Polar self Portraits: Hudson Valley Self, a series I painted while at the Art Students League's Vyt, is C4's featured art during my C4 Ensemble Artist in Residence and the C4 concert cycle 2016/17, and auctioned in support of contemporary music making in June. Three of my poems are premiered, set to music by C4 composers, during my artist residency at C4: Art?Works! by Bettina Sheppard in November 2016, Seikilos by Perry Townsend in March 2017, and Te by Artemisz Polonyi in June. During my residency I also curated two creative collaborative pieces with C4 composers in an art exhibition at the European Parliament, and my video installation Polar self Portraits was premiered in the US at one of their concert series.
WHO ARE YOU?
Who Are You?, my poem peeling off the layers of the self, is set to music by Hayes Biggs, composer and professor at the Manhattan School of Music. Premier 9th November 2017.
Spelling Semitic
A poem spelling through the ABC, spelling through history then and now. From ancient to contemporary tribes. Spelling Semitic is work in progress, in collaboration with composer Suad Bushnaq. Performed by the North Carolina Choir on 5th July 2017, in North Carolina.
TE
My love poem in Eszperente, set to music for choir and jazz instrumentalists by Artemisz Polonyi premiered 8th June 2017 in NY.
SEIKILOS
Sketching in the Ephesus Library of Celsus on the coast of Ionia – built, as Vitruvius advised, facing East to benefit early risers! Listening to Seikilos' song – the first ever complete piece in music history, composed two thousand years ago, and found near the Celsus library. And my work with contemporary composers, conductors and performers. These different but related experiences come together in my poem Seikilos. A collaboration with NY composer and conductor Perry Townsend. World premier by the C4 Ensemble 2nd March 2017 in NY. BMI registered.
ART?WORKS!
NY composer, Bettina Sheppard, is setting my Art?Works! poem to music. This poem is inspired by Leonardo and his approach to creativity. World premier by the C4 Ensemble on 10th of November 2016 in Manhattan, NYC.
ultramarine and Sienna –Dumas' Riposte
Ultramarine and Sienna – Dumas' Riposte is inspired by past and contemporary migration, be it forced or voluntary, and my experiences while working in the Caribbean as an artist and curating the international art exhibition, Africa, Europe, America. NY composer Toby Twining set the poem to music, entitled Dumas' Ripost. Grammy Award-winner Roomful of Teeth premeired it on 19th August 2016 at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, and at Ravinia, Chicago. BMI registered. European premier in September at the European Parliament. In September, it was published by openDemocracy -- you can listen to Dumas' Riposte here.
Mirror Mirror
Mirror Mirror is the second creative collaboration with composer Jonathan David, based on various translations of my poem. Premier at the European Parliament in September 2016. BMI registered.
dada ny '15
My poem dada ny '15 premiered in NYC in 2015 by the C4 Ensemble as part of C4's 10th Anniversary concert series. Dada ny '15 is my second musical collaboration with Daniel Andor-Ardó, both performed in various concert series by the C4 Ensemble. BMI registered. One of the performances can be viewed here.
Identity Archeology
Set to music by Fahad Siadat, composer, conductor, performer, music publisher. May 2015, Keats House/City of London, London. BMI registered.
Pitter-Patter, Pitter-Patter, and Then
Pitter Patter, Pitter Patter, and Then, my poem set to music by Daniel Andor-Ardó, premiered in 2013 by the C4: The Choral Composer-Conductor Collective. Pitter Patter was featured in C4's 2016 concert cycle in Boston and NYC, released on Cornerstones, C4's second CD, and premiered in Europe at the European Parliament through an art installation. Behind the scene footage of Pitter Patter, Pitter Patter, and Then in the recording studio can be viewed here. BMI registered. Reviewed by Fanfare Magazine as "hypnotic" and by TheaterScene as "a poignant and terrible story" with "heartbreakingly beautiful" music.
Tears, Apples and Stones
The Tears, Apples and Stones installation was featured by the At Home Gallery in the Samorin Synagogue by the Danube, in Slovakia, in 2013, featuring the eponymous choral piece by composer Jonathan David. The score of this collaboration was published in 2015, by See-a-dot Music Publishing.