Gabriela Ortiz Composing Studio Showcase 2024
A critical component of the Gabriela Ortiz Composing Studio is for each fellow to write a new piece as part of their OAcademy fellowship. In 2024, we invited flutist Chelsea Meynig, clarinetist Sean Bailey, and cellist Tom Kraines to workshop, rehearse, and record new works by the 12 composers in our cohort. Over the course of the 6-month program, the composers were able to meet with performers both online and in person at the Maryland residency, receive feedback from Gabriela Ortiz, and workshop the works-in-progress with their peers.
L. A. Ballesteros Gentile is a multidisciplinary artist currently based in Brooklyn, NY. His musical interests are rooted in acoustics, language, notational representation, and performance psychology. In 2023, he participated in both the Alba Music Festival and the Valencia International Performance Academy, and also had his chamber orchestra piece La biblioteca de Babel performed at National Sawdust as part of the New York Youth Symphony’s Composition Program.
“Out, out, brief candle! Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player, That struts and frets his hour upon the stage, And then is heard no more.” - Shakespeare, Macbeth
James A. Devor (b. 1998) is an American composer, sound artist and double bassist whose music pulls from an array of styles and grapples with rapidly changing human emotions, attempting to sort through the natural chaos of the world. When writing, he focuses on the act of collaboration between the composer, performers and audience. James received degrees from The Hartt School – University of Hartford and West Chester University of Pennsylvania.
A lens is an object which modifies the direction of movement and focus of a particular medium. Like all inefficient devices, Speckled Lens becomes blurry, disoriented, and easily distracted. The piece is a series of repeated attempts to focus clearly on a singular musical idea, but is continually unsuccessful. Instead, Speckled Lens is reduced to an array of jarring, reoccurring blips, before finally giving up.
Frank Duarte is an American composer whose music is often inspired by history, literature, nature, and his Mexican and Indigenous backgrounds. His music has received awards from the American Prize, Global Music Awards, and ASCAP and has been performed in the US, Japan, Greece, and Colombia. He is a DMA Candidate at Michigan State University.
The composition "Wayfarer" draws inspiration from the myth of Hermes, the Greek god of travelers, merchants, and speed. It envisions him navigating between the realms of the mortal and the divine, wearing his iconic winged sandals.
Jeremy Esquer is a multifaceted artist based in Ann Arbor, recognized for his roles as a composer, guitarist, and educator. His compositions have been performed by groups like the University of Michigan Philharmonia Orchestra, and his recent commission for New Music Detroit will be broadcast on PBS. As a guitarist, he has toured Europe with the Cal State LA Guitar Ensemble and performed for the U.S. ambassador in Malta.
Con Caronte explores the profound journey of a soul transitioning from life to meeting Charon, the mythical boatman. It begins with an eerie and unsettling atmosphere, capturing the uncertainty of the afterlife, but gradually shifts to a sense of acceptance and peace. Ultimately, the journey leads to a place of deeper significance and eternal resolution.
Composer and educator Noam Faingold (b. 1984) is passionate about composing and student mentorship, working with traditional instruments and cross-genre, multi-disciplinary and special event projects. Highlights include works for members of the NY Philharmonic and Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, for special events like the DC Sumner Museum’s 150th anniversary, and starting an ongoing collaboration with the US Navy Band and DCPS students, co-creating original compositions for the band. He has received artistic support from The Salzburg Global Seminar, The George Kaiser Family Foundation, and the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, who founded his PhD at King’s College London.
“Dripping, Like Sour Paint” was written in memory of the Farhud (June 1941), a nationalist event of organized state ethnic cleansing of Iraq’s Jewish community. Iraqi Jews contributed to the country’s cultural landscape for 2,600 years, with the Farhud starting an 11-year period in which Iraq’s Jewish community would be reduced from over 130,000 to less than 6,000 through the stripping of legal protections, property, and nationality, creating mass forced displacement. The title of this piece refers to the painting of red Hamsas (often a spiritual symbol of protection for Muslims and Jews) on Jewish homes during the Farhud, which signaled to the nationalist mob which houses to target.
Gordon Green brings a varied and colorful imagination to electronic and instrumental compositions that reviewers have called "terrifically inspired" and "an impressive marriage of technology and art", but also "damned annoying". He has a BA and MFA in music composition and has participated in various festivals and masterclasses. He is also a painter and recovering geospatial software engineer, with an MFA and PhD in those fields respectively.
I find miniatures to be a lot of fun, and they present excellent opportunities for compositional experimentation. In Five Tiny Pieces I tried some notational ideas that attempt to bring more rhythmic freedom and textural qualities to conventionally notated music. Thank you to Chelsea Meynig, Sean Bailey, and Thomas Kraines for their excellent performance, and to Erin Busch and everyone in the composition studio for a wonderful experience at OAcademy!
"Damian Norfleet is a gifted improvisational singer, [performer-composer], actor, and social justice activist who has occupied a rare multi-dimensional space in the performing arts" (I Care If You Listen). Norfleet “brings a full range of emotions” (Boston Globe) and “commands both stage and screen with a strong presence and powerful singing” (EDGE). Across poetry and song, his output focuses on space and phonemic awareness.
Tjehenet is a musical quintain for flute, clarinet, and cello. The piece is about transformation and is inspired by ancient Egyptian faience—the artistic process of transforming common sand into brightly colored, shining ceramics. Tjehenet was written for and performed by Chelsea Meynig (flute), Sean Bailey (clarinet), and Tom Kraines (cello) during a 2024 residency at the Gabriela Ortiz Composing Studio.
Jennifer Ortiz Valverde is an Ecuadorian-American composer based in Boston. She writes music and stories inspired by her heritage, personal experiences, and imaginative worlds. Jennifer is pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Music with a concentration in Musicology and Ethnomusicology at Boston University’s College of Fine Arts.
Zhengtao Pan is a young composer born in 2003 and grew up in Shanghai. He is studying Jazz Composition and Composition at Berklee. His music was performed by Grammy Winning Artist Steven Feifke’s Bigband in New York and he collaborated with Benny Benack III, Walter Smith III, Itai Kriss, and Andrew Gould on his big band composition, to name a few.
“Where Did All The Birds Go” invites listeners into a musical realm where birds’ lives take center stage. Inspired by the absence of birds in the composer’s hometown—where towering cityscapes dominate the view— the piece blossoms anew upon the composer’s arrival in Boston. Here, by the tranquil Charles River, the composer found solace in observing birds as they serenaded the afternoons with their melodic songs.“Where Did All The Birds Go” invites listeners into a musical realm where birds’ lives take center stage. Inspired by the absence of birds in the composer’s hometown—where towering cityscapes dominate the view— the piece blossoms anew upon the composer’s arrival in Boston. Here, by the tranquil Charles River, the composer found solace in observing birds as they serenaded the afternoons with their melodic songs.
Paloma Pitaya is a violinist and composer from Brazil. Her work as a composer seeks to explore the richness of the genres and rhythms of Brazilian music. While the composer in residence at Fundación Antônio Gala para Jovenes Creadores (ES|2019) she wrote Caprichoso Brasil, a book of 13 Brazilian violin caprices, each of which, was written in a different genre of Brazilian music and is also a work researching and expanding this music to the language of the violin. This caprices gave her the prize of Best Instrumental Author at the Prêmio Profissionais da Música (BR|2023). She currently lives in São Paulo, Brazil, where she is busy as a freelance composer/performer/arranger.
There are certain entropies as well as constant creations that are part of our inner cycles.
To get in touch with them and let them express themselves, one needs to let
The Mythological Voice express itself. It is the hearing and the
sight of the inner being.
It is intuition.
It knows what to do next.
This is the way to both:
retain contact with and develop the soul.
Joyful, melodic, and the drive to create new worlds through music comprises the essence of Isaac Stephan Silva Uría’s work. With the hunger to create compelling music that evokes creativity and storytelling, Isaac’s music carries emotions and imagination. Furthermore, Isaac wants to contribute to society and create social engagement in newer generations.
Dreamland Island is inspired by Norwegian painter Lars Hertervig. After reading about his life and watching his paintings, I was attracted by lsland Borgøya which is a painting about an island with huge clouds, the ocean, and wonderful mountains. In this piece, I wanted to describe what I felt watching this painting, how the clouds move with the island and everything connects to him and the issues that he was facing during his life.
Sheriffs Swanson (b. 1989) is a Brooklyn-based composer who came to music fashionably late. In 2016, he began studies with Jeremy Reinhold in composition and counterpoint as an adult student. Driven by curiosity and love of music, Sheriffs spent countless hours writing songs, self-studying theory, and catching up on everything he did not get through a formal music education.
I am not a dancer, but I know what it's like to move in sync with another.
I am not a dancer, but I recently married the love of my life. They have taught me how to dance in a different way.
'These 12 compositions are all incredibly different, and yet convey the similar desire to grow, experiment, and learn that brought these composers to OAcademy in the first place'.