The title “TE;XT” refers to the fact that most of the pieces on this evening’s program utilize text as a primary component and deal with interruption and disconnection. The use of the semi colon indicates a pronounced pause, cut, or interruption. In Presidential Address and Songs I-IX the text represents a break in what is normal, what is expected. Felsenfeld uses the transcript of the now-infamous Access Hollywood tape to highlight the myriad ways Trump’s candidacy and presidency broke with norms of public figures and of public discourse. Whereas Smith uses text–which is often non-syntactical or outright gibberish–not for its meaning, but as musical material itself. (Smith passed away in June of 2024 after a long battle with cancer, we present this work in memory of him and his work.) Interruption, or perhaps more appropriately disruption, can be a symbol of hope and overcoming inequality, as seen in the amazing heroines LeBaron portraits. Of course, interruption is at the heart of Songs of Parting. Here, Lansky explores the sorrow and sense of longing associated with losing a loved one. Finally, Mason’s Short Circuit explores the misfiring of neurons in the brain, causing the disruption of memory and its relation to time and meaning.
–BF
Presidential Address (2017)
David Felsenfeld | b. 1970
Presidential Address (text by Donald Trump): This text is taken from the now-infamous "Access Hollywood" tape (recorded in 2005 and released in 2016) that featured Donald Trump making lewd comments about women during a conversation with TV host Billy Bush. Trump bragged about kissing, groping, and attempting to have sex with women without their consent, stating that "when you're a star, they let you do it." The tape sparked widespread controversy and criticism, though Trump dismissed the remarks as "locker room talk." This text/performance may not be appropriate for younger audience members.
Songs I-IX (1981)
Stuart Saunders Smith | b. 1948
Using new ideas of notation, orchestration, rhythm, and text abstraction, Stuart Saunders Smith writes texted pieces that create expressive systems unique to each of his individual works. Further, he is able to use text as a musical element and instrumental performance as a speech-like element. This is particularly evident in Songs I-IX. This idea is not surprising, given the interdisciplinary nature of his catalog and the plethora of musical styles that inspired his compositional approach. In his works for spoken text and percussion in particular, Smith’s music owes much to the tradition of sound poetry that preceded it, even as it explores new ways to incorporate text as a musical element. His compositional style in these pieces is indicative both of a unique voice and also of experimental tendencies.
–Elizabeth Soflin
The Heroine with a Thousand Faces (2024)*
Anne LeBaron | b. 1953
*Atlanta premiere
The Heroine with a Thousand Faces: Leymah Gbowee; Julieta Dobles; Ruth Bader Ginsberg; Mary Helen MacKillop; Susan B. Anthony
This set of musical portraits, commissioned by the Davise Fund and composed for soprano and alto saxophone, is written for and dedicated to Jan Berry Baker.
i. Leymah Gbowee
Leymah Gbowee (b. 1972), a Liberian Nobel Prize winner and peace activist, is best known for leading a nonviolent movement that helped to unite Christian and Muslim women. Bringing these women together in the name of stopping the war played a significant role in ending the 14-year Liberian civil war in 2003. The subsequent election of Africa’s first female head of state, Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, owed much to Gbowee’s efforts.
ii. Julieta Dobles
Julieta Dobles (b. 1943) is a Costa Rican poet, writer and educator, and winner of the 2013 Magnon National Cultural Award. As one of the founders of the Transcendentalist Movement in Costa Rica, she signed the Manifiesto transcendentalista in 1977. Her provocative poetry imbues the erotic with a liberating and empowering energy.
iv. Mary Helen MacKillop
Mary Helen MacKillop (1842-1909), also known as Mary of the Cross, is the first Australian to be recognized as a saint. Her extraordinary career of dedication to education for the poor, support for orphans, and care for women prisoners, was also marked by clashes with Catholic priests and bishops. Due to her actions that exposed a pedophile priest, she is informally considered to be a patron saint of sexual abuse victims.
v. Susan B. Anthony
Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906) was one of the most visible leaders of the women’s suffrage movement, along with Elizabeth Cady Stanton. They formed the National Woman Suffrage Association in 1890 as part of a crusade for a constitutional amendment giving women the right to vote. In 1872, two decades earlier, Anthony was arrested for voting and fined $100. She refused to pay. In her speech given to legislators the following year, “Is it a Crime for a U.S. Citizen to Vote?” she argues that she committed no crime. This excerpt from her speech is central to my musical portrait of her:
It is urged that the use of the masculine pronouns he, his, and him in all the constitutions and laws, is proof that only men were meant to be included in their provisions. If you insist on this version of the letter of the law, we shall insist that you be consistent and accept the other horn of the dilemma, which would compel you to exempt women from taxation for the support of the government and from penalties for the violation of laws. There is no she or her or hers in the tax laws, and this is equally true of all the criminal laws.
–AL
Songs of Parting (2006)
Paul Lansky | b. 1944
Paul Lansky's Songs of Parting is a poignant and introspective work that explores themes of separation, loss, and the passage of time. Composed for guitar, voice, and percussion, the piece draws its text from various sources that reflect on the transient nature of life and the inevitability of farewells.
The music in Songs of Parting is characterized by Lansky's signature blending of traditional harmonic language with subtle, modernist touches. The writing is both lush and intimate, allowing the text's emotional weight to resonate deeply with the listener. The orchestration is sensitive and supportive, creating a rich tapestry of sound that complements the voice without overwhelming it.
Lansky's approach to setting the text is thoughtful and evocative. He captures the bittersweet emotions of parting—ranging from tender nostalgia to a more profound sense of mourning—through carefully crafted melodic lines and harmonies that evoke a sense of longing and reflection.
Songs of Parting is a work that speaks to the universal human experience of loss and the contemplation of life's impermanence. It invites the listener to engage with these themes in a deeply personal way, making it a powerful and moving addition to Lansky's diverse body of work.
Short Circuit (2024)*
Charles Norman Mason | b. 1955
*Atlanta premiere
Short Circuit refers to when neurons aren’t connecting properly in the brain, when one experiences brain fog or small seizures when tiny moments of time disappear. In this piece, there are silences or ghosts of musical material that require the listener to mentally provide the connecting thread between the ideas to form the complete narrative. The electronic sounds are triggered by the percussionist through Ableton Live, thus being a bridge between a piece for instruments and fixed media and a piece for interactive electronics.
Composer Daniel Felsenfeld is widely recognized for his dynamic work across classical and contemporary music. His compositions have been commissioned and performed by prominent ensembles and artists, including Simone Dinnerstein, the International Contemporary Ensemble, and the New York Philharmonic Biennial. His music has been featured at prestigious venues like Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and Wigmore Hall.
Felsenfeld has also collaborated with notable artists outside the classical realm, including Jay-Z, for whom he created orchestrations and arrangements for performances at Carnegie Hall, and The Roots, contributing to their Grammy-nominated album Undun. His work has also been featured on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.
As an essayist and author, Felsenfeld has contributed to The New York Times, The New Yorker, Playbill, and other major publications. He has written program notes for institutions like the Metropolitan Opera and Carnegie Hall and has penned liner notes for labels such as Naxos and Sony.
Felsenfeld is also a dedicated educator, serving as a lead teaching artist for the New York Philharmonic's Very Young Composers program and holding teaching positions at Juilliard and the Curtis Institute. He resides in Brooklyn with his family.
Stuart Saunders Smith was an American composer and percussionist known for his innovative and deeply expressive music. Born in 1948, he was a leading figure in the contemporary music scene, particularly in the realm of experimental percussion music and indeterminate forms. His compositions often blur the boundaries between composition, improvisation, and performance, challenging traditional concepts of musical structure and engaging listeners in a profound, often introspective experience.
Smith's work is characterized by its use of unconventional notations, open forms, and a distinctive use of silence, which he employs to create a sense of spaciousness and contemplation. His music frequently explores themes of memory, time, and the human condition, drawing on a wide range of influences from jazz and classical music to avant-garde and minimalist traditions.
A prolific composer, Smith has written extensively for solo percussion, chamber ensembles, and voice, with many works dedicated to specific performers who have inspired him. His music is widely performed and respected for its intellectual rigor. And uniqueness. As a teacher and mentor, Smith has influenced a generation of musicians and composers, leaving a lasting impact on the landscape of contemporary music.
Anne LeBaron, praised by The New Yorker as an “unusually inventive composer” and “admired West Coast experimentalist,” is a trailblazing composer and harpist whose work spans over five decades. Her compositions, performed globally from Kazakhstan to New York, blend classical grandeur with avant-garde innovation. LeBaron’s seven operas, which explore cultural and philosophical themes, include LSD: Huxley’s Last Trip, for which she received an Opera America Discovery Grant.
A Fulbright Scholar with a doctorate from Columbia, LeBaron has been honored with numerous awards, including a Guggenheim Fellowship. Her works have been performed by leading ensembles such as the National Symphony Orchestra and the Los Angeles Philharmonic at prestigious venues including Carnegie Hall and the Hollywood Bowl.
LeBaron continues to push the boundaries of experimental music, notably with her project Heroine with a Thousand Faces, premiering in 2024. As a faculty member at CalArts, she taught innovative courses that merged music with other disciplines. Also an accomplished harpist, she regularly performs with the Present Quartet and has influenced experimental harp techniques. LeBaron serves as Chair of the Board for the American Composers Forum, advocating for contemporary music's future.
Paul Lansky is a prominent American composer known for his pioneering work in computer-generated music. Initially trained as a French horn player, Lansky shifted his focus to composition, earning a PhD from Princeton University, where he has also taught. His early work, influenced by George Perle's "twelve-tone tonality," involved acoustic compositions for chamber ensembles.
In the 1970s, Lansky began experimenting with computer-generated sound, using innovative techniques like Linear Predictive Coding (LPC), which he employed to manipulate human voice recordings. His landmark piece, Six Fantasies on a Poem by Thomas Campion (1979), marked his shift to almost exclusively computer-based compositions, often using spoken word or ambient sounds as a basis for his music.
Lansky’s work often explores the musicality in everyday sounds, aiming to make the ordinary seem extraordinary. His Idle Chatter series (1985–1988), where he transforms speech into intricate, unintelligible patterns, exemplifies this approach. Lansky's compositions have influenced the relationship between technology, performance, and listening, emphasizing the evolving roles of recording and live performance in contemporary music. His music remains highly accessible, blending technical innovation with emotional depth.
Charles Norman Mason has received many awards for his compositions including the Rome Prize, MTNA’s Distinguished Composer Award, ACO’s “Playing it Unsafe” prize, the International Society of Bassists, Ernst Bacon Memorial Award, First Prize in Yoon Jin Kim Contemporary Music, Premi Internacional de Composició Musical Ciutat de Tarragona Orchestra Music prize, an NEA Individual Artist Award and Dale Warland Commission Prize. His collaborations with artists include video artist Sheri Wills & photographer Richard Barnes, have appeared in Yerba Buena (San Francisco), Howard House (Seattle), and the ISPIN Gallery (NY). His work, Murmurs was featured in the NYTimes magazine and the on-line magazine FLYP media. Residencies include American Academy in Rome, I-Park, VCCA, International Centre for Composers-Sweden, Visiones Sonoras, Hambidge Center, University of Alaska, "Escape To Create” in Seaside, FL. Mason is professor of composition at Frost School of Music of the University of Miami.
Bent Frequency
Founded in 2003, Atlanta-based Bent Frequency brings the avant-garde to life through adventurous and socially conscious programming, cross-disciplinary collaborations, and community engagement. One of BF’s primary goals is championing the work of historically underrepresented composers - music by women, composers of color, and LGBTQIA+. Hailed as “one of the brightest new music ensembles on the scene today” by Gramophone magazine, BF engages an eclectic mix of the most adventurous and impassioned players.
BF has partnered with internationally acclaimed ensembles, dance groups, and visual artists in creating unique productions ranging from traditional concerts to fully staged operatic works, to concerts on the ATL streetcar, to a band of 111 bicycle-mounted, community performers. BF’s programming, educational outreach, and community events aim to be inclusive of the diverse and dynamic communities they are a part of.
BF is ensemble in residence at Georgia State University and run by Co-Artistic Directors Jan Berry Baker and Stuart Gerber.