Project: “Sample Series No.3”
Project Info: MATA Festival 2022 at Roulette Intermedium, Brooklyn, NY
Contributions: Composer
Credits: Fay Victor (voice), Rebekah Heller (Bassoon)
The Sample Series is a set of text-based scores created as a way to stimulate autonomy and introspection in performers by simulating the grid selection process of an MPC. Each piece has set instructions and a sound bank in which to express the given concept. The point is to have an explicit focus on the context from the perspective of the ensemble so that they convey a personal journey through the theme.
I wanted to create pieces for musicians to get closer to their personal truths; to explore feeling through limitations and structure. So often do performers receive music and not place themselves in the context of why and where it is written, who it was written for, and how it should be presented. I wanted to make that impossible to ignore. Music shouldn’t always be a found object for skill demonstration, but for touching parts of ourselves and connecting to the intangible.
In “Why I Believe Womyn” I explore ideas of subjugation and disbelief of womyn. The musicians are asked to select a text to read and ingest– Simone White’s “Preliminary Notes on Street Attacks” from Of Being Dispersed, an excerpt from Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, an excerpt from Anita Hill’s response to an interview by Rebecca Traister for Intelligencer, and an excerpt from Christine Blasey Ford’s transcript from her opening statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee– and then structure their improvisation from their emotional response. This piece creates an environment of empathy, authenticity, and a tribute to the resilience of womyn and I believe is executed beautifully by these two powerhouse performers.