Written for the Royal Academy of Music  '200 Pieces' bicentennial project
Hugo Mak, bassoon

Tilt (2021) for bassoon

soprano voice and woodwind quintet (fl., ob., cl., hn., bsn.)

Kristi Matson, soprano
Jaimie Wagner, flute
Chris Wheeler, oboe
Andrew Sprung, clarinet
Alan Taplin, horn
Cynthia Duda, bassoon

Recorded live. March 30, 2022
Conrad Recital Hall | Hillsdale College
Hillsdale, MI

Program Note:
Commissioned by the Hillsdale College Faculty Woodwind Quintet with soprano Kristi Matson in the 2019/20 Academic Year, (dys)lexical trans(fer)mission is a quasi-dramatic set of musical variations based upon the composer’s own text, which abstractly describes an artist’s process and the frustrations inherent in managing creative thoughts and impulses. The text is gradually altered throughout the composition by means of literary/poetic techniques embraced by the Ouvroir de littérature potentielle (i.e., Oulipo), as the protagonist searches for the “right” words to capture an ephemeral idea. Specifically, the "N" substitution procedure determines the replacement of selected nouns from the original poem with words, of the same grammatical function, located "N" positions away in an English Dictionary. This iterative process transforms the initial text into something that invites the audience to contemplate the potential meaning of grammatically similar, yet syntactically mysterious, poetic structures.

(dys)lexical trans(fer)mission

Scarlatti Sonata in C Major K501  adapted by Michael Sweeney

The Body Electric uses two lines from Walt Whitman’s poem “I Sing the Body Electric.” The first is reorganized in a matrix according to the following hierarchy “I vapor breath drawn were am helpless more its no than by as if a.” The second acts as a disruption, always occurring in its original order (with some words missing) and always at the same pitch. The jumbled words are introduced in full or partial sets until the final phrases of the piece, where they are presented in Whitman’s original order:

“I am drawn by its breath as if I am no more than a helpless vapor all falls aside but myself and it.” 

Score: http://bit.ly/2DGd1eZ

The Body Electric

Elegy was transcribed from a string orchestra piece for the Texas State University Concert Band under the direction of Caroline Beatty.  This is the World and Texas premiere recording.

2019 TMEA

Elegy for Our Children

Episode 107 of ADJ•ective New Music's podcast, Lexical Tones. Robert McClure interviews composer, performer, and writer Kate Soper. http://www.katesoper.com/

Visit www.adjectivenewmusic.com for more information about ADJ•ective New Music, the ADJ•ective Composers' Collective, and Lexical Tones.

107 - Kate Soper

for Cello and Live Electronics 
Performance at SPLICE 2019 by Stephen Marotto.

In The Midst Of Night

This piece follows a day in the life of a nymph.  He wakes up, and goes about his normal routine, frolicking and getting into mischief, until he discovers his shadow.  At first he is frightened, but his curious nature takes over, and he eventually comes to fall in love with his shadow.  He and his shadow dance and play, until the sun starts to set, and his shadow disappears.  The nymph goes home, saddened by the loss of his shadow.

Featuring Elizabeth Erenberg on flute, Samuel Chabrow, Nathan Ball, and myself on bowed piano.

Performed 4/13/10
NEC Contemporary Ensemble Concert

Nymphshadow

Written for Sputterbox Ensemble's "Sputter(SHRINKS THE)Box" event.

Lorelei of the Leeches gives insight into the inner turmoil of Adelaide "The Lorelei" Zheng, an alchemist for a criminal gang who yearns to forget her past and what it turned her into.

Lorelei of The Leeches

Librettist: Andrew Martin Smith
Composer: Sierra Wojtczack

Audio taken from performance on March 8, 2020 at the Fredonia Opera House (Fredonia, NY)

Performed by:
Katherine Steele as Ari (a)
Zachary Bills as Ari (b)
Natalie Ehrensbeck as Skylar
Rory Buscaglia as Tig

Music Director: Danny Barna
Pianist: EunJoo Jeon
Director: Collin McCrea

Scene 1: libretto by Andrew Martin Smith,  music composed by Joseph Buck
Scene 2: libretto by Jamie Leigh Sampson, music composed by Mickie Wadsworth

The Body Electric

Jamie Leigh Sampson

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