John Mackey
Breakdown Tango
Ohio-born composer John Mackey (b.1973) is a graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Music (BFA) and the Juilliard School (MM), where he studied compostion with Donald Erb and John Corigliano respectively. He has received numerous commissions and awards and his works enjoy frequent international performances, including the recent presentation of his Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra by Charlotte Mabrey with the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra.
Mr. Mackey was Music Director of the Parsons Dance Company from 1999-2003, and Breakdown Tango (aka, Dementia) was composed in 2000 to fill a commission for the company -- the corresponding ballet is called Promenade. About the piece the composer observes: "This work (called 'darkly dramatic' by the New York Times, and 'an appealing, and at times wonderfully trashy piece' by The Clarinet Magazine), has a virtuostic beginning and ending, with a peculiar tango sandwiched in the middle." Breakdown Tango provides the source material for an orchestral work called Redline Tango, and its wind ensemble version won both the 2004 Walter Beeler Memorial Composition Prize and the 2005 ABA/Ostwald Award from the American Bandmasters Association.
GO HERE to listen to Breakdown Tango on the composer's website.