Visual COLLABORATION SEASON
Thursday November 10 Saturday November 12
Choral Works with Visual and Electronic Components
Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theatre at Symphony Space Artwork © Zsuzsanna Ardó
C4: The Choral Composer/Conductor Collective
C o l l a b o r a t i o n s : Vi s u a l C h o r a l Wo r k s w i t h Vi s u a l a n d E l e c t r o n i c C o m p o n e n t s Thursday, November 10th and Saturday, November 12th, 2016, at 8:00pm Leonard Nimoy/Thalia Theater at Symphony Space, New York, NY
The Telegram*
Illya Filshtinskiy (b.1986) aTonalHits
Ben Arendsen, conductor Katha Zinn, violin Christina Kay, Artemisz Polonyi, sopranos Perry Townsend, typewriter
Dynamism*
Martha Sullivan (b.1964)
Downfall*
Brian Mountford (b.1964)
Ben Arendsen, conductor Soloist: Melissa Wozniak, soprano Jacob Gelber, conductor Brian Mountford, Glockenspiel
A Colorado Offering*
Jacob Gelber (b.1995)
Daniel Andor-Ardó, conductor
Intermission Kaija Saariaho (b.1952)
Tag des Jahrs I. Der Frühling II. Der Sommer III. Der Herbst IV. Der Winter Nate Barnett, conductor
Jean-Baptiste Barrière (b.1958)
Sensation/Eternity* Karen Siegel, conductor
Bettina Sheppard (b.1962)
Art? Works!*
Perry Townsend, conductor David Wozniak, alto saxophone Quartet 1: Christina Kay, soprano Karl Saint Lucy, alto Ben Arendsen, tenor Brendan Littlefield, bass Quartet 2: Artemisz Polonyi, soprano Bettina Sheppard, alto Grant Yosenick, tenor Jacob Gelber, bass
* Premiere
Program Notes and Texts Collaborations: Visual Telegram C4 begins its twelfth season exploring a
and expansive representation of Olivia
theme at the very heart of what and who
Kapell’s beautiful tribute to the mountains
we are as an ensemble: collaboration. We
that inspired her. Kaija Saariaho’s chilling
will be sharing music with you this season
and
that is visual (collaborating with visual and
electronics
electronic artists to expand the dimensions
setting of Hölderin’s text enhances its vivid
of a traditional choral piece), emerging
natural pictures, while underlying the
(featuring music from the winners of our
psyche of the composer. Sensation/Eternity,
composition
competition),
and
vibrant
Tag
with
Des
Jahrs
combines
choir.
Ms.
Saariaho’s
electric
by Jean-Baptiste Barriére, has been an act
(where we will be combining forces with a
of collaboration between the composer and
traditional rock band). As a group that acts
C4 from its inception. This adventurous
as a true collective, a season of music around
work features the choir interacting directly
this theme was, in many ways, a natural
with the visuals presented to the audience,
decision.
and the composer in turn reacting to the group’s performance with electronic
The fall cycle, Visual, features music with
renderings of singers voices as they perform
various extra-musical components. The
in real time. Our program closes with
Telegram— a premiere by Illya Filshtinskiy
Bettina Sheppard’s Art? Works!, with text
of aTonalHits featuring their violinist, Katha
provided by our artist in residence for the
Zinn—uses the choir and an amplified
2016-17 season, Zsuzsanna Ardó. We thank
typewriter to mimic sounds and gestures
you, the audience—our most important
of Morse Code. Dynamism is a work of true
collaborators—and hope you enjoy this
collaboration between composer Martha
unique experience!
Sullivan and artist Gwyneth Leech. Ms.
—Ben Arendsen
Sullivan uses excerpts from an interview
v
about an exhibit by Ms. Leech and set this
v
text to music. Brian Mountford’s Downfall
The Telegram
takes a decisively darker, yet colorful tone.
Illya Filshtinskiy
The accompanying film helps to emphasize
Text: Katha Zinn Visuals: Illya Filshtinskiy
the somber and thorny text by Georg Trakl,
v
v
while an ostinato glockenspiel keeps the image of the ‘blind clock hands’ in the
This piece, for chorus, violin, and amplified
foreground of the listeners’ mind. Jacob
typewriter, is meant to emulate the sounds
Gelber’s A Colorado Offering presents a vast
and gestures of Morse code. All syllables
are chosen in reflection of the articulation.
However, as the structure grows over weeks
A telegraph is a device for transmitting and
and months, I become engrossed watching
receiving messages over long distances; a
the process. I realize that a new floor rises
telegram is the resulting message. While a
every two days! There is a construction
typewriter has, historically speaking, not
choreography, a set of discrete tasks
much to do with telegraphy, it does convey
repeated over and over again in sequence by
the feeling of the time and captures the
the perfect number of workers. If there are
idea of Morse code in its staccato delivery
too few or too many, the system falls apart.
of sound. It also figures in well visually,
As the building rises to 42 stories, it takes
creating interesting possibilities in the film
on a character and a life of its own. I shift
accompaniment. In the second half of the
my perspective outward and upward and
piece, there are occasional phrases that
around, seeing new compositions, new light
should be whispered over the music. The
effects, and new possibilities everywhere I
phrase ‘What hath God wrought?’ was
look. I feel connected to the fabric of the city
the first message delivered by a telegraph
in a different way as I watch it transform
machine, sent by Samuel Morse.
before my eyes, incrementally yet so fast.
—Illya Filshtinskiy with Katha Zinn (aTonal
—Gwyneth Leech
Hits) Gwyneth
Leech’s
paintings,
taken
as
Text:
sequences, evoke motion and change over
What hath God wrought? The shadow dances
time, playing with varied timescales, from
alongside its master…
changes in light over the course of a day to changes in the skyline over months. This
As the universe is full of intent, so are we all
Dynamism
suggests that musical change should vary its scale accordingly, so I have written choral material that shifts between light, quick
Martha Sullivan Film: Gwyneth Leech
lines and glacial slides from harmony to
Text: Gwyneth Leech, transcribed by Martha Sullivan
drawn from an interview with Leech during
harmony. The texts of the choral work are the summer of 2016. —Martha Sullivan
The video component for Dynamism features sequences of drawings and paintings done
Text:
from the window of my studio in Midtown
Nostalgia for the present.
Manhattan. For years I have enjoyed a
Loss.
panoramic cityscape from my 13th floor
Feeling of imminent loss,
studio; I have painted it in many seasons
Shifting perspective as it grew:
and in ever-changing light. But now there is
First I’m looking down, then I’m looking
a sense of impending loss; a new building is
through.
being built that will block the view and alter
It is as if they are blocking off a stage.
the light. There is grief and dread of change.
Coming to terms with the obstruction,
Over and over again. With each floor,
Über unsere Gräber
They go through the process
Beugt sich die zerbrochene Stirne der Nacht.
Over and over,
Unter Eichen schaukeln wir auf einem silbernen
Each of the elements repeating itself.
Kahn.
Over and over, Loss.
Immer klingen die weißen Mauern der Stadt.
Open.
Unter Dornenbogen O mein Bruder klimmen wir blinde Zeiger gen
Downfall
Mitternacht.
Brian Mountford Text: Georg Trakl
Downfall Over the white pond
Austrian poet Georg Trakl (1887 - 1914)
The wild birds have flown onward
lived a short, unhappy life which ended in a
In the evening, from our stars, blows an icy wind
cocaine overdose brought on by the horrors of his experience as a medical officer in
Over our graves
World War I. In common with many poets
Bends the broken brow of the night
of that time, Trakl’s work often features
Under oaks we sway in a silvery boat
somber visions of a world in decline. Thorns in particular are a recurring image. In the
Always resounding, the white walls of the city
words of Richard Millington, “The powerful
Under arches of thorn
final image of the poem..., in which the
O my brother, we climb, blind clock hands,
speaker and the ‘brother’ he is addressing
toward midnight
are cast together as ‘blind clock hands’ climbing towards midnight, is illustrative
A Colorado Offering
of Trakl’s tendency to portray human solidarity as a source of meaning and solace
Jacob Gelber Visuals: Wyatt D. Stevens
in a disintegrating world.”
Text: Olivia Kapell
The video was created using iMovie, Apple
A Colorado Offering, composed in July 2016,
Motion, and custom animations written
tells the story of someone finding peace
using the Processing environment.
through communing with nature. Olivia
—Brian Mountford
Kapell’s untitled poem was inspired by waking up to the most astonishing sunrise
Text:
she had ever seen in Winter Park, Colorado.
Untergang
This evoked a profound questioning of what
Über den weißen Weiher
kind of spiritual role nature plays in our
Sind die wilden Vögel fortgezogen.
daily lives and how we can better situate
Am Abend weht von unseren Sternen ein eisiger
ourselves within it. Visuals are by Wyatt
Wind.
D. Stevens, created with photos taken by
Kapell in Winter Park. —Jacob Gelber Text: I have found the place where my soul stirs peacefully .... So massive compared to I My miniature form shrinks in their presence I am wrapped in anxiety but the mountains stand so still How dare I place anything before Nature Her arms wrap themselves around me she kisses my cheek “Listen” she says and I hear only the quiet beauty of Her figure much more expansive than mine She laughs at my ego but smiles at my soul as I begin to find peace in Her In these mountains I lose my strict edges that keep me locked outside of Her warmth and instead I feel myself expanding a million miles wide My chest bursts and my arms extend infinitely The mountain air is in my every pore Her embrace fills all of my being with hope and with Beauty I am the mountains
INTERMISSION
Tag des Jahrs Kaija Saariaho I have been familiar with the late poems of Hölderlin for some time now and used some of them for several little pieces (Die Aussicht, Überzeugung). The idea for Tag des Jahrs for choir came to me a few years ago when someone very dear to me suffered a cerebral hemorrhage, and communication with her acquired a new logic (or rather lack of it) because she no longer had any sense of time or place. I do not know what had happened to Hölderlin, for he signed his poems under different dates, decades, even centuries from the time in which he lived, and under the name of Scardanelli. I nevertheless acquired a new insight into his poems as visions of lived moments that pass in the twinkling of an eye and then vanish or transform into new, intensive moments. Our minds are full of such clear, sensuous moments, and they in fact make up our own experience of the life we live. The text begged to be given an archaic choral treatment. I also wanted to expand the sound world in the direction of the nature that is so present in these poems. Hence, the material consists not only of taped human voice, but also of birds, the wind, and other nature sounds. The electronic part was realized in summer 2001 at the Civitella Ranieri studio, Italy with Jean-Baptiste Barrière. Tag des Jahrs is dedicated to my mother. —Kaija Saariaho Text: Tag des Jahrs - Day of the Year poems by Friedrich Hölderlin
Der Frühling
vertauschen,
Wenn neu das Licht der Erde sich gezeiget,
Des Thales Ende trifft der Berge Dämmerungen,
Von Frühlingsregen glänzt das grüne Thal und
Dort,
munter
hinabgeschlungen.
wo
des
Stromes
Wellen
sich
Der Blüthen Weiß am hellen Strom hinunter, Nachdem ein heitrer Tag zu Menschen sich
Der Wälder Schatten sieht umhergebreitet,
geneiget.
Wo auch der Bach entfernt hinuntergleitet, Und sichtbar ist der Ferne Bild in Stunden,
Die
Sichtbarkeit
gewinnt
von
hellen
Wenn sich der Mensch zu diesem Sinn gefunden.
Unterschieden,
Scardanelli
Der Frühlingshimmel weilt mit seinem Frieden,
d. 24. Mai 1758
Daß ungestört der Mensch des Jahres Reiz betrachtet,
Summer
Und auf Vollkommenheit des Lebens achtet. Mit Unterhänigkeit, Scardanelli d. 15. Merz 1842
The days drift past with gentle breezes’ rustling, Exchanging cloud for meadows’ splendor, The mountains’ twilight strikes the valley’s end There where the river’s waters have wound their downward way.
Spring Whenever earth’s bright light reveals itself anew,
The woodlands’ shadow lies there, spread around,
The verdant valley gleams with springtime rain,
Where, far away, the brook glides downward
and gaily
And the distant picture can be seen at times
Snow-white blossoms breast the bright-toned
When man collects his thoughts and to such
stream
sense inclines.
Where once a cloudless day has bowed before
Scardanelli
mankind.
24 May 1758
Such varied colors heighten our perception,
Der Herbst
The springtime heavens linger with their peace,
Das Glänzen der Natur is höheres Erscheinen,
Allowing man to see the year’s attractions
Wo sich der Tag mit vielen Freuden endet,
undisturbed
Es ist das Jahr, das sich mit Pracht vollendet,
And heed his life’s perfection.
Wo Früchte sich mit frohem Glanz vereinen. With devotion, Scardanelli
15 March 1842
Das Erdenrund is so geschmückt, und selten lärmet Der Schall durchs offne Feld, die Sonne wärmet
Der Sommer
Den Tag des Herbstes mild, die Felder stehen,
Die Tage gehn vorbei mit sanffter Lüffte
Als eine Aussicht weit, die Lüffte wehen
Rauschen, Wenn mit der Wolke sie der Felder Pracht
Die Zweig’ und Äste durch mit frohem Rauschen,
Wenn schon mit Leere sich die Felder dann
d. 24. Januar 1743
vertauschen, Der ganze Sinn des hellen Bildes lebet
Winter
Als wie ein Bild, das goldne Pracht umschwebet.
When once the year’s last day has bent its head
d. 15ten Nov. 1759
And field and mountains all around fall mute, The azure of the sky gleams brightly on those
Autumn
days
The gleam of nature is a higher revelation
Which soar aloft like stars to cloudless heights.
Where daylight ends with many joys. It is the year in splendid consummation
The changes and the splendor seem less
Where fruits are merged with blithe resplendence.
widespread Where a river swiftly runs its downward course.
The world is thus bedecked, are rarely
And yet the spirit of tranquility is merged
Does a sound transcend the open fields. How
With depth at all those times when nature gleams
mildly
with splendor.
Does the sunshine warm the autumn day, the
With devotion,
fields
Scardanelli
Extend before us like a vista, breezes blow
24 January 1743 English translations by Stewart Spencer
Through twigs and branches with their cheerful rustling
Sensation/Eternity
While all the fields give way to emptiness.
Jean-Baptiste Barrière
The total meaning of this bright-toned picture
Thomas Goepfer, sound designer
lives As if it were a picture framed in golden splendor.
Sensation/Eternity is a piece for twentyfour singers, electronics and video, based on
15 November 1759
two poems, set in their English translations, by the French poet Arthur Rimbaud.
It
Der Winter
involves what I am calling ‘dynamic scores’:
Wenn sich der Tag des Jahrs hinabgeneiget
scores which are chosen and/or modified
Und rings das Feld mit den Gebirgen schweiget,
and/or generated in real time during the
So glänzt das Blau des Himmels an den Tagen,
performance in the concert situation. The
Die wie Gestirn in heitrer Höhe ragen.
singers indeed do not have a printed score; instead musical fragments are displayed
Der Wechsel und die Pracht ist minder
in video on a large video projection screen
umgebreitet,
visible to both them and the audience.
Dort, wo ein Strom hinab mit Eile gleitet, Der Ruhe Geist ist aber in den Stunden
They have to sight-read and and give an
Der prächtigen Natur mit Tiefigkeit verbunden.
interpretation of these fragments, and
Mit Unterhänigkeit,
sometimes also to improvise on them.
Scardanelli
These dynamic scores are partly prepared
in advance, partly calculated in real time,
Sensation
thanks
On the blue summer evenings, I shall go
to
computer
programs
which
analyse all along the piece the singer’s
down the paths,
interpretation, and produce, according to
Getting pricked by the corn, crushing the
various musical constraints, next notated
short grass:
fragments
displayed
In a dream I shall feel its coolness on my feet.
the screen.
In parallel, these programs
immediately
on
I shall let the wind bathe my bare head.
controls also electronics transformations
I shall not speak, I shall think about nothing:
of the singer’s voices which are then
But endless love will mount in my soul;
spatialized through loudspeakers around
And I shall travel far, very far, like a gypsy,
the audience. The singers themselves are
Through the countryside - as happy as if I
to be placed surrounding the audience,
were with a woman.
allowing a de facto spatialization of the singing parts, which is an other important
L’Éternité
part of this piece. These technical and quite
Elle est retrouvée.
experimental aspects should however not
Quoi? - L’Éternité.
prevent to concentrate on the enigmatic
C’est la mer allée
beauty of Rimbaud’s text, which is the
Avec le soleil.
real inspiration source for the music, and
Âme sentinelle,
which the piece tries modestly to prolongate
Murmurons l’aveu
with its own terms. Sensation/Eternity is
De la nuit si nulle
dedicated to Karen Siegel, who initiated it,
Et du jour en feu.
helped tremendously all along its rehearsal
Des humains suffrages,
process, and who conducts C4 to bring it to
Des communs élans
life. —Jean-Baptiste Barrière
Là tu te dégages Et voles selon.
Sensation
Puisque de vous seules,
Par les soirs bleus d’été, j’irai dans les
Braises de satin,
sentiers,
Le Devoir s’exhale
Picoté par les blés, fouler l’herbe menue :
Sans qu’on dise : enfin.
Rêveur, j’en sentirai la fraîcheur à mes pieds.
Là pas d’espérance,
Je laisserai le vent baigner ma tête nue.
Nul orietur.
Je ne parlerai pas, je ne penserai rien :
Science avec patience,
Mais l’amour infini me montera dans l’âme,
Le supplice est sûr.
Et j’irai loin, bien loin, comme un bohémien,
Elle est retrouvée.
Par la nature, heureux comme avec une
Quoi ? - L’Éternité.
femme.
C’est la mer allée Avec le soleil.
Eternity
form gradually morphing to another, while
It has been found again.
paying homage to a quote of Leonardo. The
What? – Eternity.
music’s first inspiration is a solo saxophone
It is the sea fled away
line represented in the video, developed
With the sun.
in imitation by the two quartets singing
Sentinel soul,
the Leonardo quotation, while the choir
Let us whisper the confession
illustrates the morphing words of the poem.
Of the night full of nothingness
—Bettina Sheppard
And the day on fire. From human approbation,
Text: see calligram on next page
From common urges And fly off as you may.
Composers and Collaborators
Since from you alone,
(in alphabetical order)
You diverge here
Satiny embers, Duty breathes
aTonalHits
Without anyone saying: at last.
Since aTonalHits’ formation in 2011, the
Here is no hope,
group has been dedicated to bringing
No orietur.
contemporary and lesser known works of
Knowledge and fortitude,
music to light. Its founding members are
Torture is certain.
Illya Filshtinskiy (piano) and Katha Zinn
It has been found again.
(violin), although aTonalHits has swollen
What? – Eternity.
itsranks with many collaborators in music,
It is the sea fled away
film, design, composition, etc.
With the sun. —Poems by Arthur Rimbaud
Beyond the standard violin and piano repertoire, Illya and Katha first found
Art? Works!
a taste for newer music in the work of
Bettina Sheppard
Alfred Schnittke. They have released an
Text: Zsuzsanna Ardó Video Production and Choreography: Danielle LaRauf Film: Kariim Charlier
album of Schnittke Sonatas, as well as an album entitled “1910-1920”, which focuses on a variety of different violin and piano music within that decade. The latter was funded through an extremely successful
This collaboration, based on the theme
Kickstarter campaign, in which the group
that art inspires art, is a playful look at the
raised 233% of their original goal. Their
interdependence of creativity.
LaRauf’s
newest recording, ‘ORIGINS: aTonalHit plays
video reveals various artists overhearing
New Music’ is a compilation of premieres by
or seeing other artists at work and creating
young composers from around the globe.
their own interpretation. In her poem, Ardó
aTonalHits has performed in numerous
skillfully weaves the word play of one art
styles of venue, from outreach to the concert
hall, to conducting masterclasses and a TEDx event. They play regularly around the globe, including a tour of both Holland and Turkey, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, Germany, Mexico- and closer to home at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Carnegie Hall, Liederkranz Hall, Symphony Space, and Spectrum among others. aTonalHits has also worked closely with the Société de Musique Contemporaine
du
Québec,
presenting
a recital with three of Québec’s foremost composers, including a premiere of Jean Lesage’s “Portrait of a Sentimental Musician in a Distorting Mirror”. Largely dedicated to new music, they have premiered over 100 works.
also
reaches
beyond
live
performance to the halls of the internet. Videos of their work are posted regularly on their YouTube and Vimeo sites, with footage not only of them playing, but of their animation, artwork, and video art. Katha plays a 1776 Guadagnini, on loan from the ChiMei Foundation. To learn more about aTonalHits please visit www.atonalhits.com
Jean-Baptiste Barrière Jean-Baptiste Barrière was born in Paris in 1958. His studies included music, art history, mathematical logic and philosophy (Doctorat at Sorbonne). In 1998, he joined IRCAM in Paris, directing successively
The group has also recently designed and composed two books for beginning violin and piano students- ‘Toogo’s Piano/Violin Adventures on Earth’, and ‘Toogo Goes Home’. The books take beginners through Toogo’s adventures with the help of creative illustrations and by introducing interesting techniques. Composition has played an increasingly large part in aTonalHits as original works by Illya have been added to their repertoire. They have also collaborated with
aTonalHits
other
groups
to
create
larger
compositions involving film. aTonalHits has been featured artists on the websites of the Juilliard School, Mannes the New School for Music, MySpace, and Avaloch Farm Residencies. Aside from performing, the group regularly focuses on video and music work, producing many classical and new music films, as well as a documentary focusing on John Cage’s “Sonatas and Interludes” and Sofia Gubaidulina’s “Dancer on a Tightrope.”
Musical
Research,
Education,
and
Production; and left in 1998 to concentrate on personal projects focusing on the interaction between music and image. His piece Chréode (1983) won the Prix de la Musique Numérique of the Concours International of Bourges in 1983 (CD Wergo). He composed the music of several multimedia shows, including 100 Objects to Represent the World by Peter Greenaway, which premiered at the Salzburg Festival in 1997. Barrière has also composed the music of several virtual reality and interactive installations
by
Maurice
Benayoun,
including Worldskin (Prix Ars Electronica 1998). He developed Reality Checks, a cycle of installations and performances questioning the concept of identity in the digital age. He directed the CDROM, Prisma: The Musical Universe of Kaija Saariaho (Grand Prix Multimédia Charles Cros 2000), and regularly realizes visual concerts of Saariaho’s music, including her opera L’Amour de loin, performed in Berlin and Paris in 2006 by Kent Nagano
and Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin.
Fall an artist residency at the New School
He directed visuals for concert versions of
in New York to realize an interdisciplinary
operas such as Olivier Messiaen’s Saint
project involving several departments of
François d’Assise with Kent Nagano and
this university.
Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal (Grand Prix du Conseil des Arts of Montréal), and
Jacob Gelber
with Myung Whun Chung and Orchestre
Jacob Gelber is a conductor, composer,
Philharmonique de Radio-France in 2008;
and
and Alban Berg’s Wozzeck with Esa-Pekka
composition
Salonen and the Philharmonia of London in
Exchange. Jacob enjoys writing choral and
2009. In 1997-98, he taught computer music
instrumental music and collaborating with
composition at the Sibelius Academy in
choreographers and visual artists. His
Helsinki, and in 2011–2012, he was Visiting
compositions have received awards through
Professor in the Music Department of
the ACDA, the Cantate Chamber Singers,
Columbia University, and was in 2015 the
the Harmonium Choral Society, and the
first grantee of the David Wessel‘s Music &
ASCAP Young Composers Awards. He has
Science Grant of the Center for New Music
studied through the European-American
& Audio Technologies, Music Department
Musical Alliance in Paris, the Lehigh
of the University of California Berkeley.
Choral Composers Forum, the Atlantic
vocalist
studying in
the
music
and
Columbia-Juilliard
Music Festival, Manhattan School of Music Latest major performances include in 2014 a
Precollege, and Westminster Choir College.
portrait concert at the Miller Theatre, New
His composition teachers have included
York, and in 2015 at Schœnberg Theater in
Samuel Adler and the late Steven Stucky.
Los Angeles as part of a Californian tour; the
Jacob currently studies composition with
same year, video for The Tempest Songbook
Melinda Wagner at the Juilliard School.
multimedia show on music by Purcell and Saariaho at the Metropolitan Museum of
Danielle LaRauf
New York with the Martha Graham Dance
As choreographer, video artist, dancer, and
Company and The Gotham Chamber Opera
singer, it has been such an honor to fuse
with stage direction by Luca Veggetti, and
these passions into one collaboration with
a large interactive installation with George
Bettina Sheppard, Zsuzsanna Ardó, and C4
Lewis and Carrol Blue at the Contemporary
Vocal Ensemble to produce the video for
Art Museum of Houston; the Premiere
‘Art?Works!’
by Jennifer Koh of Palimpsest Capriccio for violin and electronics at National Sawdust in
Danielle performed in many productions
May 2016; the video and electronics for the
in New York at BAM, Jazz at Lincoln
multimedia event Circle Map at the Park
Center, Carnegie Hall under the direction
Avenue Armory dedicated to the music
of Z. Randall Stroope, Apollo Theater,
of Kaija Saariaho, performed by the New
and most recently in ‘Step in Time’ at an
York Philharmonic conducted by Esa-Pekka
event hosted by Lin-Manuel Miranda at
Salonen this last October. He also started this
The United Palace Theater. She has also
performed
internationally
throughout
Canada and Sweden, appeared in the 2013
Brian Mountford Brian
Mountford
studied
music
and
Venice International Film Festival, worked
electrical engineering at Yale and UC
commercially
Du
Berkeley. He sings with the New York City
Soleil, and for one year served as dance
Master Chorale as well as C4, and composes
captain for SandCastle Dinner Theater in
occasionally.
Saipan of the Northern Mariana Islands.
http://www.mountford.net/music
Thank you Bettina Sheppard, Zsuzsanna
Kaija Saariaho
with
Nissan/Cirque
Ardó, Kariim Charlier, and all the artists involved for helping bring this idea to life!
Gwyneth Leech
Kaija Saariaho is a prominent member of a group of Finnish composers and performers who are now, in mid-career, making a worldwide impact. Born in Helsinki in 1952,
New York City artist Gwyneth Leech has
she studied at the Sibelius Academy with
exhibited her drawings, paintings and
the pioneering modernist Paavo Heininen
installations across the United States and
and, with Magnus Lindberg and others, she
the United Kingdom in a wide variety of
founded the progressive ‘Ears Open’ group.
museum, commercial gallery, public art, and
She continued her studies in Freiburg with
alternative spaces. Since the middle of 2015,
Brian Ferneyhough and Klaus Huber, at the
she has been focused on documenting in oil
Darmstadt summer courses, and, from 1982,
paintings and ink drawings the progress at
at the IRCAM research institute in Paris –
numerous interior and exterior construction
the city which has most often been her home
sites in Midtown Manhattan as the area
ever since.
undergoes major physical and demographic changes. “Construction Series”, her first
At IRCAM, Saariaho developed techniques
exhibition of this new artwork, is currently
of
on view at the headquarters of Sciame, a
acquired fluency in working on tape and with
major building company in New York City.
live electronics. This experience influenced
computer-assisted
composition
and
her approach to writing for orchestra, Leech received a BA from the University of
with its emphasis on the shaping of dense
Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, and a BFA
masses of sound in slow transformations.
and Post Graduate DA from Edinburgh
Significantly, her first orchestral piece,
College of Art, Edinburgh, UK. The recipient
Verblendungen (1984), involves a gradual
of numerous awards and grants, including
exchange of roles and character between
several Scottish Arts Council awards, a
orchestra and tape. And even the titles of
University of Colorado’s President’s Fund
her next, linked pair of orchestral works,
Grant, an Elizabeth Greenshields Memorial
Du Cristal (1989) and …à la Fumée (1990) –
Award, and a Thouron Fellowship, Leech
the latter with solo alto flute and cello, and
has created artwork that resides in important
both with live electronics – suggest their
private and public collections.
preoccupation with color and texture. Later, Saariaho turned to opera, with
outstanding success. L’Amour de loin, with a
awards as The Grawemeyer Award, The
libretto by Amin Maalouf based on an early
Wihuri Prize, and The Nemmers Prize,
biography of the twelfth-century troubadour
The Sonning Prize, and the Polar Music
Jaufré Rudel, received widespread acclaim
Prize. In 2015 she was the judge of the Toru
in its premiere production directed by Peter
Takemitsu Composition Award. Always
Sellars at the 2000 Salzburg Festival, and won
keen on strong educational programs, Kaija
the composer a prestigious Grawemeyer
Saariaho is in residence at the Mannes
Award. Adriana Mater, on an original
School of Music for the Fall of 2016, as part
libretto by Maalouf, mixing gritty present-
of Mannes’ centennial celebration.
day reality and dreams, followed, again directed by Sellars, at the Opéra Bastille
In 2012, Circle Map was commissioned by
in Paris in March 2006. Emilie, an opera
the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the
and monodrama for Karita Mattila had its
Boston Symphony Orchestra, Gothenburg
premiere in Lyon in March 2010, and Only
Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre National de
the Sound Remains, with Philippe Jarousky,
France, Royal Scottish National Orchestra,
had its world premiere in Amsterdam in
and Stavanger Symphony Orchestra. The
2016.
piece was inspired by six poems of Rumi, which, recited in Persian, are used as the
The experience of writing for voices has
material for the electronic part. Circle Map
led to some clarification of Saariaho’s
was premiered by Amsterdam’s Royal
language, with a new vein of modally-
Concertgebouw Orchestra, conducted by
oriented melody accompanied by more
Susanna Mälkki at the Westergasfabriek
regular repeating patterns. In the profusion
Gashouder in Amsterdam on June 22, 2012.
of large and small works which Saariaho
In 2015 the song cycle True Fire
has produced in recent years, two features
was premiered by Gerald Finley and the
which have marked her whole career
Los Angeles Philharmonic, conducted by
continue to stand out. One is a close and
Gustavo Dudamel. Her opera, Only the
productive association with individual
Sound Remains, was premiered in March
artists, including Amin Maalouf and Peter
2016 at The Dutch National Opera. In
Sellars, as well as the conductor Esa-Pekka
December 2016, the Metropolitan Opera
Salonen, the flautist Camilla Hoitenga, the
will present a new production of her first
cellist Anssi Karttunen, the soprano Dawn
opera, L’amour de Loin.
Upshaw and, the pianists Emmanuel Ax and
The music of Kaija Saariaho is
Tuija Hakkila. The other is a concern, shown
published exclusively by Chester Music and
equally in her choice of subject matter and
Edition Wilhelm Hansen, part of the Music
texts and in the profusion of expression
Sales Group of Companies.
marks in her scores, to make her music not a working-out of abstract processes but an
Bettina Sheppard
urgent communication from composer to
Bettina Sheppard, composer and vocalist,
listener of ideas, images and emotions.
holds
Saariaho has claimed such major composing
University of Virginia and CUNY, where
graduate
degrees
from
both
she
studied
composition
with
Chris
Theofanidis and Shafer Mahoney, as well as composition studies at Juilliard with
College, CUNY, and Broadway Dance Center.
Conrad Cummings. Some of her works
Wyatt D. Stevens
include a song cycle of Emily Dickinson
Wyatt D. Stevens is a multi-disciplinary
poetry performed at Lincoln Center’s
artist working in the mediums of film,
Alice Tully Hall; settings of Millay poetry
music, and visual arts. Born in the Hudson
commissioned for the American Cathedral
Valley and currently based in New York
in Paris; Stillwaters, a one-act opera, a song
City, Stevens focuses on subtle occurrences
cycle of Kaneko poetry; stage productions,
in modern youth culture through the
including
Street
medium of stop motion. Stevens would like
Theatre, Barcelona, Dallas); 365 Days/365
TraumNovela
(Barrow
to thank Debora Levy for her assistance in
Plays by Suzan-Lori Parks at Barrow Street
this project.
Theatre and The Public Theater; Hell (dance production at City Center); The Picture of
Martha Sullivan
Dorian Grey; Kindly Direct Me To Hell: An
Martha Sullivan explores the narrative
Evening With Dorothy Parker. She created
strategies of music from many standpoints,
the new group Bridges Vocal Ensemble,
as a composer of vocal music, as a singer,
presenting her compositions of various
and as a scholar working on musical topic
cultures and time periods, in venues such
theory and semiotics—she uses the tools of
as Carnegie Hall and City Center. Current
feminist criticism, gender theory, vocality,
projects include an opera based on Welsh
and embodiment theory. She has presented
folk tales of The Mabinogian. Solus, her
papers at three international conferences in
CD of original material was released under
the last year; sung and conducted with C4;
her Welsh name, Brythonwen. Serving as
taught at Rutgers and Westminster Choir
musical director for numerous theatrical
College; and won the Sorel Medallion for
productions, she has also directed and
Women Composers.
performed with many vocal groups from madrigal to rock, and created the jazz harmony group Satin Dolls.
She is the
in-house composer for New York Open Center, and a member of The Sound and Music Institute, an innovative group of multicultural musicians who are exploring the effects of both archaic and modern music in today’s world, with members including Grammy Award winner David Darling, the late Don Campbell, John Beaulieu, and Silvia Nakkach. Bettina is the author of The Everything Singing Book, published by Adams Media, and is on faculty at City
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We wish to thank and acknowledge our donors: Concert Sponsors Nan Bases Susan M. Orzel-Biggs & Hayes Biggs Jonathan David Lauren Mitchell & Michael David Charles Natt Constance Beavon & Bruce Saylor Ellen Stafford-Sigg & Daniel Sigg Cutting-Edge Circle Melissa Bybee David Hurd Creative Circle Kit Smyth Basquin* Helen Bell Vic and Jan Bilodeau Jennifer Blessing Lewis Brown Nancy & Lee Corbin John Evans Joseph Fong Don & Sally Hayward Ira & Becky Horowitz Kamilah Jackson Phyllis Kubey Linda & Leslie Libow Americanna Magness Joan Malczewski Mary Meyer Sue Backstrom & Jon Minikes Phil & Pat Morehead Louis & Sharon Mountford Bosiljka Raditsa Linda Schrank* Kenneth and Jean Telljohann Ira Wolfman Anonymous (1) Contemporary Circle Arianne Abela Richard Adams Isabel Aleman Nick Allardice Aaron Alter László Andor Ben Arendsen Tom Baker Nathaniel Barnett Brian Baum Maya Ben-Meir Shareeza Bhola Vicki Bloom
Contemporary Circle (con’t) Craig and Loren Blum Lauren & Michael Blumenfeld Linda Britt Jeffrey Brown Margaret Brown Danielle Buonaiuto Lisa Burns Ching Chang Barbara Charles Martin and Lisa Cohen Brooke Collins Charles Crow Michael Dellaira Alex DeLuca David & Mary Dreyfus Sue Feingold Kenny Felder Jonathan Fisher Vincent FitzGerald* Visha Fox David Gelber Ellen Gesmer Grace Goodman Naomi Goodman Beth Gordon Diane Gottlieb Catherine Guthrie Rob Gutmann Jeanine Hartnett Harriet Davidson & Jerry Hirniak* Rochele Hirsch Madeline Hogan David McCorkle & Ernest Hood* Ling Hsiao Jeffrey James Ludmilla Trigos & Paul Judicke Charles Katz Janet Keogan David Keyes Jordan Kinsey Janet & Robert Klump Kermit Komm Susan Koshewa Cheryl and Jacob Krugel-Lee and Lee Jim and Lynne Kruszka Jon and Miriam Lafferty Patricia Larkin The Levin-Delsons Tania León Deborah Linehan Lyn Liston
Contemporary Circle (con’t) James Stephen Longo Peter Lurye Michael Biello & Dan Martin Donald McCloskey Maria McCumiskey Stella McKeown Angela Menghraj Peter & Christine Metz Juliet Milhofer Mackenzie Millar Jay D. Lane and Jean Monroe Ruth Mueller-Maerki Rochelle & Bernard Natt Marjorie Naughton Lisa Niedermeyer Valerie Norton Francesco Piattelli Palmarini Leslie Palmer Zahra Partovi* Janet Pascal Rob Paterson Jane Penn Helen Price Bethany Reeves David Rentz Debra Rich Mona Ring Brett Roelofs Jonathan & Suzanne Rosenzweig Joseph Rubinstein Sharon Lee Ryder Maria Santos Christine Schadeberg Ronnie Scharfman Peter Schmitt Katherine Schoonover Phillip Schroeder David See Mark Shapiro Bettina Sheppard Ike Silver Nancy Smardz Carolyn Smith Marcia Sofley Martin & Barbara Solomon Milton Sonday* Samhitha Sreenivasan
Contemporary Circle (con’t) Marie-Louise Stegall Thomas Stumpf Martha Sullivan Neil Sumner Anne Thulin* Mary Ellen Townsend Perry Townsend Evelyn & Socrates Triantafillou Bill Tribby Mary Tsimenoglou Jennifer Wentworth Gordon Williamson Alice Wu Ruth Zeiner
C4 Board of Directors C4 could not function without the dedicated work of its board of directors. We are very grateful to: Fahad Siadat, Chair Maya Ben-Mier Colin Britt Fahad Siadat Karen Siegel Larry Siegel Melissa Wozniak, Treasurer
Special Thanks David Castaneda Timothy Brown Symphony Space
Includes donations from 11/2/15 to 11/2/16. Concert Sponsor: $1,000$4,999; Cutting-Edge Circle: $600-999; Innovative Circle: $350-599; Creative Circle: $125-349; Contemporary Circle: $1-$124. If we have made an error, please accept our apologies and notify us at info@ c4ensemble.org.
* Friend of C4 C4’s activities are funded in part with the generous assistance of:
C4: The Choral Composer/Conductor Collective Sopranos
Altos
Rebecca Ehren Noele Flowers Christina Kay Artemisz Polonyi Karen Siegel Melissa Wozniak
Maya Ben-Meir Erin Halpin Rachael Lansang Leonore Nelson Karl Saint Lucy Bettina Sheppard
Tenors Ben Arendsen Nate Barnett Mario Gullo Joseph Prestamo Perry Townsend Richard Tucker Grant Yosenick
Basses Daniel Andor-Ardó Hayes Biggs Jacob Gelber Brendan Littlefield Brian Mountford David See
C4 exists to enrich artists and audiences alike, through passionate advocacy of new choral works, performing pieces written within the last 25 years, premiering and commissioning new choral works, and mentoring emerging singers, composers, and conductors of today’s choral music. www.c4ensemble.org.
photographer: Keith Goldstein
For information on C4 members, visit our website: c4ensemble.org/theensemble.html