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For
the greater part of her life, violinist Rebecca Ramsey has played
in that glittering entertainment capital of the world known as
Las Vegas, Nevada. As concertmaster both in the showrooms and
the concert halls of that city, she has been surrounded by music
of all kinds. The idea of composing her own music, however, did
not occur to her until New Year's Day, 1999 after a brief trip
to Zion National Park in nearby Utah.
An ancient, sky-high world, with its towering cliffs formed over
the eons, Zion is one the most spiritually powerful places on
earth. Rebecca was changed forever by what she saw there. Never
having written music before, she immediately began work on a suite
for string orchestra featuring solo violin, woodwinds, jazz piano,
guitar and world percussion. She called this new piece The Stone
Sanctuary, Silhouettes of Zion.
Another turning point came the next year when the Nevada Chamber
Symphony premiered several movements of The Stone Sanctuary, Silhouettes
of Zion in March of 2000. The music added a new dimension to the
standard chamber orchestra fare by intertwining the intricacy
of chamber music, the spontaneity of jazz and the broad expanse
of a film score, The audience response was so enthusiastic that
Rebecca was encouraged to begin recording the entire suite.
She
produced the CD herself, conducting and playing solo violin with
her own Glenwillow Orchestra, a group comprising the finest musical
talents in Las Vegas from both the classical and jazz worlds.
By spring of 2002, the project was completed. The Stone Sanctuary,
Silhouettes of Zion was performed again in May by the Southwest
Symphony at a concert in Tanner Amphitheatre, which is situated
in the heart of Zion.
“The
sight of those majestic pinnacles and monoliths of sandstone that
reach so high they seem to touch the sky was my first inspiration
to compose. Hearing the music played three years later in the
exact place for which it was intended was a dream come true!”
With
the art of nature as her inspiration, Rebecca seeks to express
through her music our connectedness to the earth, to our own imaginations,
and to the creative source within us. She is a featured artist
at the Kolob
Art Gallery in Springdale, Utah, where her music is played
throughout the day.
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