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Winner | Call for Scores | Nashville in Harmony
www.facebook.com/nashvilleinharmony
3rd Place | 2024 Ernst Bacon Memorial Award for the Performance of American Music
theamericanprize.blogspot.com/2024/12/national-winners-american-music.html
National Finalist | 2024 Ernst Bacon Memorial Award for the Performance of American Music
theamericanprize.blogspot.com/2024/06/national-finalists-american-music.html
National Finalist | 2024 American Prize for Instrumental Chamber Composition
theamericanprize.blogspot.com/2024/05/national-finalists-composersinstrumenta.html
National Finalist | 2024 American Prize for Choral Composition
theamericanprize.blogspot.com/2024/04/national-finalists-composers-shorter.html
Composition Fellow | 2023 N.E.O. Voice Festival
www.neovoicefestival.com/currentfestival.html
CCK Fellow for 22-23 | Louisiana State University | Center for Collaborative Knowledge
www.lsu.edu/cck/about/index.php
National Finalist | 2022 American Prize for Choral Competition
theamericanprize.blogspot.com/2022/04/national-finalistscomposers-music-for_01856354924.html?view=magazine
1st Place | 8th Japan International Choral Composition Competition 2022
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqZhlUQQ5P0
Composition Fellow | Choral Arts Initiative: PREMIERE|Project 2022
www.choralartsinitiative.org/post/2022-premiere-project-fellows-announced
3rd Place | 2019 Choral Composition Competition | International Federation for Choral Music
icb.ifcm.net/en_US/ifcm-international-composition-competition/
www.facebook.com/nashvilleinharmony
3rd Place | 2024 Ernst Bacon Memorial Award for the Performance of American Music
theamericanprize.blogspot.com/2024/12/national-winners-american-music.html
National Finalist | 2024 Ernst Bacon Memorial Award for the Performance of American Music
theamericanprize.blogspot.com/2024/06/national-finalists-american-music.html
National Finalist | 2024 American Prize for Instrumental Chamber Composition
theamericanprize.blogspot.com/2024/05/national-finalists-composersinstrumenta.html
National Finalist | 2024 American Prize for Choral Composition
theamericanprize.blogspot.com/2024/04/national-finalists-composers-shorter.html
Composition Fellow | 2023 N.E.O. Voice Festival
www.neovoicefestival.com/currentfestival.html
CCK Fellow for 22-23 | Louisiana State University | Center for Collaborative Knowledge
www.lsu.edu/cck/about/index.php
National Finalist | 2022 American Prize for Choral Competition
theamericanprize.blogspot.com/2022/04/national-finalistscomposers-music-for_01856354924.html?view=magazine
1st Place | 8th Japan International Choral Composition Competition 2022
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqZhlUQQ5P0
Composition Fellow | Choral Arts Initiative: PREMIERE|Project 2022
www.choralartsinitiative.org/post/2022-premiere-project-fellows-announced
3rd Place | 2019 Choral Composition Competition | International Federation for Choral Music
icb.ifcm.net/en_US/ifcm-international-composition-competition/
Concert Blog
12/15/2024
At Mountain Park United Methodist Church, I had the great pleasure of hosting my friend and colleague, Dr. Irina Kruchinina from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill for a collaborative performance with the combined forces of our chancel choir, handbells, organist, string ensemble, and Kumanta, a new youth choir in Gwinnett County. The Christmas favorite, In the Bleak Midwinter was accompanied by Irina and our youth singers performing her original choreography. With candlelight and virtuosic dexterity, Irina took us on a journey through the cold of night to find each other. When we feel poor in every other respect, we can still give our heart, our empathy to those around us.
PLUS, it happened to be the same weekend as my performances with the Atlanta Master Chorale. Irina had travelled to Atlanta with her mom and they were both able to attend! What a glorious weekend! I love big music, immersive lighting, and all the spectacle, but perhaps the holiday season is more about deepening our connections... My heart may have grown three sizes.
11/08/2024
OK, time for what might be a hot take. Back to the Atlanta Opera for Magic Flute. It's an old notion that Magic Flute is unapologetically patriarchal, and while this production absolutely lavish and well-sung, it did nothing to remove the bitter taste of Sarastro's menacing benevolence. While it could be said that there's value in laying bare a character's terrible behavior, in this case, that behavior is nonsensical and abhorrent enough to distract from the music. Which is the sole reason anyone mounts this opera - the music. It's certainly not for the plot. How could it be? The Queen of the Night is denied power that is rightfully hers, she was betrayed by her late husband (which is never explored), her daughter gets abducted by a self-righteous blowhard (magnificently sung by Peixen Chen) and is almost assaulted by HIS guard, then the queen is defeated by that same power while her daughter marries an unknown prince. Oh, and there's a talking bird for comic relief. I realize there's deep history to this work around masonic symbolism and political propaganda, AND I don't really care. The production? Stunning in every way. The opera itself? Fantastical and a little dumb.
Special congratulations to the Queen of the Night, Rainelle Krause! Long may she reign!
05/19/24
I made it back to PDX for a few days! Pentecost Sunday, conductor Allison Cottrell, organist Jonas Nordwall, and the fabulous Chancel Choir from First United Methodist Church PDX premiered Meditations on Fire. The work is both a re-envisioning of Hildegard von Bingen’s O Ignis Spiritus and a new setting of text by Louisiana poet-laureate and my friend, Ava Leavell Haymon. Inspired by a journey to Nepal, Ava’s words beautifully capture the spiral nature of the social and spiritual utility of fire.
The performance was exhilarating and the rehearsal process was so fulfilling. The entire weekend proved to be a conflagration of lifelines. Not only are Allison and her husband, Lennie, fast friends from PSU, so to were a great many of the singers in the choir. Additionally, many of my ISing Choir and Oregon Chorale friends came to the performance, as did Luna, my organist from a previous church job, and Ava herself flew in from Houston.
“Without fire, this is no life.
Without life, there is no death.
Without death, there is no fire.”
PLUS, that afternoon, the Portland State University Chamber Choir gave an exemplary performance of A Voice is Heard in Ramah and I learned that they would be taking it to Skywalker Sound to recorded it for their next album.
PLUS, I was able to see my oldest childhood friend and his parents before I left.
While life can sometimes gorge itself on disappointment, rejection, and darkness, it can also be warm and kind, full of music and laughter, as if the universe itself were somehow ticklish. I'm grateful for when the balance shifts to the latter.
05/06/24
Tonight at the Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia, I had the pleasure of attending the final Ensemble VIM concert of their season. Not only are they each virtuosic players in their own right, the interplay between was captivating. The concert featured Missy Mazzoli's Vespers for violin and live electronics, transcribed for cello, alongside Treya Nash's glorious fever dream, Alice in Wonderland. Alice is a story I have always loved. So it was a special joy to see it play out live with projections, narration, and dance.
The concert concluded with a premiere by the 23-24 VIM composition fellow, Ryne Siesky, and the announcement of next year's composition fellows and their artistic partners, Kelly Taylor Mitchell, Chelsea Loew, Martha Whittington, June Young Kim, Alan Caoman Xie, and Ofir Klemperer. Congratulations!
Being that I concertize so much myself, I rarely have an opportunity to attended anything aside from my own performances. That said, Treya Nash is a friend from my LSU days; and that fact that she was a having an important performance literally down the street from where I live, on a free evening, meant that I simply couldn't pass it up. It was wonderful. I need to go to more weird stuff.
03/15/24
After a successful collaborative process with Kerem Ergener, a PH.D candidate at LSU in electronic music and digital media, and Dr. Alissa Rowe, Director of Choral Studies at LSU, we made it to premiere of Puis qu'en oubli, a modern re-imagining of a 700-year-old rondeau by Guillaume de Machaut. Originally, the straightforward rondeau was for three voice. I expanded it it out to SATB + div and Kerem added the live electronics. During the premiere, the electronic sounds were created live on stage from the sounds of the LSU A Cappella Choir. The swelling tones and glitchy textures were layered with the voices to create a unique sound not often heard in choral concerts. The whole endeavor was a great success and Kerem is a true artist. I was amazed at how he was able to manipulate the sounds of the choir while simultaneously playing them back live on stage, seconds after recording them. While initially a little skeptical, the choir eventually bought in and gave an emotionally raw performance.
What a great start to an ongoing project! More collabs to come!
11/10/23
I saw the Atlanta Opera production of Rigoletto tonight and it was phenomenal. I happen to know a few people in the chorus, but I'm always down for some Verdi. Rigoletto, like other Italian tragedies, is basically the story of how only the blameless die and the guilty escape punishment altogether. While that may be ethically nauseating, it makes for good opera.
George Gagnidze (Rigoletto) was viscerally disturbed in his portrayal - sympathetic, pathetic, and menacing in-between. The award for the loudest voice on stage goes to Patrick Guetti (Sparafucile). Nearly everyone else was at a similar decibel level, but Patrick blew the roof off every time he opened his mouth. Powerful!
The set and the 1920's costumes were gorgeous and effective, but I would have preferred a slight change at the end. SPOILER ALERT: Rigoletto's daughter, Gilda, is killed by her father's hand. I'm grateful that director Tomer Zvulun didn't want her singing an extended solo while she dies in a bag, but depicting her as disembodied spirit on its way to heaven (thanks to the off-stage lighting) softens the blow to Rigoletto when he realizes what he's done. It diminishes the tragedy. A third option might have been for Gilda to sing as a hallucination. It's reasonable given Rigoletto's fragile state that the nature of Gilda's death would break his mind. Besides, using the promise of heaven as a narrative panacea is too easy. Zvulun might have the above in mind, but the lighting and the white dress are common tropes of heavenly journeys.
Congrats to Jason Royal and Eric Mask for their performance in the chorus. Excellent work!
10/13/23
Ahead of joining the group myself for their holiday concerts, I had the pleasure of hearing the Atlanta Master Chorale in mid October. They had such a beautiful, crystalline sound! While to some that might evoke the thought of clinically lifeless straight tone, the sound of the AMC was romantic and lush without being dominated by pitch-obfuscating vibrato. That said, they were a few choice moments when the music sounded more 'operatic.'
The concert highlights were Dan Forrest's The Sun Never Says, Michael Hennagin's Sunrise, Ēriks Ešenvalds' effervescent anthem, Stars, and conductor Eric Nelson's The Love of God. Special kudos to the AMC's virtuosic accompanist, Jonathan Easter!
What a glorious evening!
07/31/23
For the last few days, I've been at the 5th Tokyo International Choir Competition 東京国際合唱コンクール. What an amazing time it's been! I've connected with conductors and singers from all over the world + I got hear some stellar repertoire, replete with gorgeous attire and exuberant dancing. It was a privilege to have my piece, The Dreams of the Dreamer, selected as the set piece for the contemporary category. That meant that choirs from Indonesia, the Philippines, Hong Kong, and Japan each sang it as part of their set. I got to hear it 10 times! Each group brought something gloriously different to the music. I will never forget it.
It was wonderful to meet the hard-working jury: Jonathan Velasco, Brady Allred, Chiafen Weng, Jo-Michael Scheibe, Mihoko Tsutsumi, Wolfram Lattke and Daniel Knauft. Congratulations to Grand Prix winner Saint Angela Choir Bandung, conductor Roni Sugiarto, and composer/pianist Nicholas Río!
Thank you to Ko Matsushita, Momoka Tajima, Haruka Kanie and everyone at the TICC. I can't wait to come back to Japan!
06/24/23-07/01/23
The N.E.O. Voice Festival was this past week and it was an amazing time of exploring, connecting, and music-making. I learned so much and though there were many important moments throughout my time in Los Angeles, the performances stood out.
05/05/2023
The LSU Symphony Orchestra, A Cappella Choir, Chorale, and Tiger Glee Club closed out this academic year with a stirring performance of Margaret Bonds' Credo. It was an engaging capstone to Dr. Alissa Rowe's first year at LSU. It takes a certain bravery to program works such as these, especially in the Deep South, where the words of W.E.B. Du Bois aren't always welcome.
From the program note:
In the current climate of political unrest, when our nation continues to be divided by political affiliations and personal beliefs, the message of these words and music is still relevant. By performing this powerful piece, we honor the vision of Margaret Bonds when she wrote “I look forward to the time when Credo will move all over the world.”
For my part, it was a sensitive and exhilarating performance. Soloists Imani Francis and Nicklaus White were wonderful. The evening concluded with an important panel discussion of Bonds and Du Bois featuring Terence McKnight, Maxine Crump (Director of Dialogue on Race Louisiana), and Dr. Angeletta Gourdine (Professor of African Diaspora Studies, Gender Studies, and English at LSU).
Bravo!
04/20/2023
My composition recital, FireWaterHeart, was a wonderful success! It featured several premieres, along with new editions of older works, including Fire Island (now with piano), Water is taught by thirst (now with dance and sculpture), and my arrangement of Saturn by Sleeping at Last (now with strings). My heart thanks goes to my incredible collaborative pianist, Meredith Stemen, for her virtuosic performance and her amazing approach to the rehearsal process. Also, choreographer Irina Kruchinina, sculptor Thrasyvoulos Kalaitzidis, and dancers, Carolina Couto and LaDonna Quedraogo were fantastic!
With my impending graduation from Louisiana State University, this concert was the last time I would conduct as a student. It was a way for me to musically say goodbye to this place and these people. Though the repertoire was largely concerned with finite resources and how we often take them for granted, the more subtle takeaway was that time is precious and the time with spend with others doubly so.
From Fire-Flowers, text by Emily Pauline Johnson:
And only to the heart that knows of grief,
Of desolating fire, of human pain,
There comes some purifying sweet belief,
Some fellow-feeling beautiful, if brief.
And life revives, and blossoms once again.
More scores and recordings on the way!
03/24/2023
WORLD PREMIERE! My new work, O Sternenfall, was premiered by the LSU A Cappella Choir and I was fortunate enough to conduct the ensemble myself. O Sternenfall is an EDM-infused setting of a poetic fragment by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926) for choir and percussion.
From the program note:
Being essentially a pop song interpolated with elements of EDM, this work is less about florid melodies and voice leading, and more about engaging harmonic progressions and an infectious beat. The music proceeds through several sections typical of most pop songs while incorporating special effects and moments of polyphony rarely found in that style. Traditionally, EDM makes the listener wait for the drop (read: major climax) to the point of frenzied anticipation, but this music shouldn’t engender agitation - restlessness perhaps, not agitation. O Sternenfall is meant to not only capture the moment of seeing a falling star from a bridge, but also to function in the manner a distant yet beloved memory of such an event would behave - it rattles around the mind, hazy around the edges, the details less clear than the pensive emotion you felt at the time.
I have to mention my fantastic soloists, Smarlensly Alténor, Elijah Chambless, Mary Grasso, Reagan Nattinger, Sierra Shoemaker, Erin Slatton, Nicklaus White, and percussionists, Tyler Whitehead & Rosalinda Ramirez. Thank you for your subtle musicality!
The recording and score are forthcoming!
02/21-25/2023
ACDA in Cincinnati!
There were so many wonderful takeaways from the national conference last week. The Jason Max Ferdinand Singers and the Chamber Choirs from CSULB and the University of Akron were particular standouts. The kindling of relationships old and new refreshed my spirit. The premieres not simply of living composers, but of composers who were in the room (Saunder Choi, Sydney Guillaume, Kenyon Duncan, Mickey McGroarty, Jeffrey Derus) or performing themselves, gave me hope for the future of this artform. Perhaps the most significant lesson was that while there are still gate-keepers in one sense or another, the varied repertoire and the myriad messages therein affirmed that choral music is for everyone and everyone should have a place in it.
Lately, I've been thinking a great deal about what we do with what little time we have, but if I can do this with my life (conduct, sing, compose, teach, chat, drink, and stay up way too late), then it will be everything I need. Choral music gives me courage.
ALSO...
01/21/2023
The LSU Choral Symposium!
Earlier today, we had a fantastic workshop wherein we paired student composers from across Louisiana with graduate choral conductors from LSU for a full day of new music, coffee, pastries, new music, Lebanese food for lunch, and more new music, all while prospective LSU students were touring campus! A hearty congratulations goes to this year’s cohort of Composition Fellows for their evocative and imaginative work. As the Founder and Artistic Director of this project, I get a privileged look into not only the creative process of young composers, but I also get a unique perspective on who they are. What's their message? What do they want to say to the world? Most of the pieces fit into two camps: either they're clarion calls (warnings of danger and injustice) or they're statements of gratitude and peace. The texts could be original, biblical, or Shakespearean, but the core of the music reveals the same truth: that these young composers live with the cognitive dissonance of existential dread co-mingled with mindful appreciation - as if to say "I'm alarmed by climate change AND the stars are beautiful."
Stars may not be full restitution for all our ills, but they are a comfort.
12/02/2022
As they do every Fall, the LSU School of Music just completed their annual Candlelight Concert. While a major feature of the concert were the many mass number with nearly all the LSU choirs, including Michael Engelhardt's "And Suddenly" and Will Todd's "Three More Jazz Carols," the highlights for me were Margaret Bonds gorgeous "St. Francis Prayer" and the Louisiana premiere of my "Schneeflöckchen, Weißröckchen." Both were conducted by dear friends and colleagues of mine, Mary Grasso (MM '23) and Eunbae Jeon (DMA '23). Since my piece uses snow as a metaphor for reconciling childhood dreams with adult realities, the Union Theater projected snowflakes along the back wall, which was a nice touch. And what can I say about Eunbae? He deftly led the LSU A Cappella Choir through tenderness and heartbreak and back again. Sublime!
11/14/2022
The LSU School of Music just held their Undergraduate Composition Recital and it was wonderfully inventive and beautifully performed. There was a sensitive art song for mezzo soprano and string quartet that was giving off strong Baroque opera vibes, a philosophical tone poem for chamber orchestra that featured virtuosic meter changes, and startling piece of performance art with stream-of-consciousness poetry, a triangle, a call bell, and finger painting. It brought back so many memories of coordinating my own undergrad composition recital and how stressful it was. Major kudos to all the featured composers and to the organizers.
It was a wild evening. I love seeing how young minds interpret the world with music.
09/08/2022
This week, I heard the European premiere of A Voice is Heard in Ramah by Dr. Ethan Sperry and the Portland State Chamber Choir at the World Choral Expo in Lisbon Portugal. I can't overstate how big this was. Frieder Bernius, Founder and Conductor of the Kammerchor Stuttgart was in the audience; as was María Guinand, Jan Schumacher, Ki Adams, the leadership of the International Federation for Choral Music and conductors from all over the world. It was a glorious week of concerts and presentations. Hearing choirs from Canada, Namibia, Portugal, the Netherlands, Germany, Jordan, and the US share concerts stages is an unbelievably inspiring and rare occasion. If you ever have the opportunity to attend an IFCM event, especially the expo or symposium, do it! What glorious time this has been! I also had the joy of running into Dr. Edith Copley, Professor Emeritus from Northern Arizona University, and many others.
I've been fortunate to hear several different alto soloists on Ramah and they each bring something unique to the music. A soloist who pours themselves into the music is able to pull all sorts of delicious inflections from the score that even I didn't envision.
07/02/2022
Tonight was the night! Choral Arts Initiative premiered my piece Paradise as part of the PREMIERE|Project Festival. Thank you to Brandon Elliott, Connor Scott, Kyrstin Ohta, Lorraine Joy Welling and all of the stellar choral artists for a glorious week of music-making. Also a special thank you to Dominick DiOrio, Dale Trumbore, Derrick Skye and the wonderful cohort of composers! I learned so much from each of you!
It was an exhilarating concert, filled with as many styles as there were composer's on the program. I could talk at length about each one of them, but what was plainly evident was that each composer attempted to capture what it's like to be alive right now - full of grief and anxiety, scared for the future, but also courageous. I was honored to be among them.
06/02/2022
Prior to Dr. Ethan Sperry's arrival, the Portland State Chamber Choir was conducted by Dr. Bruce Browne and founded by Dr. David Wilson. Sadly, both Drs. Browne and Wilson passed away during the pandemic and the generations of musicians they left behind have been unable to properly honor them, until now. This past Sunday, the Chamber Choir and over 60 alumni joined together for a fitting tribute to their legacy and I was lucky enough to join them. But that wasn't the only reason I was there.
Ethan had invited me to join Chamber choir for their Friday rehearsal, ahead of any alumni, because he had a surprise up his sleeve. They sang my music. A Voice is Heard in Ramah was written in 2019 as a window into the anger and sorrow that comes from the cyclical nature of violence, especially against children. Finally hearing it live was eviscerating, and it was even more poignant given the shooting in Uvalde,Texas a few short days prior.
The Chamber Choir brilliantly performed my piece on the concert, and I learned that they would be taking it on tour to the World Choral Expo in Lisbon, Portugal! I also got to meet several other excellent PSU composers while I was there, including Justin Miller, Nicholas Nipp, and Henry Alexander. I'm honored to be on the program with you!
I can't thank Ethan and the members of Chamber Choir enough for bring my music to life and a special thank you to Della Simone for her powerful, heartrending solo.
05/08/2022
The choral department at Louisiana State University has been in transition this past year. After the retirement of Dr. John Dickson, it was announced that while they conducted a search for his successor, professor emeritus Dr. Kenneth Fulton would be returning and that Dr. Edith Copley (newly retired from Northern Arizona University) would join LSU faculty member Dr. Trey Davis in leading A Cappella Choir.
On May 6th, we had the final concert of the year under the baton of Dr. Copley and what a wonderful way to end 21-22! We sang Derrick Skye's A Vision Unfolding, Rosephanye Powell's To Sit and Dream, Ēriks Ešenvalds' Rivers of Light, along with several other pieces. LSU Chorale and Tiger Glee Club also performed and they sounded marvelous! A special shoutout to LSU violin professor Espen Lilleslåtten for his silky and resonant performance of Vaugh Williams' Serenade to Music with the combined choirs. I learned so much from watching these three masterful conductors this year!
AND NOW the search has concluded. The next Director of Choral Studies at LSU will be Dr. Alissa Rowe!
www.lsu.edu/cmda/music/blog/public/alissa-rowe.php
03/20/2022
Orson Rehearsed by Daron Hagen @ the LSU Turner-Fischer Center for Opera
Most of the time, I find operas to be wildly unbelievable - not simply because they have fantastical or ridiculous plots, or even because they’re often over-acted (or under-acted). It’s mainly because of character development. I find myself in the theatre thinking “Nobody who isn’t on mood elevating medication would think that, or say that, or do that.” No matter the setting, be it ancient Egypt or the 1960’s, the characters should still be human beings, not caricatures of human beings. This is why Orson Rehearsed was so refreshing. Though time became unhinged, it’s entirely believable that the last few seconds of consciousness are filled with a jumble of significant memories. We’ve all heard the adage about that, but here, the seemingly chaotic recollections form a narrative all their own.
This opera is well written for voices and the combination of the three leads sound nearly choral. The orchestration makes way for the voice, supporting the singers with a wide variety of colors. The three leads(in both casts) absolutely chewed the scenery. It was interesting to see which incarnations of Orson actually interreacted with each other. It’s seemed like the two Orsons from the past were comforting the Orson who currently is, but it was unclear whether the current Orson realized who was with him.
I adored the video component. It added a sense of desolation. The barrage of simple images and the countdowns ratcheted up the tension from scene to scene. Rather than simply being a novelty, it was integral to the both the plot and the overall aesthetic. Furthermore, Orson Welles was a film maker himself, so it made sense that he would be seeing replays in his dying moments. I told the composer afterwards that it was the longest and most glorious death scene I had ever witnessed. Far from dying of a broken heart or singing an aria after getting stabbed in the neck or being dragged to hell as in so many other operas, Orson Rehearsed was legitimately convincing.
This isn’t your grandma’s park and bark. This is the future.
www.lsu.edu/cmda/music/programs/opera/index.php
02/13/2022
Everywhere is Music.
This weekend, I had the distinct pleasure of experiencing the 11th anniversary of the Experimental Music and Digital Music program at Louisiana State University. What an exhilarating and fascinating celebration!
For a long time, I was under the grave misapprehension that much of electronic music sounds…well, electronic; as if it comes from a lab rather than a studio - clinical, calculating, and inhuman. Not only was a wrong, I was spectacularly wrong. The incomparable Pamela Z and the featured student composers created sound worlds that showcased the versatility of this artform magnificently. This music has an immediacy, a vulnerability that makes it more accessible and emotionally engaging than I would have thought. It was comforting and terrifying. It was eviscerating as only the best music can be.
I was amazed at the creativity. I heard a brand-new ukulele comforting an older ukulele in disrepair. I heard a flower bloom across the strings of a cello. I heard the sporadically canonic recitation of poetry. I saw someone swim. I felt someone breathe.
The most salient take away for me was that music is everywhere. Music is in the airport, on city streets, in darkened alleys. Music lives in between our words and between our moments of attention. One of Pamela Z’s most touching pieces was “Unknown Person” from Baggage Allowance. She saw music in the script we all hear every time we check our bags for a flight. How beautifully disorienting to be so moved by something we normally take for granted!
It was a fantastic series of concerts and presentations! Thank you and congratulations to Dr. Jesse Allison the EMDM program, and all their students. And thank you to Pamela Z for opening the eyes of my ears.
www.pamelaz.com/
At Mountain Park United Methodist Church, I had the great pleasure of hosting my friend and colleague, Dr. Irina Kruchinina from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill for a collaborative performance with the combined forces of our chancel choir, handbells, organist, string ensemble, and Kumanta, a new youth choir in Gwinnett County. The Christmas favorite, In the Bleak Midwinter was accompanied by Irina and our youth singers performing her original choreography. With candlelight and virtuosic dexterity, Irina took us on a journey through the cold of night to find each other. When we feel poor in every other respect, we can still give our heart, our empathy to those around us.
PLUS, it happened to be the same weekend as my performances with the Atlanta Master Chorale. Irina had travelled to Atlanta with her mom and they were both able to attend! What a glorious weekend! I love big music, immersive lighting, and all the spectacle, but perhaps the holiday season is more about deepening our connections... My heart may have grown three sizes.
11/08/2024
OK, time for what might be a hot take. Back to the Atlanta Opera for Magic Flute. It's an old notion that Magic Flute is unapologetically patriarchal, and while this production absolutely lavish and well-sung, it did nothing to remove the bitter taste of Sarastro's menacing benevolence. While it could be said that there's value in laying bare a character's terrible behavior, in this case, that behavior is nonsensical and abhorrent enough to distract from the music. Which is the sole reason anyone mounts this opera - the music. It's certainly not for the plot. How could it be? The Queen of the Night is denied power that is rightfully hers, she was betrayed by her late husband (which is never explored), her daughter gets abducted by a self-righteous blowhard (magnificently sung by Peixen Chen) and is almost assaulted by HIS guard, then the queen is defeated by that same power while her daughter marries an unknown prince. Oh, and there's a talking bird for comic relief. I realize there's deep history to this work around masonic symbolism and political propaganda, AND I don't really care. The production? Stunning in every way. The opera itself? Fantastical and a little dumb.
Special congratulations to the Queen of the Night, Rainelle Krause! Long may she reign!
05/19/24
I made it back to PDX for a few days! Pentecost Sunday, conductor Allison Cottrell, organist Jonas Nordwall, and the fabulous Chancel Choir from First United Methodist Church PDX premiered Meditations on Fire. The work is both a re-envisioning of Hildegard von Bingen’s O Ignis Spiritus and a new setting of text by Louisiana poet-laureate and my friend, Ava Leavell Haymon. Inspired by a journey to Nepal, Ava’s words beautifully capture the spiral nature of the social and spiritual utility of fire.
The performance was exhilarating and the rehearsal process was so fulfilling. The entire weekend proved to be a conflagration of lifelines. Not only are Allison and her husband, Lennie, fast friends from PSU, so to were a great many of the singers in the choir. Additionally, many of my ISing Choir and Oregon Chorale friends came to the performance, as did Luna, my organist from a previous church job, and Ava herself flew in from Houston.
“Without fire, this is no life.
Without life, there is no death.
Without death, there is no fire.”
PLUS, that afternoon, the Portland State University Chamber Choir gave an exemplary performance of A Voice is Heard in Ramah and I learned that they would be taking it to Skywalker Sound to recorded it for their next album.
PLUS, I was able to see my oldest childhood friend and his parents before I left.
While life can sometimes gorge itself on disappointment, rejection, and darkness, it can also be warm and kind, full of music and laughter, as if the universe itself were somehow ticklish. I'm grateful for when the balance shifts to the latter.
05/06/24
Tonight at the Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia, I had the pleasure of attending the final Ensemble VIM concert of their season. Not only are they each virtuosic players in their own right, the interplay between was captivating. The concert featured Missy Mazzoli's Vespers for violin and live electronics, transcribed for cello, alongside Treya Nash's glorious fever dream, Alice in Wonderland. Alice is a story I have always loved. So it was a special joy to see it play out live with projections, narration, and dance.
The concert concluded with a premiere by the 23-24 VIM composition fellow, Ryne Siesky, and the announcement of next year's composition fellows and their artistic partners, Kelly Taylor Mitchell, Chelsea Loew, Martha Whittington, June Young Kim, Alan Caoman Xie, and Ofir Klemperer. Congratulations!
Being that I concertize so much myself, I rarely have an opportunity to attended anything aside from my own performances. That said, Treya Nash is a friend from my LSU days; and that fact that she was a having an important performance literally down the street from where I live, on a free evening, meant that I simply couldn't pass it up. It was wonderful. I need to go to more weird stuff.
03/15/24
After a successful collaborative process with Kerem Ergener, a PH.D candidate at LSU in electronic music and digital media, and Dr. Alissa Rowe, Director of Choral Studies at LSU, we made it to premiere of Puis qu'en oubli, a modern re-imagining of a 700-year-old rondeau by Guillaume de Machaut. Originally, the straightforward rondeau was for three voice. I expanded it it out to SATB + div and Kerem added the live electronics. During the premiere, the electronic sounds were created live on stage from the sounds of the LSU A Cappella Choir. The swelling tones and glitchy textures were layered with the voices to create a unique sound not often heard in choral concerts. The whole endeavor was a great success and Kerem is a true artist. I was amazed at how he was able to manipulate the sounds of the choir while simultaneously playing them back live on stage, seconds after recording them. While initially a little skeptical, the choir eventually bought in and gave an emotionally raw performance.
What a great start to an ongoing project! More collabs to come!
11/10/23
I saw the Atlanta Opera production of Rigoletto tonight and it was phenomenal. I happen to know a few people in the chorus, but I'm always down for some Verdi. Rigoletto, like other Italian tragedies, is basically the story of how only the blameless die and the guilty escape punishment altogether. While that may be ethically nauseating, it makes for good opera.
George Gagnidze (Rigoletto) was viscerally disturbed in his portrayal - sympathetic, pathetic, and menacing in-between. The award for the loudest voice on stage goes to Patrick Guetti (Sparafucile). Nearly everyone else was at a similar decibel level, but Patrick blew the roof off every time he opened his mouth. Powerful!
The set and the 1920's costumes were gorgeous and effective, but I would have preferred a slight change at the end. SPOILER ALERT: Rigoletto's daughter, Gilda, is killed by her father's hand. I'm grateful that director Tomer Zvulun didn't want her singing an extended solo while she dies in a bag, but depicting her as disembodied spirit on its way to heaven (thanks to the off-stage lighting) softens the blow to Rigoletto when he realizes what he's done. It diminishes the tragedy. A third option might have been for Gilda to sing as a hallucination. It's reasonable given Rigoletto's fragile state that the nature of Gilda's death would break his mind. Besides, using the promise of heaven as a narrative panacea is too easy. Zvulun might have the above in mind, but the lighting and the white dress are common tropes of heavenly journeys.
Congrats to Jason Royal and Eric Mask for their performance in the chorus. Excellent work!
10/13/23
Ahead of joining the group myself for their holiday concerts, I had the pleasure of hearing the Atlanta Master Chorale in mid October. They had such a beautiful, crystalline sound! While to some that might evoke the thought of clinically lifeless straight tone, the sound of the AMC was romantic and lush without being dominated by pitch-obfuscating vibrato. That said, they were a few choice moments when the music sounded more 'operatic.'
The concert highlights were Dan Forrest's The Sun Never Says, Michael Hennagin's Sunrise, Ēriks Ešenvalds' effervescent anthem, Stars, and conductor Eric Nelson's The Love of God. Special kudos to the AMC's virtuosic accompanist, Jonathan Easter!
What a glorious evening!
07/31/23
For the last few days, I've been at the 5th Tokyo International Choir Competition 東京国際合唱コンクール. What an amazing time it's been! I've connected with conductors and singers from all over the world + I got hear some stellar repertoire, replete with gorgeous attire and exuberant dancing. It was a privilege to have my piece, The Dreams of the Dreamer, selected as the set piece for the contemporary category. That meant that choirs from Indonesia, the Philippines, Hong Kong, and Japan each sang it as part of their set. I got to hear it 10 times! Each group brought something gloriously different to the music. I will never forget it.
It was wonderful to meet the hard-working jury: Jonathan Velasco, Brady Allred, Chiafen Weng, Jo-Michael Scheibe, Mihoko Tsutsumi, Wolfram Lattke and Daniel Knauft. Congratulations to Grand Prix winner Saint Angela Choir Bandung, conductor Roni Sugiarto, and composer/pianist Nicholas Río!
Thank you to Ko Matsushita, Momoka Tajima, Haruka Kanie and everyone at the TICC. I can't wait to come back to Japan!
06/24/23-07/01/23
The N.E.O. Voice Festival was this past week and it was an amazing time of exploring, connecting, and music-making. I learned so much and though there were many important moments throughout my time in Los Angeles, the performances stood out.
- June 24 - Out of the Box Concert: This was a stellar evening of mainly solo works that put the flexibility of the human voice on full display. Where could you possibly hear John Dowland and a free improvisation for two megaphones on the same program? Special mention to Rachel Steinke and Molly Pease for some of the most glorious and inventive music I've heard in a long time.
- June 25 - FCCLA Service: The festival chorus and the FCCLA Cathedral Choir premiered Quien ama la música. This was the first time it had ever been performed live. I made a virtual recording back in 2020 and I love the ISing Choir for their work on that project, but to hear it actually come out of people's mouths in such a reverberant space was wonderful!
- June 28 - Immersive Stimmung: Written by Karlheinz Stockhausen in 1968, Stimmung, for six vocalists and six microphones, is the first major Western composition to be based entirely on the production of vocal harmonics (overtones). The work also features eclectic poetry to be read aloud by various performers. The LA-based virtuoso sextet HEX performed the work with subtle grace and solemnity. Not only that, HEX added props to accompany the mythological elements in the score and the audience was provided with a special version of the score so they could join in when appropriate. It was otherworldly.
- July 1 - Exploratorio: The capstone of the festival was the Exploratorio on Saturday night. The resident composers, singers, and organists came together to perform 13 premieres, one of which was unattainable, my setting of text by Fernando Pessoa for bass soloist, choir and organ. Conductor Dr. David Harris, bass Scott Graff and organist Abe Ross tore it up! What an honor it was to work with them and be on the same program as so many other accomplished musicians!
05/05/2023
The LSU Symphony Orchestra, A Cappella Choir, Chorale, and Tiger Glee Club closed out this academic year with a stirring performance of Margaret Bonds' Credo. It was an engaging capstone to Dr. Alissa Rowe's first year at LSU. It takes a certain bravery to program works such as these, especially in the Deep South, where the words of W.E.B. Du Bois aren't always welcome.
From the program note:
In the current climate of political unrest, when our nation continues to be divided by political affiliations and personal beliefs, the message of these words and music is still relevant. By performing this powerful piece, we honor the vision of Margaret Bonds when she wrote “I look forward to the time when Credo will move all over the world.”
For my part, it was a sensitive and exhilarating performance. Soloists Imani Francis and Nicklaus White were wonderful. The evening concluded with an important panel discussion of Bonds and Du Bois featuring Terence McKnight, Maxine Crump (Director of Dialogue on Race Louisiana), and Dr. Angeletta Gourdine (Professor of African Diaspora Studies, Gender Studies, and English at LSU).
Bravo!
04/20/2023
My composition recital, FireWaterHeart, was a wonderful success! It featured several premieres, along with new editions of older works, including Fire Island (now with piano), Water is taught by thirst (now with dance and sculpture), and my arrangement of Saturn by Sleeping at Last (now with strings). My heart thanks goes to my incredible collaborative pianist, Meredith Stemen, for her virtuosic performance and her amazing approach to the rehearsal process. Also, choreographer Irina Kruchinina, sculptor Thrasyvoulos Kalaitzidis, and dancers, Carolina Couto and LaDonna Quedraogo were fantastic!
With my impending graduation from Louisiana State University, this concert was the last time I would conduct as a student. It was a way for me to musically say goodbye to this place and these people. Though the repertoire was largely concerned with finite resources and how we often take them for granted, the more subtle takeaway was that time is precious and the time with spend with others doubly so.
From Fire-Flowers, text by Emily Pauline Johnson:
And only to the heart that knows of grief,
Of desolating fire, of human pain,
There comes some purifying sweet belief,
Some fellow-feeling beautiful, if brief.
And life revives, and blossoms once again.
More scores and recordings on the way!
03/24/2023
WORLD PREMIERE! My new work, O Sternenfall, was premiered by the LSU A Cappella Choir and I was fortunate enough to conduct the ensemble myself. O Sternenfall is an EDM-infused setting of a poetic fragment by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926) for choir and percussion.
From the program note:
Being essentially a pop song interpolated with elements of EDM, this work is less about florid melodies and voice leading, and more about engaging harmonic progressions and an infectious beat. The music proceeds through several sections typical of most pop songs while incorporating special effects and moments of polyphony rarely found in that style. Traditionally, EDM makes the listener wait for the drop (read: major climax) to the point of frenzied anticipation, but this music shouldn’t engender agitation - restlessness perhaps, not agitation. O Sternenfall is meant to not only capture the moment of seeing a falling star from a bridge, but also to function in the manner a distant yet beloved memory of such an event would behave - it rattles around the mind, hazy around the edges, the details less clear than the pensive emotion you felt at the time.
I have to mention my fantastic soloists, Smarlensly Alténor, Elijah Chambless, Mary Grasso, Reagan Nattinger, Sierra Shoemaker, Erin Slatton, Nicklaus White, and percussionists, Tyler Whitehead & Rosalinda Ramirez. Thank you for your subtle musicality!
The recording and score are forthcoming!
02/21-25/2023
ACDA in Cincinnati!
There were so many wonderful takeaways from the national conference last week. The Jason Max Ferdinand Singers and the Chamber Choirs from CSULB and the University of Akron were particular standouts. The kindling of relationships old and new refreshed my spirit. The premieres not simply of living composers, but of composers who were in the room (Saunder Choi, Sydney Guillaume, Kenyon Duncan, Mickey McGroarty, Jeffrey Derus) or performing themselves, gave me hope for the future of this artform. Perhaps the most significant lesson was that while there are still gate-keepers in one sense or another, the varied repertoire and the myriad messages therein affirmed that choral music is for everyone and everyone should have a place in it.
Lately, I've been thinking a great deal about what we do with what little time we have, but if I can do this with my life (conduct, sing, compose, teach, chat, drink, and stay up way too late), then it will be everything I need. Choral music gives me courage.
ALSO...
- I was great to see so many new faces at the Composer Fair and what an honor it was to share the space with Dominick DiOrio, Mari Esabel Valverde, Melissa Dunphy, Michael Bussewitz-Quarm, Jen Wagner, and so many more!
- I am so proud of the conducting studio at Louisiana State University. Our booth at the College Fair was hopping and I'm told that our alumni reception was the bougiest yet - lights, food, and so many beads!
- Thank you to Mark Boyle and his team for their amazing work on the conference app and to David Fryling for his leadership of the entire conference.
01/21/2023
The LSU Choral Symposium!
Earlier today, we had a fantastic workshop wherein we paired student composers from across Louisiana with graduate choral conductors from LSU for a full day of new music, coffee, pastries, new music, Lebanese food for lunch, and more new music, all while prospective LSU students were touring campus! A hearty congratulations goes to this year’s cohort of Composition Fellows for their evocative and imaginative work. As the Founder and Artistic Director of this project, I get a privileged look into not only the creative process of young composers, but I also get a unique perspective on who they are. What's their message? What do they want to say to the world? Most of the pieces fit into two camps: either they're clarion calls (warnings of danger and injustice) or they're statements of gratitude and peace. The texts could be original, biblical, or Shakespearean, but the core of the music reveals the same truth: that these young composers live with the cognitive dissonance of existential dread co-mingled with mindful appreciation - as if to say "I'm alarmed by climate change AND the stars are beautiful."
Stars may not be full restitution for all our ills, but they are a comfort.
12/02/2022
As they do every Fall, the LSU School of Music just completed their annual Candlelight Concert. While a major feature of the concert were the many mass number with nearly all the LSU choirs, including Michael Engelhardt's "And Suddenly" and Will Todd's "Three More Jazz Carols," the highlights for me were Margaret Bonds gorgeous "St. Francis Prayer" and the Louisiana premiere of my "Schneeflöckchen, Weißröckchen." Both were conducted by dear friends and colleagues of mine, Mary Grasso (MM '23) and Eunbae Jeon (DMA '23). Since my piece uses snow as a metaphor for reconciling childhood dreams with adult realities, the Union Theater projected snowflakes along the back wall, which was a nice touch. And what can I say about Eunbae? He deftly led the LSU A Cappella Choir through tenderness and heartbreak and back again. Sublime!
11/14/2022
The LSU School of Music just held their Undergraduate Composition Recital and it was wonderfully inventive and beautifully performed. There was a sensitive art song for mezzo soprano and string quartet that was giving off strong Baroque opera vibes, a philosophical tone poem for chamber orchestra that featured virtuosic meter changes, and startling piece of performance art with stream-of-consciousness poetry, a triangle, a call bell, and finger painting. It brought back so many memories of coordinating my own undergrad composition recital and how stressful it was. Major kudos to all the featured composers and to the organizers.
It was a wild evening. I love seeing how young minds interpret the world with music.
09/08/2022
This week, I heard the European premiere of A Voice is Heard in Ramah by Dr. Ethan Sperry and the Portland State Chamber Choir at the World Choral Expo in Lisbon Portugal. I can't overstate how big this was. Frieder Bernius, Founder and Conductor of the Kammerchor Stuttgart was in the audience; as was María Guinand, Jan Schumacher, Ki Adams, the leadership of the International Federation for Choral Music and conductors from all over the world. It was a glorious week of concerts and presentations. Hearing choirs from Canada, Namibia, Portugal, the Netherlands, Germany, Jordan, and the US share concerts stages is an unbelievably inspiring and rare occasion. If you ever have the opportunity to attend an IFCM event, especially the expo or symposium, do it! What glorious time this has been! I also had the joy of running into Dr. Edith Copley, Professor Emeritus from Northern Arizona University, and many others.
I've been fortunate to hear several different alto soloists on Ramah and they each bring something unique to the music. A soloist who pours themselves into the music is able to pull all sorts of delicious inflections from the score that even I didn't envision.
07/02/2022
Tonight was the night! Choral Arts Initiative premiered my piece Paradise as part of the PREMIERE|Project Festival. Thank you to Brandon Elliott, Connor Scott, Kyrstin Ohta, Lorraine Joy Welling and all of the stellar choral artists for a glorious week of music-making. Also a special thank you to Dominick DiOrio, Dale Trumbore, Derrick Skye and the wonderful cohort of composers! I learned so much from each of you!
It was an exhilarating concert, filled with as many styles as there were composer's on the program. I could talk at length about each one of them, but what was plainly evident was that each composer attempted to capture what it's like to be alive right now - full of grief and anxiety, scared for the future, but also courageous. I was honored to be among them.
06/02/2022
Prior to Dr. Ethan Sperry's arrival, the Portland State Chamber Choir was conducted by Dr. Bruce Browne and founded by Dr. David Wilson. Sadly, both Drs. Browne and Wilson passed away during the pandemic and the generations of musicians they left behind have been unable to properly honor them, until now. This past Sunday, the Chamber Choir and over 60 alumni joined together for a fitting tribute to their legacy and I was lucky enough to join them. But that wasn't the only reason I was there.
Ethan had invited me to join Chamber choir for their Friday rehearsal, ahead of any alumni, because he had a surprise up his sleeve. They sang my music. A Voice is Heard in Ramah was written in 2019 as a window into the anger and sorrow that comes from the cyclical nature of violence, especially against children. Finally hearing it live was eviscerating, and it was even more poignant given the shooting in Uvalde,Texas a few short days prior.
The Chamber Choir brilliantly performed my piece on the concert, and I learned that they would be taking it on tour to the World Choral Expo in Lisbon, Portugal! I also got to meet several other excellent PSU composers while I was there, including Justin Miller, Nicholas Nipp, and Henry Alexander. I'm honored to be on the program with you!
I can't thank Ethan and the members of Chamber Choir enough for bring my music to life and a special thank you to Della Simone for her powerful, heartrending solo.
05/08/2022
The choral department at Louisiana State University has been in transition this past year. After the retirement of Dr. John Dickson, it was announced that while they conducted a search for his successor, professor emeritus Dr. Kenneth Fulton would be returning and that Dr. Edith Copley (newly retired from Northern Arizona University) would join LSU faculty member Dr. Trey Davis in leading A Cappella Choir.
On May 6th, we had the final concert of the year under the baton of Dr. Copley and what a wonderful way to end 21-22! We sang Derrick Skye's A Vision Unfolding, Rosephanye Powell's To Sit and Dream, Ēriks Ešenvalds' Rivers of Light, along with several other pieces. LSU Chorale and Tiger Glee Club also performed and they sounded marvelous! A special shoutout to LSU violin professor Espen Lilleslåtten for his silky and resonant performance of Vaugh Williams' Serenade to Music with the combined choirs. I learned so much from watching these three masterful conductors this year!
AND NOW the search has concluded. The next Director of Choral Studies at LSU will be Dr. Alissa Rowe!
www.lsu.edu/cmda/music/blog/public/alissa-rowe.php
03/20/2022
Orson Rehearsed by Daron Hagen @ the LSU Turner-Fischer Center for Opera
Most of the time, I find operas to be wildly unbelievable - not simply because they have fantastical or ridiculous plots, or even because they’re often over-acted (or under-acted). It’s mainly because of character development. I find myself in the theatre thinking “Nobody who isn’t on mood elevating medication would think that, or say that, or do that.” No matter the setting, be it ancient Egypt or the 1960’s, the characters should still be human beings, not caricatures of human beings. This is why Orson Rehearsed was so refreshing. Though time became unhinged, it’s entirely believable that the last few seconds of consciousness are filled with a jumble of significant memories. We’ve all heard the adage about that, but here, the seemingly chaotic recollections form a narrative all their own.
This opera is well written for voices and the combination of the three leads sound nearly choral. The orchestration makes way for the voice, supporting the singers with a wide variety of colors. The three leads(in both casts) absolutely chewed the scenery. It was interesting to see which incarnations of Orson actually interreacted with each other. It’s seemed like the two Orsons from the past were comforting the Orson who currently is, but it was unclear whether the current Orson realized who was with him.
I adored the video component. It added a sense of desolation. The barrage of simple images and the countdowns ratcheted up the tension from scene to scene. Rather than simply being a novelty, it was integral to the both the plot and the overall aesthetic. Furthermore, Orson Welles was a film maker himself, so it made sense that he would be seeing replays in his dying moments. I told the composer afterwards that it was the longest and most glorious death scene I had ever witnessed. Far from dying of a broken heart or singing an aria after getting stabbed in the neck or being dragged to hell as in so many other operas, Orson Rehearsed was legitimately convincing.
This isn’t your grandma’s park and bark. This is the future.
www.lsu.edu/cmda/music/programs/opera/index.php
02/13/2022
Everywhere is Music.
This weekend, I had the distinct pleasure of experiencing the 11th anniversary of the Experimental Music and Digital Music program at Louisiana State University. What an exhilarating and fascinating celebration!
For a long time, I was under the grave misapprehension that much of electronic music sounds…well, electronic; as if it comes from a lab rather than a studio - clinical, calculating, and inhuman. Not only was a wrong, I was spectacularly wrong. The incomparable Pamela Z and the featured student composers created sound worlds that showcased the versatility of this artform magnificently. This music has an immediacy, a vulnerability that makes it more accessible and emotionally engaging than I would have thought. It was comforting and terrifying. It was eviscerating as only the best music can be.
I was amazed at the creativity. I heard a brand-new ukulele comforting an older ukulele in disrepair. I heard a flower bloom across the strings of a cello. I heard the sporadically canonic recitation of poetry. I saw someone swim. I felt someone breathe.
The most salient take away for me was that music is everywhere. Music is in the airport, on city streets, in darkened alleys. Music lives in between our words and between our moments of attention. One of Pamela Z’s most touching pieces was “Unknown Person” from Baggage Allowance. She saw music in the script we all hear every time we check our bags for a flight. How beautifully disorienting to be so moved by something we normally take for granted!
It was a fantastic series of concerts and presentations! Thank you and congratulations to Dr. Jesse Allison the EMDM program, and all their students. And thank you to Pamela Z for opening the eyes of my ears.
www.pamelaz.com/
"DAVID" Monogram by Rebecca Walters | [email protected]
Photography by Steve West | https://stevewestphoto.com/
Photography by Steve West | https://stevewestphoto.com/