anne rhodes

Carl and I have spent most of our time this summer in the process of buying and moving into our first house (in wich we have plenty of space to practice any hour of the day or night, and a very comfortable guest room for friends and colleagues passing through the area). We are finally settled in, and are both feeling a ready to get back down to business with our music.

This Monday I'll be plunging in with a solo set at The Local 269, on Fay Victor's Evolving Voice series. I'll be doing some improv -- solo improv is something I've sorely neglected in the past -- as well as one or two peices I commisioned a few years ago. Carl will be joining me on bass and bass clarinet for a couple pieces.  Since June, 2009, Fay has curated this weekly(!) series dedicated to experimental vocal music, providing NYC area singers and their colleagues a valuable opportunity to showcase their work in a supportive setting. I feel so fortunate to have met Fay this past spring, when we both sang on the recording of Anthony Braxton's opera Trillium E.

Other projects for the Fall: a classical recital with fellow coloratura soprano Zohra Rawling, to be performed in New Haven as well as, possibly, my home state of Maine; composer Barry Serroff is paying me the great honor of writing me a song cycle, to be performed with a chamber group of New Haven Improvisors Collective members; my beloved improv trio, Broadcloth, (with Nathan Bontrager and Adam Matlock) will be pursuing more performance opportunities, including a performance at the Kehler Liddell gallery as part of the Westville Open Studios on Oct. 2, and a possibly Pennsylvania mini-tour.

And more!

Anthony Braxton and I recorded this 2-CD set in 2007. It's voice, saxophones (soprano, contrabass, and a couple of the ones in between), and some beautiful Supercollider electronics that Anthony programed. The primary compositions, 330 and 340, are both Accelerator Ghost Trance pieces, from which we move into free improv and Language Improvisation, as well as secondary compositions including excerpts from (if memory serves) the opera Trillium R.

You can purchase the CDs or downloads at Leo Records. Enjoy!

The first post on this blog is about a duo recording I did with Anthony three years ago. If all goes according to plan, the recording will be released on two CDs by the Leo lable in May. Imagine my delight when Anthony surprised me with this news at our first Trillium E rehearsal!

Update on Tuesday, June 1, 2010 at 03:26PM by Anne Rhodes

The album is now available at Leo Records! Please note that the recording was actually done in 2007 (not 2003).

 

 

Today we recorded Act IV. Here are 3 videos from today and 1 from yesterday. The the picture quality isn't great, but the content is totally worth checking out!

Michael Douglas Jones as the Genie Arthro in Act I. He encourages Harold and Effie to think beyond the scope of their experience when requesting the fullfilment of their 5.3 wishes.

Act IV. When they try to enter the pyramid, the explorers are chased by the giants who guard the entrance and Dr. Wallingford is trampled to death. Check out Anthony and Carl getting into character!

The explorers, mourning the loss of their leader, Dr. Wallingford, proceed into the Temple of Ghoras 4. As they forge ahead, they hear the ole' Collingswood alma mater.

At the end of the opera, the orchestra plays the Trillium Melody E several times before passing it off to the Master Centurion (Josh Sinton, bass clarinet), who carries it away.

We recorded Act 1 today at Systems Two recording studio in Brooklyn. My most dreaded high note (a B on the word "catalooooooooooooooooooooooogs!", a really funny moment in the opera) is out of the way. I managed not screw it up completely on any of the three takes of that section.

Anthony seems delighted with how everything went. I've never heard a group this size play his music so well, and it feels like I'm discovering his orchestration for the first time. There are some sections of improvisation for the orchestra, and it's all I can do not to jump in and start improvising with them. The players for this project were selected not only for their chops and musicianship but also for their creativity and improvising skills. The result is astounding. Let nobody say that free improv is for slackers!

Anthony in the recording booth. Behind him in red is the recording engineer, Jon Rosenberg.

The orchestra, as seen from the isolation booth (that handsome young bass player in the green T-shirt is Carl Testa).

Up in the isolation booth, tenor Nick Hallet smiles for the camera, as baritone Chris DiMeglio and soprano Kyoko Kitamura look down at the orchestra.

Singer-songwriter Amy Crawford, a member of the production team, relaxes at the piano during a break.

Lunch break on the curb: Matt Welch (production team) Katie Young (contrabassoon), and Jessica Pavone (viola)

A horn fountain at Systems Two.

Rehearsals for the recording of Anthony Braxton's opera Trillium E are going great. It's been over a week of 8-hour rehearsal days, and each day has flown by. I'm having so much fun I don't even realize how hard we're working until the end of the day, when I fall asleep as soon as I sit down.

Each of the 12 characters in the opera is portrayed not only by a singer but also by an improvising solo instrumentalist. Here are some pictures from this weekend's rehearsals, when the instrumentalists first joined us. You can see a complete list of personel here.

Anthony and Taylor Ho Bynum conducting

Instrumental soloists: Nicole Mitchel, Leah Paul, Reut Regev, Nate Wooley, Jay Rozen, Salim Washington, Dave Kadden, Matt Bauder, Daniel Blake

Singers: Kamala Sankaram, Nick Hallet, Stan Scott, Richard Harper, Wesley Chinn

Matt Welch, Tomeka Reid

Taylor, Michael Douglas Jones

Thanks to Kinan Faham for videotaping our show at The Stone this past Sunday. He's divided it into clips of the 5 separate pieces we played. There are also some short interlude pieces in between, and Kinen started clips 2-5 with each of those. Intruductus is below, and you can view the rest here. We had some killin' radiator accompaniment during In Stitches.

As you can see, the inside of The Stone is in black and white. I know! Weird, right?

Those of you who, like me, are still mourning the loss Connecticut Opera won't want to miss La Bohème on March 27th with the New Britain Symphony Orchestra. This concert performance will be conducted by CT Opera's beloved longtime artistic director, Willie Anthony Waters.

I have the good fortune to be singing in the chorus (along with other former members of the CT Opera Chorus, as well as members of the Hartford Chorale), under the able direction of chorus master, and dear friend, Ray Calderon. Since appearing as a member of the CT Opera Chorus numerous times during his college days at the Hartt School, this talented young conductor/tenor has embarked on an extremely promising career in the NYC area, and we are delighted to have him back for this engagment!

My big project for this month is rehearsing and recording as a principle singer in Anthony Braxton's opera Trillium E.

I know! AWESOME.

I couldn't be more honored or excited to be a part of this. Not only is working with Anthony one of the most rewarding experiences a musician can have, but this particular project seamlessly merges my own musical personalities -- new music singer, opera singer, improvisor, experimental vocalist -- in a meaningful way. It will also be a rare chance to work with other vocalists who are interested in experimental music and improvisation (and who aren't afraid of a few polyrythms!).

Braxton's operas have 12 stock characters who appear in different roles from act to act. Each character is shadowed by an improvising solo instrumentalist.  So, he has assembled a company of 24 performers dedicated to the performace of these works. The recording of Trillium E (with 40-piece orchestra) will most likely be the first of many projects for this amazing group.

I would venture to say that the coming together of this ensemble is a historic event that could have a profound impact on the music world.

More to come!

This past December, Rachel Bernsen, Carl Testa, and I performed Rachel's piece "User" at Issue Project Room in Brooklyn. The piece involves structured sound and movement improvisation (amidst spotlights) for dancer, bass, and voice. When Rachel got an opportunity to perform the piece again in February, this time for Movement Research at Judson Memorial Church in NYC, I was unable to make it. Rachel re-worked the piece for two dancers and bass, and I pre-recorded the voice piece in her living room, to be played along with the performance. I think it came out really well. Here's the video:

Below are some NY Times articles about Oral History, American Music, where I am the new research archivist. The first article is from 1997, and there have been some changes since then, including a lovely new space and inclusion in Yale's library system (hence the creation of my current position):

The Masters' Voices

The Flip Side of American Music

Needless to say, I am in incredible company.

Exciting news: I've just accepted a position as the Research Archivist for the Oral History of American Music (OHAM) collection at Yale.

For the past three years, I've worked full-time as a copy-cataloger at Yale while also working online towards a Master of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois (yes, that did get very hectic along with my music career). Why pursue an MLIS when I already have a Master's degree in music, as well as job in academia which provides numerous perks (including medical care for my husband and I)? Well, the main reason was so that I could be eligible for higher paying academic library jobs, which might in turn allow me to work part-time and devote more of my life to music.  Another reason was so that I could be eligible for MORE jobs, and thus increase my chances of working in a music library or collection, so that my day job might really be meaningful to me. I'm not quite done with my degree (four weeks to go), and imagine my delight at having already found a position that meets both criteria!

The position is part-time, and the collection features interviews and recorded memoirs of American composers, some of whom I have worked and studied with. As you may know, I wrote my Master's thesis on collaborating with composers. Needless to say, this collection is of great interest to me. In fact, I feel pretty silly for not having known about it when I was writing my thesis!

Logistics and interests aside, I have to admit that being offered a professional position -- this will pretty much be the first time my job title won't have the word "assistant" in it -- in the field of music librarianship (not to mention at an Ivy League institution) is very affirming. It makes me feel that my hopes and plans have been realistic, and that I have made some good choices about what to study and how to approach my career. It's also great to know that my "useless" music degrees carried as much weight as, if not more than, my library degree in making me qualified for this job.

pls to be giving me a vocoder.

kthxbai.

A friend just sent me the Miss Manners post below.  I'm not sure why some people feel like it's OK to ask questions about the money we make (or don't make) as artists and musicians; I feel sure the same people wouldn't say, "Oh, flipping burgers huh? Bet that doesn't pay much!" And I always cringe at the way their faces fall when I tell them I have a day job...as if this must mean I'm not very good at what I do. Sometimes I think the only sort of response that would give me any credibility would be something like, "I am employed at the National Music Corporation as Chief Executive Soprano in charge of Staccati and Cadenzas."

Dear Miss Manners:

I am a professional artist. I show my work frequently and sell many

pieces. However, like many independent artists, I don't make as much

money as others in regular, full-time employment. I am very lucky to

have a supportive spouse helping to cover expenses.

When I tell people I am a full-time artist, they often ask if I make

enough money to support myself. I usually answer truthfully, saying

no, or not yet, and adding that my spouse helps support me.

I am aware that how much money I earn is nobody's business and I am

not obliged to answer these questions at all. I would much appreciate

any suggestions for deflecting them -- politely, of course.

Miss Manners answers:

"Yes, it's a sure road to easy riches. You should try it."

Connecticut Opera, with two remaining productions in their three-show season (Daughter of the Regiment, for which I was to sing in the chorus, and an exciting production of La Boheme with a fantastic African-American cast), has become the latest victim of the national economic crisis, and had to close mid-season.

For those of us in the chorus, this is a disappointment, to say the least. For full-time members of the company, the financial and professional loss is immeasurable. So is the loss to the community. The prospect that this could be a permanent closure (nobody can know for sure in times like this) potentially leaves a gaping hole in the Connecticut arts scene that can never be filled. Particularly heart-wrenching is the possibility of saying good-bye to Maestro Willie Anthony Waters, who has been bringing opera to the Bushnell and to the greater Hartford community for over 25 years. Working with Willie, an opera-world badass and a truly kind soul, has been an unsurpassed privlege.

This is indeed a sad time for the arts.

Update: Not long after this post, CT Opera announced that it has closed for good.

...last Friday at GASP in Boston! To see some pictures, go to Carl's news page. There was a nice little write-up about the space and the show in the Boston Globe.

This past Saturday I recorded a 2-CD set with the great Anthony Braxton. They are the first of 12 "Syntactical Ghost Trance" duo CDs that Braxton has planned for us, but these first two may be released separately before we've recorded the rest. This was a really special experience, and I'm still walking on air.