Resonant Bodies Festival director Lucy Dhegrae interviews vocalist from around the world to discuss singing, performing, curating, and more. Resonant Bodies Festival, an annual Festival of contemporary and avant-garde vocal music is held in New York City each September. “In equal measures intelligen…
Festival Director and Founder Lucy Dhegrae talks with ResBods past artist (and 2019 Intermission Performance Troll) Ariadne Greif about the 2019 Fest with a brief review of each artist’s performance and a review of the core values of the Festival and its evolution since 2013.
Composer and vocalist Erin Gee (ResBods 2019, September 5th) happened into her singular composition style somewhat by accident—she was assigned a composition exercise as a graduate student: write a work for solo voice. She wondered, as many composers do, “is there a way to go beyond the emotions that we automatically apply to voice? Can I make sounds with the voice that are truly abstract?” What she came up with has been her incredible artistic output, the Mouthpiece series, which lives in a sound world all of her own making. On this episode, Erin goes into a deep dive with ResBods director Lucy Dhegrae about how these pieces came to be, how she transitioned to being a vocal performer, and where she sees her work going next.
Acrobatic, otherworldly soprano Jane Sheldon, who first sang on the 2014 NYC Festival, talks about her upcoming set on opening night of the 2019 NYC Festival on September 3rd at Roulette where she will premiere “Poem For a Dried Up River” which she composed for herself and ensemble, using the poem of the same name by Alice Oswald. In this episode she discusses the challenges of authoring as well as performing in a new work; motherhood vs. composerhood; and Virginia Woolf’s essay “Professions for Women.”
Vocalist, improvisor, composer, and noise artist Charmaine Lee dives deep into her technique, musical journey, and equipment with ResBods Festival director Lucy Dhegrae on this podcast episode. Charmaine opens the 2019 NYC Fest on September 3rd with close collaborator Conrad Tao (piano & electronics). The conversation ends with a beautiful
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Countertenor extraordinaire Anthony Roth Costanzo joins festival director Lucy Dhegrae for a talk about his upcoming set on the 2019 NYC Festival. Anthony performs on the opening night, September 3rd, showcasing his many operatic collaborations with living composers, and chats about his work with Kaija Saariaho, Gregory Spears, Phillip Glass, Suzanne Farrin, and others. Anthony also discusses his upcoming appearance with the Metropolitan Opera in the title role of Phillip Glass's "Akhnaten" and his multi-sensory album-turned-megaproject "Glass/Handel."
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Caroline Shaw is undaunted by new artistic experiences, like having her first conversation with Resonant Bodies Festival director Lucy Dhegrae recorded on mic for this podcast. Caroline discusses her upcoming set on September 12 at Roulette, the power of communal singing, performance personas, and of course, Kanye West. For more information about Caroline Shaw and links to the recordings mentioned on this episode, please visit our Show Notes! Show Notes
Melbourne-based Deborah Kayser chats with both Jane Sheldon (ResBods Australia co-director) and Lucy Dhegrae (ResBods director/founder) to talk about her upcoming set for the inaugural Sydney festival at Carriageworks, co-presented by Sydney Chamber Opera. Deb presents a work with her partner in music and life, Nick Tsiavos, that is a journey of text in English, French, and Ancient Greek, a collaborative composition begun by Nick Tsiavos as the a solo bass piece “One Hundred Months, Third of East.” The three also chat about Dithyramb by Jason Eckardt, which Deb premiered, and Deb’s musical heroes (which includes the one and only Freddie Mercury!). For more information, please visit our show notes. SHOW NOTES
Sofia Jernberg sits down with ResBods founder Lucy Dhegrae to discuss her set for the Sydney Festival on August 31, 2018 at Carriageworks in collaboration with Sydney Chamber Opera. Sofia, who performed on the 2016 NYC Festival, will present a solo vocal work, as well as a world premiere by Johan Jutterström, and a collaboration with saxophonist Jim Denley. Sofia talks about her approach to performance and improvisation and what she is looking for in a collaborator. For more information on Sofia, please visit our show notes. SHOW NOTES
Australian vocalist Sonya Holowell sits down with RBF founder Lucy Dhegrae to discuss her upcoming set for the Sydney Festival at Carriageworks (co-presented by Sydney Chamber Opera) on September 1, 2018. Sonya talks about her improvisatory practice and how so many people and ideas have influenced her work, including the indigenous practice of “dadirri,” collaborations with designer/flutist Elia Bosshard, jamming with pianist and improvisor Jonathan Holowell (who is also her dad) and the discovery of her indigenous heritage. To read more about Sonya, please visit our show notes. SHOW NOTES
Mitchell Riley sits down with Resonant Bodies Australia co-director Jane Sheldon to talk about his upcoming set on September 1, 2018, at Carriageworks in Sydney. Mitch talks about the influence that his recent studies at L'École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq have had on his approach to performing, and gives us the story behind the world premiere he's going be presenting at the festival. For more information about Mitch and links to the recordings heard on this episode, please visit our Show Notes. SHOW NOTES
On a recent rare day home in New York, world-roving musician Jen Shyu joined Resonant Bodies Festival director Lucy Dhegrae for a chat. Jen discusses her upcoming set on September 12th at Roulette, her origins as a multi-instrumentalist, composer, and singer, and her process collecting folk songs from community elders across the world and integrating them into projects of her own. For more information about Jen Shyu and links to the recordings mentioned on this episode, please visit our Show Notes.This episode was edited by Jeremy Hirsch. SHOW NOTES
German soprano Sarah Maria Sun is creative performer—part vocalist, part comedian, part stage director. Her set for September 13th on the 2018 New York City Festival has works by Thierry Tidrow, Rebekah Saunders, and Georges Aperghis. She discusses her upcoming album release—Harawi, by Olivier Messiaen—and the choice to go vinyl, as well as her road to loving the stage. For more information about Sarah Maria, including full tracks heard on this episode, please visit the show notes. SHOW NOTES
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Ariadne Greif, who performed not only on the inaugural 2013 NYC Festival but also on the 2014 NYC Festival, discusses her set for the Sydney Festival which is a collection of her favorite things: juvenilia, toys, transcriptions, and dreams. Her fabulous Dreams and Nightmares project travels for the first time outside of NYC, and will receive a special expansion this September. For more information, please visit the show note: resonantbodiesfestival.org/podcast/2018/ariadne-greif-show-notes
Banff Special Edition! In this episode, Christine Schneider—who joins this summer's (R)Evolution: Resonant Bodies faculty at Banff Centre—talks about her laryngeal massage practice in NYC. Chatting with festival director Lucy Dhegrae, they discuss how trauma is stored in the body, the many layers and functions of our body's fascia, and how Christine first became interested in laryngeal massage.
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Show notes for this episode can be found here: www.resonantbodiesfestival.org/podcast/2018/alejandro-t-acierto-show-notes
Vocalist, composer, and flutist extraordinaire Nathalie Joachim talks about her upcoming set on Resonant Bodies Festival in Chicago on April 8, 2018 at Constellation. In addition to bringing her work as vocalist/composer/flutist on stage together, Nathalie’s project for ResBod, Fanm d’Aiti, is a deep exploration of her own identity as a Haitian women, and “an attempt to celebrate the women of Haitian song and to explore their individual stories as they relate to Afro-Caribbean culture, society, history and music, by giving them a long deserved international platform.” For more information about Nathalie and links to music and topics discussed on this episode, please visit our Show Notes!
Jessie Marino chats with Resonant Bodies Festival director Lucy Dhegrae about her upcoming set on April 8th, 2018 at Constellation for the inaugural Chicago festival. Jessie talks about her unique approach to performing, her work with Pamplemousse and her duo On Structure, and how Rot Blau, her fantastic Super Premiere (her first piece ever as a composer) came to be. For more information about Jessie and what we discuss on this episode, please visit our Show Notes.
Matthew Thomas's performance of Eight Songs for a Mad King (Peter Maxwell Davies) on the inaugural Melbourne Festival was "astoundingly effective" wrote ArtsHub in a review. The piece calls for "a realisation of [a] deranged royal... demanding a range of three octaves, a raft of extended vocal technique (some extreme), and fine acting skills." Thomas talks with RBF Australia's co-director Jane Sheldon about the evening.
Jennifer Walshe is a composer, vocalist, and improviser from Ireland. Her work combines pop culture, theatre, video— a practice that she called The New Discipline—and her work for the 2017 Resonant Bodies Festival, The Church of Frequency and Protein, is a prime example.
Odeya Nini explores the landscape of her voice through movement. Her ever-evolving work A Solo Voice is a space for her to explore timbre, texture, emotion, and audience interactivity. She writes, “The work is a series of malleable compositions and improvisations that include field recordings and theatrical elements, aiming to dissociate the voice from its traditional attributes and create a new logic of song that is not only heard but seen through movement and action.” Odeya closes the evening of September 6th, the second night of the 2017 Resonant Bodies Festival in New York City.
Hai-Ting Chinn is a not-so-secret science geek, and her set for the 2017 New York City festival on September 6th celebrates her fascination with the universe in two works: first, in an excerpt from Science Fair, what she calls “a cabaret of science,” and second in a super premiere—her first-ever publicly performed composition—called Pale Blue Dot, which she wrote for her vocal trio Triumphatrix.
Hai-Ting Chinn Read more at www.hai-ting.com American Mezzo-soprano Hai-Ting Chinn performs in a wide range of styles and venues, from Purcell to Pierrot Lunaire, Cherubino to The King & I, J.S. Bach to P.D.Q. Bach. She was featured in the revival and tour of Phillip Glass’s Einstein on the Beach, performed at venues around the world from 2011–2014, and she is currently singing the role of Belle in Glass’s La Belle et la Bête, also on tour. She has performed with New York City Opera, The Wooster Group, OperaOmnia, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, and the Waverly Consort; and on the stages of Carnegie Hall, the Mann Center in Philadelphia, the Edinburgh Festival, the Verbier Festival, and London’s West End. She has premiered new works by Amy Beth Kirsten, Du Yun, Conrad Cummings, Stefan Weisman, Yoav Gal, and Matt Schickele. Hai-Ting is also an Artist in Residence at HERE arts center, where she is developing Science Fair, a staged solo show of science set to music.
From a gothic country band to firework coloratura vocals, Kamala Sankaram is a composer and vocalist who knows bel canto AND belting. Her set for Resonant Bodies Festival on September 7th 2017 reflects her polyglot artistic ways and includes a world premiere of her own composition, as well as her eclectica Yma Sumac cover band Bombay Rickey.
Mary Bonhag, who performs on the closing night of Resonant Bodies 2017 in New York, has planned a set that combines her love of text, humor, unconducted chamber music, and programming all in one. In this episode we talk about her nearest and dearest collaborators, and the way her favorite pieces seem to have magical, spell-casting properties. Mary is the co-artistic director of Scrag Mountain Music which is in her home state of Vermont.
Davóne Tines brings not only his gorgeous and powerful voice to all of his performances, but also a thoughtfulness about his platform, and an ability to engage with the social consciousness. In our conversation, we discuss his upcoming 2017 Resonant Bodies set on September 5th entitled “Memorial”, a preview of a forthcoming album connecting songs that span time and genre with questions about spirituality, family, and community. We also discuss Davóne’s work with artists like Peter Sellars, Kaija Saariaho, and John Adams; his education at Harvard and Juilliard; and his process of engaging with harder-to-look-at subject matter.
Mezzo soprano Kayleigh Butcher is an adventurous vocalist who is exploring a new direction in her performance: the connection between singing and movement. Her Resonant Bodies set features three world premieres, two choreographers, singing into pvc pipes, and an unusual late work by Giacinto Scelsi. In this episode we talk about all of these exciting pieces, as well as Quince, her vocal quartet that has commissioned and recorded dozens of new works.
Theo Bleckmann is a trained jazz vocalist whose body of work spans pieces for vocal improvisation with toys, Charles Ives, Kate Bush, and Schumann. In addition to working with composers like Meredith Monk, David Lang, and John Zorn, Theo is also a composer himself. In this interview we talk about his upcoming performance on Resonant Bodies Festival’s opening night on September 5th at Roulette; his recording made in a medieval monastery in Switzerland; his work as a visual artist; and his fifteen years working as a core vocalist with Meredith Monk.
Theo BleckmannPlease read more at theobleckmann.com Photo: Lynn Harty GRAMMY® nominated jazz singer and new music composer Theo Bleckmann’s diverse recorded work includes albums of Las Vegas standards, Weimar art songs, and popular “bar songs” (all with pianist Fumio Yasuda); a recording of newly-arranged songs by Charles Ives (with jazz/rock collective Kneebody); and his acclaimed "Hello Earth - the Music of Kate Bush." Bleckmann has most recently appeared as a special guest on recordings by Ambrose Akinmusire for Blue Note Records and Julia Hülsmann’s trio for ECM Records. In January 2017, ECM will release Bleckmann’s recording with his new Elegy Quintet, produced by legendary label head and founder, Manfred Eicher. Bleckmann has collaborated with musicians, artists, actors and composers, including Ambrose Akinmusire, Laurie Anderson, Uri Caine, Philip Glass, Ann Hamilton, John Hollenbeck, Sheila Jordan, Phil Kline, David Lang, Kirk Nurock, Frances MacDormand, Ben Monder, Michael Tilson Thomas, Kenny Wheeler, John Zorn, the Bang on a Can All-Stars, and, most prominently, Meredith Monk, with whom Bleckmann worked as a core ensemble member for over fifteen years. He has been interviewed by Terry Gross on NPR’s Fresh Air and appeared on the David Letterman show with Laurie Anderson. In 2015, Bleckmann premiered a new work for the American Composers Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, and in 2016 he brings new work to the New York Philharmonic Biennial and the LA Philharmonic. Bleckmann has consistently appeared in the top-five spots in the DownBeat Critics’ Polls for Best Male Vocalist, and top-ten spots in their Readers’ Polls, and his work on Phil Kline’s “Out Cold” helped place that production on WQXR's Operavore "Best Opera of 2012". In 2010, Bleckmann received the prestigious JAZZ ECHO award from the Deutsche Phono-Akademie in his native Germany.
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