EVERY SHADOW TAKES THE SHAPE OF A DAUGHTER.
Opus. 58
Instrumentation: Vocal Sextet
Duration: 6 minutes, one movement
Commissioned By: Iceberg for Ekmeles
Poetry: Jessica Lynn Suchon
Scroll down for program note, recording, perusal score,
purchase options, and commissioner biography
PROGRAM NOTE.
Jessica Lynn Suchon's poetry is as painful as it is beautiful, melding observation into memory and gently telling strong tales about the female experience. After working with her in 2018 on SHELTERING VOICES, a mass for soprano, women's choir, and orchestra, I knew I wanted to set many more pieces of hers. I'm so grateful to be dipping my toes into vocal ensemble writing with this piece for Ekmeles, using a poem from Jessica's oeuvre that took my breath away.
POETRY.
EVERY SHADOW TAKES THE SHAPE OF A DAUGHTER
Nights, she waits for me in the back yard.
A child skimming dead grass in a floral
nightgown. Cardinals watch us like bloodstains
on dark branches. She never had a name.
Her mouth, my mouth - the same thin brow-
opens and the sky goes white, fills with dried
moth wings. She catches one on her tongue and
cries. I reach to hold her, touch only snow.
- Jessica Lynn Suchon
Details // Concert Prep
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PDF Score + Part(s) sent via email within 2-3 business days. I’m excited to connect with you!
Purchase is for one copy only, just for you! Please don’t share or else I’ll be sad when I see it in my google alerts ; - )
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I want to meet you! Purchase of this pdf in the 23/24 season comes with a 30 min zoom session, if you’d appreciate that during your rehearsal process. You’ll receive scheduling instructions in the delivery email with your music.
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I’m excited to help promote your concert(s) on social media and include it on the website!
If you already have a concert date in mind, you’ll receive instructions on sending me concert info in the delivery email with your music.
recording.
ARTIST biography.
[ɛk'mɛlɛs] \ek'meles\
1. In Ancient Greek music theory, tones of indefinite pitch and intervals with complex ratios, tones "not appropriate for musical usage." In New York City, a new vocal ensemble dedicated to breathing life into those disallowed tones, new and old.
2. A "brilliant young ensemble... defining a fresh and virtuosic American sound" - The New Yorker
Ekmeles is a vocal ensemble dedicated to the performance of new and rarely-heard works, and gems of the historical avant garde. New York is home to a vibrant instrumental New Music scene, with a relative paucity of vocal music. Ekmeles was founded to fill the gap by presenting new a cappella repertoire for solo voices, and by collaborating with these instrumental ensembles.
Director Jeffrey Gavett brings a hybrid vision to the group: he is an accomplished ensemble singer and performer of new works, and holds degrees from Westminster Choir College and Manhattan School of Music's Contemporary Performance Program. He has assembled a virtuoso group of colleagues who bring their own diverse backgrounds to bear on the unique challenges of this essential and neglected repertoire.
Poet biography.
Jessica Lynn Suchon is a widely-published writer who has received fellowships and honors from the Aspen Institute, the Academy of American Poets, and the Tennessee Playwrights Studio. Her book scavenger is forthcoming in 2020 from yesyes books. Jessica's full-length play shopgirls made its debut at the Darkhorse Theater in Nashville, Tennessee in December 2019.