Meet Rain Nox, FSOO 2017 Winner

In the fall of 2016, during the Inaugural Fresh Squeezed Ounce of Art Song, OOO premiered Composer/Librettist Rain Nox's cycle "Water Songs." Her submission to FSOO 2017 had us rolling from the first page -- Problems is a short opera with an unusual setting: a strip mall gym. OOO is happy to bring Problems to life for the very first time. Here's more from Rain:

1) (from Maureen, singing Viki) How/when did you come up with the idea to set an opera in a gym?

Rain: Since I started going to the gym regularly before work I started to notice the same people are there every day- a couple who train together with a coach, an older gentleman and a young woman who seem to push themselves to their limits in every workout.  There are people that never seem to miss a single day.  I started to think about how for many of us the gym is a place which both accentuates our insecurities and provides an outlet for overcoming our insecurities.  Viki’s character and song was actually the basis for the entire opera- a place where a “problem” that seems petty could actually be part of a much more serious issue that no one else could know about.  What could be going through other people’s minds as they are running on a treadmill? We have no idea what anyone else is going through at any given time, what’s behind the forced smile of the cashier at the grocery store, why the car inspection clerk was curt.  The more we remember that, the nicer I think our society will be.

  

2) (from Julie F, director) Each character’s moments are unique, as are their personalities. How did these characters — and their “problems” — come to be? Any basis on, um, personal experience? :)

Rain: Most of my characters are based on my personal experiences, situations I have observed, or experiences shared with me by those who are close to me.  Being annoyed at having to wait for a cardio machine is such a “first world” problem, one that I am unfortunately guilty of.  I actually don’t get mad when my husband checks out other women’s butts, because I do that too- we can’t help seeing what is around us!  I tried to have each character show a different level of how “serious” most people would consider a problem to be, although in reality it makes no sense to compare problems.  Nothing good can come out of trying to judge the validity of someone else’s problem. Writing this micro-opera made me feel incredibly lucky about my life situation and so grateful about how few “problems” I really have.

Reserve your seats today!

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rain_nox_headshotRain Nox received her Bachelors of Music in Composition from the University of Texas at Austin.  Since graduating she has composed six one act musicals, including Sisters of the Sea that was featured in Best of Fest at Fronterafest, and three full length musicals, including Crazy Like a Person, which won Best Original Play at the City Theatre’s Summer Acts festival.  She is also the lead singer and bassist for local rock band Rise from Fire, whose first album will be released this summer. She is honored to have her second performance with One Ounce Opera, who premiered her work Water Songs last November.  https://soundcloud.com/rainnox


Meet Marvin J. Carlton and Madeleine St. Romain, FSOO 2017 Winners

Remembering Landscape is a post apocalyptic opera for three singers and piano. During FSOO 2017, One Ounce Opera will present the premiere performance of the piece, written by composer Marvin J. Carlton and librettist Madeleine St. Romain. It will feature Maureen Papovich, Julie Silva, and Robert LeBas.

Q: (from Julie Fiore, stage director) Marvin, the music is woven together almost like a chorale, especially the opening trio. From where did you draw your inspiration for the style of music in this piece?

Marvin: "Remembering Landscape" is the second opera that Madeleine and I have done together.  In both operas, I have found that Madeleine's words frequently invite ensemble singing, and to me that is a good thing since I enjoy writing ensembles.  When I first read the text, I was struck by the starkness of the opera and was compelled to write music that would reflect that starkness.  Knowing that the characters had just encountered a disaster, I knew that they had to express their feelings individually but at time intertwining with each other.  As for Chloe's scene midway through the opera, upon initial reading I heard music that was somewhat related to the sleepwalking scenes in several bel canto operas.

Reserve your seats today! 

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Madeleine St. Romain is a writer and multidisciplinary artist.

With composer Nicole Chamberlain, she wrote Rabbit Tales for the Atlanta Opera.  She was a librettist for the Atlanta Opera's 24 Hour Opera Project 5 times, which is how she met Marvin. They have written 2 operas together now, 3Ds Dance Hall, and Remembering Landscape.

With composer Robert Boury, she has written four family operas, Cedar Tree and River Water, Grandmother Spider Steals the Sun,  Seastruck, and The Raspberry War.

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marvin-photoMarvin J. Carlton is an American composer of opera, art song, symphonic works, choral works, and chamber music.  His micro-opera 3D's DANCE HALL won the audience choice award at The Atlanta Opera's 24-Hour Opera Project in 2013, while his opera PIE, PITHE, AND PALLETTE won the judge's award in 2016.  His music has been heard in concerts by Belleville (IL) Philharmonic Chorale, Centralia (IL) Philharmonic Orchestra, The Atlanta Opera, International Double Reed Society, St. Martin Chamber Players, Heart of Illinois Woodwind Quintet, The American Patriot Wind Ensemble, and the Southern Illinois Grade School Vocal Music Association.

Several of his chamber works have been published by Imagine Music.


Meet Liam Wade and Vynnie Meli, FSOO 2017 Winners

One Ounce Opera is honored to welcome back Composer Liam Wade, whose winning piece "The Stranger the Better" will be performed during 2nd Annual Fresh Squeezed Ounce of Opera. His work with Librettist John Grimmett was chosen for FSOO 2016. Watch OOO perform it live here.

Librettist Vynnie Meli joins Wade for a New Orleanian romp through a modernized Stella, Blanche, and Stanley...with several unique twists. The cast had a couple of questions for the writing pair:

Q1 (from Jake Jacobsen, playing Stanley) Vynnie: A Streetcar Named Desire is a fairly classic play so I'm sure the characters will be attractive to the audience. How do you think people will relate to Stranger's Stella and Stanley?

Vynnie: THE STRANGER THE BETTER is not an adaptation, but it’s the closest I’ve come to one. It was liberating in the sense that it gives the audience a shorthand into the characters. Everyone has a preconceived notion of the Stanley Stella dynamic, so we could go further faster. We could take… liberties. Everyone also can relate to family interfering in relationships, and relationships interfering in family. As long as we stay true to that impulse, I think the audience will go along with us having as much fun as we did with these iconic characters. By the way, The Stanley Stella Dynamic - good name for a band.

Q2 (from the cast) Liam: the a cappella chorale towards the end is super nice. What was your inspiration for writing it?

Liam: The first version of The Stranger the Better that was performed at the 24 Hour Opera project was about 10 minutes long. The following week, Vynnie and I discussed how we could expand it. One of her comments was that she felt the line "I've always relied on the kindness of strangers." could use a little more of something. She did not say what, but she did specify about 15% more. So I set out to give her my usual 110%.

I had recently seen Così fan tutte in Amsterdam, and a show called Der Wildschütz in Dresden. In the case of Così, I found myself tripping out to the long, gorgeous lines in Mozart's ensemble writing. With Wildschütz, my favorite part was a beautiful moment that featured an a cappella quartet. I think every show needs a vocal payout/ reward. I thought it'd be effective to have a beautiful, vulnerable moment at the end to bring these four characters, and their voices, together.

Reserve your seats for FSOO 2017!

BIOS:

Liam Wade
Liam Wade

Liam Wade is an American composer of opera, art song, symphonic works and chamber music. His comic opera, Part of the Act, was commissioned by Washington National Opera and premiered at the Kennedy Center on their 2012-13 season. His one act opera, The Stranger The Better, won the Audience Award at The Atlanta Opera’s 24-Hour Opera Project in 2016. His music has been heard on concerts at La Jolla Music Society, ProQuartet France, Toronto Music Garden, One Ounce Opera (Austin, TX), The Atlanta Opera, Hartford Opera Theater, West Edge Opera, Academy of Vocal Arts, The Kennedy Center and Semperoper Dresden.

Website: www.liamwade.com

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v-headshot-16Vynnie Meli is a playwright, lyricist and librettist from Rochester, NY who’s lived in Atlanta long enough to miss snow. She went from sculpture to a career in advertising, but when she started writing in other people’s voices, she found her own. A Eugene O’Neill semi-finalist with numerous grants and awards, several of Meli’s works have been in theaters around the country and, most recently, an opera festival in Australia. Twice selected for the New York Musical Festival, her latest won numerous NYMF Awards and the Steele Spring Stage Rights Publishing Award. A CAPPELLA, a musical about finding your own voice, is in development at Alliance Theatre through the Reiser’s Atlanta Artists Lab. THE STRANGER THE BETTER is making the rounds in Atlanta, Hartford, Oakland, San Fransisco and St. Lewis. Now Meli and Wade are super happy to get fresh squeezed in Austin!

A member of Dramatists Guild, Inc.; Working Title Playwrights; TRU

Website: www.vynnie.com


Announcing: Winners of FSOO 2017!

After a national call-for-compositions, One Ounce Opera is proud to announce the Winning Selections for 2017's Fresh Squeezed Ounce of Opera Competition. Composer/librettist spotlight interviews coming soon, and a complete cast and production team list can be found here. Congratulations to this year's winners!

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Call for Composers of Short Opera 2017

CALL FOR SHORT OPERA SUBMISSIONS!

Composers: We’d like to formally invite you to submit short operas to our 2017 Fresh Squeezed Ounce of Opera Competition. Winning pieces will be produced and performed on April 7, 8 & 9 in Austin, Texas.

This will be the 2nd annual FSOO, and the 3rd event as part of One Ounce Opera’s “Fresh Squeezed Ounce” series, celebrating new works and contemporary voices. In addition to having their works produced, winning composers receive a small honorarium and a live recording of one of the performances.

To apply, send a score and supplementary materials as needed* of any dramatic work(s) you would like OOO to consider, that would qualify as “opera.”

Guidelines:

1) These works should be meant for the stage, not the concert hall.

2) These works should be between 10-20 minutes in length and include minimal spoken dialogue.

3) Free-range re: topics. Preference will be given to more current issues or stories, but classic re-tellings are also super cool. Funny, quirky, serious, poignant, low-brow, high-brow — it’s all good.

4) English is preferred.

5) Piano accompaniment or piano reduction is required. For performance, other instrumentations or orchestrations will be considered – we’ll do our best.

6) The piece should be able to function as a standalone work and have no more than six main characters. If you have included a chorus, that is acceptable. Soliloquies are fine.

7) Works that are looking for a premiere and newer works (written within the past 5 years) are given preference.

*8) Midi files or MP3s of the work are required, as well. These are used primarily during the selection process.

Submission deadline is 11:59PM, December 31, 2016. Composers will be notified shortly thereafter. Copies of all parts and any revisions will be due at that time. Please contact Julie Fiore, Executive Director of OOO if you have any questions.

For the latest details, we strongly suggest following One Ounce Opera on Facebook, and adding yourself to the Facebook event page. Like and share!


Meet George N. Gianopoulos, Winning Composer of FSOAS 2016

On Friday, November 18th, OOO debuts their new concert series Fresh Squeezed Ounce of Art Song, where Maureen Papovich, Julie Silva, Dalton Flake, and Jake Jacobsen will perform winning composer George N. Gianopoulos‘ cycle “Thirteen Haiku, Op. 27 for Singers and Piano” The singers had these questions:

Maureen, Julie, Dalton, and Jake
Maureen, Julie, Dalton, and Jake

Julie S.: What inspired you to use Jack Kerouac’s texts and to choose these particular haiku poems from the thousands Kerouac wrote?

George: When my friend Jeremy Frank, a pianist for LA Opera, asked me to write a song cycle for a group he was working with at Wolf Trap, I only had a few weeks to select, set and engrave the text and music, and the short poetic form of haiku had always been interesting to me – and their short! I thought their brevity would allow me to explore something in song that I hadn’t before. While researching the text, I read thousands of haiku from dozens of poets, but there was a feeling of immediacy and relevance to the Kerouac text that drew me in. It was no easy feat narrowing it down from the thousands that exist (all available in a single volume, “Book of Haikus”), but I selected the thirteen that I used by trying image the musical landscape that they might set out – each one feels to be its own contained universe, which made setting them so much easier.

Dalton: How did your thought process work when deciding which voice types to place with certain poems? And how did you decide on the layout of the work (3 songs per voice type, then all together at the end, etc.)?

G: The instrumentation and voice type selection was based on the singers that Mr. Frank had in his group at Wolf Trap. Since it was such a good opportunity for me to work with such talented young singers at such a prestigious venue, I wanted to make the most of it. I also did not want to overwhelm the singers by giving them too much material, since this concert was just one of many they needed to prepare for, the music was delivered on relatively short notice – the ink was still wet! I felt three each would be a fair and balanced amount of material for each singer. I can’t say for certain how I determined which text would go to each voice type, but I imagine that I thought about the timbral qualities of each voice type and matched it with the intensity of the emotional content of the haiku.

Maureen: I’m singing the soprano part in Haiku and in all of my songs and my part in the choral piece, I start “low” and end “high” – around a high a or b. I find this interesting — could you speak to that?

G: Good question, though, I’m not sure I have a good enough answer. I try to approach the text in a way that I feel meets its emotionally intensity, so phrases like “The dream of change” or “something awful,” as in the first and third song, have a certain visceral quality to me that translates, I suppose, to a higher pitch.

Jake: What is the biggest challenge with setting such short texts?

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George “Nick” Gianopoulos

G: Setting short text has many challenges. First and foremost, I wanted each one to feel like a mini monodrama – I wanted it to have the feeling of a normal length song and to match the musical qualities that one would expect in a longer work, thematic development, structure, interaction and variety, but in this small scale. Secondary, I tried to create a unique and individual atmosphere for each song and sustain that atmosphere for as long as naturally possible. While some songs may be shorter than others, I feel they are full and balanced.

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George, known colloquially as Nick, began his musical study at age eighteen upon entering college. Enraptured by his first course, an Introduction to the World of Music, George immersed himself in the studies of classical music; the theory, the repertoire, the performance and the history. He immediately began taking group piano lessons and within a semester, advanced to private lessons with Dr. Robert M. Auler. Throughout his tutelage he also undertook the art of pedagogy, developing a private piano studio of twelve students as well as working as a church pianist and organist. After four years of intense study, George gave a senior recital that included performances of works by Mozart, Schumann, Rachmaninoff and Chopin as well as faculty performances of original compositions.

A native of Syracuse, New York and now a resident of Los Angeles, Gianopoulos’ music has been performed throughout Europe and America, including performances in China, Israel, Spain, England and Greece and regular performances in Southern California. George has been commissioned by The Glendale Philharmonic, The Chamber Opera Players of Los Angeles, Tala Rasa, The Symbiosis Ensemble, The Helix Collective, The Akropolis Quintet and the Malkin-Trybeck Duo, among others. He has been awarded by the American Viola Society, One Ounce Opera, Boston Metro Opera, Aurora Borealis Duo and was the Alumni-in-Residence (AIR) for the State University of New York at Oswego, where he worked with students and faculty. His music has been performed by members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Los Angeles Opera, Pacific Symphony and Los Angeles Master Chorale. Mr. Gianopoulos is the currently the Composer-in-Residence for the Los Angeles based Symbiosis Ensemble and concert series Music @ MiMoDa.

Find out more about Nick:

-composer webpage: www.georgengianopoulos.com

-Facebook artist page: www.facebook.com/georgengianopoulos/


Meet Tyler Mabry, Winning Composer of FSOAS 2016

OOO is happy to introduce Tyler Mabry, whose winning song “The Last Words of Che Guevara” will be performed by tenor Danny Castillo at Inaugural Fresh Squeezed Ounce of Art Song on Fri, Nov. 18th. Here’s what Danny wanted to know:

daniel castillo
Danny Castillo

Danny: Where did the idea and inspiration to write The Last Words of Che Guevara spark?

Tyler: Guevara transformed himself into a mythic figure – he became, very self-consciously, a symbol for global revolution. He is a strikingly postmodern martyr. I often think about the haunting accounts of Guevara’s later years, particularly his final doomed campaign in Bolivia. In “The Last Words of Che Guevara,” the words all come directly from the statements Guevara reportedly made in his final 24 hours, from the time of his capture by the Bolivian army to his death in CIA custody. These “last words,” as fragmentary as they are, are quite moving and representative of Guevara’s life and spirit. I’ve attempted to set them musically so as to suggest an arc that begins in dejection and regret, continues into stoic acceptance, and finally culminates in a renewed faith in the revolutionary cause, so that the moment of death transforms into a moment of triumph.

D: What was the compositional process like?

T: The first thing I did was to select the text – there are several different variants of Guevara’s final statements, and of course all of them are in translation. After establishing the text, I worked out a few different scalar and intervallic patterns to give the song a unifying harmonic texture. At that point I sat down and wrote the ending quite quickly. (I knew almost immediately that I wanted to end with a march-like accompaniment which would abruptly terminate, leaving the singer holding the final note a capella.) The rest of the piece was written backward, section by section, so that the beginning was written last.

D: Did you draw inspiration from other pieces of work, both internal or external, when creating The Last Words of Che Guevara?

tyler-mabry-bips
Tyler Mabry photo by Steve Rogers Photography

T: Although I wasn’t conscious of any specific musical inspirations while I was working on the piece, I’m sure that Peter Lieberson’s gorgeous settings of Neruda’s poetry, and also Samuel Barber’s art songs, were in the back of my mind somewhere. If you listen closely, there’s also a dissonant rendition of the Cuban anthem in the first section of the piece.

D: Do you find that working on music for staged productions (Persephone, Agent Andromeda, W.) influences the way that you approach composing art song?

T: Definitely! Although my formative background is classical, most of my current work is done in theater. So it’s no surprise, perhaps, that my approach tends to emphasize narrative. I’m attracted to attracted to art song as a genre well-suited to conveying an isolated moment of drama – a suggestive fragment of narrative. Song has the wonderful ability to suggest a larger context or story, while still retaining the ability to exist independently as a miniature.

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For over a decade, Tyler Mabry has composed and performed original music in the Austin area, in collaboration with various organizations, collectives, and performers. Mabry is a Vortex company member, music director for kidsActing, and pianist at Berkeley United Methodist Church. Persephone, his first full-length musical for adult performers, premiered at Vortex earlier this year. He has been nominated twice for a B. Iden Payne award for Best Original Score, for Persephone and for Running Wild (ACT). Other recent theater credits include the Barbarella-inspired aerial rock spectacle Agent Andromeda (Sky Candy), W. (AJRT) Cuchulain (Vortex), Stuffed! (FronteraFest), Two Gentlemen of Verona (Something for Nothing), and Jive, Kitty! (ACT). He has also composed numerous sacred choral works, including a Christmas cantata (The True Light, with Victoria Schwarz), and “I Heard the Voice of Jesus” (soon to be published by Shawnee Press). When not in rehearsals and techs, he plays with the neo-soul group Jade and the Foxtones. Tyler Mabry holds a Ph.D. in English from the University of Texas at Austin and a B.A. in piano performance from the University of the Ozarks.


Meet David C. Adams, Winning Composer of FSOAS 2016

OOO is thrilled to share this interview between singer Angela Irving and composer David C. Adams, whose chamber song cycle “Five Mystic Songs” will premiere on Fri, Nov. 18th at the Inaugural Fresh Squeezed Ounce of Opera.

Angela Irving
Angela Irving

Angela: Tell us about Olivia Pepper, the author of the text. And how did you all meet?

David: Olivia is unique. I’ve never met another human like her. I think we met at a funky, artsy, hippie-ish party, around a giant campfire, though I’d already heard about her. Sometime later she painted my face for a body-paint photoshoot in South Austin. What does it mean that she’s a culture creator? Let’s take the snapshot approach. In recent months she’s lectured on Tarot in Chouzhou, hugged a camel in Mongolia, snapped a quick self-portrait in Bulgakov’s mirror, gone nocturnal in Berlin, choreographed a dance in Paris, and finished two books: one, a novel; the other, accompanying a Tarot deck she created with local Renaissance woman, Katie Rose Pipkin. And this is only a glance at the surface. I’m fortunate to be working with her words!

A: Are there specific composers and/or performers that have helped inspire some of the different stylings you write for voice and strings in this cycle?

D: My first instrument was viola, I play violin now, and I studied singing and writing for voice with David Small while I was getting my composition degree at UT, so these forces are all pretty comfy for me. As for the stylings here, I can’t point to any particular influence. All the extended techniques arise naturally out of the text, which points to a recognition of beautiful simplicity. For example, tuning, really listening while playing open strings, is not unlike focusing on the breath during meditation.

A: There’s an element of performance art in this cycle. How did you go about deciding to add that as a part of this piece? And has performance art played a role in other pieces you written?

D: This text is about waking up to the mystical reality that surrounds, permeates, pervades, and is us. The first song paints the relentless anxiety we feel in our hyper-stimulated lives, and the rest are about waking up from that. It seems only natural to make use of extramusical means – a waking up to possibilities to inspire waking up to possibilities. I have incorporated performance art elements into works in the past as well: my Suite of Dances for string quartet features some performance art elements, including a throat-clearing by the first violinist to prompt a few obligingly dulcet notes from the rest of the quartet.

A: I heard that your next project is an opera! Tell us about that!

D: Well, right now I’m working hard on a concerto for french horn and chamber orchestra to be premiered next year by Louisville’s Orchestra Enigmatic, but once I finish that up, I’ll be setting to work on a chamber opera.

David C. Adams
David C. Adams

I heard a story this summer when I was on my way to the mountains. The woman sitting next to me on the plane was en route to visit her mother in law, who we’ll call Elizabeth. Elizabeth was recently widowed. Her husband had been young, in his sixties, and their grandchildren had just started rolling in. Her husband’s passing aroused the pain of empathy in me, but took on new depths and layers when the woman told me more.

Elizabeth had been a nun, living in a convent, when she met her husband. He had been visiting his sister, also a nun there, when Elizabeth and he first crossed paths. Something changed for them when they met, and he started visiting more often – or course, purportedly to see his sister. They invited Elizabeth to join them for Christmas with their whole family, and when she did, all her plans fell away before her eyes… and I thought, This is an opera! A couple weeks later, I shared this vision with Julie Fiore (director of One Ounce Opera). She agreed, and here we are.

Opera is expensive though. At the Met, the composer’s fee alone can approach half a million dollars. We’re doing it much less extravagantly, but it will still take an unbelievable amount of time, energy, and money – and we’re still not sure how we’re gonna pay for it all! We’ve started a crowd funding campaign though. (click here for more!)

(And stay tuned for more information about this exciting co-production between Mr. Adams and OOO!)

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Always drawn to sound and music, David C. Adams‘ ears have led him on a lifelong adventure through all things auditory. He picked up a little bit of trumpet, recorder, and piano before diving into the viola section of his 5th grade orchestra, where he continued to develop through high school, leading the section his senior year. By then, he had found the guitar, which came easily to him.

David’s musical exploration has included performing and recording as a lead guitarist, bassist, pianist/keys player, violinist, violist, cellist, and singer, both as a sideman and as a frontman. Turning down a generous offer from the New England Conservatory, he elected to work with the wonderful composition and vocal faculties at UT’s Butler School of Music, where he recently graduated with a degree in composition.

Now, having jammed original funk-rock onstage at Antone’s, premiered works written by himself and others in halls from Austin to Chicago, performed the symphonic music of Mozart in Vienna, and sung Fauré’s Requiem in Carnegie Hall, and while maintaining an active performing and recording career, David spends his days writing newly commissioned works, jamming with his band, and teaching music to a new generation.

Find out more about David: http://davidcarltonadams.com


Meet Michael Mikulka, Winning Composer of FSOAS 2016

OOO is happy to introduce Michael Mikulka, who penned both a short cycle for tenor and solo song for soprano. These winning pieces will be performed at the Inaugural Fresh Squeezed Ounce of Art Song on Fri, Nov 18. Danny Castillo, who will sing “A Wind Among the Reeds,” and Brittany Santos, who will sing “I Am Vocalist,” had these questions for the composer:

daniel castillo
Danny Castillo

Danny: You have such a dynamic repertoire of compositions which include these large, orchestral, high-intensity pieces such as your Krikkit Variations. Do you find any special challenges when writing music in a smaller scale, such as art song, in terms of compositional and musical tools and techniques available to you?

Michael: Thank you!  There are a lot of differences in the way I approach writing for large ensembles and the way I approach writing an art song.  One obvious change is timbre: with a large ensemble (especially a wind band or full orchestra), you can make interesting color combinations with ease because you have such a wide variety of instruments at your disposal.  When writing for voice and piano, most of the color comes from the vocal (and piano) register, the consonant/vowel sounds of the lyrics, and the texture and chord spacing of the piano, so it’s much more about the details.

Some melodies or musical ideas work best in chamber music, some work best for a large scale work, and some will work well in either format.  Smaller instrumentations tend to benefit from music that feels as if it’s a story being told by one person.  Any melody or accompaniment figure played by only one performer is going to sound more personal and intimate than if it is being played by several people.  The intimacy of art songs generally allows for the melodies and accompaniment figures to have more subtlety and more room for interpretation.

When there are lyrics, clarity in the vocal line is necessary, which requires the piano part to play a secondary role whenever the vocalist is singing.  In addition, the listener’s focus will typically be directed more at the vocalist.  These factors make it more challenging to balance the piano part.  It needs to be interesting and have some complexity, but not so much that it distracts from the voice.  The piano and vocal parts also need to relate to each other, but the piano often has to be subservient.  I think the two pieces I have on this concert approach this challenge in very different ways.

D: You write so well for the voice. Do you see any operatic engagements in your future? Is that a genre of music that you would like to explore?

I would love to write an opera (or possibly a musical or some hybrid of the two).  It’s such a time-consuming thing to do and it’s extremely challenging to line up a first performance, so I’m probably going to have to wait until somebody commissions me.  I do have a pair of ideas floating around, though, and every year or so, I plan them out a little bit more.  At some point, I’d like to write a one act opera with a condensed orchestration, but the ideas I currently have are both large scale.

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Brittany Santos

Brittany: What type of character did you have in mind for “I Am Vocalist,” and did you have a specific inspiration behind this character?

M: There are plenty of negative stereotypes for different types of musicians: “low brass players are crude, dumb, and often drunk.”  “Flute players are shallow and flaky.”  “Trumpet players think they’re the greatest and make sure everybody else knows.”  “Percussionists are impatient, mentally unstable, and can’t read music.” “Vocalists take liberties with the music to hide their technical shortcomings: they can’t sing in rhythm or do anything that is harmonically challenging.  That’s why all they ever sing is the same small group of Italian, German, and French art songs.”  “Most instrumentalists think they could become a successful vocalist with a few weeks of practice and a diction class.”

Sopranos are “the most extreme of all the vocalists:” some musicians would suggest that they have the “morals and restraint of a trombone player,” the “ditziness of a flutist,” the “self-importance of a trumpeter,” and the “patience and ear-training skills of a percussionist.”  Oh, and they’re also “drama queens who require the spotlight at all times.”

With “I Am Vocalist”, I envisioned a soprano character who fights back against these offensive stereotypes about vocalists’ technique and ability, while proudly delighting in a few of the others.

Slightly less important (as usual), is the sarcastic and passive aggressive piano accompanist (collaborative pianist!!), who harbors more than a little resentment at the tiny fraction of their ability which is being utilized.

B: Who are your major influences in composition and what parts in the piece were inspired by those influences?

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Michael Mikulka

M: When I have to name my biggest influences or favorite composers (we composers get asked this every few weeks), I normally mention Ravel, Stravinsky, Prokofiev, and Shostakovich.  However, “I Am Vocalist” is nothing like their music (with the possible exception of Shostakovich’s sarcasm).  This led me to thinking about some of my other influences.

Here are a few aspects of other composers’ music that I think influenced “I Am Vocalist”:
-Mozart’s clarity, structure, and pompous self-satisfied giddiness
-The lightness of the tone in Gilbert + Sullivan songs, and how the vocalist is really placed front and center
-The “I can sing just one note” concept was influenced by a vocal composition by Philip Rice

There’s much more influence in this piece than that, though.  Whenever we compose, we’re influenced not only by the other music we’ve heard, but also by our non-musical tastes and experiences.  The balance between “musical influences” and “non-musical influences” varies from piece to piece, which is something I wasn’t really actively aware of until I thought about this question.  For me, the content of this piece is towards the “non-musical influences” extreme of the continuum: “I Am Vocalist” is probably a good lens for how influences in my life have shaped the way in which I express playfulness, sassiness, pride, and sarcasm.

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Michael Mikulka recently completed his DMA in Composition at the University of Texas, where he studied with Donald Grantham, Russell Pinkston, Yevgeniy Sharlat, and Dan Welcher. He completed his MM in Composition at Central Michigan University (studying with David Gillingham), and received his undergraduate degree in Music Education from Rutgers University, where he co-founded the Rutgers Undergraduate Composers Recital.

Over 25 of Michael’s compositions have been honored as a winner or finalist in competitions or calls for scores. His pieces have been performed by members of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, and New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, as well as by the performance faculty of several major universities.

Michael is the founder of newbandmusic.com and newchambermusic.org, free services which promote self-published music written by emerging composers. He was also the creator and conductor of the Vine Orchestra, which premiered over 50 (six second or less) compositions. Michael is a horn player, and has recently performed with the UT Wind Ensemble, Symphony Orchestra, and Horn Choir, as well as premiering several solo and chamber pieces.

Find out more about Michael!

http://www.michaelmikulka.com/

Twitter: @Michael_Mikulka


Meet Rain Nox, Winning Composer of FSOAS 2016

We’re happy to introduce Rain Nox, composer of the winning song cycle “Water Songs.” Ms. Nox lives in Austin, Texas. Jenny Ohrstrom, who will sing “Water Songs” at the Inaugural Fresh Squeezed Ounce of Art Song on Friday, November 18th, interviews the composer:

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Jenny Ohrstrom

Jenny: How did you get in to composing, and what inspired you to write the Water Songs cycle?

Rain: I started playing classical music when I was fairly young but don’t remember really being aware that composers were still producing classical-style music.  In my late teens I started pop-style songwriting and that eventually segued into classical when I started studying music academically. I majored in instrumental composition but by the time I graduated I knew it was actually vocal, choral, and musical theatre composition that most interested me.

I grew up on Long Island, NY.  As a child, I was never too far from the coast and I spent many a happy day simply staring out into the ocean, looking for sea glass, or walking up and down the beach.  I have always been drawn to water and the sound of a waterfall or a babbling brook is the most peaceful sound to my ears.  I love living in Austin but I often miss the ocean.

J: How did you pick the texts for Water Songs?  They come together perfectly – were there other texts you were considering that didn’t make the cut?

R: This may not sound very romantic, but once I knew I needed to write about water I used a key search on a poetry database for water, stream, waterfall, etc.  I read literally hundreds of poems looking for ones that were the right length, style, tone, and ones that sparked something in me.  Poetry by nature has a musicality to it so for me it is more a matter of the poet’s own musicality matching mine.  There were many poems I really liked but could not see how I would set to music. In addition, I didn’t want poems that simply described a pretty water scene but ones that used water as a representation of a deeper meaning.

J: I love how the scores reflect the waters in the songs – from the rain to the ocean waves, you can hear the differences in the piano and feel transported.  Were the water motifs created first, or did you start with the texts?  How did these pieces come to life?

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Rain Nox

R: It’s different for each poem.  I don’t think of the piano and text setting as two separate things, I think more about the music that would come right before the text, or support the text.  For instance, in the poem “The Ocean” by Nathaniel Hawthorne I hear the sound of the waves under the words in the poem, so I knew the piano part should set that up for the listener before the singer begins. In “The Single Hound” by Emily Dickinson, there is no piano intro because when I read the text it starts right away with a feeling of a boat rocking down a stream.  For the poem “In the Rain” by William Wetmore I wanted the listener to feel the relentlessness of the rain so I used the constant sixteenth notes except for when the speaker dreams of clear skies and mountain views.

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Rain Nox received her Bachelors of Music in Composition from the University of Texas at Austin.  Since graduating she has composed six one act musicals, including Sisters of the Sea that was featured in Best of Fest at Fronterafest, and three full length musicals, including Crazy Like a Person, which won Best Original Play at the City Theatre’s Summer Acts festival.  She is also the lead singer and bassist for local rock band Rise from Fire. Growing up on Long Island, the ocean was a constant in her life, and even after twenty years in Austin the ocean is the one thing she misses. Water Songs is homage to the special place that water has in her life and is based on five different poems in which water-related imagery plays a key role.

Find out more about Rain Nox by visiting her Soundcloud page.