Performers: Mariah Berryman (soprano), Dr. Florence Mak (piano)
Text: Cassie Shearer

Night Shift is a reimagining of the myth of Andromeda. In the myth, Andromeda’s mother, Queen Cassiopeia, brags of her daughter’s beauty, angering the sea god Poseidon. To teach Cassiopeia a lesson, Poseidon sends a sea monster to destroy the coast of Ethiopia, the land ruled by the Queen. To appease the monster, Cassiopeia and King Cepheus decide to offer Andromeda as a sacrifice to the monster, chaining her to a rock by the sea. On his way back from slaying Medusa, the Greek hero Perseus happens upon Andromeda and rescues her from the monster. After her rescue, the goddess Athena promises to make Andromeda and Perseus into stars after their deaths.

Night Shift tells a story of Andromeda’s life as a star in the sky. In the myth, Andromeda is nothing more than a bystander, a victim of circumstances beyond her control. Most tellings of the myth leave out Andromeda almost entirely, instead focusing on Cassiopeia’s vanity or Perseus’ heroism. Night Shift reimagines the story from Andromeda’s point of view, giving her a chance to speak up for herself. Despite her newfound agency, Andromeda’s reward is no better than her life chained to that rock by the sea, just waiting to be eaten.

Original Text:
Day out, day in.
Trudging home, alone, without ever being seen sitting Stagnant In Darkness: Loneliness of the night shift with only
Distant pinpricks of light for company.
When She was young, they Sang of Her Beauty but now
She wastes the prime of Night without anyone to abide.
She waits, Chained to the whims of the World, working the Night shift.

Defying this life, She sits at the Window,
Watching he who passes each day, taking his time down the
Path just outside Her glass, Radiant and Resplendent.
But the pane Ripples Her features, Her Beauty, casting Her into obscurity Day in, and he is too Magnificent to waste precious seconds observing the Watery pools that house fallen, forgotten stars.

Andromeda watches him shine brighter than clouds, than cities, than Galaxies, Spanning the Heavens.
And so, through Determination immeasurable, She shatters the home that Binds Her to this World and

Flees to him.
But stars labor in Darkness as Nature commands, their Days spent captive in seas and rivers and lakes for Day in, the
Sun obscures all but himself.

Andromeda reaches Her Beloved, finding Herself
Lackluster, Outshone. Eternally Insignificant, Longing for the Night shift.

Night Shift (2021) - Daniel Swartz (BM '24)

Mickie Wadsworth, soprano and electronics

I’m So Cold came from a collaboration with poet Lily Eager. The texts drew me towards electronics in an effort to create a desolate and echoing environment. When we are trapped in our thoughts, our minds become distorted and we often lose sense of reasoning. The voice seeks to find logic within chaos of emotion. 

“Cold
June 4th, 2020

It’s my hormones, I swear,
I tell myself as I hold back tears
Thinking about being held.

Today I took a walk in the 90° sun.

I’m so cold.” 

— Lily Eager

I'm So Cold (2021) - Mickie Wadsworth (MM '23)

"Each year, approximately five-hundred billion plastic cups are used, of which roughly six billion cups end up in landfills every year. "...grind..." is an 8.1 channel fixed media piece in which a one-second sound file, of a plastic Keurig coffee pod hitting the floor, morphs into more destructive sound forces, symbolic of the faulty business and political ideologies that ultimately contribute to a lack of environmental sustainability. The vast majority of this work was created with Richard Garrett's "Audio Spray Gun."

Find more at: https://www.rynejsmusic.com/
https://soundcloud.com/rynejsmusic

...grind... (2018) - Ryne Siesky (MM '19)

Three Old Cat Songs (2019)
   1. Calico Cat, text by Eugene Field
   2. Skeptical Cat, text by Arthur Davison Ficke
   3. Selima, text by Thomas Gray

Katherine Walcher, mezzo-soprano
Mercy Olson, piano

Old Cat Songs (2019) - Nathaniel Krebs (MM '21)

PRIMORDIAL is a condensed musical representation of the beginning, end, and rebirth of the world. The word “primordial” means first created, and/or existing in or persisting from the beginning. In this piece, I use it to refer to the formation and growth of a planet from stardust, to the first sprouting of vegetation and life, and all the way to the rise and fall of humanity. It is fact that every planet – including our own – will end and other planets will be born again from the debris, though it is solely up to us as a species to decide how much longer we want our world to survive.

https://soundcloud.com/benjamintbaker, alto saxophone
https://benjamintbaker.wordpress.com

PRIMORDIAL (2019) - Benjamin Baker (BM '20)

These four miniatures were composed in the early months of 2019, when I was surrounded by a lot of wonderful pianists. I wanted to write something that would put me in touch with more of them, so I decided on a set of piano miniatures. Each miniature was written with a mood or emotion in mind, ranging from confusion, to sadness, to frustration.

Laura Silva, piano
https://soundcloud.com/matt-dowler-511913989

Piano Miniatures (2019) - Matt Dowler (BM '22)

For Female Vocal Quartet
Written for and performed by @quinceensemble

This piece was written for the female vocal quartet Quince Ensemble during their residency at Ohio University in the Fall of 2019. The piece's form is in two parts. The first section is a fugal vocalise: a question. The second section is the answer: a modified verse from the Christian Bible "I'm with you always until the end...", which is translated into three other languages (Latin, Spanish, and German). The answer, coming from an innominate higher power, is meant to sound ethereal and universal. This is portrayed by the aleatoric and phasing entrances of the vocalists and the multiple languages the verse is sung.

Follow Conner Cook here: @connerwcook

I'm With You Always (Until The End) (2019) - Conner Cook (MM '21)

Emma Clarke, soprano
Britney Bidding, text

My Idols Crumble (2020)- Graeme Shappell (MM '22)

Past and Present Composers of Ohio University School of Music

Ohio University Composition

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