Margaret Rages Boyd | Oral History

PHOTINUS, commissioned by and written for percussionist Harrison Honor, is a tribute to the sounds of summer and the magic of bioluminescence. This piece uses a unique percussion instrument setup invented by Sam Solomon for ease of performance and cohesion of instrumental timbre, and borrows inspiration from traditional Ghanaian drumming rhythms and field recordings of cicadas in various parts of their life cycle. The title Photinus refers the rover fireflies, a specific genus of fireflies. I’ve always been endlessly fascinated with these tiny beacons of light, and misnamed them “thunder bees” as a small child. This piece was dreamed up in the summer of 2015, in Manhattan, where I was so starved for sounds of nature that the first arcing drone of the late-summer cicadas made me actually laugh with joy. Many thanks to Harrison for endlessly championing my works and inviting me into his world of metals, skins, and woods for this piece.

Stephanie Boyd- Photinus Jordan Hall

Photinus | Solo Percussion "The Setup"

This piece was commissioned by and written for the Washington Square Winds for a concert on their 2015/2016 season containing the Fauré Pavane and other pieces inspired by it. I took inspiration from the Pavane and wrote a Galliard, a dance that was most often paired with the Pavane in courtly dances. According to legend, Queen Elizabeth I “practiced the energetic leaps and kicks of the Galliard each morning to keep fit.” It is my hope that my own Galliard will serve as a bright and lush pairing with Fauré’s languid Pavane. Many thanks to WSW for including me on this project!

Galliard | Woodwind Quintet

Commissioned and performed by the Orchestras of La Grange School District 105 in La Grange, IL (midi recording)

There have been gypsies in Scotland, the land of my ancestors, for a hundreds of years now, and some still remain. Called the Summer Walkers, I imagine that they roamed across the bonny hills of Scotland with the summer wind whipping around them as they played folk tunes on their fiddles, their flutes, their drums. In writing this piece for the orchestras of District 105, I wanted to create a piece that would speak of the blissful summer weather that is around the corner for the students, the teachers, and even us composers – but I also wanted it to be an anthem of sorts, giving a signal of hope and strength to music programs in the US – showing how truly important music education is for all involved.

Summer Walker Dances | Double String Orchestra

Commissioned by the Ashley Bouder Project
New York Jazzharmonic
Ron Wasserman, Conductor

When Ashley Bouder (principal dancer at the New York City Ballet) approached Lauren Lovette (also a principal dancer at the New York City Ballet) and I about commissioning a ballet, we decided to do a portrait in three movements of Ashley's life. The  perpetual determination that a young ballerina requires in her thousands of hours of class before she takes the center stage, the comfort of finding true love amongst the noise of humanity, and the awe and attention that plant deep with the advent of motherhood are all encapsulated in this work. 

Deep thanks are due to Ashley for finding my music and deciding to commission this work, and to Ron Wasserman and the New York Jazzharmonic for helping me through the process of making this work.

Red Spotted Purple | Jazz Big Band

Michigan-born, Manhattan-based American composer Stephanie Ann Boyd (b. 1990) writes melodic music about women’s memoirs and the natural world for symphonic and chamber ensembles. Her work has been performed in nearly all 50 states and has been commissioned by musicians and organizations in 37 countries. Boyd’s five ballets include works choreographed by New York City Ballet principal dancers Lauren Lovette, Ashley Bouder, NYCB soloist Peter Walker, and XAOC Contemporary Ballet’s Eryn Renee Young.  Eero, a ballet commissioned by Access Contemporary Music and Open House New York, was written for the grand opening of the TWA Hotel at JFK Airport. Her music has been praised as “attractive lyricism” (Gramophone), “[with] ethereal dissonances” (Boston Globe), “[music that] didn’t let itself be eclipsed” (Texas Classical Review), “arrestingly poetic” (BMOP), and “wide ranging, imaginative” (Portland Press Herald).

Boyd’s music has been commissioned and performed by concertmasters of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Singapore Symphony, the New York City Ballet Orchestra, the Des Moines Symphony, the Faroe Islands Symphony, the Anchorage Symphony Orchestra, the Fort Smith Symphony, the Arkansas Philharmonic Orchestra, and principal players in the Colorado Symphony Orchestra.  Her music has been commissioned and/or played by the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, the New England Conservatory Philharmonic, the Cape Cod Chamber Orchestra, the New York Jazzharmonic, the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra, the Roosevelt University Orchestra, the Eureka Ensemble, the JVL Festival Orchestra, the Texas State University Symphony, the Cremona International Academy Orchestra, the UW La Crosse Symphony, the Detroit Civic Orchestra, and the El Paso Youth Symphony. Her work has been presented by the Thalia and her Sisters concert series, the Moirae Ensemble, and Sandcastle New Music in New York City; Æpex Contemporary Music in Michigan; Juventas New Music, Collage New Music, and the New Gallery Concert Series in Boston; Cincinnati Soundbox, and others. Stephanie has worked with conductors such as Andrew Litton, Lina Gonzales, Earl Lee, Nathan Aspinall, Cliff Colnot, Gill Rose, Julian Benichou, Kristo Kondakci, and Kevin Fitzgerald.

The 2020/2021 season includes commissions from the Wyoming Symphony, Astral Artists with cellist Tommy Mesa, violinist Megan Healy, pianists Lara Downes, Lise de la Salle, Marta Aznavoorian, Lucille Chung, Susie Maddocks, Adrienne Park, Diane Kaztenburg Braun and Music Street, Sarah Bob and the New Gallery Concert Series, Holly Roadfeldt, Marianne Parker, Eunbi Kim, the Kurganov-Finehouse Duo, and others. This season also includes performances by the Lincoln Trio, Juventas New Music, Jennifer Reason, Lisa Pegher, Shouthouse, Ayanna Witter-Johnson, including concerts at the Kaufman Center, the Boston New Music Festival, the Festival of New American Music, Pianoforte in Chicago, live on Chicago’s WFMT radio station, and elsewhere.

Stephanie holds degrees from Roosevelt University and New England Conservatory, and she was one of the last violin students of renowned pedagogue John Kendall.

http://stephanieannboyd.com

Stephanie Ann Boyd

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