FERNANDE DECRUCK

The career of the French composer Fernande Decruck showed promise from an early age when she won several prizes at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Paris (harmony, fugue, piano). As an assistant professor of harmony, she trained many students, including one who became very famous and who later dedicated a score to her “To Fernande Decruck, with all the gratitude and fond memories of the author - O. Messiaen ”.

From 1926, the year of his appointment as organ teacher, Marcel Dupré introduced her to improvisation, a talent which earned a concert tour of organ in the United States at the end of 1928. She later gave solo recitals in the great auditoriums of New York. The trajectory of Decruck the composer can be traced through her early works, which give prominence to the organ (her instrument), saxophone and double bass (her husband’s instruments). The Decrucks lived in New York for several years. Her husband Maurice played double bass and saxophone for the New York Philharmonic under the direction of Arturo Toscanini.

Decruck’s American period saw the birth of numerous compositions for piano, organ, orchestra and a concerto for cello and orchestra as well as many works for a wide range of wind instruments, notably for saxophone.

In 1937, Fernande Decruck moved to Toulouse alone with her three children. She worked as a professor at the Toulouse Conservatory. Beginning in 1942, she devoted herself entirely to composition, notably writing a harp concerto, Poème héroïque, and the Sonata in C# for saxophone. She officially divorced Maurice in 1950 which led to financial difficulty. She ended her career as a professor of harmony at the Fontainebleau Conservatory. A series of health problems led to her untimely death at the age of 57.

JACKSON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
(Jackson, Michigan)

The Jackson Symphony Orchestra, celebrating its 75th season this year, has a rich and vibrant history of bringing world class music to its community since 1949. The JSO has performed with many legendary figures in the world of music including Pascal Rogé, Inon Barnatan, Vanessa Perez, Dizzy Gillespie, Grant Johannesen, Ed Asner, William Warfield and Ralph Votapek. The orchestra has also toured with Mannheim Steamroller, Ann Murray, and the Manhattan Transfer. Since assuming the Music Director position in 2017, Matthew Aubin has catapulted the JSO to higher levels of artistic excellence and financial sustainability. He has launched several innovative initiatives drawing the attention of both national and international funders and collaborators such as partnerships with the Gilmore Keyboard Festival, University of Michigan, Michigan State University, and Ballet Chelsea. In recent years, the JSO has also significantly expanded its community programming including educational programs for children, family programming, and a non-classical series titled ‘Music-on-Tap’ featuring singer songwriters. The orchestra has premiered works by such distinguished composers as Jeff Beal, Jeremy Crosmer, Marcus Norris, Lowell Liebermann and its own composer in residence, J. Bruce Brown. Operas including Tosca, La Boheme, Merry Wives of Windsor, Die Fledermaus have been presented in fully staged productions and eight different collaborations with the Indianapolis Ballet and Grand Rapids Ballet have resulted in magical productions of Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker. The JSO’s administrative offices, Community Music School, and 300-person recital hall are located in downtown Jackson and were recently renovated in 2019.

MATTHEW AUBIN

A sought-after leader in today’s orchestral landscape, Dr. Matthew Aubin cultivates musical excellence through an innovative, community-minded, and inclusive approach.

Dr. Aubin currently serves as Music Director of the Jackson Symphony Orchestra, Music Director of the Southwest Michigan Symphony Orchestra, and Artistic Director of The Chelsea Symphony. In his role at TCS, he has led highly visible collaborations with partners such as actor John Lithgow, award-winning television series Mozart in the Jungle, and the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. Dr. Aubin has played a principal role in the initiation and development of The Chelsea Symphony’s annual competition for emerging composers with high profile adjudicators such as Conductor Laureate of the Seattle Symphony and music director of the All-Star Orchestra, Gerard Schwarz. Dr. Aubin has led TCS in their Lincoln Center debut and conducted the New York City premieres of works by Mark O’Connor, Fazil Say and Caroline Shaw, among others.

As a consultant for the Amazon Prime series Mozart in the Jungle created by Roman Coppola and Jason Schwartzman, Dr. Aubin was the off-camera conductor for an episode filmed on Rikers Island. Since then, Dr. Aubin has continued a relationship with the NYC Department of Correction, designing and conducting a series of concerts and education initiatives for detainees, both in person and online. He also served as the onstage conductor for the film Bel Canto with Julianne Moore and has been an artistic consultant for the hit television show Younger.

In his role as Music Director of the Jackson Symphony Orchestra, Dr. Aubin has transformed the orchestra’s visibility, both in the community and on a national scale. He has collaborated with world-renowned soloists such as pianist Pascal Rogé, harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani, cellist and composer Jeremy Crosmer, cellist Julian Schwarz, and composer Lowell Liebermann. During Dr. Aubin’s time as Music Director, the JSO’s season has expanded, and the organization is now regularly reaching audiences of all ages through expanded family concerts, education concerts, and the JSO’s Music on Tap series geared towards young adults. During the 2020 pandemic, he launched a series of digital initiatives, most notably the Random Acts of Music series. In 2022, he launched the Equal Billing Project, which records and supports the music of deceased composers who didn’t receive recognition or equal billing during their lifetime. Under Dr. Aubin’s leadership, the JSO also released a series of asynchronous, multimedia educational videos to be used in K-12 classrooms. These videos were based on the 2021 season’s virtual programming and explored musical concepts.

Dr. Aubin is the foremost scholar on the French composer Fernande Decruck. He has earned multiple research grants to study her significant life and work. In 2022, he was invited to be a panelist at the Fernande Decruck International Competition for Saxophone in France. A champion of the critical role of women in composition, Dr. Aubin is working to promote Decruck’s newly discovered lost music. He has edited and created critical editions of Decruck’s work, which are published with the French publishing firm Éditions Billaudot, and has organized performances of Decruck’s music in the United States and abroad. To date, he has created two large-scale recordings alongside the Jackson Symphony Orchestra of Decruck’s orchestral works, with the first being released in 2022, and the second anticipated to be released in 2024. The first of their kind, these recordings are aimed at giving orchestras further access and insight into her brilliant work.

Dr. Aubin continues to be active as a freelance horn player, and regularly performs across the country. A devoted music educator, Dr. Aubin’s past associations include Assistant Professor of Music at Washington State University, Adjunct faculty at The Hartt School and Educational Programs Conductor for the Hartford Symphony Orchestra.

***

Jeremy Crosmer, cello 
Mahan Esfahani, harpsichord 
Mitsuru Kubo, viola 
Jackson Symphony Orchestra 
Matthew Aubin, conductor

Return to the album | Read the booklet | Composer(s): Fernande Decruck | Main Artist: Various Artists