Birth of a Genre
The success and quality of their debut immediately became at first a modest family concert series with lively variety programs and artistic collaborations of dance, mime, puppets, and story-telling, and then DSO Tiny Tots and school concerts with student workshops. This grew eventually into local runouts and small touring, including northern Michigan, Florida, Colorado, and Ohio. Over 27 years Robinson has transcribed a library of nearly 80 famous symphonic, piano, jazzy, and crossover works for this mixed octet. All are rich, beloved, and mostly lively works, such as The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, The Comedian’s Suite, Romanian Rhapsody No. 1, and the Ruslan and Ludmilla Overture. Several whole movements from major symphonies are available; instantly made fresh and intimate as a small ensemble (chamber music). While most of these transcriptions are in the public domain, CutTime has (or had) print license agreements with G. Schirmer & Hal Leonard to publish their titles. CutTime Players and its music are ideal for sharing orchestras outside of their concert hall.
- View Players’ repertoire, performance history and Special and Holiday Programs.
CutTime Players produced a single CD before the recording market dropped out called Live in Dearborn. It is currently unavailable, and yet you might find tracks available on Amazon..
The original CutTime Players were:
Sharon Sparrow, flute
Ted Oien, clarinet
Bob Williams, bassoon
Kevin Good, trumpet
Randy Hawes, bass trombone
Sam Tundo, percussion
Geof Applegate, violin
Rick Robinson, bass
Milestones
CutTime Players is flexible enough to showcase symphony orchestras in all concert halls, churches and schools, as well as the intimate settings of clubs with a wide (24′) stage area. They feature the kinds of music and quality orchestras offer, the people and personalities in them, and what they learn from a lifetime of Olympic-like self-improvement. The fixed instrumentation (with flexible percussion) covers the three main periods of classical music; baroque, classical, and romantic. From 1997-2000 CutTime produced a Tiny Tots series for DSO, working with narrators, mimes, giant puppets, and dance companies.
They celebrated the 40th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King’s pivotal Letter from Birmingham Jail and the I Have A Dream speech with music of Shostakovich, Bach, and a new work by Artistic Director Rick Robinson. They have also created holiday programs for Halloween, Mozart’s Birthday, Valentine’s Day, and Christmas. A Claude Bolling Jazz program is perfect for dinner and special events.