Ron Ramin and Portia Kamons: SEVENTEEN

Ron Ramin was born and raised in New York City. He earned his undergraduate degree at Princeton University, where he majored in music and studied privately with composer Milton Babbitt. Upon graduation, he moved to Los Angeles where he composed music for 20 Primetime television series and 30 movies/telefilms. Ron is the recipient of a CableACE Award, a Primetime EMMY nomination, and TV/Film Awards from BMI and ASCAP.

In recent years he has shifted his focus to composing for the concert hall. This includes "Golden State of Mind," a symphonic suite depicting the beauty & drama of the California landscape and its cultural diversity. “Greetings!" was given its world premiere performance in 2016 by the Marin Symphony, conducted by Music Director Alasdair Neale.

His latest work, SEVENTEEN, is a narrative work for orchestra and six on-stage Gen Z narrators. Days after the 2018 mass school shooting in Parkland, Florida, librettist Portia Kamons and Ron began to work on an artistic response to the relentless plague of gun violence in American schools and communities. Their attention soon focused on the rising generation of young people channeling their grief and anger into deliberate and effective action. They were bringing extraordinary commitment, determination, and energy to multiple challenges of their time. Ron & Portia were also determined to bring classical music audiences together with young people for an orchestral performance and thoughtful discussion. From the beginning they committed to employ verbatim text from the young Americans themselves. SEVENTEEN is their story, told in their own words.

The Orlando Philharmonic commissioned it and gave the premiere performance Nov 8, 2024. Eric Jacobsen, their innovative music director, conducted the performance and Jamie Bernstein directed the six young on-stage narrators. The orchestra, to its credit, made this a free community event that included a thoughtful discussion and Q&A following the performance. A former Board member of the Society of Composers and Lyricists, Ron currently resides in Northern California and New York City.

 

Portia Kamons is a producer and librettist working with newly commissioned pieces in theatre, live events, music and feature film. With composer Ron Ramin, she is the co-creator and librettist for SEVENTEEN, a narrative work for Orchestra that received its world premiere by the Orlando Philharmonic on 8 November 2024. She was the Executive Producer for Virtua Creative on the US WW1 Centennial Commemoration narrated by Kevin Costner, as well as Exec Producer for "Visions of Peace" a special project for the WW1 Centennial with President Jimmy Carter. Portia was the lead producer of Tennyson Bardwell's feature film DORIAN BLUES which won 14 awards at festivals worldwide. She was a founding member and the first General Manager of Primary Stages Theatre in New York City, and a Producer for the NextWave Festival at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. For many years she worked for as a producer with En Garde Arts in New York City, and the London International Festival of Theatre in the UK where she lives. She is a regular consultant to Danish web-based documentary platform, OTHER STORY.

 

 

website: www.seven