforms.

“I wanted to tear down the practiced facade of a classical violinist to translate personal hardship, protest, and demands for social justice into sustained action and vigilance for the musical community and beyond,” Curtis says. “Of Power treats art as a battery for powering and realizing citizenship.”

Of Power’s inspirations are a mix of public and personal: George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and the protests surrounding their murders; Curtis’ parents, jazz tubist Bob Stewart and violinist Elektra Kurtis-Stewart; and Curtis’ decade performing in PUBLIQuartet and hip hop poetry trio The Mighty Third Rail.

The album viscerally captures the shock, fear, sorrow, and outrage following George Floyd’s death, feelings that Curtis bottled up over months of isolation juxtaposed with moments of lyrical beauty, such as his solo take on Stevie Wonder’s “Isn’t She Lovely?”

Curtis J Stewart

Curtis J Stewart
Grammy nominated violinist Curtis Stewart enjoys an eclectic career bouncing between various realms of music: from MTV specials with Wyclef Jean and sold out shows at Madison Square Garden with Stevie Wonder, Bruce Springsteen, and Seal, to stints at the Kennedy center with the Jimmy Heath Big Band and performance installations at the Whitney Museum, the Guggenheim Museum, and Museum of Modern Art in NYC.

Curtis has performed as a classical soloist at Lincoln Center, and Carnegie Hall, as a special guest soloist/curator with the New York Philharmonic “Bandwagon,” held chamber music residencies at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Sawdust, and appearances at the Newport Jazz Festival. His ensembles PUBLIQuartet and The Mighty Third Rail realize a vision to find personal and powerful connections between styles, cultures and musics. Curtis has worked with today's forward thinking musicians including Henry Threadgill, Jessie Montgomery, Alicia Hall-Moran and Jason Moran, Mark O’Connor, members of International Contemporary Ensemble, Billy Childs, Diane Monroe, the JACK quartet, members of Snarky Puppy, Don Byron, Linda Oh, Ari Hoenig, Matt Wilson, among many others.

An avid teacher, he has taught Chamber Music and “Cultural Equity and Performance Practice” at the Juilliard School, directed several orchestras and levels of music theory at the Laguardia High School for Music & Art and Performing Arts for ten years, and is currently the Chamber Music and New Juilliard Ensemble Manager at the Juilliard School, in New York City. Curtis graduated magna cum laude from the Eastman School of Music with a BA of Mathematics from the University of Rochester.

"Headlining the concert was the multitalented violin virtuoso Curtis Stewart, who began the program with his arrangement for solo violin of J. Rosamond Johnson’s rallying “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” Stewart performed his dizzying, defiant arrangement of this well-known song with unrestrained passion and determination.... performing his transformative arrangement of Stevie Wonder’s “Isn’t She Lovely” for violin." - Opera News

This album contains no booklet.