ACWC 40th Anniversary - February

Tookah Sapper, soprano
Kelly Horsted, piano
text by Duncan McFarlane

Re-imagining coloratura and scat singing, this piece is also an homage to Harold Arlen’s 'Stormy Weather' (lyrics by Ted Koehler), which begins: 

Don't know why there's no sun up in the sky
Stormy weather
Since my man and I ain't together,
Keeps rainin' all the time

It’s a poignant love-song, one that Kalypso – the nymph/demi-god of Homer’s Odyssey – could well have sung. After the storm which shipwrecked him on his way home from Troy to Ithaca (and to his waiting wife, Penelope) Odysseus was swept on to Kalypso’s island, and she held him there (against his will, but not really) for seven years.

Both torch song and art song, Kalypso’s plea is set in a warm, tender, jazz-rich, Chopin-esque language, and there are many musical connections here with Penelope, particularly in both pieces’ middle sections, which reach for something more bare and visionary. Each woman calls out to Odysseus, tries to summon him back to her, and in this moment their music speaks in the same tongue.

Kalypso (for soprano and piano)

Performed by Halyna Honcharenko, Iryna Danylejko and Anna Pidgorna
Text by Anna Pidgorna

“Вcтавай, вставай, Галю, геть вже тобі спати!
Ой, виходь же, Галю, в поле жито жати.”

А в Марусі коси русяві 
Як пшиниця жовтісінькая.
А я їх же розплєтаю, 
Плече білі тай накрию, 
Нєжно розчесаю. 

“Ой пійдемо, Галю, в бору погуляти,
Ой пора же, Галю, калину збирати.”

А в Марусі губи солодкі
Як калинонька примержшая.
А я тую калиноньку,
Візму тай паламаю,
Тай розчавлю ягоди червоні,
Губи жарко поцєлую. 

“Ой, пійдемо, Галю, в ставу одяг прати,
Ой, пійдемо, Галю, пісні поспівати.”

А в Марусі оче ясниє 
Як зірочки в ставу.
А білизна в водє чорній,
Білі руки, білі ноги, 
Білі плече, білі грудє…
А я в ставок тихо зайду 
Тай в глибині втону."


“Get up, get up, Halya, that's enough sleep for you!
Come out, come out, Halya, to reap rye in the field.”

But Marusya's blondish locks are
Like the yellowest wheat.
I will unbraid them, 
And covering her white shoulders, 
Gently comb them. 

“Let's go, Halya, for a walk in the pine-woods,
It's time, Halya, to gather the guelder rose.”

But Marusya's lips are as sweet
As the frost-nipped guelder rose.*
I will take the guelder rose,
Take it and break it,
Crush the red berries,
And kiss her lips hotly. 

“Let's go, Halya, to the pond to do the washing.
Let's go, Halya, let's sing some songs.”

But Marusya's eyes are  
As bright as the little stars in the pond.
And the linens in the black water,
White arms, white legs, 
White shoulders, white breasts...
I will walk into the pond softly 
And drown in the depth.

Drown in the depth (trio)

Atropos
Kontraband Kollektif
4 part voice
Laura Swankey, Mingjia Chen, Maria-Carmela Raso, Lieke van der Voort
Humber College Studio, 2016-2017

Third and title song of the EP Atropos, this song is part of an aural account of illness, suicide, loss and and my personal conflicting feelings surrounding these events. For more in depth information, please refer to an interview done in 2018: https://acourseindying.com/interview-when-your-father-commits-suicide/

Kontraband Kollektif was created in 2016 by Lieke van der Voort. Refusing to tie herself down to a single musical project and longing for extended collaborations, Lieke decided that an open concept collective would be the ideal situation. Kontraband Kollektif is an always shifting, moving and inclusive collaborative: anybody can be a part of it.

http://www.kontrabandkollektif.com/index.html

Lieke van der Voort - Atropos

Songs of the Invisible Summer Stars - Vocal Version
Performers: Carmen Braden (voice), Mark Adam (vibraphone)
Location: On Carmen Braden's 2019 album Songs of the Invisible Summer Stars (Centrediscs)

Program Note:
In extreme northern and southern latitudes, summer nights are bright as the sun stays above the horizon or dips just below before rising in a glow of unending twilight. Darkness is gone for months, and so are the stars and aurora. Under the glow of these soft star-less nights, I wrote 5 short songs imagining where the stars go when we can’t see them anymore. Below are the lyrics for each of the songs. 

1. Where do the stars play when they disappear in the summer?
Where do the stars play when they disappear in the summer? 
They play among the shadows fallen, far away.

2. Comet River
When there is no gravity
Downstream means nothing,
nor upstream.

3. A clandestine meeting with an aurora
When she sends her light around me
When she sends her arms of light around my outward star
We shine green fire
Like sky dew shining on new sky leaves.

4. Sway me around, Orion!
Sway, oh sway Orion!
Come, sway me around!

5. When the Moon hangs lonely in the blue Sky,
When the Moon hangs lonely in the blue Sky,
Then the Moon calls out
“Far away Star, 
come home and bring the snow.”

https://www.carmenbraden.com/

Songs of the Invisible Summer Stars

Carmen Braden - Songs of the Invisible Summer Stars

Words by Christine Moncrief
Vocals by Emily Grignon
Composed, recorded, and mixed by Amanda Lowry

Shiva Roses was written as part of a theatre project called Us/We/Ours, which explored themes of disability and distress, and was co-created by Terre Chartrand, Amanda Lowry, and Christine Moncrief, with artistic guidance from Tanya Williams and Heather Majaury. An early version premiered at the UnHinged Festival of Disturbing Theatre; more recently, it was performed at the IMPACT 19 International Theatre Festival, with support from the Region of Waterloo Arts Fund.

Amanda Lowry - Shiva Roses

Thy Light, O Liberty!
Text by Hannah More (1745-1833)
SSA
Meghan Jamieson, Victoria Marshall, Will Reid
Recorded June 2020

https://www.emilyhiemstra.com/

Emily Hiemstra - Thy Light, O Liberty!

Three Late Period Yeats Songs
Andrew White, baritone
Graeme Wilkinson, piano
Sonic Boom Festival, Pyatt Hall, Vancouver, BC

1. The Old Stone Cross
2. Politics
3. Those Images

Sylvia Rickard - Three Late Period Yeats Songs

Tiffanie Samuels, soprano
Melisande Sinsoulier, piano

Inspired by the poem of the same name by Syrian poet Nizar Qabbani (1923-1998), “In the Summer” is a humble, tender, yet deeply passionate declaration of love. The piece, written especially for the “A Woman for All Seasons” concert (May 2019, University of Toronto), attempts to reflect the honest and understated self-awareness of Qabbani’s narrator; one who seems to know full well that they cannot capture in words alone all that they feel, and embraces that fact with neither pride nor shame, but with a sense of awe. Live recording from the premiere, performed by Tiffanie Samuels (Soprano) and Melisande Sinsoulier (Piano)

Nephenee Rose - In The Summer

"Global Warming" is written and performed by spoken word artist and poet Sharon Singer, recorded with jazz saxophone player Bob Mover, on the CD also titled GLOBAL WARMING,  produced by Wordsinger Music, released in Toronto, 2008.  This poem is also included in the book GLOBAL WARMING by Sharon Singer, published by Lyricalmyrical Press in 2008.

GLOBAL WARMING by Sharon Singer

Something melted tonight
in the lemon wind 
gushed, rushed
thirty-nine jets burst free
in fountain spray
in City Hall Square

Something melted tonight
evaporated
ghosts shifted shapes
soared into black sky
into moon’s thin silver        

Jazz juice poured from Queen Street gig
the beat steamrolled
from bar to street
down to the lake
turned to steam
fish fry for everyone…
hot, hot, hot

Something melted tonight
in water
in air 
in bliss

Something broke tonight
cement
steel
diamond

From the hardness
oozed
a liquid center
a malleable marshmallow center
eased into awareness 

Stone face cracked 
ice castles dripped into rivers
flowed down mountainside

Something melted tonight
ice cream
snow
your past
a block of ice in your heart—
another tiny step

© Sharon Singer 2008

http://www.sharonsinger.com

GLOBAL WARMING

Sharon Singer - Global Warming

And love Says for soprano and piano
Heather Pawsey soprano and Leslie Uyeda piano.
Recorded by CBC Radio.
World premiere: Music in the Morning, Vancouver BC.
Composed for Heather Pawsey who has premiered many of my works for soprano. Poem - Hafiz, trans. Daniel Ladinsky 

                                              And love 
                                                Says,

                               "I will, I will take care of you,"

                                      To everything that is
                                               Near.

http://www.leslieuyeda.com

Leslie Uyeda - And love Says

Title: “Letter from Pasadena”
Performers: Paul Nash, baritone; Mark McGregor and Samantha Fu, flutes; Jennifer Butler, alto flute; Sammy Pseng, piccolo.
March 14,  2004, Vancouver, BC

Program note: In late 1999, the world watched and listened as the Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, California struggled in vain to communicate with its Mars Polar Lander, sent off to search for water on the "Red Planet". I wrote the words to this elegy for the machine which, by the time it was finally given up for lost, had engaged our concern as if it were a missing child.

https://collections.cmccanada.org/final/Portal/Composer-Showcase.aspx?lang=en-CA

Leila Lustig - Letter from Pasadena

Shadows of the Moon, from Poland Parables CD, 2020, music by Carol Ann Weaver, text by Connie Braun, with Mary-Catherine Pazzano-vocals, Ben Bolt-Martin-cello, Carol Ann Weaver-piano, recorded to CD, July, 2020, in Kitchener, Ontario.  Poland Parables chronicles experiences of Mennonites and others in Poland and Eastern Europe during WWII.

https://carolannweaver.com/

Carol Ann Weaver - Shadows Of The Moon

Vanessa Bosman, mezzo soprano; Fiona Evison, piano

Fiona Evison, music and lyrics

June 2019, Sweetwater Music Festival Next Wave concert, Leith, Ontario

Fiona Evison - It's A Wonderful Day to Be in Love

"Dusk" from "Three Songs on Poems by Lorri Neilsen Glenn" Magali Simard-Galdès, soprano, Olivier Hébert-Bouchard, piano (2016) Commissioned by the Canadian Art Song Project

http://www.tawnieolson.com

Muses

Tawnie Olson - Dusk

“Thomas Visited” a standalone operatic scene about the ghost of a deceased, domestically-abused woman, coming back to visit her neighbour, Thomas, who had witnessed her abuse from the safety of his window. 

Librettist:  Norman Yeung
mezzo soprano:  Barb Towell;  tenor:  Fredrik Roberts;  pianist:  Tina Chang.

https://www.katyapinecomposer.com/

Katya Pine - Thomas Visited

Cradle Song, from "4 Songs of Innocence" by Stella ter Hart, text by William Blake. Commissioned by the Indian River Festival, Prince Edward Island and performed at the Festival on August 6, 2002.  Performed by the Northumberland Brass, and soprano, Sung Ha Shin Boey.

http://www.stellaterhart.com

Stella ter Hart - Cradle Song

Title - Kyrie
Instrumentation - mezzo-soprano, flute, piano 
Performers - Alison Wheeler (mezzo-soprano), Colleen Muriel (flute), Julian Callow (piano)
Premier Performance - May 26, 2012
Location - All Hallows By The Tower, Byward Street, London, England 

Originally written for different words in 1998 (and recorded in 1998 with Heather Pawsey - soprano, Colleen Muriel - flute and David Hamilton - piano) the music for this Kyrie waited on a shelf for years. Then in September, 2011 it occurred to Colleen that this music (with a few adjustments) fit the traditional words of the Kyrie both in mood and style. After musical alterations - this new setting was written, then performed and recorded in May, 2012 @ All Hallows by the Tower, London. Enjoy.

http://www.elflauto.ca

Colleen Muriel - Kyrie

Excerpts from Saskatchewan Songs for voice and piano by Martha Hill Duncan, Poetry by Dr. Bonnie Cutsforth-Huber 

Recording at premiere in May, 2012 at Penn State University, Altoona Pennsylvania with Contralto, Bonnie Cutsforth-Huber and collaborative pianist, Arlene Shrut. 

Bonnie and I first met at a National Opera Association Convention in San Antonio, Texas in January, 2011. I felt an instant connection with her and was thrilled with the possibility of composing for a singer who also happened to be the poet. This collaboration has been extremely rewarding for me and I hope that my music has fully showcased her evocative, imaginative and nostalgic poetry about Saskatchewan. As a transplanted Texan living in Canada, I certainly feel a bit of nostalgia myself when I’ve experienced the big sky, vast landscape and friendly people of this beautiful prairie province
Martha Hill Duncan January, 2014

3. I Am a Farmer's Daughter
4. Prairie Lily
5. Saskatchewan Lessons

http://marthahillduncan.com

Martha Hill Duncan - Saskatchewan Songs (excerpt)

Association of Canadian Women Composers

The ACWC is a professional organization for Canadian women composers, their supporters, and the performers of their music.

ACWC 40th Anniversary - February

ACWC / ACC