[Voxnovus] TONIGHT! - COMPOSER'S VOICE: WOMEN, WORDS, AND MUSIC

[Robert Voisey (Vox Novus)]

The Composer’s Voice Concert Series presents “Women, Words, and Music” on
Thursday, March 17 at 7:30 pm at The Firehouse Space. The concert features
music written by women and inspired by words. According to the curator,
“Women are the storytellers, the observers, the sharers; these works – to
me, at least – quite effectively use the words at their nucleus to
transcend, in the purest sense of the word, into a deeper realm of
communication that occurs at the “juxta-betwixtion” between sound, language,
and perception.”

This concert is curated by pianist Sara Bong. Sara Bong has built a
significant reputation as a vital force in the support of the performing
arts and music education. During her 20+ years as Director of Program
Development/VP for MidAmerica Productions, she garnered widespread
recognition and praise for her professionalism and dedication to thousands
of ensembles who made appearances at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and
abroad under her guidance. Sara has also made an impact as a musician,
appearing as a soloist, accompanist, and collaborative pianist throughout
the U.S. and in Europe.

On curating the concert, Bong states “naturally my thoughts turned to works
I had been keen to see included on the series. Not only did they tend toward
the programmatic, but they defied easy categorization individually and
collectively. Almost coincidently, they were all composed by women. But in
delving deeper into the common threads that bound my selections together, I
started thinking about their shared inspiration. The answer was simple:
words. A poem, a novel, a life story – each of these served as an artistic
genesis, from a unique perspective.”

“it’s on the edge of what’s happening” –Brant Lyon, Great Weather for Media

The March 17 concert will feature works by Kaija Saariaho, Cindi Hsu,
Bettina Sheppard, Veronika Krausas, Shelley Washington, Emanuela Ballio,
Inna Buganina, Maggi Payne, Kezia Yap, Elizabeth Adams, Syrlane Albuquerque,
and Jennifer Merkowitz. These works will be performed by pianists Sara Bong
and Markus Kaitila, flutists Angela Collier-Reynolds and Emily Voye,
sopranos Carla Wesby and Melissa Wozniak, alto Shelley Washington, tenor
Mario Gullo, and baritone Brendan Littleton. The concert will also feature
Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame: Piano Pinnacle. Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame is a
project which features fifteen one-minute works by fifteen composers,
written specifically for the performers. The purpose of the project is to
promote a great variety of contemporary music to audiences hungry to hear
what living composers are writing today. Piano Pinnacle is a leading new
piano duo ensemble in Canada dedicated to rejuvenating the piano duo genre.
The duo will perform one-minute works by composers Rodrigo Baggio, Miriam
Berardi, David Bohn, Soo Jin Cho, Ruth Watson Henderson, Alison Ireland,
Nathan R. Johnson, Adam Kennaugh, Shao Suan Low, Zack Merritt, William
Murray, Giorgos Papamitrou, Farshid Samandari, Joaquín Mendoza Sebastián,
and Christopher M. Wicks.

The Composer’s Voice Concert Series is an opportunity for contemporary
composers to express their aesthetic and personal voice. Founded in 2001 by
Robert Voisey, Composer’s Voice has presented hundreds of concerts in New
York City. The series has premiered thousands of works from living composers
from around the world. Works are chosen from a wide range of contemporary
composers of different styles, aesthetics, and genre. The works are
performed by dedicated musicians devoted to new music. Performances are
recorded and archived to further promote new music, performers, and
composers. Audio, video, scores, and programs can be found on the Composer’s
Voice website. www.ComposersVoice.com

Composer’s Voice Concert Series
Women, Words, and Music
Thursday, March 17, 2016 at 7:30 pm
The Firehouse Space
246 Frost St, Brooklyn, NY 11211
$10 admission
http://thefirehousespace.org/