Love & Noise In Buick City

performed by TRANSIT: 
Andie Springer, violin
Evelyn Farny, cello
Sara Budde, bass clarinet
Joe Bergen, vibraphone
David Friend, piano

03 Three Quintets (STUDIO, AIFF)

http://locksteprecords.com/album/happiness-is-the-problem

"But, I mean, in order to, to actually do human trials you have to go through all this rigmarole, and rent is due, we don't have time"

Happiness is the Problem is a two-act opera about three struggling roommates in Brooklyn: Julie, Emily, and Maureen. Their fortune begins to change when Julie, a bioanthropsychopharmacologist, discovers an elixir of happiness derived from the secretions of slug mucus, which they bottle and sell as “Euphoressence.”

Happiness is the Problem is dedicated to guitarist, Mary Halvorson. It has had preview performances at The Stone, Issue Project Room, the Wilmette Theater, (Le) Poisson Rouge, and Roulette.

Music by Jason Cady
Libretto by Nadia Berenstein and Jason Cady, with additional dialogue by Amy Cimini 

Happiness Is The Problem (excerpt)

When the aliens visited Earth they accidentally brought germs that killed off most of humanity. But alien zoologists are trying to make right by conserving the human species through a captive breeding program. The story focuses on one couple: John and Sarah, whom the aliens locked up together to reproduce. John loves Sarah, but she is not interested in him. And Sarah is not sure that humanity ought to be saved.

The Captives is a narrative song cycle that premiered at Roulette in Brooklyn, NY, 2015.

Katie Eastburn & Sasha Zamler-Carhart, vocals
Jessica Pavone, bass guitar
Nick Rifken, congas
Jason Cady, modular synth & pedal steel

recorded by Jason Cady & Jeff Cook
mixed by Jeff Cook

The Captives [excerpt]

When my 20th high school reunion was approaching I thought about what a nightmare high school was. But I also reminisced about my old friends and thought about how social media is a kind of perpetual high school reunion.
    This inspired me to write a story about David and his friend Zelda—a goth who broke his heart in high school. Years later he hears that she had died, but then he gets an email from her. They meet up at a bar for a drink. She is a zombie.
    I made the music express some of the themes in the story. To represent nostalgia, I re-harmonized some snippets from a couple old pop songs. I characterized the protagonist as stagnant with a drone of a perfect fifth. I combined the Death Metal consonance of the drone with harmonies dissonant to those two notes to evoke horror. I juxtaposed the two characters by writing two versions of the same aria with contrasting words.
    A few months after I finished composing Nostalgia Kills You I went to my reunion. It was a lot like high school: a few nice people, and a bunch of creeps dancing to Vanilla Ice.

Nostalgia Kills You is a one-act opera. It premiered at Abrons Art Center, New York City, November 2, 2013 in a production directed by Louisa Proske.

David Bloom, conductor
Tomas Cruz, tenor
Erin Flannery, soprano
Emily Manzo, amplified harpsichord
Shawn Lovato, bass guitar
Brian Chase, drums
Jason Cady, modular synth

Ghostlight Chorus:
Caitlin Arias
Diana Hill
Dominique Tille
Kent Twardock
Alex Ulyett
Elena Williamson
Barbara Zay
Matt Zay

recorded by Jeff Cook & Jason Cady
mixed by Jeff Cook

Nostalgia Kills You

Candy Corn

Voices: Ann Heppermann and Jason Cady
Words, Music, Modular Synth: Jason Cady

The Princess and the Zombies

Britt Hewitt, soprano
Jason Cady, modular synth, words & music

music video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBsjSf2qvLI&feature=emb_logo

A Riot Grrrl at a Rave [from Everything for Dawn]

Erin Flannery, soprano
Lisa Komara, mezzo-soprano
Andie Springer, violin
Domenica Fossati, flute
David Friend, piano
Lindsey Warford, harp
Joe Bergen, vibraphone
Hannis Brown, electric guitar
Jason Cady, synthesizer and drum machine

All music and words by Jason Cady

Recorded and mixed by Joel Hamburger at Godel String Studio, Brooklyn, NY

The Mother premiered at Issue Project Room on February 9, 2013 by Hotel Elefant conducted by Meg Zervoulis as part of Experiments in Opera's New Shorts. Directed by Louisa Proske

The Mother

Jason Cady composes opera, instrumental and electronic music; and performs on pedal steel guitar and modular synthesizer. His video opera—I Screwed Up the Future—was described by Anthony Tommasini in the New York Times as a “charming fantasy…drably comic and spacey.” Opera News described his most recent opera as “delightfully weird.” Cady  has an MA from Wesleyan University where he studied with Alvin Lucier and Anthony Braxton. He was born in 1974 in Flint, Michigan and has lived in New York City since 2001.

Jason Cady Composer