ARTSwego
- Mary Avrakotos
- I have developed this blog to share information about the arts in Oswego County, but primarily at SUNY Oswego.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Melinda Johnson from The Post Standard Writes About The Origin
On the origins of 'Origin'
Oratorio to get its world premiere at SUNY Oswego
Thursday, February 05, 2009
By Melinda Johnson
Arts editor
One could describe Richard Einhorn’s creation of a choral piece about Charles Darwin and “On the Origin of Species” as a story of evolution about evolution.
The composer has been interested in evolution since high school in the late 1960s. During those years, Einhorn also began composing music.
With the world premiere of his oratorio “The Origin” at State University College at Oswego this weekend, Einhorn has, well, evolved. I’ve been wanting to do a piece about science for a very long time. And a piece that really was about the science and to see if there was any way that I could work with that as a dramatic subject,” he says in a recent phone interview from his Manhattan home.
“It became pretty obvious that ‘The Origin of Species’ would be a wonderful topic. Of all the subjects in science, ‘The Origin of Species’ turns out to be one of the more approachable topics because anybody can read it. You know Marge Simpson has read it on ‘The Simpsons.’ If she can read it, anybody else can.”
“The Origin” tells the story of Darwin and his scientific paper, “On the Origin of Species,” and uses his letters and autobiography to frame the 90-minute oratorio. Darwin’s 1859 publication of his theory — species change in order to survive — is considered to be the beginning of modern biology.
Einhorn worked for 18 months on the choral piece that traverses art forms. The video images of filmmaker Bill Morrison, which range from Darwin in a garden to seeds floating through the air, will serve as a backdrop to vocal performances by soprano Jacqueline Horner, of the vocal group Anonymous 4, tenor Todd Graber, bass Eric Johnson, the women’s vocal ensemble Kitka, the SUNY Oswego College Choir, Oswego College-Community Orchestra and Oswego Festival Chorus. He also collaborated with poet Catherine Barnett on the libretto.
“It came out a lot more humorous than I ever expected,” says Einhorn of his oratorio. “There’s a lot of it that’s very sweeping and broad and intense and exciting. There’s parts of it that are very haunting, particularly regarding the death of Annie, Darwin’s child, which was such an important event in his life.”
Listeners also will hear a sprinkling of doo-wop and a sea chantey, says Einhorn, who also has composed for film, ballet, television and movies.
With this choral work, audiences will be introduced to the unusual vocals of Kitka, whose members are renowned for Slavic singing but will perform in English for the first time for “The Origin,” says Einhorn. He characterizes their Slavic singing as a strange, intense folk music style that is haunting. ”At the same time that it sounds primitive, it’s also very, very, very smart and sophisticated,” he says. Screams, whispers, some of the purest vocal sounds, “as pure as Gregorian chants,” then whooping, screeching and strange noises are part of the auditory experience.
”They should be prepared to have their minds blown,” he says.
Einhorn describes “The Origin” as “true to what I think of as Darwin’s spirit,” his joy at making new discoveries, testing nature, experimenting and trying to understand life’s mysteries.
Oratorio to get its world premiere at SUNY Oswego
Thursday, February 05, 2009
By Melinda Johnson
Arts editor
One could describe Richard Einhorn’s creation of a choral piece about Charles Darwin and “On the Origin of Species” as a story of evolution about evolution.
The composer has been interested in evolution since high school in the late 1960s. During those years, Einhorn also began composing music.
With the world premiere of his oratorio “The Origin” at State University College at Oswego this weekend, Einhorn has, well, evolved. I’ve been wanting to do a piece about science for a very long time. And a piece that really was about the science and to see if there was any way that I could work with that as a dramatic subject,” he says in a recent phone interview from his Manhattan home.
“It became pretty obvious that ‘The Origin of Species’ would be a wonderful topic. Of all the subjects in science, ‘The Origin of Species’ turns out to be one of the more approachable topics because anybody can read it. You know Marge Simpson has read it on ‘The Simpsons.’ If she can read it, anybody else can.”
“The Origin” tells the story of Darwin and his scientific paper, “On the Origin of Species,” and uses his letters and autobiography to frame the 90-minute oratorio. Darwin’s 1859 publication of his theory — species change in order to survive — is considered to be the beginning of modern biology.
Einhorn worked for 18 months on the choral piece that traverses art forms. The video images of filmmaker Bill Morrison, which range from Darwin in a garden to seeds floating through the air, will serve as a backdrop to vocal performances by soprano Jacqueline Horner, of the vocal group Anonymous 4, tenor Todd Graber, bass Eric Johnson, the women’s vocal ensemble Kitka, the SUNY Oswego College Choir, Oswego College-Community Orchestra and Oswego Festival Chorus. He also collaborated with poet Catherine Barnett on the libretto.
“It came out a lot more humorous than I ever expected,” says Einhorn of his oratorio. “There’s a lot of it that’s very sweeping and broad and intense and exciting. There’s parts of it that are very haunting, particularly regarding the death of Annie, Darwin’s child, which was such an important event in his life.”
Listeners also will hear a sprinkling of doo-wop and a sea chantey, says Einhorn, who also has composed for film, ballet, television and movies.
With this choral work, audiences will be introduced to the unusual vocals of Kitka, whose members are renowned for Slavic singing but will perform in English for the first time for “The Origin,” says Einhorn. He characterizes their Slavic singing as a strange, intense folk music style that is haunting. ”At the same time that it sounds primitive, it’s also very, very, very smart and sophisticated,” he says. Screams, whispers, some of the purest vocal sounds, “as pure as Gregorian chants,” then whooping, screeching and strange noises are part of the auditory experience.
”They should be prepared to have their minds blown,” he says.
Einhorn describes “The Origin” as “true to what I think of as Darwin’s spirit,” his joy at making new discoveries, testing nature, experimenting and trying to understand life’s mysteries.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Richard Einhorn Writes About The Origin
On the eve of the 200th anniversary of his birth, The Origin celebrates the science and life of Charles Darwin. With texts drawn exclusively from Darwin's voluminous and deeply eloquent writing, the piece centers upon the making of Darwin's masterwork, The Origin of Species, surely one of the most important, misunderstood, and extraordinary books ever written.
Charles Darwin
As both a youth and college student, Charles Darwin had “a taste for collecting beetles” and showed little interest in anything else, much to the despair of his father, a successful doctor in Shrewsbury. But one of Charles’ professors, at least, must have sensed some talent for science in the young man as he recommended Darwin to Captain Robert Fitzroy as a suitable ship’s companion for a world-spanning “journey of discovery” on H.M.S. Beagle. Quickly assuming the role of ship’s naturalist, Charles Darwin spent nearly five years merrily collecting specimens of animals, plants, and rocks from numerous locations including South America, the Galapagos Islands, Tahiti, and Australia. By the time he returned to England in 1836, the 27-year-old Darwin had, most likely, already become convinced that the prevailing scientific theory for the origin of species – that each species was created separately – must be wrong. Within a year or so, he had worked out the essential aspects of the theory of evolution by natural selection, eventually scribbling in July, 1837 “I think” in one of his notebooks next to a crude drawing of a tree, the first depiction of the famous Tree of Life. He spent the next twenty-two years publishing nothing but the vaguest hints of his theory while he gathered exhaustive evidence in its support. Finally, his hand was forced when another scientist, Alfred Russel Wallace, independently arrived at the same theory of evolution he had. Darwin published On the Origin of Species in 1859, sparking a revolution in the natural sciences, a revolution still going on today.
During the twenty-two year period Darwin worked on his theory, he married his first cousin, Emma Wedgwood (her father ran the famous pottery concern) and fathered 10 children, 8 of which survived childhood. The death of his much loved daughter Annie at the age of 10 in 1851 devastated Darwin to the point that it subtly affected his science.
The publication of The Origin of Species catapulted Charles Darwin to international fame, yet he remained to the end of his life in 1882 a near reclusive and often sickly figure, carefully expanding upon his theory of natural selection and publishing additional works on a vast range of scientific topics. He was an exceedingly whimsical, compassionate, and generous man whose personality shines through all his writings, even the most technical. His reputation is assured as one of the greatest scientists of all time and his theory of evolution by natural selection remains one of the grandest, robust, and accessible of all scientific theories.
The Theory of Natural Selection
The basic concept behind natural selection is simplicity itself. The individuals within any given species, while greatly resembling each other, also vary slightly in their features. There is great competition for survival. Those individuals with variations that permit them to thrive will live to reproduce. However, those individuals with deleterious variations will not have an opportunity to produce offspring. Gradually, over an immense period of time, these small variations will accumulate and a new species will be produced. The older species will either die out or co-exist with the new.
That’s it, that’s the essence of the theory of evolution by natural selection. "How extremely stupid not to have thought of that!" Thomas Huxley exclaimed after finishing The Origin of Species.
The Origin
In the most general sense, the fundamental "literary" theme of my piece, The Origin, is the rapturous and sensuous nature of thought. Some of the texts are autobiographical, such as Darwin's private notes on the profound loss of his ten-year-old daughter. However, it is Darwin's mind that is the main subject, as he develops, struggles with, and enthusiastically describes his theory of the evolution of new species through natural selection, often praised as "the single best idea anyone's ever had." Musically, the work can be thought of as an attempt to explore, in a metaphorical sense, some of the implications of Darwin's theories. To oversimplify, musical themes go through various stages of "evolution" and variation as the piece unfolds, spawning new themes and musical textures, often directly related, but just as often obscurely related, to themes heard earlier. The extraordinary female vocal ensemble, Kitka, is the “Voice of Darwin,” singing excerpts from Darwin’s autobiographical writings (with a cameo appearance from his wife, Emma). Both chorus and soloists perform excerpts from Darwin’s scientific writings, mainly from “The Origin of Species” and from the notebooks he kept.
While informed by Darwin's theories and history, the piece's is not didactic or historical. Instead, much of the time, it is simply joyous-- often humorously so. This is in keeping with the main subject. Serious thought is not a solemn activity for Darwin, but an opportunity for serious fun. The sheer delight Darwin takes in trying to make sense of the world shines through all his writings on nature, as he speculates on whether an oyster dreams of the future or he grapples with how the human eye could possibly evolve. The best way, I think, to be true to Darwin's spirit is to embrace that overarching sense of wonder he brings to his thought and try to bring some of that spirit into one's own life and work. Bill Morrison’s extraordinary films, commissioned especially for this piece, perfectly capture that sense of awe.
It was in Darwin's nature to be curious, in every sense of the word. This led him to investigate exhaustively the implications of his revolutionary theory, including the objections that may be raised to it. With exceptional candor, Darwin discussed and refuted these objections in his earliest published writings on evolution. Interestingly, many of these same objections have been revived in our own time and once again, all have been refuted, this time by modern scientists with modern versions of Darwin's original arguments. In certain sections, The Origin directly engages those objections, arguments and refutations through excerpts from Darwin's discussion of them in The Origin of Species and other works. It is my hope that The Origin will be perceived not as a polemical work, except to the extent that it unabashedly celebrates the often enigmatic and exceedingly wonderful nature of human thought and achievement.
Bibliography
In a memorable “Simpsons” episode, Marge read the entire Origin of Species. It was a smart choice on her part because Darwin’s masterpiece remains one of the most enjoyable and accessible introductions to the subject. Try the first edition, which is available in inexpensive reprints, and also for free online. Also, Darwin’s The Voyage of the Beagle is an excellent read, especially if you are traveling to South America.
Niles Eldredge’s Darwin: Discovering the Tree of Life (W.W. Norton & Company, 2005) was an important inspiration for my piece, as was the traveling exhibition of Darwiniana that originated at Eldredge’s scientific homebase, the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. Highly recommended.
A few more wonderful books on Darwin and/or evolution (and there are many more):
Janet Browne’s two-volume biography of Darwin. Volume 1: Darwin: Voyaging (Knopf, 1995) and Darwin: The Power of Place (Knopt, 2002)
Endless Forms Most Beautiful by Sean B. Carroll (W.W. Norton & Company, 2005) about the new science of “Evo-Devo:” evolutionary developmental biology.
The Beak of the Finch by Jonathan Weiner (Vintage, 1995). About modern research in the Galapagos on the “Darwin finches.”
Summer for the Gods, by Edward J. Larson (BasicBooks, 1997). An account of the famous Scopes Monkey Trial of 1925.
Creationism's Trojan Horse: The Wedge of Intelligent Design by Barbara Forrest and Paul R. Gross (Oxford University Press, updated edition 2007). An account of modern-day efforts by creationists to throw doubt on Darwin’s theory.
Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History by Stephen Jay Gould (Norton, 1990). A classic, and one of many great books by one of the preeminent evolutionary scientists of the 20th century.
Charles Darwin
As both a youth and college student, Charles Darwin had “a taste for collecting beetles” and showed little interest in anything else, much to the despair of his father, a successful doctor in Shrewsbury. But one of Charles’ professors, at least, must have sensed some talent for science in the young man as he recommended Darwin to Captain Robert Fitzroy as a suitable ship’s companion for a world-spanning “journey of discovery” on H.M.S. Beagle. Quickly assuming the role of ship’s naturalist, Charles Darwin spent nearly five years merrily collecting specimens of animals, plants, and rocks from numerous locations including South America, the Galapagos Islands, Tahiti, and Australia. By the time he returned to England in 1836, the 27-year-old Darwin had, most likely, already become convinced that the prevailing scientific theory for the origin of species – that each species was created separately – must be wrong. Within a year or so, he had worked out the essential aspects of the theory of evolution by natural selection, eventually scribbling in July, 1837 “I think” in one of his notebooks next to a crude drawing of a tree, the first depiction of the famous Tree of Life. He spent the next twenty-two years publishing nothing but the vaguest hints of his theory while he gathered exhaustive evidence in its support. Finally, his hand was forced when another scientist, Alfred Russel Wallace, independently arrived at the same theory of evolution he had. Darwin published On the Origin of Species in 1859, sparking a revolution in the natural sciences, a revolution still going on today.
During the twenty-two year period Darwin worked on his theory, he married his first cousin, Emma Wedgwood (her father ran the famous pottery concern) and fathered 10 children, 8 of which survived childhood. The death of his much loved daughter Annie at the age of 10 in 1851 devastated Darwin to the point that it subtly affected his science.
The publication of The Origin of Species catapulted Charles Darwin to international fame, yet he remained to the end of his life in 1882 a near reclusive and often sickly figure, carefully expanding upon his theory of natural selection and publishing additional works on a vast range of scientific topics. He was an exceedingly whimsical, compassionate, and generous man whose personality shines through all his writings, even the most technical. His reputation is assured as one of the greatest scientists of all time and his theory of evolution by natural selection remains one of the grandest, robust, and accessible of all scientific theories.
The Theory of Natural Selection
The basic concept behind natural selection is simplicity itself. The individuals within any given species, while greatly resembling each other, also vary slightly in their features. There is great competition for survival. Those individuals with variations that permit them to thrive will live to reproduce. However, those individuals with deleterious variations will not have an opportunity to produce offspring. Gradually, over an immense period of time, these small variations will accumulate and a new species will be produced. The older species will either die out or co-exist with the new.
That’s it, that’s the essence of the theory of evolution by natural selection. "How extremely stupid not to have thought of that!" Thomas Huxley exclaimed after finishing The Origin of Species.
The Origin
In the most general sense, the fundamental "literary" theme of my piece, The Origin, is the rapturous and sensuous nature of thought. Some of the texts are autobiographical, such as Darwin's private notes on the profound loss of his ten-year-old daughter. However, it is Darwin's mind that is the main subject, as he develops, struggles with, and enthusiastically describes his theory of the evolution of new species through natural selection, often praised as "the single best idea anyone's ever had." Musically, the work can be thought of as an attempt to explore, in a metaphorical sense, some of the implications of Darwin's theories. To oversimplify, musical themes go through various stages of "evolution" and variation as the piece unfolds, spawning new themes and musical textures, often directly related, but just as often obscurely related, to themes heard earlier. The extraordinary female vocal ensemble, Kitka, is the “Voice of Darwin,” singing excerpts from Darwin’s autobiographical writings (with a cameo appearance from his wife, Emma). Both chorus and soloists perform excerpts from Darwin’s scientific writings, mainly from “The Origin of Species” and from the notebooks he kept.
While informed by Darwin's theories and history, the piece's is not didactic or historical. Instead, much of the time, it is simply joyous-- often humorously so. This is in keeping with the main subject. Serious thought is not a solemn activity for Darwin, but an opportunity for serious fun. The sheer delight Darwin takes in trying to make sense of the world shines through all his writings on nature, as he speculates on whether an oyster dreams of the future or he grapples with how the human eye could possibly evolve. The best way, I think, to be true to Darwin's spirit is to embrace that overarching sense of wonder he brings to his thought and try to bring some of that spirit into one's own life and work. Bill Morrison’s extraordinary films, commissioned especially for this piece, perfectly capture that sense of awe.
It was in Darwin's nature to be curious, in every sense of the word. This led him to investigate exhaustively the implications of his revolutionary theory, including the objections that may be raised to it. With exceptional candor, Darwin discussed and refuted these objections in his earliest published writings on evolution. Interestingly, many of these same objections have been revived in our own time and once again, all have been refuted, this time by modern scientists with modern versions of Darwin's original arguments. In certain sections, The Origin directly engages those objections, arguments and refutations through excerpts from Darwin's discussion of them in The Origin of Species and other works. It is my hope that The Origin will be perceived not as a polemical work, except to the extent that it unabashedly celebrates the often enigmatic and exceedingly wonderful nature of human thought and achievement.
Bibliography
In a memorable “Simpsons” episode, Marge read the entire Origin of Species. It was a smart choice on her part because Darwin’s masterpiece remains one of the most enjoyable and accessible introductions to the subject. Try the first edition, which is available in inexpensive reprints, and also for free online. Also, Darwin’s The Voyage of the Beagle is an excellent read, especially if you are traveling to South America.
Niles Eldredge’s Darwin: Discovering the Tree of Life (W.W. Norton & Company, 2005) was an important inspiration for my piece, as was the traveling exhibition of Darwiniana that originated at Eldredge’s scientific homebase, the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. Highly recommended.
A few more wonderful books on Darwin and/or evolution (and there are many more):
Janet Browne’s two-volume biography of Darwin. Volume 1: Darwin: Voyaging (Knopf, 1995) and Darwin: The Power of Place (Knopt, 2002)
Endless Forms Most Beautiful by Sean B. Carroll (W.W. Norton & Company, 2005) about the new science of “Evo-Devo:” evolutionary developmental biology.
The Beak of the Finch by Jonathan Weiner (Vintage, 1995). About modern research in the Galapagos on the “Darwin finches.”
Summer for the Gods, by Edward J. Larson (BasicBooks, 1997). An account of the famous Scopes Monkey Trial of 1925.
Creationism's Trojan Horse: The Wedge of Intelligent Design by Barbara Forrest and Paul R. Gross (Oxford University Press, updated edition 2007). An account of modern-day efforts by creationists to throw doubt on Darwin’s theory.
Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History by Stephen Jay Gould (Norton, 1990). A classic, and one of many great books by one of the preeminent evolutionary scientists of the 20th century.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Origin Artists to Enrich Campus and Community
By John Shaffer
As the world premiere of Richard Einhorn’s The Origin draws near, community members can enjoy an unprecedented gathering of creative artists involved with the SUNY Oswego production. Among those joining the composer during a week of pre-concert rehearsals will be filmmaker Bill Morrison and the Eastern European vocal ensemble Kitka. During breaks in the intensive preparations, each will engage in special programs designed to share their work with the wider community.
“Talented people from around the country are coming to Oswego to make this event happen,” says ARTSwego Coordinator Mary Avrakotos. “We’ve built in as many opportunities as possible for students and residents to share the wealth of creativity.”
Commissioned by the college for the Charles Darwin Bicentennial, The Origin celebrates the thought and struggles of one of the most celebrated and still controversial figures in modern science. As he developed the musical score, composer Einhorn immersed himself in Darwin’s published works, private notebooks and letters. There, he discovered a highly original thinker who never regarded his studies as a solemn activity.
“Darwin took sheer delight in making sense of the world,” says Einhorn. “On the way to changing the way we view our world, he often stopped to ponder whether worms can hear music or an oyster dreams of the future.” Einhorn believes his new work captures that element of delight in the process of investigation and discovery.
During his time in Oswego, the composer plans to visit high school biology classes to talk about the challenge of translating Darwin’s insights and wide-ranging ruminations into music. He will also offer a personal introduction before each performance of The Origin.
Einhorn chose filmmaker Bill Morrison to create special visual imagery for the Oswego premiere. Best known for his critically acclaimed Decasia, Morrison has participated in many collaborative music projects at venues that include Carnegie Hall and the Brooklyn Academy of Music. For The Origin, he has produced five subtle films that highlight places and life forms mentioned in Darwin’s journals. Morrison will discuss his work at a public presentation entitled “Video and the Creative Process” in the Campus Center Auditorium (Room 118) on Thursday, February 6th at 4:00 p.m. He will also interact with students in the college’s Introduction to Film Studies class.
Kitka, the women’s vocal ensemble featured on the popular PBS special Kitka and Davka in Concert, normally specializes in the rich vocal traditions of Eastern Europe. The haunting sound created by the nine singers of Kitka will be used in the Oswego performances to distinguish the personal voice of Charles Darwin from other layers of the text. “There’s an extraordinary part in Richard’s score in which Darwin writes to his wife Emma on the death of their young daughter Annie,” says Origin musical director Julie Pretzat. “Kitka’s poignant expression of his grief tugs at the heart strings.”
The “open voiced” sound and dissonant intervals of Bulgarian and other Balkan folk music are difficult for Western-trained singers to imitate. During their stay, the members of Kitka will share the songs and techniques of their tradition with high school choristers in Oswego and Mexico. Others may take part in an open workshop to be held in Waterman Theater at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, February 3rd. Singers may register by calling ARTSwego at 312-4581.
The world premiere performances of Richard Einhorn’s The Orgin will be presented on February 6th and 7th at 7:30 p.m. in Waterman Theater. Tickets are available through the Tyler Hall box office at 312-2141 or online at tickets.oswego.edu.
Major support for the commissioning and presentation of The Origin has been provided by The National Endowment for the Arts, The New York State Music Fund, and Meet the Composer. In-school residency activities by Kitka are made possible by Entergy.
As the world premiere of Richard Einhorn’s The Origin draws near, community members can enjoy an unprecedented gathering of creative artists involved with the SUNY Oswego production. Among those joining the composer during a week of pre-concert rehearsals will be filmmaker Bill Morrison and the Eastern European vocal ensemble Kitka. During breaks in the intensive preparations, each will engage in special programs designed to share their work with the wider community.
“Talented people from around the country are coming to Oswego to make this event happen,” says ARTSwego Coordinator Mary Avrakotos. “We’ve built in as many opportunities as possible for students and residents to share the wealth of creativity.”
Commissioned by the college for the Charles Darwin Bicentennial, The Origin celebrates the thought and struggles of one of the most celebrated and still controversial figures in modern science. As he developed the musical score, composer Einhorn immersed himself in Darwin’s published works, private notebooks and letters. There, he discovered a highly original thinker who never regarded his studies as a solemn activity.
“Darwin took sheer delight in making sense of the world,” says Einhorn. “On the way to changing the way we view our world, he often stopped to ponder whether worms can hear music or an oyster dreams of the future.” Einhorn believes his new work captures that element of delight in the process of investigation and discovery.
During his time in Oswego, the composer plans to visit high school biology classes to talk about the challenge of translating Darwin’s insights and wide-ranging ruminations into music. He will also offer a personal introduction before each performance of The Origin.
Einhorn chose filmmaker Bill Morrison to create special visual imagery for the Oswego premiere. Best known for his critically acclaimed Decasia, Morrison has participated in many collaborative music projects at venues that include Carnegie Hall and the Brooklyn Academy of Music. For The Origin, he has produced five subtle films that highlight places and life forms mentioned in Darwin’s journals. Morrison will discuss his work at a public presentation entitled “Video and the Creative Process” in the Campus Center Auditorium (Room 118) on Thursday, February 6th at 4:00 p.m. He will also interact with students in the college’s Introduction to Film Studies class.
Kitka, the women’s vocal ensemble featured on the popular PBS special Kitka and Davka in Concert, normally specializes in the rich vocal traditions of Eastern Europe. The haunting sound created by the nine singers of Kitka will be used in the Oswego performances to distinguish the personal voice of Charles Darwin from other layers of the text. “There’s an extraordinary part in Richard’s score in which Darwin writes to his wife Emma on the death of their young daughter Annie,” says Origin musical director Julie Pretzat. “Kitka’s poignant expression of his grief tugs at the heart strings.”
The “open voiced” sound and dissonant intervals of Bulgarian and other Balkan folk music are difficult for Western-trained singers to imitate. During their stay, the members of Kitka will share the songs and techniques of their tradition with high school choristers in Oswego and Mexico. Others may take part in an open workshop to be held in Waterman Theater at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, February 3rd. Singers may register by calling ARTSwego at 312-4581.
The world premiere performances of Richard Einhorn’s The Orgin will be presented on February 6th and 7th at 7:30 p.m. in Waterman Theater. Tickets are available through the Tyler Hall box office at 312-2141 or online at tickets.oswego.edu.
Major support for the commissioning and presentation of The Origin has been provided by The National Endowment for the Arts, The New York State Music Fund, and Meet the Composer. In-school residency activities by Kitka are made possible by Entergy.
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