UNM Honky Tonk Ensemble and Honky Tonk Happy Hour
Spring 2019 at the University of New Mexico I was a part of the Honky Tonk Ensemble, a group that focuses on the performance practice of country music from the 1950s to the 1980s. It was a blast!
In Fall 2020, the world was beset with a pandemic and university ensembles had to get creative about performance. The Honky Tonk Ensemble created "Honky Tonk Happy Hour," a podcast featuring interviews with local artists and the remotely recorded songs we worked on that semester. As the ensemble's intern that semester I was the host and I also sang "Jackson" (Episode 2) and one of my original songs for the podcast called "Banshee Cadillac" (Episode 5, Final Concert).
Or this collaborative video we made of "Roll In My Sweet Baby's Arms" with Alex McMahon on mandolin and guitar, Kristina Jacobsen on guitar and vocals, Eva Stricker on fiddle and vocals, and Aubrie Powell on bass and vocals.
SCI National Conference
The Society of Composers, Inc National Conference took place March 30-April 1, 2017 at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan. My submission for Ia Kaent Sp:k, a piano trio, was accepted from a competitive applicant pool to be performed on one of the conference concerts with performers I provide from UMKC. The conference hosted many renowned performing ensembles like Ensemble Dal Niente, the Spectral Quartet, and Duo Furioso. Composers, scholars, and installation artists from around the country will be in attendance. Hosted by Western Michigan University Faculty Christopher Biggs, Lisa Coons, and Richard Johnson, this conference brought together professionals and fine performers in new concert music from around the country. This was truly a unique and valuable opportunity to connect with composers and instrumentalists working today with a passion for new music.
It was great attending with the three performers of my work Daniel Yung on Cello, Kowoon Lee on Piano, and Stanley Kuo on Violin from the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
Ia Kaent Sp:k
Pronounced “I can’t speak” in the International Phonetic Alphabet, the concept of this piece is drawn from the fact that instruments cannot speak. This is an obvious statement, but also ironic considering the enormous amount of expectation placed on a performer to express through their instrument. Most instruments alone cannot make a noise without a person initiating the vibration.
To integrate the performer with the instrument, vocal sounds are used to enhance instrumental sounds. Three main sounds are used: “k,” “ts,” and “aI.” “K” is used to add a percussive element and strengthen Bartok pizzicatos. “Ts” is described in the performance notes as sustained and percussive, like a sizzling frying pan, and imitates sweeping along an inside piano string. “Aɪ” is the closest to speaking and is said like “eye.” This adds a curious element of almost speaking and a gliding pitch to pose a question.
The build up of the work starts with a halting noise component that adds a pitch and then develops into a rising fifth motif. Then the movement becomes more articulate, but stops before the phrase is over. Through swells and murmurs the theme is steadily revealed until stated in its entirety. Following this is a synthesis of the vocalization and noise component. Finally flowing, the instruments ramp up to come to a screeching final halt. Depicting the difficulty of expression in both speech and music, this piece is a formulation of the frustrations of communication and its innate imperfection.
aI Kaent Sp:k initial sketch
Composition Masters Thesis (UMKC)
Original artwork by Aubrie Powell
My Masters Thesis is a proposed symphonic work inspired by The Chronicles of Chaos trilogy by John C. Wright. I plan on finishing at least two more characters for my Thesis.
Reading of Amelia here
Planned movements:
I. Promenade (complete)
Promenade initial sketch
II. Quinten: Mysterious and reserved Quinten Nimo is the son of Proteus and the three fates and knows the logical realm of magical law.
III. Vanity: Vain and romantic Vanity Bonfire Fair is the Phaiacian princess Nausicaa and can find secret passages.
IV. Victor: Strong-willed and confident Victor Invictus Triumph is a Telachine or Cyclops, a strictly logical being skilled in the scientific manipulation of elements and particles.
V. Amelia (complete): Clever and adventurous Amelia Armstrong Windrose, a Paethusian or radiant being, can see in all dimensions as well as moral threads connecting living beings.
VI. Colin: Boisterous and loyal Colin Ibilus mac Firbolg is Prince Phobetor, son of Morpheus, the king of the dream realm. Colin is the Prince of Nightmares and can manipulate reality with disbelief.
VII. Exit
Promenade
Five characters in a human world they believe their own, yet which holds them hostage in an eternal struggle between order and chaos. These characters are members of different realms of chaos to which they cannot return without risking the destruction of their present world.
This piece is in a fantasy style both in story and music. Starting with a Promenade, the space gradually forms through an oscillatory figure into fragments of the characters’ themes. The narrative has the five characters’ themes enter and march out. These themes are stated in their entirety as the characters enter.
Once all characters are present, chaos ensues, obliterating the musical space which had formed. Shocked and unsteady the initial space returns with wind noise, soft clicking, and the oscillatory figure. A march to the end of the movement accompanies the characters' exits, who leave though a giant set of golden carved doors that slam behind them with a boom. This has a very thick orchestration bordering on cacophony. Old and new musical ideas are presented and layered. The end homogenizes in gesture climbing and receding until the last notes resound like a great door closing.
Composer Intro to Promenade BWU Symphony Performance
Amelia
Portrait of Amelia. Original artwork by Aubrie Powell
Amelia is a character sketch. In this piece I attempt to explore different forms of music depth including range, density, and timbral shifts based entirely on a flowing melody line. Amelia can travel inter-dimensionally, giving her the ability to travel quickly, lift heavy things, and hide herself and objects. This implies a certain enigmatic depth to her reality and her musical character sketch will use different orchestrations and texture shifts to illustrate this sense. The structure of the work goes from high to low to high again, having the point of highest density “drop” the bass. Although I focused on the physical idea of depth to structure this short piece, I hope that some of Amelia’s personality traits peek through this fairly process-based work, traits like her jollity, passion, and intelligence.
Reading by the UMKC symphony orchestra here
Amelia initial sketch
Birthmark
This short film is a collaboration between myself and Taylor Fourt, a recent graduate of Kansas City Art Institute. This story is set in a world where people have body marks showing their life experiences. The main character, Peyton, had many symbols like lines for his smoking addiction and the beginnings of a circle to show his growing love for a girl he met. That is until he suddenly looses all of his marks. This is a story of his break down and growth.
Check out this excerpt from the middle section of the film.
Queer Femininities
The Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) creates an inherently queer performance platform with its campy aesthetic in the heteronormative European world. Two most striking exhibitions of both queer and feminine identity can be seen in the overlooked yet unmistakably lesbian performance of Marija Šerifović in 2007 and the glamorous and powerful performance by drag act Conchita Wurst in 2014. These two portrayals of queer femininity are similar within the context of the homosexual community in their representation and performance but their impact reveals their differences. Before exploring these further, it is important to note the history of the competition to understand its function in European society. The contest has been consistent in its camp style and homosexual undercurrent. These aspects combine to link the ESC with the LGBT community and this link has grown stronger over the history of the contest.
Updated Video
As this examination touches Eurovision performance and politics, more questions need to be considered. My future research will use queer theory as an analytical framework with a focus on performance studies. Questions I hope to pose answers to include:
- How does the use of the camp aesthetics challenge norms in the contest?
- What is the act’s interaction with the represented country’s political stance? How are these acts shaped from national to the international?
- In what ways does the music interact with performance of nationality and sexuality?
