Album: Oneira
Artist: Clocks in Motion
Record Label: Aerocade Music
Catalog No.: AM012
UPC: 198000273859
Release date: August 19, 2022
Format: Digital and CD

Buy/stream:
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CREDITS

Clocks in Motion is:
John Corkill, Christopher G. Jones, and Sean Kleve

Guest Percussionists:
Megan Arns (tracks 1-3, 5) and Kyle Flens (track 4)

All music composed by Jennifer Bellor.

Producer: Meerenai Shim
Mixing Engineer: Alberto Hernandez
Recording Engineers: David E. Myers (tracks 1-3, 5) and Alberto Hernandez (track 4)
Mastering Engineer: Jett Galindo

Program Notes: Shawna Pennock
Cover Art: "Astral Scherzo" by Roberta Estrin
Graphic Design: Meerenai Shim

Executive Producers: Drew Cookro, John Jutsum, Dave and Karen Frankson, and Coren Estrin Mino

Tracks 1-3, and 5 recorded at the University of Missouri (Columbia, MO.)
Track 4 recorded at Audio for the Arts (Madison, WI.)

Copyright 2022 Clocks in Motion and Aerocade Music.

REVIEWS

Each work unfolds in nicely built structures of expression, in ways that those who love melodic percussion groups will doubtless find as charming and continually invigorating as I did. Happily recommended! - Gapplegate Classical-Modern Music Review

Oneira

by Clocks in Motion

Percussion ensemble Clocks in Motion and composer Jennifer Bellor combined contemporary classical, cool jazz, new age, and ambient vibes together in Oneira.

Clocks in Motion’s most recent initiative, Clock Shop, is a collaborative relationship with a single composer over a four-year period: creating, workshopping, and developing multiple works for percussion to perform and record. The inaugural composer for Clock Shop is Jennifer Bellor, who composed the quartets for this album between 2018 and 2021.

THE STORY OF ONEIRA (PROGRAM NOTES)

Of Maker and Movement: I. Pendulum Surround

Clara Pendulum was a slender clock. She led a simple life dancing along the road every day. However, in the summer she would meet other clocks and notice their time was different. She realized her time was not keeping up, it was running too slow. How could this be? Am I not a good clock? She tried everything to fix her internal defect but this puzzling slowdown hung on Clara. She could not find a cure. Every year, the summer season arrived and her pendulum dragged along slower and slower until she met James Quartz, a clock with perfect time. 

Of Maker and Movement: II. Quartz Revolution

Clara now 84, sat on her front porch drinking tea. This summer was the first time Clara didn’t urge her pendulum forward. She remarked how James was magic because once he was a part of Clara’s life, her pendulum didn’t slow down as much. Without James nearby, her pendulum slowed down more than ever. Tears welled as she remembered James’ quartz, his perfect timekeeper, and their exquisite dances. Now the days passed and she didn’t mind her slowing pendulum. The dancing, done.

Of Maker and Movement: III. Dance of Hands

Years pass in a blink. A single dance lasts an eternity but the final tic isn’t long enough to say everything one wishes they could.  Didn’t we just meet? So quick, too quick. 

Oneira

James didn’t feel his quartz ticking anymore.  He had kept the dwindling quartz vibrations to himself. They were subtle, too small for anyone else to notice. He could feel Clara’s pendulum, the sluggish weight, and her lack of concern. He couldn’t do anything to make her feel better. All he could do was sit next to her and observe her pendulum slowing… he dreamed of a time when they could dance together again, in their own world with no other clocks to tell Clara she wasn’t in time. He imagined walking through a door and seeing a blank canvas. A place to build a dream world. A familiar dancing path and their house. Together. All that wasn’t, but now could be. They would have eternity.

This We Have Now

Clara remembered how in those first few months James’ perfect quartz clock made her realize just how much her pendulum slowed in the summer months. They tried to fix it with perfectly level shoes and a pendant of mercury but to Clara’s dismay, nothing worked and they agreed to give up the search for a cure. What Clara never knew was that every morning during the summer, James began changing his quartz clock to match Clara’s so she wouldn’t be reminded of her sluggish pendulum. From then on, when Clara arose from her sleep she would compare her timepiece to James’ and be thrilled at their identicalness. Her dancing was more enthusiastic and she loved every moment of her life with James. They accumulated more moments of joy than all the clocks they knew. Finally, when Clara’s pendulum stopped, she saw a door and at it was James waiting to take her hand so they could take their first steps into forever. She couldn’t hear anymore ticking. She didn’t feel sluggish. She felt forever, and it was the beginning.

ABOUT CLOCKS IN MOTION

Formed in 2011, Clocks in Motion has been praised as being “nothing short of remarkable” (ClevelandClassical.com), and has become a major artistic force on the contemporary music scene. With new commissions alongside master works of the percussion repertoire, Clocks in Motion continues to delight audiences with their blend of engaging, thoughtful, and creative programming.

Clocks in Motion’s mission is to collaborate and develop new works with living composers. The ensemble has commissioned, performed, and recorded works by Marc Mellits, Jennifer Bellor, Andrew Rindfleisch, David Colson, John Jeffrey Gibbens, and Laura Schwendinger. Some of these works can be heard on Clocks in Motion’s self-released debut album Escape Velocity, and on David Colson’s Navona Records release, Rise.

The ensemble’s most recent initiative, Clock Shop, is a collaborative relationship with a single composer over a four-year period: creating, workshopping, and developing multiple works for percussion to perform and record. The inaugural composer for Clock Shop is Jennifer Bellor, who composed three quartets for this project between 2018 and 2021. These works can be heard on Clocks in Motion’s upcoming album, Oneira, which will be released on the Aerocade Music label in August 2022.  

Along with commissioning and performing, all of the members of Clocks in Motion are avid educators who work regularly with all age groups to provide accessible, interactive educational experiences. The current ensemble members Christopher G. Jones, John Corkill, and Sean Kleve utilize their current repertoire to present programs that connect and elevate our audiences’ musical experience and knowledge. 

Clocks in Motion proudly performs using Marimba One marimbas and vibraphones. 

Website: clocksinmotionpercussion.com

ABOUT JENNIFER BELLOR

Described as "evocative" (Jazz Weekly), "lyrical," and "mesmerizing" (textura), the music of Las Vegas-based composer Jennifer Bellor has been presented by Washington National Opera, American Composers Orchestra, Seattle Women’s Jazz Orchestra, Las Vegas Philharmonic, Clocks in Motion, Transient Canvas, Eastman New Jazz Ensemble, UNLV Wind Orchestra, Eastman Saxophone Project, Elevate Ensemble, and many others in the US and abroad. She was the resident Clock Shop Composer for the percussion quartet Clocks in Motion from 2018-2022, culminating in a new album released by Aerocade Music, which features her works written for them. After a performance of her multi-movement work Of Maker and Movement, Cleveland Classical stated, “The simple, yet detailed beauty of the sounds, some motoric, others melodic, was arresting. Bellor writes ravishingly and imaginatively for percussion.” 

Bellor's recent album Reflections at Dusk was released by Innova Recordings November 2019, and showcases instrumental music inspired by the Nevada sunsets. The album, with many of the works written for harp and percussion, has been described as “crepuscular,” “mystical,” and “magical.” Textura stated, “She's also that rare composer whose music manages to be instantly listenable and emotionally resonant without any compromise to its sophistication.” Reflections at Dusk nabbed the #20 spot in the classical/opera category in textura’s 2020 year-end roundup. 

Her music draws on a variety of influences, evidenced in her self-released debut album Stay (2016), which is a melting pot of different music styles largely based on poetry. Stay was featured on NewMusicBox’s 2016 Staff picks, and was praised as having the ability to “maintain a highly individual identity without needing to take refuge in pre-post-genre musical silos.” Her composition Chase the Stars received acclaim not only for its “dazzling eclecticism” combining opera, hip hop and jazz, but also for her singing. It was awarded The American Prize (2016) in the orchestral category. 

Born and raised in Northern NY, Bellor earned a PhD in music composition at Eastman School of Music, a Master of Music degree in composition at Syracuse University, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in music at Cornell University. Her primary composition teachers included David Liptak, Bob Morris, Andrew Waggoner, Sally Lamb-McCune, and Steven Stucky. She is on the music composition faculty at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and artistic director of the new music series Nextet. Please visit her website www.jenniferbellor.com.