C4: Visual - Choral Works with Visual and Electronic Components

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

v

v

v

v

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