Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame
Mary Hubbell - soprano
Mary Hubbell
Mary Hubbell, described in the New York Times as “a soprano with a sweetly focused tone,” excels in a wide range of styles, from early to modern music. Orchestral engagements include singing in the solo quintet in Louis Andriessen’s Tao with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra under the direction of David Robertson, and the solo soprano part of Nielsen’s Symphony No. 3 with the Orkestvereniging Musica under the direction of Hans Leenders. She has appeared as a featured soloist with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra (Kapilow’s Green Eggs and Ham), the Beaufort Symphony Orchestra (Mozart’s Exsultate jubilate), the South Hadley Chorale in Massachusetts (Haydn’s Creation and Mozart’s Mass in C minor), the Amherst College Choral Society (Schubert’s Ständchen), and the Williams College Wind Ensemble (Ogren’s Evening Music and Ticheli’s Angels in the Architecture). Ms. H
ubbell is an active performer of early music. She has performed with The Arcadia Players (MA), The Transfiguration Early Music Ensemble (NYC), and the Amherst Early Music Festival (CT). She appeared as a soloist in Vivaldi’s Beatus vir with the Chorale Society of the Hamptons (NY), and Bach’s Cantata BWV 202 (“Wedding”) with Musica Viva of New York. While living in the Netherlands, she was a frequent soloist with early music ensembles La Prunelle Ensemble and Praetorius Blokfluit Ensemble.
An accomplished recitalist, Ms. Hubbell has performed art song and chamber music in a variety of venues, including Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall and the Piccolo Spoleto Festival in Charleston, SC. She frequently appears in chamber music series such as “Concerts at Seven” (Plainfield, MA), “Music in the Noon Hour” at Smith College (Northampton, MA), and “Concerts on the Canal” (Holyoke, MA).
Ms. Hubbell maintains a strong commitment to new music and has appeared at the contemporary music venues of the Young Composer’s Festival in Apeldoorn and the Gaudeamus Festival in Amsterdam. In 2014 she performed with role of Katherine Wright in Jocelyn Hagen’s opera Test Pilot in Minnesota. She has appeared as a soloist with counter)induction, the Manhattan Chamber Orchestra, Composer’s Voice Series, and others. She has also participated in the Women Composers Festival in Hartford, CT and the Queens New Music Festival in NY. She regularly performs with flutist Alice Jones as the duo conText, which presents 20th and 21st century music and has commissioned new works from the composers Gregory W. Brown, Inés Thiebaut, and Eric Nathan.
Ms. Hubbell lives in western Massachusetts, where she is a faculty member at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She earned a Doctorate of Musical Arts at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (Robert White), as well as a First Phase Degree in Classical Singing from the Royal Conservatory in The Hague (Meinard Kraak, Gerda van Zelm, Lenie van den Heuvel), a Masters Degree in Voice from the University of California, Santa Barbara (Elizabeth Mosher), and continues private studies with Maureen O'Flynn.
More can be found at: https://www.maryhubbell.comConcert Dates
- September 26, 2023 - MNN Studios
15 one-minute selections for Mary Hubbell
Eight
Beth Anderson
IT IS BASED ON AN EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY POEM PUBLISHED IN 1918.
Beth Anderson (www.beand.com) is a composer of new romantic music, text-sound works, and music theater events. Her early work was considered post-Cagian, non-academic but eventually, the music became more lyrical while often retaining the cut-up quality of the minimalists. Her all-Beth Anderson recordings are out on Other Minds (NAMELY, 2020), MSR (THE PRAYING MANTIS AND THE BLUEBIRD, 2013), Albany (QUILT MUSIC, 2004), New World (SWALES & ANGELS, 2004), and Pogus (PEACHY KEEN-O, 2003). Opus One has released "REVEL", with the Richmond Symphony and "MINNESOTA SWALE" with the Bratislava Radio Orchestra. Her music is available from the composer and from Antes/Bella
Psycho-Puzzle
Bracha Bdil
"Psycho-Puzzle" is an expressionist songs when at the extremes the music reflects a psychotic anxious mood. The work strives to give presence to these extraordinary states of existence where denial of existence will not relieve them, and even if we prefer not to give them a stage in our lives, at least we can give them recognition.
Bracha Bdil (1988) is an Israeli-British composer, conductor, and pianist, winner of the Prime Minister's Award for Composition (Israel, 2022) and the ACUM Award (2019). Her repertoire spans different mediums including orchestral music, chamber, vocal and electronic music. Bracha's compositions have won several first prizes, among them: George Ștephănescu International Composition Competition, Romania (2024); Symphony Kyoto Concours, County Hall Arts competition, UK (2023); MaestrosVision Awards International Composition Competition, China (2022); The International Symphony Orchestra Composition Contest named after Michal Kleofas Oginski, Belarus; The Electo Silva International Choir Festival, Santiago de Cuba; Donne In Musica XVIII Composition Competition and The VIII and the IX International Piano & Composition Competition, ULJUS, Serbia (2021); The Wolf Durmashkin Composition Award, Germany (2018) and The Yardena Alotin Composition Competition, Bar-Ilan University, Israel (2016). Bracha's composition Yizkerem, for a-cappella choir, represented Israel at the Asian Composers League Festival, Taiwan (2018). Yizkerem was also awarded a prize in the III International Composer Competition “New Music Generation", Kazakhstan (2021) and in the International Choral Writing Competition named after A.D Kastalsky, Moscow (2018). Bracha Bdil is a member of the Israel Composers' League, her works are broadcast on the Israel Radio Voice of Music program and published by the Israel Music Institute and ICL. Beginning in the fall of 2018, Bracha became the artistic director and chief conductor of the Zmora Women's Orchestra in Jerusalem. Site and list of works: http://brachabdil.blogspot.com/p/list-of-compositions.html
Camellia
Maria Collings
Setting a seventeenth century haiku, Falling Upon Earth by the Japanese poet Matsuo Bashõ (c.1694), Camellia is influenced by the haiku structure in using a pentatonic scale as a starting point. It is inspired by the beauty of nature, the fleeting image of time and the tradition of folk song.
After many years as primary school teacher, Advanced Skills Teacher for music and a headteacher, Maria has returned to her first interest in composition completing a Masters in Music. In a Wide Place, for string orchestra, was premiered by the Musicians of All Saints, in Lewes on 25th November 2023.
Lullaby for the Unblossomed
Ljubica Damčević
The composition "Lullaby for the Unblossomed" speaks about unrequited love. It is inspired by my poem, written for solo voice using extended techniques to transform my words into an intimate soundscape, capturing the delicate and poignant moments of the poem.
Ljubica Damčević obtained Master's Degree in violin at the Faculty of Music in Belgrade. After completing her studies, she began theater career as a composer, violinist, singer, performer and actress. She was engaged with various theater groups. In addition to her pedagogical work, she performs classical, tango and contemporary music.
Going
Nicole DeMaio
Nicole DeMaio is a versatile composer, performer, and educator. With Broadway credits including Aladdin and A Strange Loop, she shines as a woodwind doubler, proficient in flute, clarinet, saxophone, and bassoon. As a member of The Broadway Sinfonietta and director of Black Sheep Contemporary Ensemble, she showcases her musical prowess. DeMaio's compositions, commissioned by prestigious groups like Yale School of Music and Infrasound, exemplify her creative depth. Notably, her piece "Solo for Bassoon Alone" featured in the 2021 Meg Quigley Bassoon Competition repertoire. Currently, she imparts her expertise as a woodwinds instructor at Monmouth University and Kent Place School.
A Death Angel
Carlotta Ferrari
A Death Angel is a one-minute arietta for soprano solo based on a variation of the Dies Irae, fitting the text. It is divided into 2 sections: the first, very quiet, evokes death, while the second is a fast dance movement ending in an “out of breath” situation.
Carlotta Ferrari (1975) is an award-winning Italian composer who has developed a personal language concerned with the blend of past and present. Her compositions have been performed around the world and appear on several CDs. Her research interest lies in contemporary compositional techniques with a modal inspiration.
Haru no mori
Tomas Friberg
The inspiration for this piece has been the vocal music of the classical japanese gagaku music with its embellished vocal lines, here complexly notated to give the music a sense of fluidity and an improvisatory character.
My name is Tomas Friberg and I am a composer from Sweden. I have studied japanese for some time now and japanese culture has had a great influence on my music, but this is the first time I've tried to compose a song in japanese.
no time ago
David Heinick
"no time ago" is a very simple setting of a short poem by e e cummings.
David Heinick retired in May of 2018 after forty years of teaching, the last twenty-nine at SUNY-Potsdam’s Crane School of Music. He is the composer of over 150 works. With Carol Heinick, he has played music for two pianists, and has been active as a collaborative pianist.
Lament
Stanley M Hoffman
The text I chose for LAMENT, written by the 11th century writer Solomon Ibn Gabriol, is a sad one, requiring a slow tempo. Because of the one minute time limit, I ended up with not one but two songs, LAMENT being a perfectly viable stand-alone excerpt from BEHOLD, THE SUN AT TWILIGHT TIME. I've done this before with a violin piece.
Stanley M. Hoffman was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1959. He has lived in the greater Boston area since 1977. He received degrees in Composition from Brandeis University (PhD 1993), the New England Conservatory of Music (MM 1984), and the Boston Conservatory (BM Cum Laud 1981). Senior Editor at ECS Publishing Group from 1998–2021, Dr. Hoffman was laid-off by the company because of the economic toll caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. He works as a freelance music engraver and editor, arranger, conductor, vocalist, and lecturer.
The Old Pond
Chien-Yu Huang
"The Old Pond" is a masterpiece among haiku poems, crafted by the esteemed Japanese poet Matsuo Bashō. I have harnessed the power of microtones and modern techniques in this work and I am eager to see your performers bring these elements to life in an animated execution.
Born in Taiwan, his music has been performed worldwide. An assistant professor at the National University of Tainan, he holds degrees in Composition from UCLA (PhD, 2014) and the New England Conservatory of Music (MM, 2008). His compositions, spanning concerts, films, and theaters, have earned him numerous accolades. (chienyuhuang.com)
Crying
Kirsten Johnson
Crying is based on a haiku by Japanese woman poet Kawai Chigetsu (1634-1718). Using the 'hirajōshi' scale from Japanese folk music, the piece elucidates the text using scale patterns, trills, portamento and sprechstimme.
Kirsten Johnson is a composer and pianist. Performances of her works include: the London Contemporary Chamber Orchestra; Festival Osmose, Brussels; Vent Nouveau, NYC; the Boston New Music Initiative; Fifteen Minutes of Fame, NYC. 2024 sees the release of her piano music by Centaur Records. For further information, please visit www.kirstenjohnsonpiano.com/compositions.
Even more so
Martino Rappelli
Program note The composition aim to create an atmosphere of quiet and melancholy, as suggested by the haiku words “Even more so / because of being alone / the moon is a friend”, written by Yosa Busan.
Martino Rappelli – 1978 Guitarist, graduated in Composition and Jazz Composition. He’s mainly involved in electro – acoustic and experimental projects. For his solo exhibition he uses guitars and lo-fi electronics devices.
Shape of the Invisible
Joyce Solomon Moorman
I am often inspired by nature and snow is beautiful.
Joyce Solomon Moorman in 1990 was a finalist in the first Detroit Symphony African-American Composers’ Competition. Her compositions have been performed by Lilan Parrot, Triad Chorale, Wilson Moorman, LonGar Ebony Ensemble, the Woodhill Chamber Ensemble, the Brooklyn Philharmonic Chamber Ensemble, After Dinner Opera Company, Sandra Billingslea, the Plymouth Chorus and Orchestra, the Cygnus Chamber Ensemble, the Moravian Philharmonic, the Afro-American Chamber Music Society of Los Angeles, the Richmond County Orchestra and Louise Toppin. She has been commissioned by the Plymouth Chorus and Orchestra of Minneapolis, Minnesota; the Cygnus Chamber Ensemble, Rejoicensemble and North/South Consonance of New York City.
Snapdragon
Hector Vera
The poem (haiku), written by Geoff Anderson was initially untitled. As the text was set to music, I decided to emphasize “snapdragon,” the last line of the poem. The tone of the poem is melancholic and somewhat poignant. “Snapdragon” is emphasized by the forte dynamic and is also the highest note of the text.
Hector Vera is a composer, violinist and educator with a B.A. in Music from Texas A&M University and a M.M. in Composition from Texas State University. Hector studied with Michael Ippolito, Richard Hall, Peter Lieuwen, and David F. Wilborn.
I' m nobody
Marilena Zlatanou
The text used is the poem by Emily Dickinson, simply and humoristically composed in an effort to not mask the poetry.
singer/conductor/composer, Greek, living in Norway. Studies from Greece (Thessaloniki State Conservatory), London,(Guildhall School of Music and Drama) and Oslo (Østlandets Musikkonservatorium and State Opera Academy). Singer Debut recital in 1979 to excellent reviews, and an active career both in Greece and in Norway, appearances in England, Israel, Latvia, Holland, etc. her compositions are bought through sheetmusicplus and she has received prices. Very wide-ranging repertoire. please visit website www.zlatanou.net for more info