Program
The Signified
Part 1: Rainbows
Part 2: Containers
Part 3: numbers:srebmun
Part 4: Love
I love |
Skyelar Ginsburg, composer |
Poetry translation by Mary Ann Caws Joslyn Sarshad & Abigail Whitman, soloists |
Lasting Sounds of Love |
David V. Montoya, composer |
Poetry by William Wallis Abigail Whitman & Kirk Averitt, soloists |
And Still, The Birds Sing |
Judy A. Rose, composer |
Lydia Jane Pugh & Joslyn Sarshad, soloists Judy A. Rose, Native American flute |
Purity |
Ethan Gans-Morse, composer |
Poetry by Tiziana DellaRovere Mira Fu-En Huang, soloist |
Director's Notes
The concept of The Signified comes from the study of language and meaning known as semiotics. In one iteration, semiotics includes three categories: the sign (symbols like words and icons that hold place for things and experiences), the signifier (the meaning we give to something), and the signified (the thing itself). I still remember the first time I read about these distinctions in Marshall Mcluhan's The Medium Is The Message. The clarity and order I found in the world once I thought to look for the existence of the thing itself as separate from the meaning I gave to it and the symbols I used to hold place for it opened my understanding of the world. The N.E.O. composers' prompt was to explore what these distinctions might mean to them artistically, and it became the core of the festival week.
In the hands of the N.E.O. composers, we have been graced with a great many creative explorations of the concept. Each piece pours water into different containers including: Thomas’ choice to celebrate the meaning-making process of a Hawaiian naming ceremony; Michael’s spiritual reference to the source; Max’s insistence that self deception is multi-pathed; Socks' questioning of symbols and associations; O-Lan’s exploration of growth as a source phenomenon, Travis’ depiction of hope as complication; Oliver’s investigation of separateness as a core reality; Ruth’s reflections on mortality and graceful separation; Lydia’s unearthing of cultural relationships through the crisis in Ukraine; Haeyun’s insistence that the signified as music can maintain its essentially meaningless form and Vera’s twisting of meaning through the process of writing words and music backward; Skyelar’s portrayal of the strain of allowing meaning to inhabit experience; David’s embracing of experience as meaning itself; Judy’s reminder that we can find meaning in life regardless of hardship; and Ethan’s willful determination to define love as essential human meaning. Though they wrote separately, together, miraculously, they have become a new oratorio premiere. I highly encourage you to read the composer’s notes (which you can find here) to hear about their new creations in their own words.
This piece was invented over the last few months through the collaborative efforts of all of these people whose love, and passion can be heard oozing through it all. They came together this week to explore their artistry, each other, and their creative potential as a determined group. As with each N.E.O. team before them, they have opened windows into consciousness for us all, and uplifted our humanity through the energy of their songs.
If you are someone who would like to spend a week deepening into what your voice can do and ways that you can communicate to people through compositional approaches to the voice, consider joining us next year in a warm, welcoming, curiosity-first environment dedicated to voice exploration and performance. Thank you for being a part of the 2022 N.E.O. Voice Festival!
In the hands of the N.E.O. composers, we have been graced with a great many creative explorations of the concept. Each piece pours water into different containers including: Thomas’ choice to celebrate the meaning-making process of a Hawaiian naming ceremony; Michael’s spiritual reference to the source; Max’s insistence that self deception is multi-pathed; Socks' questioning of symbols and associations; O-Lan’s exploration of growth as a source phenomenon, Travis’ depiction of hope as complication; Oliver’s investigation of separateness as a core reality; Ruth’s reflections on mortality and graceful separation; Lydia’s unearthing of cultural relationships through the crisis in Ukraine; Haeyun’s insistence that the signified as music can maintain its essentially meaningless form and Vera’s twisting of meaning through the process of writing words and music backward; Skyelar’s portrayal of the strain of allowing meaning to inhabit experience; David’s embracing of experience as meaning itself; Judy’s reminder that we can find meaning in life regardless of hardship; and Ethan’s willful determination to define love as essential human meaning. Though they wrote separately, together, miraculously, they have become a new oratorio premiere. I highly encourage you to read the composer’s notes (which you can find here) to hear about their new creations in their own words.
This piece was invented over the last few months through the collaborative efforts of all of these people whose love, and passion can be heard oozing through it all. They came together this week to explore their artistry, each other, and their creative potential as a determined group. As with each N.E.O. team before them, they have opened windows into consciousness for us all, and uplifted our humanity through the energy of their songs.
If you are someone who would like to spend a week deepening into what your voice can do and ways that you can communicate to people through compositional approaches to the voice, consider joining us next year in a warm, welcoming, curiosity-first environment dedicated to voice exploration and performance. Thank you for being a part of the 2022 N.E.O. Voice Festival!
Program
The Signified
Part 1: Rainbows
E Kuini E Kapi'olani | Thomas Goedecke |
In the Beginning | Michael Conley |
Abigail Whitman, soloist |
|
Many Ways | Max Eidinoff |
Pink/Blue | Socks Whitmore |
Lydia Jane Pugh, soloist |
Part 2: Containers
Part 3: numbers:srebmun
Part 4: Love
I love | Skyelar Ginsburg |
Poetry translation by Mary Ann Caws Joslyn Sarshad & Abigail Whitman, soloists |
|
Lasting Sounds of Love | David V. Montoya |
Poetry by William Wallis Abigail Whitman & Kirk Averitt, soloists |
|
And Still, The Birds Sing | Judy A. Rose |
Lydia Jane Pugh & Joslyn Sarshad, soloists Judy A. Rose, Native American flute |
|
Purity | Ethan Gans-Morse |
Poetry by Tiziana DellaRovere Mira Fu-En Huang, soloist |
Director's Notes
The concept of The Signified comes from the study of language and meaning known as semiotics. In one iteration, semiotics includes three categories: the sign (symbols like words and icons that hold place for things and experiences), the signifier (the meaning we give to something), and the signified (the thing itself). I still remember the first time I read about these distinctions in Marshall Mcluhan's The Medium Is The Message. The clarity and order I found in the world once I thought to look for the existence of the thing itself as separate from the meaning I gave to it and the symbols I used to hold place for it opened my understanding of the world. The N.E.O. composers' prompt was to explore what these distinctions might mean to them artistically, and it became the core of the festival week.
In the hands of the N.E.O. composers, we have been graced with a great many creative explorations of the concept. Each piece pours water into different containers including: Thomas’ choice to celebrate the meaning-making process of a Hawaiian naming ceremony; Michael’s spiritual reference to the source; Max’s insistence that self deception is multi-pathed; Socks' questioning of symbols and associations; O-Lan’s exploration of growth as a source phenomenon, Travis’ depiction of hope as complication; Oliver’s investigation of separateness as a core reality; Ruth’s reflections on mortality and graceful separation; Lydia’s unearthing of cultural relationships through the crisis in Ukraine; Haeyun’s insistence that the signified as music can maintain its essentially meaningless form and Vera’s twisting of meaning through the process of writing words and music backward; Skyelar’s portrayal of the strain of allowing meaning to inhabit experience; David’s embracing of experience as meaning itself; Judy’s reminder that we can find meaning in life regardless of hardship; and Ethan’s willful determination to define love as essential human meaning. Though they wrote separately, together, miraculously, they have become a new oratorio premiere. I highly encourage you to read the composer’s notes (which you can find here) to hear about their new creations in their own words.
This piece was invented over the last few months through the collaborative efforts of all of these people whose love, and passion can be heard oozing through it all. They came together this week to explore their artistry, each other, and their creative potential as a determined group. As with each N.E.O. team before them, they have opened windows into consciousness for us all, and uplifted our humanity through the energy of their songs.
If you are someone who would like to spend a week deepening into what your voice can do and ways that you can communicate to people through compositional approaches to the voice, consider joining us next year in a warm, welcoming, curiosity-first environment dedicated to voice exploration and performance. Thank you for being a part of the 2022 N.E.O. Voice Festival!
In the hands of the N.E.O. composers, we have been graced with a great many creative explorations of the concept. Each piece pours water into different containers including: Thomas’ choice to celebrate the meaning-making process of a Hawaiian naming ceremony; Michael’s spiritual reference to the source; Max’s insistence that self deception is multi-pathed; Socks' questioning of symbols and associations; O-Lan’s exploration of growth as a source phenomenon, Travis’ depiction of hope as complication; Oliver’s investigation of separateness as a core reality; Ruth’s reflections on mortality and graceful separation; Lydia’s unearthing of cultural relationships through the crisis in Ukraine; Haeyun’s insistence that the signified as music can maintain its essentially meaningless form and Vera’s twisting of meaning through the process of writing words and music backward; Skyelar’s portrayal of the strain of allowing meaning to inhabit experience; David’s embracing of experience as meaning itself; Judy’s reminder that we can find meaning in life regardless of hardship; and Ethan’s willful determination to define love as essential human meaning. Though they wrote separately, together, miraculously, they have become a new oratorio premiere. I highly encourage you to read the composer’s notes (which you can find here) to hear about their new creations in their own words.
This piece was invented over the last few months through the collaborative efforts of all of these people whose love, and passion can be heard oozing through it all. They came together this week to explore their artistry, each other, and their creative potential as a determined group. As with each N.E.O. team before them, they have opened windows into consciousness for us all, and uplifted our humanity through the energy of their songs.
If you are someone who would like to spend a week deepening into what your voice can do and ways that you can communicate to people through compositional approaches to the voice, consider joining us next year in a warm, welcoming, curiosity-first environment dedicated to voice exploration and performance. Thank you for being a part of the 2022 N.E.O. Voice Festival!
Performers
Kirk Averitt |
Kirk Averitt is a conductor, vocalist, and music educator. He is Assistant Director of the Vocal Arts Conservatory at California School of the Arts - San Gabriel Valley. An active singer in Los Angeles, Kirk performs with Choral Arts Initiative, Westwood Presbyterian Church, C3LA, and Voices of Christmas. Before moving to Southern California, Kirk served as Director of Choral Music at Beaver Country Day School and The Congregational Church of Weston in Boston, MA, and has worked with choral ensembles around the globe. In 2019, his choir from Beaver Country Day shared a week in residence with ensembles at Escuela Nacional de Arte in Havana, Cuba, and conducted and performed with Viatores Mundi in Bol, Croatia, a choral organization he co-founded in 2019. Originally from Decatur, AL, Kirk holds a Master of Music in Choral Conducting from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a Bachelors in Vocal Music Education from Lipscomb University in Nashville, TN. |
Oliver is an award winning composer based in Sydney. He completed a Bachelor of Music (Composition) with Honours in 2015 at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, and is currently the composer in residence at Meriden School. In 2017, Oliver launched Flaming Howard Productions with Sophia Roberts and wrote and composed the music for The Colour Orange: The Pauline Hanson Musical. After winning the Critic's Pick award at the 2017 Sydney Fringe Festival, the troupe has performed the production at Sideshow Festival, Sydney Comedy Festival 2018, and Adelaide Fringe Festival 2018 where they were awarded the Emerging Artist Award. Oliver received the 2021 Willgoss Choral Prize for his work, 5 lullabies for uncertain times, which will be premiered by the Burgundian Consort later in the year. |
Oliver John Cameron |
Oliver John Cameron |
Oliver is an award winning composer based in Sydney. He completed a Bachelor of Music (Composition) with Honours in 2015 at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, and is currently the composer in residence at Meriden School. In 2017, Oliver launched Flaming Howard Productions with Sophia Roberts and wrote and composed the music for The Colour Orange: The Pauline Hanson Musical. After winning the Critic's Pick award at the 2017 Sydney Fringe Festival, the troupe has performed the production at Sideshow Festival, Sydney Comedy Festival 2018, and Adelaide Fringe Festival 2018 where they were awarded the Emerging Artist Award. Oliver received the 2021 Willgoss Choral Prize for his work, 5 lullabies for uncertain times, which will be premiered by the Burgundian Consort later in the year. |
Mira Fu-En Huang |
Mira Fu-En Huang, soprano, uses her voice to veer off the beaten path and bring lesser-told stories to the forefront. Hailed for her vocal control and light silver voice, Mira especially enjoys bringing life to underrepresented stories from early and modern eras. She has performed as Semele in Handel’s opera of the same name, Euridice in Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo, and Belinda in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas. A lover of community storytelling, Mira is an avid ensemble singer, having sung with Chantry Early Music, Vox Musica, Il Dolce Suono, and the church choir for the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Her choral accolades include performing for the east-coast premiere of Ēriks Ešenvalds’ Sunset in My Hand at Carnegie Hall in 2017 and soloing at the Vatican in 2013. |
Lydia Jane Pugh began performing at the age of 6, through local theatre productions. She trained as a musician via the Guernsey Music Service, learning piano, voice, cello, percussion, and eventually she taught herself the guitar at university. At 16 she started working as a self-accompanied vocalist, performing in Hotels, Pubs and for weddings and private events across the Channel Islands. After completing her BA in music at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, Lydia went on to complete an MA in composition at Leeds College of Music in 2010. Since then she has been working as a freelance composer for various choirs and choral societies in the UK, and receiving performances around the world. |
Lydia Jane Pugh |
Lydia Jane Pugh |
Lydia Jane Pugh began performing at the age of 6, through local theatre productions. She trained as a musician via the Guernsey Music Service, learning piano, voice, cello, percussion, and eventually she taught herself the guitar at university. At 16 she started working as a self-accompanied vocalist, performing in Hotels, Pubs and for weddings and private events across the Channel Islands. After completing her BA in music at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, Lydia went on to complete an MA in composition at Leeds College of Music in 2010. Since then she has been working as a freelance composer for various choirs and choral societies in the UK, and receiving performances around the world. |
Travis Reynolds |
Travis Reynolds is a composer and pianist originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, now based in Los Angeles. Described as “musically intriguing… [and] extremely memorable” (I Care If You Listen), his music has received regular performances around the globe, including Carnegie Hall, Kaufman Music Center, and the Kennedy Center. Recent honors and engagements include tenor Gregory Wiest’s call for scores for his song cycle Birds Gone South, and the winner of Arcady’s 2022 Emerging Artist Composition Competition for “[by zero]”. A selection of his art songs were released on LYNX’s debut album beautiful small things in March, and will be published by New Music Shelf later this year. When he is not composing, he works as a collaborative pianist and teacher, and directs the music program at First Unitarian Church of Los Angeles. |
Judy A. Rose has a B.S. and M.Ed from Portland State University. She worked for Portland Public Schools as a music teacher for 20 years. Judy has been an active music director, accompanist and singer in the Vancouver, WA/Portland Metro area. Judy enjoys playing the Native American Flute, birding, wildlife photography and spending time with her family. Judy & her spouse, share their home and creekside walks with Naomi, a rescued Cardigan Corgi & Chesapeake Retriever mix in Vancouver, WA. |
Judy A. Rose |
Judy A. Rose |
Judy A. Rose has a B.S. and M.Ed from Portland State University. She worked for Portland Public Schools as a music teacher for 20 years. Judy has been an active music director, accompanist and singer in the Vancouver, WA/Portland Metro area. Judy enjoys playing the Native American Flute, birding, wildlife photography and spending time with her family. Judy & her spouse, share their home and creekside walks with Naomi, a rescued Cardigan Corgi & Chesapeake Retriever mix in Vancouver, WA. |
Joslyn Sarshad |
Joslyn Sarshad is a soprano from Boulder, Colorado who's been loving the LA/OC scene for ten years. She earned her degree in vocal performance from California State University Fullerton, and has been singing and teaching professionally since. She sings as a first soprano in Orange County's premier professional choir Pacific Chorale, as well as the new chamber group Cogitatio Chorale. Joslyn loves to compose her own songs on guitar and piano and has been fortunate to have her performances broadcast internationally on the TV program Hour of Power. She loves helping her students discover their own creativity and self-expression through composing. One of her greatest joys in life is helping others find the music in themselves! |
Abigail Whitman is a performer-composer with a focus on the voice and a certified Alexander Technique teacher. Her goal as an artist is to spread the joy of being alive through the exploration of new music and collaboration with her fellow artists. Combined with Alexander Technique, she encourages those around her to find freedom by creating new and works in order to generate a sense of community and explore self-awareness and presence. Her collaborative practice as a performer includes operas such as Inheritance (2018) by Alissa Voth, and Cassandra (2019) by Julian Kornick. In the spring of 2019, she curated an hour-long recital called The Unheard Voice, which highlighted the music of female and LGBTQ+ composers. |
Abigail Whitman |
Abigail Whitman |
Abigail Whitman is a performer-composer with a focus on the voice and a certified Alexander Technique teacher. Her goal as an artist is to spread the joy of being alive through the exploration of new music and collaboration with her fellow artists. Combined with Alexander Technique, she encourages those around her to find freedom by creating new experiences and works in order to generate a sense of community and explore self-awareness and presence. Her collaborative practice as a performer includes operas such as Inheritance (2018) by Alissa Voth, and Cassandra (2019) by Julian Kornick. In the spring of 2019, she curated an hour-long recital called The Unheard Voice, which highlighted the music of female and LGBTQ+ composers. |