Linda peça! Bravo! Listen here in Brazil.

Interview with composer Annika Socolofsky and pianist Nicholas Shaneyfelt on the creation and performance of Annika's piece, Rise, for alto saxophone and bowed piano.

You can find the video here: https://www.icareifyoulisten.com/2019/04/video-premiere-hulting-cohen-shaneyfelt-socolofsky-rise/

And the studio recording here, or most streaming sources: https://www.innova.mu/albums/jonathan-hulting-cohen/second-flight

Program Note 

“Rise” explores the numerous resonances and timbres of the alto saxophone in the way that a vocalist explores the nuanced vocal qualities and expressive micro-variations in sound color at the far reaches of their own voice. The piano serves to magnify these subtle color shifts by acting as a resonator for the saxophone. Much like the sympathetic strings on a Norwegian hardanger fiddle create a spectral sound bed for the fiddle, the pianist uses rosined bow hair to bow the strings of their instrument to timbrally support and conflict with the saxophone's vocal lines.

Interview: Annika Socolofsky & Nicholas Shaneyfelt on "Rise"

Jon Heilbron - double bass
Fredrik Rasten - e-bowed acoustic guitar, composition

Murmurations I (excerpt) - Arches - Jon Heilbron & Fredrik Rasten

Phosphorescent Devotion (2021), electro-acoustic composition for wavefield synthesis with 20 localized sound sources. (15:50)
This upload is a stereo mix-down.

Commissioned by the Earle Brown Music Foundation Charitable Trust in collaboration with the TIME:SPANS festival and EMPAC.

Premiered August 11 – August 16, 2021, DiMenna Center for Classical Music.

Phosphorescent Devotion (2021) [stereo version]

for clarinet, vibraphone, and fixed media 

Asher Harris, clarinet in b-flat
Reed Puleo, vibraphone

Ripple (2021)

written and co-produced by me
produced by @swazyhq and @impursuit
----------- 
used to be so caught up in you, oh,
i've given up and now i'm running to the hills, cause i've lost the thrill
stuck in a hole, i don't know what to do, oh
i try to numb and look for something new to feel, but there's nothing real, and now i'm

discombobulated
i kept my hand in the fire, and now i'm getting so tired of this, (i'm feeling jaded)
i guess i'll keep getting higher, cause now i know you're a liar 
and shit, i'm devastated
i'm stuck in my room alone, i wish you'd pick up the phone, 
i feel the patience dissipating and now,

the sparks gone, there's no song, you finally won 
it's not fun, i'm struggling, was it something i'd done?
i'm not strong, nothing inside, my heart you had robbed 
the songs of love that i had, don't mean a thing anymore 
x2

losing a pulse, i need to take a breath, oh 
feel a convulsion running through my chest again, haven't slept again 
drowning my paper in a pool of lead, oh
pull me around like i'm a marionette, again
do you remember when you and me would 

stay up late, we're singing 
you said that i misconstrued it, you didn't think when you threw it away, 
my head is ringing, 
and now i'm feeling so stupid, i wish i hadn't went through it 
but hey, i'll stick to drinking 
the bottles always my friend, i know i'm drowning again 
but it's better than remembering, now it's different because

the sparks gone, there's no song, you finally won 
it's not fun, i'm struggling, was it something i'd done?
i'm not strong, nothing inside, my heart you had robbed 
the songs of love that i had, don't mean a thing anymore 
x2

feresy

for flute and piano
Roberta Michel, flute. Mirna Lekic, piano

Lacquer and Grit

Performed by the Irish National Symphony Orchestra
Chief Conductor Jaime Martín

To Come Back To Earth

"The Full Hundred" is an audio documentary that chronicles the inspiring stories of Americans who have researched, fought for, and lived through pay and funding inequity in the United States. I was first inspired to write this piece in 2022 when, as an untenured Professor at the University of Colorado, I received notice from my university that I would be receiving a raise thanks to the Colorado Equal Pay for Equal Work Act. Curious what this meant and why I was receiving it, I dove into research mode. I quickly learned that my university had determined that I was being underpaid compared to my male colleagues of similar experience and expertise, and that, in accordance with the new Colorado Equal Pay Act, my compensation would be increased moving forward to adjust for the pay discrimination I had experienced. Following this news from the Equal Pay Act, University of Colorado colleague and Engineering Professor Shelley Miller sued the University of Colorado for owed backpay and reached a settlement that provided backpay for over 400 underpaid women faculty members at our university. It is an incredible story of justice and morality that impacted me immensely, and I was determined to explore it further—along with the broader issue of funding and pay inequity in our country. 

In composing the piece, I conducted interviews with four people involved in this fight. They are: 

Jessie Danielson, Colorado State Senator and Author of the Equal Pay for Equal Work Act 
Terra McKinnish, University of Colorado Economics Professor and Labor Economist 
Kris Livingston, University of Colorado Executive Senior Associate Athletic Director 
Michael Uy, University of Colorado Music Professor and Researcher in Arts Funding 

Using audio clips from these interviews, I wove these stories together into a sonic fabric of storytelling which you will hear as an electronics track played in the hall during the performance. Within this story, the wind ensemble acts as a live film score to the voices of these interviews. In conducting the interviews, I came to realize just how complex and multifaceted the fight for equal pay is in this country. Pay inequity results from a multitude of factors, including discrimination, bias, personal choices, childcare, gender expectations, and access to education, resources, and opportunities. 

The title for the piece comes from the statistic that, compared to white men, white women make 77¢ on the dollar, Black women make 61¢, Latina women 58¢, and Native American women 53¢. Equal pay will not be achieved until every demographic of our society makes the full 100¢ on the dollar—until everyone has equal access to funding, resources, and education. 

Huge thank yous go out to Senator Danielson, Dr. McKinnish, Executive Senior Associate Athletic Director Kris Livingston, and Dr. Uy for generously sharing their time, stories, and work with me. I would also be remiss if I didn’t extend my deepest gratitude to Dr. Matt Dockendorf for his invaluable work in organizing this consortium and bringing this piece to life with his students. - Annika Socolofsky, January 2025

Composed by Annika Socolofsky
Performed by the University of Colorado Wind Symphony & Matt Dockendorf
Recorded by Kevin Harbison (wind ensemble) and Annika Socolofsky (interviews)
Mixed by Jonathan Galle
Commissioned by Matt Dockendorf & The University of Colorado Bands and a National Consortium

The Full Hundred (2025) // University of Colorado Wind Symphony

Song for the Lichen

Commissioned by X4 Percussion Quartet: SHELL was inspired by the work of photojournalist Seph Lawless who has traveled across the United States capturing images of abandoned shopping malls. There’s a certain feeling evoked from places that should be full of people but are now empty and decaying. Before online shopping, these were vibrant communal places, now the emptiness is amplified.

https://www.x4percussionquartet.com 

Performed By:
Shane Jones
James Pendell
Dan Piccolo
Ji Hye Jung

SHELL

Annika Socolofsky is a composer and avant folk vocalist. Described as “unbearably moving” (Gramophone) and “just the right balance between edgy precision and freewheeling exuberance” (The Guardian), her music erupts from the embodied power of the human voice and is communicated through mediums ranging from orchestral and operatic works to unaccompanied folk ballads. She is Assistant Professor of Composition at the University of Colorado Boulder and holds her PhD in Composition from Princeton University.

The Full Hundred (2025) // University of Colorado Wind Symphony

Annika Socolofsky

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