Upcomming performances for December 2011
"Evening Star" for Tenor & Piano
excerpts from "Thus the Whirligig of Time Brings in His Revenges"
for Tenor & Chamber Orchestra
Monday, December 19th at 8:00 PM
Composers' Alliance of the Grad Center
Elebash Hall, City University of New York, Graduate Center
*admission is free*
from the premiere performance of
"The Anatomy of the Cusiority Cabinet" (2011)
City University of New York, Graudate Center
"The Yellow Wallpaper" (2010
City University of New York, Brooklyn College
The Yellow Wallpaper
for flute, bass clarinet, violin, 'cello, double bass,
harpsichord, celeste, mallet percussion, auxiliary percussion,
mezzo-soprano, actor, & dancer.
The Anatomy of the Curiosity Cabinet, Movement No. 1
for flute, oboe, clarinet, bass clarinet, trumpet, trombone,
tuba, auxiliary percussion, mallet percussion, celeste, piano,
violin, viola, 'cello, and double bass
The Fall of the House of Usher
for flute, clarinet, violin, 'cello, double bass, piano, mallet
percussion, and auxiliary percussion
The Tell-Tale Heart (in three parts)
for flute, oboe/english horn, clarinet, violin, 'cello, double
bass, electric guitar, auxiliary percussion, mallet percussion,
& piano
A Compendium of Cordoba
for trumpet/flugelhorn, two classical guitars, three
percussionists, and a cast of actors
The Masochist's Tango
for clarinet, violin, viola, 'cello, double bass, two
percussionists, and two dancers.
Choreography by Julia Romanskaya
Rest in Peace
for fute, english horn, violin, 'cello, double bass, piano,
percussion, and a cast of dancers.
Choreography by Andre Megerdichian
Orchestra
Electroacoustic
Opera
Wind Ensemble
The Anatomy of the Curiosity Cabinet
for chamber orchestra
Mov't No. 1
Mov't No. 2
Mov't No. 3
Mov't No. 4
Mov't No. 5
Mov't No. 6
Mov't No. 7
Mov't No. 8
Mov't No. 9
Mov't No. 10
Mov't No. 11
Mov't No. 12
Mov't No. 13
Mov't No. 14
and Thus the Whirlgig of Time Brings in His Revenges
Prologue
Interlude to Act I Scene 1
Act 1 Scene 1
Interlude to Act 1 Scene 2
Aria from Act II Scene 3
for chamber ensemble,
mezzo-soprano, actor
& dancer
Entry No. 1
Entry No. 2
Entry No. 3
Entry No. 4
Entry No. 5
Entry No. 6
Entry No. 7
Entry No. 8
Entry No. 9
Entry No. 10
Entry No. 11
Entry No. 12
Entry No. 13
Alphabephobia:
Something Goes Wrong Everyday
B is for...
D is for...
E is for....
G is for,,,
H is for...
U is for,..
V is for...
The Highway Man
for wind ensemble
& narrator
The Arc of Samsara:
one man's dusk is
another man's dawn
Small Chamber Ensembles
Evening Star
for tenor & piano
Stained Glass:
for flute, violin,
& percussion
Mov't No. 1: Tutti
Mov't No. 2: Duet (flute & percussion)
Mov't No. 3: Solo (fl
Mov't No. 4: Duet (flute & violin)
Mov't No. 5: Solo (violin)
Mov't No. 6: Duet (violin & percussion)
Mov't No. 7: Solo (percussion)
Mov't No. 8: Tutti
Lost & Found
for soprano, 'cello,
piano, & percussion
The Stranger
for clarinet, violin,
Part 1, Movement No. 1
Part 1, Movement No. 2
Part 1, Movement No. 3
Part 1, Movement No. 4
Part 1, Movement No. 5
Large Chamber Ensembles
leda & the swan
for chamber ensemble
and mezzo-soprano
[when I wandered]
for alto flute, english horn, mandolin, classical guitar, violin, & 'cello
a compendium of cordoba
for trumpet, two classical guitars, three percussionists, and a cast of actors
wegeorge_gmail.com
Artist's Statement
I pull from old and antiquated forms, and reupholster them with contemporary patch-worked fabrics, inspired by a multitude of genres: neo-romanticism, surrealism, impressionism, dadaism, new complexity, and post-tonality. I see this 'patterning' as a way of entering my art- there are many paths of entering, and, like Victorian filigree, can be followed like a maze into the heart of the design.
My current project is a full-length opera for chamber orchestra and six singers titled "Thus the Whirligig of Time Brings in its Revenges", with libretto by Chadwick Jenkins. Guy de Maupassant’s “La Parure,” (“The Necklace”) famously explores the price of vanity but its celebrated ending suggests something far more disturbing. When Mathilde discovers that she ruined her life to pay for an expensive necklace to replace one bedecked with faux diamonds, she comes face to face with the possibility that life (even a life in which one attempts to pay for one’s moral failings) is meaningless. "Thus the Whirligig of Time Brings in its Revenges" uses Maupassant’s story as a vehicle to explore the ways in which the moments of a life fail to cohere into a meaningful whole. The reimagined story fragments into a non-sequential presentation of the moments in Mathilde’s life that led to her confrontation with the possible emptiness of all endeavor. Thus what was a simple ironic twist in the Maupassant here becomes the crux of an
existential crisis.
Other recent interdisciplinary works include "The Yellow Wallpaper", for chamber ensemble, singer, actor, and dancer. Based on the short story of the same title by Charlotte Perkins Gillman, "The Yellow Wallpaper" traces a woman's descent into madness. Other projects include scoring silent film with live chamber music accompaniment, which allows for a thicker musical texture that can be presented both with and without the films.
I conduct and lead The Curiosity Cabinet, a chamber ensemble I founded in 2008. I conduct all of my endeavors believing that the composer must be not only integral to the production, but leading it. I often compose for specific instrumentalists as part of my desire to creative uniquely original and organic collaborative work.
Biography
Whitney George began composing after taking music theory at age 16. While pursuing an Undergraduate degree at CalArts, she focused on interdisciplinary collaboration that led to the self-production of a full-length opera titled "Alphabephobia," which includes animation, dance and theater alongside music. Her music, performance art, and installations have had both international and domestic premieres, primarily in England and the East and West coasts of the US.
Starting in 2008, George studied at the Brooklyn College Conservatory of Music with Jason Eckardt and Tania Leon, graduating with a Masters in Music Composition in 2010. During her time at Brooklyn College she was in named composer-in-residence with both the Conservatory Orchestra and the conTEMPO new music ensemble. George has received readings from the NY-based Mivos String Quartet, the Cygnus Ensemble, and Transit Ensemble. Her thesis "The Yellow Wallpaper," an operatic work, was awarded the Lehman Engel Award. George was also named as a John Duffy Composers Institute Fellow for two years running in 2010 and 2011.
George is continuing studies at the doctoral level at the CUNY Graduate Center, where she is studying composition with David Del Tredici as well as perusing private studies with Fred Ho. She conducts the Contemporary Music Ensemble (CME) at CUNY Graduate Center as well as Ursula Oppens' conTEMPO ensemble at Brooklyn College Conservatory. In November 2011, George conducted the premiere performance of Fred Ho's opera "The Sweet Science Suite: a Scientific Soul Honoring of Mohammed Ali" at the Guggenheim Museum., New York.
George also leads and conducts "The Curiosity Cabinet," a chamber orchestra whose members were culled from a network of close collaborators. In addition to her composing and conducting, George teaches at the Brooklyn College Conservatory.
photography by Brian Copede
1. curiosity cabinet (noun): 15th-century piece of furniture, typically made of wood, with many drawers and shelves of different sizes. These drawers and shelves were used to display a collection of artifacts, and these artifacts were often connected by a theme related to the collectors profession. A scientist, for example, might exhibit remnants of botanical life or various medical anomalies, while a hunter might collect and display petrified butterflies or ravenous animal teeth. Curiosity cabinets were often the only place for laity to glimpse exotic pieces of fossilized wildlife, like the tip of the horn of a rhino or claw from a hawk. These cabinetsand the collections they housed are often considered to be predecessors of the modern museum, and have influenced various contemporary organizations such as the grotesque Mütter Museum of medical oddities, Oxford Universitys Ashmolean Museum, and the NYC-based new music ensemble the Curiosity Cabinet (see definition 2).
2. Curiosity Cabinet (proper noun): founded in 2009 by composer and conductor Whitney George, a chamber orchestra dedicated to performing works of the 20th/21st-century standard repertoire and premiering works by living composers. The group began as a Pierrot Ensemble, and has since grown into a collective of more than 20 instrumentalists and 6 singers. In 2010, the ensemble was awarded the Robert Engelman Award for the premiere performance of Georges 50-minute monodrama The Yellow Wallpaper, and also participated in CUNY's first annual New Music Festival. In the spring of 2011, the ensemble premiered a 13-movement work written for the ensemble by Whitney George entitled "The Anatomy of the Curiosity Cabinet." This performance won the CUNY Graduate Center's prestigious Robert Starer Award. Most recently, the ensemble premiered selections of new operas by Whitney George and David Bridges on the Composers Alliance Concert. In 2012, the ensemble will be involved in the NY-wide "Composers Now" event in addition to being the ensemble-in-residence at the annual Hartford Women Composers' Festival. The group has performed works by New York composers Whitney George, David Bridges, Ellen O'Meara, and Miriam Gideon in addition to works by Faye-Ellen Silverman and Karen Powers.
Lindsey Eckenroth, Flute & Piccolo
Lee Braun, Oboe
David Bridges, Clarinet
Matt Frey, Clarinet
Philip Murphy, Bassoon
Hugh Ash, Trumpet
Melissa Danas, Horn in F
David Whitwell, Trombone
Chad Walther, Tuba
Michael Lupo, Auxiliary Percussion
Patrick O'Reilly, Auxiliary Percussion
Matt Johnson, Mallet Percussion
Ellen O'Meara, Celeste
Alana Murphy, Piano
Ian Munro, Accordian
Danny Marquez, Violin I
Alma Rodriguez, Violin II
Emily Wang, Viola
Eric Cooper, Violoncello
Sean Ormiston, Double Bass
Danya Katok, Soprano
Stephanie Jensen-Moulton, Soprano
Karen Stansifer, Soprano
Anjuli Deo, Mezzo-Soprano
Noah Lethbridge, Tenor
Donald Johnston, Tenor
Wayne Paul, Baritone
Whitney George, Conductor
Thursday, February 9th
8:00 pm
Elebash Recital Hall
The Graduate Center
(365 Fifth Avenue, NY)
Selections from "And Thus The Whirligig of Time Brings in His
Revenges" by Whitney George & "The Lady with the Dog" by
David Bridges
Monday, February 27th
7:30 pm
Studio No. 312
Brooklyn College Conservatory of Music
(2900 Bedford Ave, Brooklyn)
Work TBA
Friday & Saturday, March 9th & 10th
( time TBA )
Hartford Women Composers Festival
Revenges" by Whitney George, "Sonnets from Shakespeare"
by Miriam Gideon, "Opening for Ardor by Ellen O'Meara, "No
Strings" by Faye-Ellen Silverman, and "pink fluffy alarmetts still
sounding" by Karen Powers
Monday, March 12th
Graduate Center Composers' Alliance Concert
Revenges" by Whitney George
Thursday, April 26th
(location TBA)
For quotes for our services and general inquiries, please email us at the following address:
the
curiosity
cabinet
ensemble
__gmail.com
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