Society for New Music presents
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F O S O N U O I N S I D A Celebration of NEW MUSIC AND DANCE
Feb. 16-18, 2024
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SYRACUSE
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GENEVA
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ROCHESTER
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7:30pm, FRIDAY The Palace Theatre, 2384 James St, Syracuse, NY Tickets: $20, $15 students & seniors, 18 & under are free
7:30pm, SATURDAY Deming Theater, Gearan Center for the Performing Arts Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Geneva, NY
2:00pm, SUNDAY Linehan Chapel, Golisano Academic Center Nazareth University, Rochester, NY
Composers: Octavio Vazquez, Jaclyn Breeze, Nicolas Scherzinger, Ivan Malcolm, Samuel Evans, Paul Leary, Daniel Thomas Davis, Mark Olivieri Choreographers: Heather Roffe, Aaron Loux, Maya June Dwyer, Rosita Adamo, Kaley Pruitt, Angela Lopez, Brian Lawson, Aldo Kattón Society Players: Lana Stafford, flutes; Marcy Bacon, clarinets; Margaret Leenhouts, violin; Zachary Sweet, cello; Sar-Shalom Strong, piano; Heather Buchman & Octavio Vazquez, conductors
ELL LIVE W E F I D Remembering AL Neva Pilgrim (1938-2024)
MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR NEVA PILGRIM
Sunday, February 25, 2024 (2pm) ‘
St. Paul s Episcopal Church
220 E. Fayette St. Syracuse, New York 13202
Photo: Randi Anglin
Photo: Tim O'Shea
The Society Players and the St. Paul’s choir and organist will provide music for the memorial service with a world premiere work composed for the occasion as would befit our beloved leader's lifelong commitment to new music. Neva Pilgrim co-founded the Society for New Music in 1971.
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In Tribute: Neva Pilgrim (1938-2024) For over six decades Neva Pilgrim served as a guiding light in the music community, her influence extending far beyond Central New York. A highly respected singer specializing in new music, she worked with many of the foremost composers of the late 20th century and had a national profile with many recording credits. She advocated tirelessly for new music, composers, and musicians throughout her life, founding the Society for New Music in 1971 with the mission of presenting and promoting new music and the vitality of the broader music community. For over 52 years Neva ran SNM from her home, growing the Society and its programs to include a year-round season of over 30 concerts, including the month-long summer arts festival Cazenovia Counterpoint. Under her guidance SNM has commissioned new works every year by Central New York-based composers; staged several chamber operas, including several celebrating the history and cultural figures of New York State; and produced the annual Vision of Sound programs. SNM has released recordings of works from over 36 composers commissioned by the ensemble. A recently released recording won a SAMMY and was nominated for a GRAMMY. SNM is the oldest year-round new music ensemble in the state outside of New York City. Under Neva’s leadership SNM has received awards and recognitions from ASCAP, Chamber Music America, the American Music Center, and the American Composers Alliance, and has received numerous grants from NYSCA, the National Endowment for the Arts, and other foundations and funds supporting the arts. For 20 years Neva produced and hosted the weekly new music radio show Fresh Ink on WCNY Classic FM, which reached audiences nationally and even internationally. Her knowledge of new music and composers was encyclopedic, and her programming prowess and radio presence made new music accessible across the radio station’s local and streaming audiences, reaching around the globe. Neva was also a sought-after and greatly respected teacher, known for her deep technical understanding of the voice; she served on the voice faculty at both Syracuse University and Colgate University, as well as teaching in her own studio. She personally coached and rehearsed the singers in the many vocal works and chamber operas that SNM produced. Another cause especially important to her was supporting young and emerging musicians and composers; her initiatives in this area included the Rising Stars program and Young Composers Corner (both part of Cazenovia Counterpoint), and Composers in Schools. Finally, Neva was regarded as one of the true pillars of the music and artistic community in Upstate New York. Her work brought together multiple generations of musicians from around the region, gave them encouragement and artistic opportunities, forged collaborations with artists across disciplines, and helped demystify new music and bring it to new audiences. She was one of those individuals who continually elevated and transformed her community and the countless individuals whose lives she touched. The composer Robert Morris aptly described Neva as a “bodhisattva of new music” – a being who works tirelessly for the benefit of others. As we work to carry on her vision, we are inspired daily by her boundless energy, by her selflessness in service to new music, musicians, and the arts, and by the grace and beauty she brought into the world. —Heather Buchman, President, Board of Directors, Society for New Music
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OF SOUN N O I IS D TABLE OF CONTENTS
Neva Pilgrim (1938-2024) Memorial Service & Tribute................................................1 TABLE OF CONTENTS.........................................................................................................3 PROGRAM.............................................................................................................................4 ABOUT THE ARTISTS (in program order).........................................................................8 Octavio Vazquez, composer & conductor...................................................................8 Heather Roffe, choreographer.......................................................................................9 Jaclyn Breeze, composer................................................................................................9 Aaron Loux, choreographer ..........................................................................................10 Nicolas Scherzinger, composer....................................................................................10 Maya June Dwyer, choreographer.................................................................................11 Ivan Malcolm, composer................................................................................................12 Rosita Adamo, choreographer......................................................................................12 Samuel Evans, composer...............................................................................................13 Kaley Pruitt, choreographer...........................................................................................13 Paul Leary, composer.....................................................................................................14 Angela Lopez, choreographer.......................................................................................14 Daniel Thomas Davis, composer..................................................................................14 Brian Lawson, choreographer........................................................................................15 Mark Olivieri, composer.................................................................................................16 Aldo Kattón, choreographer..........................................................................................16 ABOUT THE MUSICIANS...................................................................................................17 UPCOMING EVENTS..........................................................................................................18
VOS24 TEAM Managing Director: Carole Brzozowski, snm@societyfornewmusic.org Dance Coordinator: Alaina Olivieri Lighting Design: Victoria King SNM Stage Hand: Sam Evans Program & Poster Design: Lana Stafford
societyfornewmusic.org 3
Society for New Music presents
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OF SOUN N O I IS A Celebration of D NEW MUSIC AND DANCE PROGRAM
Balkanika II (2011)
Octavio Vazquez (b. 1972)
(written partly thanks to the generous support of the Consulate General of Spain in New York and the Secretary of Culture of Spain)
Lana Stafford, flute/alto flute; Marcy Bacon, clarinet/bass clarinet; Margaret Leenhouts, violin; Zachary Carcella-Sweet, cello; Sar-Shalom Strong, piano; Octavio Vazquez, conductor
‘Vily‘
Choreography by Heather Roffe
Movement material made in collaboration with dancers: Courtney Acomb, Amya Brice, Nanako Horikawa Mandrino, Stevie Oakes, Cat Olson, Devon Stedge
Minimum (2022)
Jaclyn Breeze (b. 1999)
Sar-Shalom Strong, piano
Choreography by Aaron Loux, soloist Minimum is built from the reuse and development of material. If you pay attention to the melody lines, both small fragments and some of the larger, spaced-out ideas, everything in this piece can be connected back to ideas presented in the first eight measures of the piece. (J. Breeze)
Skeleton Cages* (2024)
Nicolas Scherzinger (b. 1968)
Marcy Bacon, bass clarinet; Zachary Carcella-Sweet, cello
Choreography by Maya June Dwyer Dancers: Mary Nickson, Jason Ngo, Isabella Allen, Krishan Badrie, Angeline Bourgeault, Christina H. Swendsrud Skeleton Cages explores both the literal and abstract restriction of human bodies. This early stage work in progress is inspired jointly by our increasing desensitization to viewing violence against human bodies on social media, the physical and psychological effects of historical and contemporary shapewear on human bodies, and the subjection of human bodies to detached scrutiny within the medical system. (M. Dwyer)
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The Vineyard and the Blue Odyssey* (2023) Ivan Malcolm (b. 2002) Margaret Leenhouts, violin; Zachary Carcella-Sweet, cello; Sar-Shalom Strong, piano
Choreography by Rosita Adamo, soloist I have seen home. And it looks nothing like what others say. I have seen it when I close my eyes and stand on the soil with my bare foot, amidst a forest and hear the earth speak to me. When I sit on the shore and allow the waves to hug me in silence. When I stand in the stream of a river, while it's raining and let the breeze kiss my skin and the rain to tell the stories it brings down with it. In the night filled with eternal silence, under the sky, in those pair of eyes, which I have loved the most. The home that I have seen isn't made up of lifeless bricks and stones. It has life and it always speaks to me. And every time it does, a drop of a tear, filled with ecstasy trickles down my cheek in silence. —Akshay Vasu (words contributed by Rosita Adamo)
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The Frostlings Last Stand* (2023) Samuel Evans (b. 2000) Lana Stafford, flute; Marcy Bacon, clarinet; Margaret Leenhouts, violin; Zachary Carcella-Sweet, cello; Sar-Shalom Strong, piano; Heather Buchman, conductor
‘Tandem Traces‘ Choreography by Kaley Pruitt Dancers: Kaley Pruitt, Michaela Neild This work explores spatial pathways and architectural forms through the ideas of tandem movement, reflection, shadowing, and focus. The choreography designs the body, and also how the body leaves traces that design and shape the space. (K. Pruitt) 5
Scepter* (2024)
Paul Leary (b. 1974)
Lana Stafford, flute; Marcy Bacon, clarinet; Margaret Leenhouts, violin; Zachary Carcella-Sweet, cello; Sar-Shalom Strong, piano; Paul Leary, electronics; Heather Buchman, conductor
Choreography by an0th3r.l0p3z, soloist
Dancer: an0th3r.l0p3z with accelerometers and motion sensors
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What If We re Beautiful (2023)
Daniel Thomas Davis
Commissioned by Hub New Music 1. Song for L.H. 2. Prelude for J.W. & K.H. 3. Anthem for M.M. 4. Arietta for M.A. 5. Verses for A.L. & H.R. Lana Stafford, flute/piccolo; Marcy Bacon, Eb clarinet/bass clarinet; Margaret Leenhouts, violin; Zachary Carcella-Sweet, cello; Heather Buchman, conductor
Choreography by Brian Lawson & Aaron Loux Dancers: Brian Lawson, Aaron Loux What if We’re Beautiful is an experiment in musical gift-craft. I don’t knit or crochet, but even so, I imagine these movements as something akin to handknit musical objects woven from modest sonic threads, each made with a particular recipient in mind. And although there are countless fine examples of composers making imagistic portraits or reflective dedications, I’ve aimed for something a little different here – each piece feels to be less portraiture of any particular person and more as an opportunity to make something enjoyable for a few folks I hold very dear. In doing so, it’s my hope that others who hear and play this piece – including my friends in Hub New Music – also find something meaningful, too. To be sure, the gifts offered in this piece are themselves the refraction of the countless and intangible gifts of queer (and queer-adjacent) friendship and joy I have received from the band of fellow travelers acknowledged in these movement titles. And although I didn’t immediately set out to write a piece about queer joy, that’s basically what happened here anyway; as the piece came together, it became increasingly clear to me that it’s also an appreciation of the boisterous, delicate, wacky, campy, and sorrowful joy that we can offer to one another. (D. T. Davis)
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Music for A New Apocalypse (2020) Mark Olivieri (b. 1972) Sar-Shalom Strong, piano
'A Thing of Beauty and Lies' Central New York Ballet I. Erychsiton & The Tree Demeter: Claire Solis Erychsiton: Xavier Pugliese-Ciulei Nymphs: Cara Connolly, Lucy Hamilton and Abigail Stewart II. The Apple of Discord Aphrodite: Cara Connolly Hera: Abigail Stewart Athena: Lucy Hamilton Paris: Lukas Figliozzi III. Eros & Psyche Psyche: Abigail Stewart Eros: Xavier Pugliese-Ciulei IV. Artemisa & Callisto Artemisa: Cara Connolly Callisto: Claire Solis V. Pygmalion & Galatea Pygmalion: Felipe Panama
Choreography by Aldo Kattón Dancers: Claire Solis, Lucy Hamilton, Felipe Panama, Lukas Figliozzi, Cara Connolly, Xavier Pugliese-Ciulei, Abigail Stewart
Asterisk (*) = world premiere music. All choreography in production = world premiere dance. 7
HE ARTI T T U ST O S AB Balkanika II (2011)
flute/alto flute, clarinet/ bass cl, violin, cello, piano
Octavio Vazquez
Composer and Conductor
The music of Octavio Vazquez (b. 1972) has been performed throughout the US, Europe, and Asia, in venues such as Carnegie Hall, the National Auditorium of Spain, Cologne’s Philharmonie, or the Big Hall of the St. Petersburg Conservatory. He has also written for film and collaborated with world-music artists as an arranger, orchestrator and producer, most notably with Grammy Award winner Cristina Pato. His orchestration of “Negro Caravel” for Ms Pato’s CD “Muller” was nominated for the 2011 Spanish Music Academy Awards. His works have been recorded for the labels NAXOS, Delos, Landra Music, Gale Recordings, Ouvirmos, Fol Musica, and Bohemia Music, and by radio and TV stations such as PBS, PRX, the Spanish National Radio and Television, New York’s WQXR, and China Radio International. His catalog currently includes over sixty titles, all of them published by the Conwell Publishing Group of New York. Notable performers of his works include conductors such as Dima Slobodeniouk, Carlos Kalmar, Paul Daniel, Hansjörg Schellenberger, and Víctor Pablo Pérez, and soloists as Hilary Hahn, Cristina Pato, Dmitri Berlinsky, Amaury Coeytaux, Jonathan Gandelsman, Nurit Pacht, Eric Jacobsen, Adam Levin, Viacheslav Dinerchtein, Adam Kent, and Eldar Nebolsin. He has received grants and commissions from the Verdehr Trio, Poulenc Trio, Airas Ensemble, New York State Council on the Arts, New Music USA, Michigan State University, New York State Music Teachers Association (NYSMTA), Music Teachers National Association (MTNA), Spanish Radio and Television Orchestra, Galicia Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Galicia Symphony Orchestra, Meet the Composer, Guernica Project, Via Stellae, Fulbright Commission, Chi-Mei Foundation, SGAE/Autor Foundation, and Xacobeo Classics 2010 among others. Festivals featuring his music include the Kölner MusikTriennale (Germany), Festival de Basse Navarre / Navarra International Festival (France and Spain), the Prokofiev International Festival (Russia), Macedon Music (Australia), Niagara International Chamber Music Festival (Canada), Camarissima International Festival (Mexico), California Summer Music, European Dream Festival, Composers Now, Queens New Music, and Southampton Arts (USA), and the AreMore, Via Stellae, Espazos Sonoros, Clásicos en Verano, and Música en Compostela International Festivals (Spain). A graduate of the Adolfo Salazar Conservatory, the Royal Conservatory of Music of Madrid, the Peabody Conservatory, and the University of Maryland, Dr. Vazquez has given lectures and masterclasses at Manhattan School of Music, Mannes College, Hofstra University, Fordham University, Johns Hopkins University, University of Maryland, Salisbury University, and Texas Christian University (USA), Carlos III, Santiago de Compostela, and Complutense Universities (Spain), the XXXVII Congress of the International Viola Society (South Africa), and the Next Renaissance Conference (Netherlands). He teaches composition at the Nazareth University of Rochester, NY. 8
Vily (2024)
Dancers: Courtney Acomb, Amya Brice, Nanako Horikawa Mandrino, Stevie Oakes, Cat Olson, Devon Stedge
Heather Roffe Choreographer
Heather Roffe (MFA) is a Professor, the co-chair of the Department of Theatre & Dance, and the Program Director of Dance at Nazareth University, and is also is a Certified Evans Technique dance educator and BASI Pilates Mat & Reformer for Dancers certified instructor, whose pedagogical practice includes the teaching of Dance technique, (ballet, modern dance), with an anatomical, embodied/ somatic, and constructivist approach and focus. Along with teaching technique, she has also designed the Dance major curriculum and teaches courses in Improvisation, Choreography, Performance & Collaboration, and Integrated Somatic Anatomy & Kinesiology at Nazareth. Roffe is an active scholar in the field of dance, presenting and guest teaching in academic and professional venues, and creating choreography that deals with current political and social issues. She has performed/toured with the Garth Fagan Dance Company, Bill Evans Dance Company, FuturPointe Dance (as performer, choreographer, co-director), and Assemblage Dance, as well as with her own company, HR Dance. Her choreography has been presented in the International DUMBO Dance Festival, APAP, the NYC SoloDuo Festival, the Jacob’s Pillow Choreographer’s Lab, the Rochester Fringe Festival, and MAD Festival, and in 2018 she was awarded the New York State Dance Association’s “Outstanding Educator in a PostSecondary School.”
Minimum (2022) Composer Jaclyn Breeze
Jaclyn Breeze (b. 1999) is an American composer and flutist crafting pieces and programs that foster community between artists and audiences. Her works have been commissioned and performed by groups in North America, Europe, and Asia. Described as “inspiring, accessible, and distinctly her own” by one commissioner, Jaclyn’s works bridge modern composition and classical jazz harmony. Most recently, her works have been featured at SongFest (2023), Vision of Sound (2023), Brass USA (2022), and on Classic FM (2022, 2023). She earned her M.M. in Composition from Syracuse University. An active performer, collaborator, and advocate for new music, Jaclyn has commissioned six new works so far in her career and has performed ten world premieres. She participates in both large and small ensembles, as well as solo playing. Most recently, she organized a concert series bringing listeners through the last 100 years of solo flute music that was performed around Western New York. She earned her B.S. in Flute Performance from Roberts Wesleyan University. (continued)
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Jaclyn is also passionate about teaching, having worked as a theory TA at Syracuse while earning her Certificate of University Teaching, and teaching private lessons. She is currently the host of Jazz 90.1’s Kidz Zone (2023- ), which provides lessons and activities for families to do together to learn more about jazz artists. She also serves as the pianist at Holley Presbyterian Church. Her upcoming projects include commissions for soprano/piano duos, pierrot ensemble, and solo piano.
Minimum
Dancer: Aaron Loux
Aaron Loux Choreographer
Aaron Loux is a dance artist, choreographer, educator, and writer based in New York City. He encountered modern dance as a child at the Creative Dance Center in Seattle, Washington before earning his B.F.A. from Juilliard. For twelve years, Aaron was a celebrated member of the Mark Morris Dance Group, appearing in the New York Times’ “Top Male Dance Performances of 2014.” He has also performed with the Metropolitan Opera Ballet, Merce Cunningham Trust, Cornfield Dance, Christopher Williams, Billy Smith Dance, and Charlotte Bydwell. His own choreography has been presented at the Juilliard School and in the Works & Process Artists Virtual Commissions series at the Guggenheim. Aaron teaches dance to adults of diverse backgrounds, including beginners, professionals, and dancers living with Parkinson's disease through the Dance for PD® program. He has taught company classes for MMDG, Gibney Dance, the Metropolitan Opera Ballet, and the Paul Taylor and Limón dance companies. His dance writing appears in the September 2023 and January 2024 issues of PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art, published by MIT Press. Aaron is currently pursuing a B.A. in American Studies at Columbia University and is an adjunct instructor in modern dance technique at Adelphi University.
Skeleton Cages (2024) bass clarinet, cello
Nicolas Scherzinger Composer
Composer Nicolas Scherzinger (b. 1968) is associate professor of composition at the Setnor School of Music at Syracuse University, where he teaches composition, theory, improvisation, and digital music. Scherzinger has received awards and commissions from ASCAP, SOCAN, the Barlow Endowment, the Jerome Foundation, the Canada Council, and the Eastman School of Music, and his music has been performed throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, and Russia, as well as in Taiwan and China.
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(Nicolas Scherzinger, continued) Recently, his works have been premiered or performed at such venues as the International Viola Conference, the World Saxophone Congress, the North American Saxophone Alliance Conference, the International Double Reed Conference, the Yamaha and the New York Viola Society Day of Progressive Viola, the Aspen Music Festival, the International Gaudeamus New Music Festival, the Seal Bay Festival, Composers, Inc., Lincoln Center, and at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. Many distinguished artists have performed Scherzinger’s works, including John Graham, Bradley Lubman, David Gilbert, Sydney Hodkinson, Christopher Marks, Joseph Lulloff, Julia Nolan, Randall Hall, the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble, the USC Thornton Contemporary Music Ensemble, the Cassatt String Quartet, the Ethos Percussion Group, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Society for New Music, and the Meridian Phase II ensemble. His works have been broadcast on WCNY, WBFO, and CBC RadioTwo and recorded on Raven Compact Disks and Innova Recordings. Scherzinger is composer-in-residence at the Kinhaven Music School in Vermont, 2006 to present. He is a member of ASCAP, the American Music Center, and the Society of Composers Inc., and his works are published by ScherziMusic Press. In addition to his work as a professional composer and educator, he is active as a performer of improvisatory works for saxophone and interactive computer. Scherzinger received a master of music and doctor of musical arts in composition at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York (1995-2000), and a bachelor of music in saxophone performance from Western Washington University (1986-1991). He has studied composition with Roger Briggs, David Liptak, Augusta Read Thomas, Christopher Rouse, Allan Schindler, and Joseph Schwantner.
Skeleton Cages
Dancers: Mary Nickson, Jason Ngo, Isabella Allen, Krishan Badrie, Angeline Bourgeault, Christina H. Swendsrud
Maya June Dwyer Choreographer
Maya June Dwyer is an emerging interdisciplinary artist based in New York and Montréal. She is a performer, director/choreographer, and music and theatre creator specialized in site-specific immersive art. She has trained and worked with companies including PUSH Physical Theatre, The Hofesh Shechter Company, Meredith Monk, and Pilobolus, and recently completed the Big Bang contemporary dance training program in Montréal at Espace Ouvert. In 2023, she was one of 12 choreographers in New York State to be awarded the NY State Dance Force Choreographer’s Initiative. Maya is a frequent guest artist at Le Moyne College, where she directs and choreographs movement-infused productions of plays and musicals. Recent performance credits include Harper Pitt, Angels in America (Redhouse Arts Center), The Chosen, Dracula National Tour (PUSH Physical Theatre). This year, in collaboration with Youssef Nassar, Maya created her first solo work, Mad Scene, an interdisciplinary performance work inspired by Nina's monologue The Seagull. Mad Scene will have a developmental workshop at Spark Theatre Festival in New York City this March. Maya would like to give a special acknowledgement to Neva Pilgrim, who was a key inspiration and always took the time to personally encourage her. www.mayajunedwyer.com | @mayajunepapaya
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The Vineyard and the Blue Odyssey (2023) violin, cello, piano
Ivan Malcolm Composer
Ivan Malcolm (b. 2002) is a composer, producer, and multiinstrumentalist. Born in Jamaica, he’s always had a love for music. Ivan grew up singing and playing in the church and is heavily influenced by Jamaican Gospel music as well as jazz greats Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, and minimalist composers such as Steve Reich and Phillip Glass. Ivan started his creative process in high school by making beats and writing songs with production software. Still in high school, Ivan wrote and co-produced a song that was chosen to be performed on Broadway for the cast of “Hamilton,” as a part of a program done by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History (2019). He is currently a Senior at Hobart and William Smith Colleges working on his Bachelor of Arts in Music and Educational Studies. He is enrolled in the Teachers Certification Program. Following graduation, Ivan plans to teach while pursuing a master’s degree in music composition.
Rosita Adamo Soloist
Choreographer
Born in Managua, Nicaragua Adamo began her dance training with Triangle Youth Ballet at the age of five. Adamo graduated from the Carolina Friends School where she studied under the mentorship of Annie Dwyer. She went on to be a scholarship recipient at The Ailey School in their Certificate Program, and later joined Ailey II, in 2006. In 2009 Adamo joined Philadanco!, The Philadelphia Dance Company. She performed with Philadanco! for 12 years, where she became a soloist, and rehearsal assistant under the direction of the late Debra Chase Hicks and Founder Joan Myers Brown. Through dance Adamo fell in love with teaching and coaching young artists, and has worked with several outreach programs such as City Center’s Teach Program and Brooklyn Ballet’s Elevate Program. Adamo has taught for both Philadanco’s youth training camp and Legacy Arts Philadelphia. In 2015 Adamo also joined the Parent Infant Center where she became the Lead Kindergarten teacher for both their after school and summer programs. In December 2020, Adamo moved to New York and joined the faculty of 171 Cedar Arts Center in Corning, NY. Adamo also was an adjunct professor with Alfred University, she plans to continue her love for teaching, coaching, choreographing and bringing more performing arts to the community. 12
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The Frostlings Last Stand (2023) flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano
Samuel Evans Composer Samuel Evans (b. 2000) is a composer, vocalist, and vocal coach based in Canastota, NY. Most recently Sam has had pieces performed by the Society for New Music (2024), Cazenovia Counterpoint (2022), and Masque and Triangle (2022). Sam is a graduate of Colgate University (B.A.) where he mainly studied under Dr. Ryan Chase, Dr. Joe Lerangis, and Dr. Joseph Swain. Sam is currently in his second year as a M.M. student at Syracuse University. As a vocalist Sam has performed extensively throughout the Central and Upstate NY area as well as much of the Northeastern United States including New York City, Boston, and Philadelphia. Sam currently serves as the tenor soloist for St. David’s Episcopal Church in Dewitt, NY. Sam currently serves as Syracuse University’s graduate representative on the Society for New Music’s Board while completing a M.M. degree in Composition.
Tandem Traces Dancers: Kaley Pruitt, Michaela Neild
Kaley Pruitt Choreographer Pruitt founded her dance company Kaley Pruitt Dance in 2014 in New York City and has created over 25 works for the stage and screen. She is originally from Ketchum, Idaho and is currently a Professor of Dance at SUNY Brockport. She received her MFA in Dance & Choreography from University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, and she holds her BFA in Dance from Florida State University. Pruitt has been commissioned by Repertory Dance Theatre, Wasatch Contemporary Dance Company, Fem Dance Company, Simantikos Dance Chicago, Illinois Shakespeare Festival, and Illinois State University. Additionally, the company has been presented by: Rochester Fringe Festival, Austin Dance Festival, ACDA National Conference, Mark DeGarmo Dance, Milwaukee Fringe Festival, WIM Dance Festival, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, Dixon Place Theater, Manhattan Movement & Arts Center, Triskelion Arts, Chez Bushwick and The Center for Performance Research, Built on Stilts Martha’s Vineyard, The Secret Theater, Ketchum Arts Commission, and Movement Research. www.kaleypruittdance.com, @kaleypruittdance
Did you know? This production is the 18th season of Society for New Music’s Vision of Sound! 13
Scepter (2024)
flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, electronics
Paul Leary Composer
Paul Leary is currently Chair of the Music Department and Associate Professor of Music SUNY Oswego in Oswego, NY where he is teaching electronic music, composition, and popular music. After earning degrees in music composition at the University of Michigan and the Cleveland Institute of Music, Dr. Leary completed a PhD in composition from Duke University in 2012. His video project with CCP Games’ EVE Online has been viewed 350,000 times on YouTube. His choral music has been performed widely and his electronic music has been featured at over fifty concerts and festivals over the last few years. His other interests include cycling, woodworking, and arts and crafts. Paul builds midi controllers in his woodshop and plays the Shakuhachi flute.
Scepter an0th3r.l0p3z Choreographer
an0th3r.l0p3z is an interdisciplinary performing artist active in the Western New York region. Their practice embraces improvisation and a post-genre movement vocabulary. Collaborating with artists Laurie MacFarlane, Ruben Ornelas, and Daystar Rosalie Jones, they contribute to both Commotion Dance Theater and Daystar Contemporary Dance Company. Additionally they are in cahoots with Nancy Hughes of Center Dance to make all manner of improvisational performances happen in Buffalo. GO BILLS!
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What If We re Beautiful (2023) flute/piccolo, clarinet/Eb clarinet, violin, cello
Daniel Thomas Davis Composer
Composer Daniel Thomas Davis’ wide range of musical activities has taken him from the stages of Carnegie Hall and the Royal Opera House to monasteries in the Horn of Africa to playing electric hurdy gurdy alongside life-size puppets. Praised as “fun and unpretentious” by The New Yorker, he creates music singled out for its “soul-wrenching” connection to the human voice and its “deft and beautiful, rich harmonic and textural language.” (Classical Voice North America). Dan’s music has been performed, commissioned and recorded by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, cellist Lynn Harrell, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the London Sinfonietta, Lontano, Modern Medieval at the Metropolitan Museum, the Momenta Quartet, the Lexington Philharmonic,
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Hub New Music, Ensemble X, Yarn|Wire, the 21st-Century Consort, the Charlotte Symphony, the Ossian Ensemble, the BBC Singers, the Locrian Ensemble, Boston’s Back Bay Chorale and eighth blackbird. Other performers of his music have included members of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Anonymous 4 and Roomful of Teeth. In recent years, Dan has enjoyed the premieres of three new operas – SIX. TWENTY. OUTRAGEOUS. in an American Opera Projects/Symphony Space co-production directed and designed by polymath artist Doug Fitch, Family Secrets (or Kith & Kin) with North Carolina Opera, and The Impossible She with Rhymes with Opera at the New York Opera Fest. A committed collaborator with writers, filmmakers and choreographers, he also scored, developed and performed the genre-bending theater work Stuffed Happens (with Doug Fitch and Tommy Nguyen), commissioned by the Moody Center for the Arts in Houston in Spring 2023. Other recent collaborations include the awarding-winning feature films Pushed Up the Mountain and An Encounter with Simone Weil. Originally from rural North Carolina, Dan holds degrees from the University of Michigan, Royal Academy of Music, Peabody Conservatory, and Johns Hopkins University. The recipient of fellowships from the British Government (Marshall Scholar), Bogliasco Foundation, Mellon Foundation and Yaddo, Dan serves as a professor and composition-program director at Binghamton University (SUNY). He’s also an active pianist, conductor and hurdy-gurdy player.
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What If We re Beautiful
Dancers: Brian Lawson, Aaron Loux (co-choreographer)
Brian Lawson Choreographer
Brian Lawson is a dance educator and performer from Toronto, Canada. He earned his BFA in dance performance at SUNY Purchase and went on to join the Mark Morris Dance Group. Through MMDG Brian taught masterclasses and workshops at various institutions including NYU Tisch, American Dance Festival, and Barnard College. He earned his MFA in dance from University of Washington in 2020 and then joined the faculty of Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle. He returned to New York City in 2021 and resumed teaching to professionals and beginners alike. He is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor at Skidmore College and a member of Pam Tanowitz Dance. He collaborates in dancemaking and research with Adele Nickel and continues to teach in New York City.
Society for New Music Composition Prizes
The competition is open to NYS composers age 30 and under. To honor the late composers Brian Israel and Sam Pellman, SNM is awarding a $1,000 Israel/Pellman Prize, as well as the $750 New York Federation of Music Clubs Prize. Each winner will receive a performance during the 2024-2025 season. Apply by May 1, 2024.
SOCIETYFORNEWMUSIC.ORG/RESOURCES.CFM 15
Brian M. Israel (1951-1986)
Sam Pellman (1953-2017)
Music for a New Apocalypse (2020) Mark Olivieri Composer
Mark Olivieri (b. 1972) is a composer whose music is performed throughout the United States and abroad in such venues as The Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, The Sibelius Academy, The Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm, Glinka Concert Hall in St. Petersburg, Russia and Harpa Concert Hall in Reykjavik, Iceland. Olivieri's experience as an improvisatory musician and jazz arranger informs his work, and his compositions are inspired as much by Black Sabbath and Thelonius Monk as they are by traditional concert music. Critically acclaimed by the New York Times, Olivieri’s music has been described as “Glittering!” and “Pop-infused.” Concert pianist Nicholas Phillips writes: “Mark Olivieri writes music that satiates performers and listeners like a breath of fresh air. His ability to combine different styles – jazz, tango, funk, minimalism, etc., with his personal voice leads to extremely engaging and effective works.” Olivieri holds a Ph.D. in music from the University at Buffalo, as well as a master’s from Ithaca College Music Conservatory and a bachelor’s from Heidelberg College. He is on the music faculty at Hobart and William Smith Colleges.
A Thing of Beauties and Lies
Central New York Ballet: Claire Solis, Lucy Hamilton, Felipe Panama, Lukas Figliozzi, Cara Connolly, Xavier Pugliese-Ciulei, Abigail Stewart
Aldo Kattón Choreographer
Born in Yucatán, Mexico, Aldo Kattón is an artistic director, rehearsal director, ballet teacher, choreographer, & former dancer. He has worked with dance companies and schools in the United States, Mexico, and Guatemala. Kattón’s choreography and pedagogy promotes diversity and inclusion as means to preserve the art of classical ballet by allowing it to evolve. As a choreographer, he has set new works and staged repertoire for companies such as Rochester City Ballet, Syracuse City Ballet, El Paso Ballet Theatre, and San Antonio Dance, Ballet de Jalisco (Mexico), and Compañía Movimiento Estudio (Guatemala). With Rochester City Ballet, he was rehearsal director, guest choreographer, and guest dancer for their Spring 2023 programming. Aldo Joined Syracuse City Ballet as a ballet master & company manager in 2019. He choreographed six different dance films and created the ‘Ballet & Fitness’ tutorials for the Digital Season 20-21. In August ‘21, he was appointed Interim Artistic Director, choreographing new pieces for the programs “Ballet by the Lake”, “Peter & the Wolf” a new version of “The Nutcracker,” as well as staging and curating the sold-out performances of “Romantic, Classical & Modern”. He participated in SNM’s Vision of Sound Festival 2022 where he premiered “Three Songs” with original music by Diane Jones. As a dancer, he performed soloist, character, and ensemble roles with companies in Mexico and USA. Aldo Kattón holds a BFA in Classical Ballet from Escuela Superior de Música de Monterrey & a BFA in Performing Arts from the University of Guadalajara. Aldo is currently the Artistic Leader of the artists of Central New York Ballet. 16
T THE MUSICIAN U O S AB Marcy Bacon teaches clarinet at Nazareth University of Rochester, Rochester Institute of Technology, and the Eastman Community Music School. She plays in the Wilmot Wind Quintet, Fem Vindar [a woodwind quintet], and contemporary music sextet fivebyfive. Heather Buchman is an American conductor and trombonist. She is Professor of Music at Hamilton College in Clinton, NY, where she serves as director of the Hamilton College Orchestra, Music Department Chair, and Assoc. Chair, Dept. of Dance and Movement Studies. Heather is President of the Board of Directors at Society for New Music. Violinist Margaret Leenhouts is currently on the faculty of Nazareth University, a member of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, and performs with the Rochester Philharmonic Outreach Quintet. Conductor and composer Octavio Vazquez (see composer biography above) Flutist Lana Stafford appears with the Society for New Music and Schola Cantorum of Syracuse, in addition to giving recitals and teaching private lessons. She works in publicity for SNM and CNY Jazz. Sar-Shalom Strong performs extensively as both a soloist and a collaborative musician. He is core pianist for the Society for New Music. Strong was orchestral keyboardist for the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra for almost 10 years, and joined the Hamilton College faculty in 2001. Cellist Zachary Sweet is a registered Teacher Trainer for the Suzuki Association of the Americas, instructor of cello at Nazareth University and Binghamton University, and on the faculty at Ithaca Talent Education and Music Together of Ithaca.
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UPCOMING EVENTS
SPRING 202 & R E T N 4 WI MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR NEVA PILGRIM Sunday, February 25, 2024 at 2pm St. Paul‘s, 220 E. Fayette St, Syracuse
NAZARETH UNIVERSITY MUSIC
Flute Player's Journal Sunday, February 25 at 3pm at Wilmot Hall Annette Farrington, flute; Philip Carli, piano Women in Music Festival March 6, 7 and 8, 2024 Lori Laitman, Composer-in-Residence Taking place at Nazareth University and Buffalo State University
@nazschoolofmusic
HOBART AND WILLIAM SMITH MUSIC The Konrad Trio March 29, 2024 The Konrad Trio
@hobartandwilliamsmithmusic Seraph Brass April 13, 2024 Seraph Brass
SOCIETY FOR NEW MUSIC
Prize Winners Sunday, May 5, 2024 at 4pm St. Paul's, 220 E. Fayette St, Syracuse societyfornewmusic.org
@societyfornewmusic @societyfornewmusic @cnynewmusic
SNM is funded in part by grants from NYSCA, with the support of Governor Hochul and the NYS Legislature – GOS, the NEA, Copland Fund, County of Onondaga, administered by CNY Arts, Amphion Foundation, Alice M. Ditson Fund of Columbia University, Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, Jim and Juli Boeheim Foundation, Syracuse Symposium, Syracuse Sounds of Music Association, and private donations.
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