MATA Presents
NYC friends! Tomorrow night 5/20 MATA Presents is presenting music by yours truly and composer-soprano Azalea Twining in collaboration with Carnegie Hill Concerts at Church of Advent Hope (111 E 87 St). The program features my 2019 multimedia opera for solo violinist Shannon Reilly – The Wonderland Series – and the world-premiere of Azalea Twining's miniature song cycle Enough Rope. Tickets are pay what you wish!
Shannon Reilly has performed The Wonderland Series many times now – and you can view the complete performance here. Shannon embodies the scholar, Lewis Carroll/Charles Dodgson (they're the same person), Alice, playing cards and various other Wonderland creatures. The subject matter covers voter manipulation, the one-reality principle, Carroll/Dodgson's Biblical beliefs and doubts, Carroll's child-worshipping proclivities, his grief, and (yes) a lot more. For my LA friends, Shannon is performing The Wonderland Series at Oracle Egg on June 21 on a program alongside a new work by Erich Bargainer.
Being that Azalea Twining's song cycle is new, and that this is the first time we've been on a program together, I sent over some questions so that you can get to know her and her music! We'd love to see you there tomorrow at 7:30 on the Upper East Side. And the annual MATA Festival is coming up June 11-14 at Issue Program Room so mark your calendars!
Anna Heflin: Your miniature song cycle Enough Rope (2023-2025) sets poetry by Dorothy Parker for piano and soprano. What drew you to Parker’s poetry and how did you go about selecting the six poems of the song cycle?
Azalea Twining: I first encountered Parker’s poetry right after finishing high school. I initially fell in love with her work for its grit—her writing is often caustically funny, while also incredibly personal. In a way, I think I related to her use of a hard exterior to clothe difficult, dramatic, and “unbecoming” or “unpleasant” emotions. I was especially drawn to this juxtaposition at the time, because I was finally relieved of the performance many of us put on in our high school years, especially in environments where most young women are taught to hide emotions like rage, sadness, resentment, disgust, and apathy, in favor of a calm, smiling, “everything is okay” outer-shell. Parker’s poetry helped me understand, express, and process what I was seeing and living. The poems I chose from Enough Rope are meant to illustrate the contrast between exterior and interior, as well as string together a narrative of losing oneself in a relationship—romantic or not—and regaining oneself through making art (another theme that I frequently experience and reference). As I see it, the story of the song cycle is in essence one of loss and renewal.
AH: You’ll be singing the songs with pianist Sebastian Grinberg-Bly on the 20th. What does the feedback loop between performing and composing look like for you? Did you write these songs with Grinberg-Bly in mind as the pianist?
AT: I definitely wrote the pieces with Sebastian in mind! He partly inspired me to write for piano and voice, as right before beginning these pieces, we had worked together on a piano/vocal recital. Sebastian is a wonderful and sensitive collaborator—I am always learning more about the instrument from him, and am in awe of the sensitivity he brings to performing the cycle. My piano sensibilities are mostly based in rock music, and I work primarily through improvisation at the instrument, so Sebastian brings skill and insight to the piece that I’m unable to produce or fully imagine on my own. I feel incredibly lucky that we work together so seamlessly and collaboratively, and are able to offer feedback to one another that is thoughtful, constructive, and encouraging.
AH: Can you talk about your approach to meter in regards to the voice in this cycle? Looking at the score, the semi-frequent metrical changes look very fluid and natural.
AT: Yes, the meter changes are very fluid! The pieces which include the most meter changes are ones where I composed the vocal line through improvisation, that I refined and notated later. I think an improvisatory approach lends itself naturally to mixed meters. It wasn’t something I was cognizant of while composing, but felt fitting in working and playing with Parker’s text.
AH: Did any song cycles in particular inspire you to create your own?
AT: Ironically, I was thinking of “Frauen-Liebe und Leben” while working on “Enough Rope”. Partly because I was beginning to learn the Schumann cycle last year, but also because of its poetic content. I love Schumann’s music endlessly, but struggle with the text by Adelbert von Chamiso, which tells the story of a woman in love, who upon losing her husband, becomes completely devoid of herself. These kinds of themes are pervasive in so much music that I love, but would honestly rather not identify with, and inspired me to create a piece which describes not only loss, but most importantly, recovery.
AH: You’re currently studying as an undergraduate in vocal performance at Columbia University and you’re in the Early Music Choral Ensemble. Have you gleaned any interesting compositional insights from that experience?
AT: Yes, totally. We have had some wonderful directors over the past two years who have introduced us to amazing music. I am especially inspired by how Renaissance vocal music is woven together—how the voices respond to and uplift one another. This year, I have also been incredibly lucky to learn some of Meredith Monk's music in Barnard classes taught by members of her company, Allison Easter and Katie Geisinger. These rehearsals and classes were like no other I have experienced. The environment my professors established was conducive to an ensemble in which everyone had something important to contribute and cared deeply about the music and one another. I have been so inspired by the sense of playfulness and freedom I’ve found in these classes, and am determined to create similar rehearsal/performance environments in my own work moving forward.
AH: What is your dream role as a singer?
AT: It is absolutely Judith in Bartok’s Bluebeard's Castle. I love the music, her character, what the opera requires in terms of staging and set–everything about it! The opera lends itself extremely well to film, and there are some amazing adaptations available online. My favorite would have to be the production with Sylvia Sass as Judith.
AH: What is next for you compositionally?
AT: I’m currently working on a piece through Luna Composition Lab with my dear friend and fellow composer Cecelia Olszewski. We’re creating a 10-12 minute operetta for soprano, violin, cello, double bass, vibraphone, piano, and electronics which will be premiered with ChamberQUEER this Fall.
AZALEA TWINING
Azalea Twining (19) is a soprano and composer. As a 2020-2021 fellow of the Luna Composition Lab at Kaufman Music Center, Azalea studied composition with Ellen Reid and composed Under Her Voices for piano trio, which was the winner of the 2021 G. Schirmer for Luna Lab Prize. She has continued to study composition and create pieces with a focus on singing her own work.
Azalea’s most recent and current projects include “Echo” for solo flute, commissioned by Intersection, The Red House for saxophone quartet, commissioned by Second Stage and Composers Now, and Evelyn: Four Bodies One Life, a dance opera created and performed by her family.
Azalea studied voice with Eileen Clark from 2014-2023 and is an alumni of the WNO Opera Institute, Eastman Summer Classical Studies programs, and NYU MPAP Summer Classical Voice Intensive. She is currently a music major at Columbia University, where she studies voice with Josephine Mongiardo-Cooper and is a member of the early-music choral ensemble, Collegium Musicum.
She is also honored to work outside of university—premiering works by composers Elizabeth Hoffman and Cecilia Olszewski. In the past year, she has had the pleasure of performing at The Washington Square Contemporary Music Society, SEAMUS Festival, and MATA Festival.
Azalea hopes to foster a career as a composer/performer.