"What better way to celebrate the first day of autumn than with the release of an upbeat, autumn-themed album?  Autumn Bells looks forward rather than back, making us miss the summer a little less.  The timing – both physical and emotional – could not be better." - Richard Allen, A Closer Listen

Bandcamp (12" Vinyl / Digital) https://atomnation.bandcamp.com/album/autumn-bells
iTunes (Digital) https://itunes.apple.com/album/id916385589
Amazon (12" Vinyl / Digital)http://www.amazon.de/Autumn-Bells-Vinyl-LP-Gidge/dp/B00LMPG0C4

The Spaces In Between

Huldra

Gidge - Huldra

Harlequin’s Escapades is commissioned by and dedicated to Voyager Reed Quintet. It is a playful, comic piece inspired by the antics of Harlequin, one of the principal stock characters of the Italian commedia dell’arte. He and is often portrayed as a facile and witty gentleman’s valet and a capricious suitor of the serving maid.

In the early years of the commedia (mid-16th century), the Harlequin was a zanni (a wily and covetous comic servant), and he was cowardly, superstitious, and plagued by a continual lack of money and food. By the early 17th century, Harlequin had become a faithful valet, patient, credulous, and amorous. This last quality often led him into difficulties from which he managed to extricate himself by cleverness and irrepressible high spirits. He was amoral without being vicious, and, unlike his fellow commedia servants, he did not hold a grudge or seek revenge against those who tricked or cheated him.
The work is playful, rhythmic and at times virtuosic portrait of Harlequin that show many facets of his zany personality.

Harlequin's Escapades For Reed Quintet

feat. Hilary Abigana, flute; C. Neil Parsons, trombone / theatrical design;  Greg Jukes, percussion; David Russell, cello; Sakurako Kanemitsu, piano; Rose Hegele, dance. 

April 10, 2025; Boston Conservatory ("Symbiosis")

This piece is not necessarily “about” fireflies, but it can be if you want. The title aims to evoke the gentle qualities of nighttime, stillness, luminescence, and certain rhythmic qualities. It is really a piece about the simple beauty of repetition, the colors of the different instrumental tones, and resonance. It’s about taking one’s time. 

Originally written for two violins and premiered by Sharan Leventhal and Clara Mazo as simply fireflies, this arrangement created specifically for Symbiosis brings together all the performers of the concert. The work has also been arranged for solo piano.

https://www.ryansuleiman.com/fireflies-gather
https://www.ryansuleiman.com/symbiosis

fireflies gather (2025)

Journey of Season is a song cycle for vocal quartet, clarinet and piano on the poetry of May Sarton. Performed by Amici Tonic Vocal Ensemble:
Cynthia Perotti, soprano
Beth Pittman, mezzo, soprano
Matt Pittman, tenor
Kevin Perotti, bass
Gail Zugger, clarinet
Philip Everingham, piano

8) My Image Is A Garden

Soprano, Felicia Chen
electronics, Bahar Royaee

Kitchen, is the result of a close collaboration with vocalist Felicia Chen.

Based on a well-known lullaby from northwest Iran, the composer deconstructs and reconstructs the folktune, moving through exploration of phonemes derived from the text, resonance space, vowel filters, and speed of airflow. Royaee supplements the lullaby with recorded sounds from a kitchen, which is an important place of family gathering in Iran. The composer envisions her mother sitting in her kitchen in Iran, thinking of her daughter. 
The text is derived from a poetry by Yadollah Royaee, who has a collection of poetries, all depicting various tombstones, for different people. The selected poetry was written for his best friends and the most famous female contemporary poet in Iran, Fourth Farrokhzad. Yadollah royaee is in exile.

“With every step of yours, I become divorced from the soil. One sip of the loam, and plowing is reminiscent of the horizon.

	با هر قدم تو از خاک دور میشوم،
یک جرعه خاک،
و شخم،
دلتنگ افق میشد.

Harlequin's Escapades For Reed Quintet

Andrew List

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