Name: i gained it so (2023) by Claudia Beroukhim
Duration: 10 min 14 s
Description: Performed by the San Antonio Chamber Choir, directed by Dr. Rick Bjella. Originally Commissioned for the UGA Hodgson Singers.

Alexandra Smither, soprano
Suzy Smith, piano

In this song I imagine Penelope wandering the drafty, echoing ‘empty rooms’ of whatever fortress or palace protected and imprisoned her during her long wait for the return of her husband and her son. The image of a woman, waiting, is common in literature: her act of endurance requires bravery, courage, fortitude, even defiance. The woman who waits suffers, but most often silently; war takes a quiet, dreadful toll on those left behind. Such waiting takes other shapes: the long-distance relationship; the parent of the missing child; the widower. We always wait for those we love, heartstrings stretched taut across miles and years, oceans and continents. Penelope is often praised (condescendingly) for her loyalty, for being a good wife. But how often do we risk imagining her silent battle against her own mind – against hopelessness?

In her day Penelope was just as modern as we are now, so here she sings music that is modern in its hybridity: classical, minimalist, jazz, pop – art song and torch song, for lover and loved.

Penelope (for soprano and piano)

Fonte printanière
Music by Edwin Honman Ng
Text by Sukeo "Sam" Sameshima; trans. Michel Montreuil
performed by the First Readings Project
baritone solo, Derek Boemler
flute, Linda Chatterton
conducted by J. David Moore

Edwin Honman Ng - Fonte printanière

'Eternal Threads of Hope' 
For Santour, Piano, Vocal & Electronics.

Poets:
Forough Farrokhzad & Parvin Etesami 

Composer: Sahar  Helmi 
Santour: Elnaz  Mohammadzadeh 
Piano & Vocal: Sahar Helmi 

Poster design: 
Elnaz Mohammadzadeh

commissioned by Iranian Female Composers Association - IFCA


Eternal Threads of Hope

Performed by the San Antonio Chamber Choir, directed by Dr. Rick Bjella. Originally Commissioned for the UGA Hodgson Singers.

i gained it so (2023)

MIDDLEGROUND: the space grounded, the between, the center. The Heartland. The prairie, the grasslands, Konza, Flint Hills, Manhattan, Emporia, Salina. Where we gathered.

Home of the heart, heart of the home.

The years spent in cars, daydreaming, scooping handfuls of wheat, racing out into amber fields, cycling together, water wheel ice cream, fireworks and apples. The stories shared, books read sprawled in the yard, family prayers over anything, late evening walks, quiet nights. Open arms, open hearts, humble and extraordinary. 

Together, with our wonder, our joy, we created an incredible painting with abounding colors. The kinds of colors that linger in the minds eye long after they are out of sight and cradle you long after goodbyes are spoken and car doors closed. The kinds that find you counting the days until the next birthday, the next holiday, the next bike ride, the next Camp, the next anything just so you can see them again. When you close your eyes you feel their warmth. They stay.

The middle ground: my refuge born from the land living in my heart. Where my home is, living and breathing outside of my body, thousands of miles apart. This hallowed ground.




World premiere by the JACK Quartet in New York City, 2016.  

MIDDLEGROUND

The Path To Heaven - extract 1

Composer, Vocalist/Pianist, Songwriter, Musician :)
NYU Steinhardt Graduate Composer 
Graduate of University of Georgia, Hugh Hodgson SOM '23

i gained it so (2023)

Claudia Beroukhim

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