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:

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:

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?

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.

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: 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.

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

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:

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.

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?

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