Wendigo Score

MICHELLE DIBUCCI, composer - is an internationally recognized composer working in film, concert performance and theatre. Her film credits include the music for Twins, directed by Andrucha Waddington; Stephen King's Creepshow directed by George Romero, and the docudrama Journey, directed by Indian filmmaker Chitra Neogy and released on Mystic Fire Video. DiBucci has composed music for over 30 theatrical productions and has collaborated with some of the leading figures in avant garde theater including Leon Katz, Radu Penciliescu and the late John Michael Tebelak, best known as writer/director of "Godspell". More recently she has collaborated with director Gerald Thomas on a variety of international projects including her opera, "Grail: Portrait of Faust as a Young Man" which received its premiere in 1997 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Ms DiBucci's concert compositions have been performed at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall and the Brooklyn Academy of Music. She received her New York debut at age 23 under the baton of maestro Lukas Foss in his series Meet the Moderns with The Brooklyn Philharmonic. She has received commissions from Kronos Quartet, Lincoln Center Institute, Manhattan Wind Quintet and The Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble. For the past 8 years, DiBucci has been on the faculty at The Juilliard School teaching in both the music and drama departments.

Grammy award-winning percussionist GLEN VELEZ is often globe-trotting on an international touring schedule which has taken him to six continents. Recently voted Best Percussionist of the Year with a 2001 Drummies award by DRUM! Magazine, Velez has emerged as an international soloist and seminal figure in the history of the frame drum. Over two decades ago he brought a new genre of drumming into the Western music world by creating his own compositional style inspired by years of drumming studies from various cultures. He introduced Remo Belli and the Remo Drum Company to the world of frame drums and initiated, what has become, a whole line of drums from world cultures. After fifteen years performing and recording with Steve Reich (1973-1988) and Paul Winter (1983-1998), Velez is working as a soloist while continuing to collaborate with a variety of top-notch professionals in many genres. Twentieth century music guru John Cage wrote a piece especially for Glen in 1989. Velez has also played with notables such as Pat Metheny, Richard Stoltzman, Suzanne Vega, Howard Levy, Zakir Hussain, and Oregon. His own compositions have been featured on National Public Radios All Things Considered and John Schaefers New Sounds and have been commissioned by the Rockefeller Foundation, Jerome Foundation, and Readers Digest. He has written music for theater and dance and recorded hundreds of albums on ECM, CBS, RCA, GRP, Warner Brothers, Deutsche Gramophone, Geffen, Nonesuch, Capital, and Sony. In addition, he has several instructional videos and ten recordings of his own music on CMP, Music of the World, Sounds True, Interworld, and Ellipsis Arts. As a master teacher who conducts workshops worldwide, Velez developed his own teaching method called Handance. Velez has also designed his own Signature Series of frame drums for the REMO Drum Company and has recently designed a handmade frame drum series for the Cooperman Drum Company.

"In Mr. Velezs hands, frame drums produce a galaxy of timbres and inflections; remarkable rhythmic fireworks."
NEW YORK TIMES

"Velezs music led to the essence of improvisation and composition and made one happy to hear it."
"The audience was rapt, absolutely still except for those dancing in place."
THE VILLAGE VOICE

"More than just one of the planets most versatile percussionists, Velez proves a captivating composer."
". . . intellectually tough, cosmopolitan, and centered in the musical (and spiritual) wisdom of East meets West."
LOS ANGELES READER MUSIC

VALERIE DEE NARANJO (vocals, percussion) began singing with her family early in life and traveled with them as a child throughout the Southwest and Mexico to learn about her fellow Native peoples music and instruments (Ute and Navajo).She has sung in schools, community centers, and substance abuse clinics throughout the Navajo reservation. Valerie sang and drummed with the Native American womans group Ulali. She has given performances and workshops on six continents and has arranged, performed and recorded with Philip Glass, David Byrne, Selena, Tori Amos, Hugh Masekela, and the international percussion ensemble Megadrums. Valerie currently performs with the Broadway production of The Lion King and NBCs Saturday Night Live Band.

PHIL SILVERTORN JR. (Native chants) Of Anishnabe, German and French Canadian ancestry, Phil resides in the Southern Appalachians of North Carolina. He is a musician, artist and re-educator in the ancient ways of primitive survival skills, and founder of Learn the Ways of our Ancestors and the Manitou Trading Company. As a musician with the Intuitive Sound record Label, Phil offers his musical talents that include ceremonial chants and singing, guitar, flute and percussion in sacred and meaningful expresions on a number of recordings and live performances.

PAULA BING(wood & alto flutes) Enjoys a dual career as both a performing artist on flute and as a a music education specialist. She has performed with many orchestrial and chamber music groups throughout New York, including the Brooklyn Philarmonic, Queens Symphony, Dance Theater of Harlem, Alvin Ailey and the Chinese Music Ensemble of New York. Ms. Bing has recorded for numerous feature films, CDs and documentaries, and most recently played with the Broadway Show MISS SAIGON. With storyteller and author Margaret Wolfson, she has tored Europe, Asia, Sweden and Australia, performing and improvising on a variety of flutes, sound design percussion and folk harp.

SOPHIA RAMOS DUPRE (vocals, Finale) doesn't just "gig"; that word is too puny to describe her concerts. Sophia's spitfire performances have the aura of once-in-a-generation rock & roll happenings, leaving audiences mesmerized and intoxicated. Conjuring the combined spirits of Hendrix, Mercury and Jagger, Sophia prowls her stage like a groove-crazed sorceress, wielding her astonishing voice like Luke Skywalker's sword. Sophia's talents are not news to her fellow musicians. In her brief career, she's already attracted a star-studded list of studio and stage collaborators: Jason Newsted of Metallica; Paul Simon; Karl Wallinger; Billy Bragg; Michelle Shocked; Joey Ramone and Psychotica, with whom she appeared as featured vocalist on their main stage Lollapalooza tour with Soundgarden and Rage Against The Machine. On her stunning new self-titled CD, Sophia confesses loss, struggle, faith and survival with honesty and wisdom. Indeed, Sophia is the rare composer who has both mastered her craft and tapped the wellspring of universal emotion with sincerity and a mighty dose of brute force. Sophia's impassioned voicealternately James Brown and Chris Cornell, lyrical insight, and physical charisma empower her infectious melodies.

Named VH1 Break.through Best Undiscovered Artist

"A Bronx-bred banshee...Imagine Chaka Kahn morphng into Ozzy Ozbourne mid-wail..." VILLAGE VOICE

"Brash Wit and Intelligence...Janice Joplin-meets-Gladys Knight..." VIBE

PLAYERS

Frame Drums, Featured Percussion,Overtone Singing & Chanting - GLEN VELEZ
Female Vocals - VALERIE NARANJO
Wood & Alto Flutes - PAULA BING
Drums & Percussion - VALERIE NARANJO
Guitars - JEFF MIRONOV
Bass -ALEX BLAKE
Marimba & Vibraphone - YOUSIF SHERONICK
Piano - JOHN KLIBONOFF
Oboe & English Horn - MATTHEW SULLIVAN
Solo Violin - KRYSTOF WITEK
Solo Viola - JULIET HAFFNER
Solo Cello - TED MOOK
Violins - KRYSTOF WITEK, PAULINE KIM, CONWAY KUO, HELEN KIM, ANI GREGORIAN, WOLFGANG TSOUTSOURIS
"Finale" Vocals SOPHIA RAMOS DUPRE
Drum programming GREG KALEMBER
Native American Singing - PHILIP SILVERTHORN
Recorded at Intuitive Sound, Marietta, GA Producer - ROBERT BOWER
Engineer - ADAM ZUPPARDO
Composer's Assistants SUSAN SHUFRO, JENIFER SCATURRO, PAWEL SEK

REVIEWS

CINESCAPE, FEBRUARY 25, 2003

"THIS WEEK'S RECOMMENDATION: Composer Michelle DiBucci has emphasized the Native American aspects of Larry Fessenden's eerie horrorshow, WENDIGO (recently issued on CD to coincide with its recent release on DVD - Pacific Time PTE8534). The film draws from Native American mythologies as it tells of an ancient spirit that may or may not have evil traits, encountered by family of cityfolk who confront some rural toughs on a winter vacation. The music is dominated by soft percussion and high-end vocals, chilled by frequent synth wind sounds. The result is a compelling soundscape that crafts an eerie mood even for otherwise innocuous scenes of family interaction"

RUE MORGUE, FEBRUARY 2003

"A monster movie about childhood and myth, Wendigo impressed us enough last year to write it up in a feature story (see RM#25). The soundtrack album took a while to make it into our offices, but I'm not surprised to learn that the music is largely responsible for the metaphysical dread that permeates the film. Riffing from the movie's twin motifs (Native mythology and childhood fantasy), composer Michelle DiBucci combines Native American percussion, flutes, chants, and vocal melodies as well as a children's choir and string orchestra with the occasional - understated - horror movie flourish. It's an artfully crafted representation of the film's themes, full of fear, wonder and reflection. Available from glasseyepix.com. ***** (5 out of 5) -- Greg Chant

VENICE MAGAZINE, OCTOBER 2002

"MONSTERS AT THE DOOR: If you've run out of gas in the midnight woods, Wendigo (Pacific Time) is the last thing you want draining your car radio's power. But in the comfort of your home's cd player, Michelle DiBucci's score is a mesmerizing listen. With spare, chilling effectiveness, Wendigo conjures the forest demons in a little boys fevered imagination. Female voices, monstrous howls, violins and native American percussion create a snowy landscape as creepy as all get out. With exceptional creativity, DiBucci has crafted a dark, melodic fairy tale that makes for a ghost story well told over a campfire."