The Wide-Open Mouth

Jessica Ekomane
nye (2024)
Jessica Ekomane, computer and synthesizer

The composer writes:

‘nye is the Zulu word for the number one, and the state of being alone.’

Elaine Mitchener
bloodcirclesearwhistles (2021, German premiere)
Com Chor Berlin

The composer writes:

‘bloodcirclesearwhistles was composed in response to On the Circulation of Blood, a reference to William Harvey’s key medical textbook of 1648, De Motu Cordis, from which artist Sam Belinfante created a mobile sculptural performance. The piece is for moving vocal ensemble and sports whistles and was composed as part of a larger collaborative commission with other composers and spearheaded by Belinfante. The score has a few basic instructions, and I also provide a vocal sample as a performance guide to an approach to the work. It is a spatial work, and for the listeners, an opportunity to engage with voices in direct yet intimate ways. Harvey’s descriptive text has been fractured or deconstructed and serves as my humble tribute to poet and artist N. H. Pritchard, whose poems I have found deeply influential.’

Njabulo Phungula
Playground Postcard (2020, German premiere)
Rebekah Heller, bassoon; Caitlin Edwards, violin; Jacob Greenberg, piano

The composer writes:

‘Playground postcard. Graphic score. Enter the playground. Play. Leave.’

Fay Victor
Overlap/Seam (2024, German premiere)
Fay Victor, conductor; Jonathan Finlayson, trumpet; Jacob Greenberg, piano; Levy Lorenzo, percussion; Com Chor Berlin

The composer writes:

‘Overlap/Seam is a piece of movement and ‘self-conduction’ for mixed ensemble. The work was developed as a piece for the participants of the Ensemble Evolution Alumni Celebration held at the New School in New York City in June 2024, where it was workshopped as a structured group improvisation using individual gestures shared in the collective space, using a motif that came from the ensemble to set things off.’

Anthony R. Green
Connections (2021)
Rebekah Heller, bassoon; Jonathan Finlayson, trumpet; Levy Lorenzo, percussion; Com Chor Berlin

The composer writes:

‘When a body loses one of its senses (the ability to see, for example), the brain readjusts its connectivity to strengthen the other senses. In essence, it makes new connections in different ways. If one views humanity as a body, then 2020 was a year when the body of humanity was severely deprived of a major sense: its main mode of connection—physical interaction. Yet the collective brain reconfigured itself, and humanity strengthened connections in different ways. Humanity collectively released a silent message: connections are important and necessary for sanity, growth, development, existence. Connections is an acknowledgement of this collective statement. This work was commissioned and premiered by the 113 Composers Collective and subsequently performed for the 2024 MATA Festival in New York.’

Monthati Masebe
Manzini (2024, world premiere)
Damian Norfleet, voice; Fay Victor, voice; Caitlin Edwards, violin; Jacob Greenberg, keyboards; Levy Lorenzo, percussion; Rebekah Heller, conductor

The composer writes:

‘This piece explores the organic intertwining of gesture, rhythm, and speech found in African languages. African polyrhythms are often explored through a Eurocentric lens, and I wanted to take this opportunity to draw upon Kofi Agawu’s methodologies on rhythm and speech. Manzini, which in Zulu means ‘large bodies of water’, opens us up to the fluidity of language and the human body as a large body of water, constantly treading life and all its cumbersome encounters.’

Elaine Mitchener
th/e s/ou/nd be/t/ween (2023, German premiere)
Fay Victor, voice; Damian Norfleet, voice; Rebekah Heller, bassoon; Joshua Rubin, clarinets

The composer writes:

‘th/e s/ou/nd be/t/ween was commissioned by British ensemble the Hermes Experiment and premiered on 24 September 2023 in consists of a single-page graphic score that carries indications of timing, with ever shorter segments, for a total duration of ten minutes. I find graphic notation to be an effective method to uncover new possibilities in instrumental performance (including, of course, the voice) and to free the imagination in seeking new ways of expression. The title of the piece offers a further stimulus to the players: “The work requires an openness to search for the sound(s) between.”’

Shelly Phillips
G(r)ain (2024, world premiere)
Damian Norfleet, voice; Fay Victor, voice; Rebekah Heller, bassoon; Jacob Greenberg, keyboards; Com Chor Berlin

The composer writes:

‘G(r)ain is a piece composed by Shelly Phillips and the Com Chor Berlin that draws parallels between one of the most wanted raw materials worldwide and the African diaspora.’