Composers Incorporated: C.O.D.E. "Gets Real" with Donald Erb

By Kylie Harwell

Published May 12, 2016 at 12:15 PM EDT

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Donald Erb, like many of his contemporaries, sought to transform and transfigure the definition of what it meant to be a composer; long gone were the stuffy white wigs and collars, and born again was the element of ingenuity in music-- curiosity.

Sincere thanks to the composer's family for permission to use these images.

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Sincere thanks to the composer's family for permission to use these images.

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Erb: “It’s not a profession that’s on an even-keel. There are days when life rains on your parade. You really are making a living by scratching your own nerve-ends, and by challenging other people to think. "";s:3:

The Erb family and estate

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The Erb family and estate

One of the most satisfying aspects of a good concert can be the visceral impact of seeing other everyday people, some of whom you personally know, perform onstage. It sounds so simple, but the mystique of the performer can often obscure the empathy and sincerity of their performance.

The Columbus Ohio Discovery Ensemble, aka CODE, does a fantastic job of stripping away the affectations that keep listeners at bay while providing very new and exciting musical experiences. In essence, they know how to keep it real.

Ohio-born and bred composer Donald Erb had a fantastic sense for how to use music as a tool for communicating intuitively. In fact he stated one of my favorite quotes about composers:

“A composer is like everyone else. You get up in the morning, put on your trousers, eat your wheatcakes, and go to work. It’s interesting work, but you’re just doing it.”

(Taken from an interview with Bruce Duffie at Orchestra Hall in Chicago on February 28, 1985.)

So, it seems only fitting for Michael Rene Torres to have programmed a free concert with the Johnstone Fund for New Music and the C.O.D.E. ensemble of Erb's works.

Check out more details on the Facebook event page here.