I Like to Play with Him

Watch a video of a live performance

Commissioned and presented by WordSong, a new concert format in which one text is presented in multiple, newly composed settings and is the focus of directed conversation among composers, performers, and audience.

WordSong

Kristen Watson, Soprano
Linda Osborn-Blaschke, Piano

I Dream'd in a Dream

I. I Dream'd in a Dream - mp3
II. Think of the Soul
III. Among the Multitude - mp3
(Total duration: 11 mins)

A setting of selections from Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman for SATB vocal ensemble or choir.

> Read the texts.

> Read the program note for I Dream'd in a Dream on my blog.

Revealed in Stone

(arrangement for chamber ensemble)

I. Once Hidden and Enclosed - mp3
II. The Years I Cannot Know - mp3
III. I Become the Model - mp3
IV. Hidden in You - mp3
V. A Thousand Years After We Are Gone - mp3
(Total duration: 12 mins)

A song cycle setting of poems by Michelangelo. This is an arrangement for tenor with 11-piece chamber ensemble. The original piano version was performed last year (mp3s here). Both performances featured tenor Mxolisi Duda.

> Visit the Beyond the Notes multimedia guide to Revealed in Stone to learn more about the poetry, art and music.

Anita Chandavarkar, Flute and alto flute
Siri Bloom, Oboe and English horn
Jay Hutchinson, Clarinet in Bb
and bass clarinet
Derek Lewis, Horn
Joelle Simone Wagner, Bassoon
George Nickson, Percussion
Wayne Shen, Violin
Samantha Bennett, Violin
Samuel Gold, Viola
Ginevra Ventre, Cello
Andrew Hilcote, Double bass

Mxolisi Duda, Tenor
Aram Demirjian, Conductor

To Create One's Own World

listen to mp3
(Duration: ca. 5 1/2 mins)

A song based on selected quotations from painter Georgia O'Keeffe.

> Visit the Beyond the Notes multimedia guide to To Create One's Own World to learn more about the poetry, art and music.

Rachel Holmes, Soprano
Stephanie Cambra, Flute
Takehiko Mochizuki, Marimba

Revealed in Stone

I. Once Hidden and Enclosed - mp3
II. The Years I Cannot Know - mp3
III. I Become the Model - mp3
IV. Hidden in You - mp3
V. A Thousand Years After We Are Gone - mp3
(Total duration: ca. 11 mins)

A song cycle setting of poems by Michelangelo.

> Visit the Beyond the Notes multimedia guide to Revealed in Stone to learn more about the poetry, art and music.

Mxolisi Duda, Tenor
Patricia Au, Piano

Songs for Baritone

I. As the Sky Does in Water - listen to mp3
II. Laws for Creations - listen to mp3
(Total duration: ca. 7 mins)

Art songs settings of Rumi and Walt Whitman.

> Read the program note.

Chad Flynn, Baritone
Patricia Au, Piano

Forming Desires

listen to mp3
(Duration: ca. 8 mins)

An art song setting of philosophical poetry by Muhammad Iqbal.

> Read the program note.

Winner of the 2009 Ellen Taaffe Zwilich Prize from the International Alliance for Women in Music.

Oriana Dunlop, Contralto
Alexandra Frana, Clarinet in Bb
Lauren Hunt, French horn
David Meyer, Cello

Memory

I. Senses - mp3
II. Recollection - mp3
III. Inward Action - mp3
IV. This Power of Memory - mp3
or... all in one mp3
(Duration: 12:30)

This is a setting of an excerpt from St. Augustine's "Confessions" about memory and sense (in an English translation by Henry Chadwick).

> Read the text.

> I wrote an essay about the process of composing this piece. You can read it at my journal.

Kris Gould, Soprano
Lawrence Lipnik, Alto
John Olund, Tenor
Kurt-Owen Richards, Bass

(Members of Lionheart, Pomerium, Parthenia, et al.)