Mirror Visions Ensemble to Celebrate 25th Anniversary in Concert at the Sheen Center

Mirror Visions Ensemble (MVE) celebrates its 25th anniversary on Monday, January 16 at 8:00 p.m. at the Loreto Theater at the Sheen Center for Thought and Culture with a concert entitled Reflections and Projections: 25 Years of Mirror Visions. Sopranos Vira Slywotzky and Justine Aronson are joined by tenor Scott Murphree, baritones Jesse Blumberg and Mischa Bouvier, and pianists Alan Darling and Margaret Kampmeier.

MVE was founded from a desire to explore the relationship between music and text, initially through the programmatic pairing of "mirror visions" - settings of the same text to music by different composers. Throughout the group's history, the ensemble has championed and fostered the work of new composers, providing a platform for their works to be showcased through the commissioning and performance of over 80 works by 24 composers, creating deep contributions to the catalogue of American art song.

The anniversary concert showcases MVE's commitment to new work and includes the world premieres of the four winning pieces from the ensemble's inaugural Young Composer's Competition-Margaret Barrett's At a Window, with text by Carl Sandburg; John Glover's Squall with text by Leonora Speyer; Aaron Grad's Invitation to Love with text by Paul Laurence Dunbar; and Daniel Temkin's Summer Rain with text by James Joyce and Amy Lowell.

In addition to looking ahead to the next generation of art song composers, MVE also looks back at one of its favorite commissions in the group's 25-year history: Tom Cipullo's A Visit with Emily. Based on her poetry as well as the poignant, often quirky correspondence between Emily Dickinson and her mentor, T.W. Higginson, this cycle of 21 songs is comprised of powerful duets and trios for soprano, two male voices and piano.

Rounding out the concert are three "mirror visions", including a Paul Verlaine setting by the little-known Poldowski, an early 20th-century female composer, with a following in Britain, who was strongly attracted to the poetry of Verlaine. Poldowski's song is mirrored by a setting by Claude Debussy. Also on the program are pairings of settings by Brahms with Ives, and Hindemith with Britten.

IF YOU GO:

Reflections and Projections: 25 Years of Mirror Visions
Monday, January 16 at 8:00 p.m.
The Sheen Center for Thought & Culture
Loreto Theater
18 Bleecker Street
New York, NY 10012
Tickets: $20 ($15 for students); visit SheenCenter.org or call 212-925-2812

Vira Slywotzky, soprano
Justine Aronson, soprano
Scott Murphree, tenor
Jesse Blumberg, baritone
Mischa Bouvier, baritone
Alan Darling, piano
Margaret Kampmeier, piano

AARON GRAD Invitation to Love
PAUL HINDEMITH Echo
BENJAMIN BRITTEN How Sweet the Answer
JOHN GLOVER Squall
JOHANNES BRAHMS Feldeinsamkeit
CHARLES IVES Feldeinsamkeit
DANIEL TEMKIN Summer Rain
POLDOWSKI Dimanche d'Avril
CLAUDE DEBUSSY L'échelonnement des haies
MARGARET BARRETT At a Window
TOM CIPULLO A Visit with Emily

Mirror Visions Ensemble (MVE) was founded from a desire to explore the relationship between music and text, initially through the programmatic pairing of "mirror visions" - settings of the same text to music by different composers. The group's passion for storytelling has produced thematic concerts on surprising subjects, based on scholarly research and laced with humor, leading to the revitalization of art song programming. Featuring soprano, tenor, baritone and piano, often joined by other instrumentalists, MVE's programs take audiences on an imaginative journey through song, showcasing well-known and oft-neglected pieces by composers both familiar and new, set to texts by poets and historical figures that encompass published works, correspondence and other anecdotes.

Throughout the group's history, MVE has championed and fostered the work of new composers, providing a platform for their works to be showcased through the commissioning and performance of over 80 works by 24 composers, including Tom Cipullo, Scott Wheeler, and Pulitzer Prize recipient Yehudi Wyner. In the 2015-16 season, the ensemble launched its first-ever Young Composers Competition, awarding four commissions to early-career composers dedicated to developing the future catalogue of vocal chamber music.

The ensemble has presented its programs, residencies, and masterclasses both in the U.S. and abroad at concert halls, schools, libraries, and museums. MVE's concerts are often free and open to the public, continuing the ensemble's commitment to education and its tradition of providing access to the arts. Mirror Visions Ensemble has performed at such venues as Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Merkin Concert Hall at the Kaufman Music Center, Le Poisson Rouge, SubCulture, and Mt. Kisco's Copland House, and at educational institutions including California State University at Fullerton, University of Southern California, New York University, the Longy School of Music of Bard College, Northwestern University, Williams College, and Yale University. Museums in France have become a home for MVE, with many performances at the Musée Carnavalet, Musée des Arts Décoratifs and the Musée Nissim de Camondo, as well as at the American University of Paris.

In recognition of strengthening cultural relationships between the U.S. and France, bringing to life forgotten texts and music from both French and American traditions, and sharing these works through commissions and performances by Mirror Visions Ensemble, Artistic Director Tobé Malawista was named Chevalier of the Legion of Honor in 2008.

MVE's discography includes Américain à Paris (2003), Secrets (2004), Cosmic and Domestic Matters (2008), and The Three-Paneled Mirror (2015). Mirror Visions Ensemble was founded by Tobé Malawista, Richard Lalli and Scott Murphree in 1992.

About the Composers

Margaret Barrett received her Bachelor of Music degree from Baylor University, under the direction of Dr. Scott McAllister for composition and Dr. James Williams for piano performance. Margaret stayed at Baylor for her Master of Music in composition, with additional studies in Prague at the Czech American Summer Music Institute in 2009, where she studied with Florida State University's Dr. Ladislav Kubik. Margaret was awarded the Baylor School of Music Graduate Academic Achievement Award in 2010, after her lecture on her thesis work: "Lectio Divina." From 2010-2013, Margaret served as an adjunct professor teaching composition, music theory, ear-training and serving as a collaborative pianist at Baylor University, McLennan Community College, University of Texas at Arlington and at North Lake Community College. From 2009 - 2015, Margaret served as the Assistant Producer of the Ojai Music Festival in Southern California. Through the Festival, Margaret has worked personally with artists such as eighth blackbird, Steven Stucky, Jeremy Denk, John Luther Adams, Leif Ove Andsnes, Red Fish Blue Fish, Ensemble Modern, Mark Morris Dance Ensemble, The Knights, and many others. Margaret currently works as a freelance composer in Dallas, Texas. She also serves local arts non-profits such as Voices of Change on a contractual basis as a public speaker, arts administrator, and new music advocate.

Described as "an unabashedly expressive composer," (The New Yorker) John Glover has created music for concert, opera, dance, and theater. He has received commissions from organizations including Houston Grand Opera, New York Youth Symphony, Milwaukee Opera Theater, American Conservatory Theater, Mirror Visions Ensemble, Del Sol String Quartet, Liuh-wen Ting, Amber Sloan Dance, Crossman Danc(s)e, String Noise, and the Five Boroughs Music Festival. John has received numerous awards, fellowships and grants for his music from organizations including New Music USA, Meet The Composer, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, Cambodia Living Arts, Cherry Valley Artworks, and Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. Recent projects include Rudiments at The Yard, and the multimedia work, Snow. Upcoming performances include an original score and sound design for the immersive work HERE, and Urban Arias will present the East Coast premiere of his chamber opera, Lucy, in Washington, DC. Ongoing projects include Guns n' Rosenkavalier, an art song/rock song concert. Future projects include a new work for Del Sol String Quartet, and a new commission for Milwaukee Opera Theater. His song cycle Natural Systems, written for the New York Youth Symphony was described as a "vivid score ranging from energetic swirls to a gentle, enigmatic conclusion" (The New York Times).

Aaron Grad merges his rock and jazz roots with his classical training to create music that The Washington Post has described as "inventive and notably attractive." He majored in jazz guitar at New York University, and for his master's degree at the Peabody Conservatory he studied composition with Christopher Theofanidis. While a student, Aaron won awards from the ASCAP Foundation in both their classical and jazz competitions. Recent commissions include arrangements for the North Carolina Symphony featuring vocalist Rhiannon Giddens, as well as Strange Seasons, an upcoming concerto for the Seattle Baroque Orchestra that pays tribute to Aaron's adopted home city of Seattle. As a performer, his greatest joy is playing the electric theorbo that he designed and built himself, as heard in Old-Fashioned Love Songs, a song cycle with countertenor. Aaron also channels his enthusiasm for communicating with audiences into the program notes he writes for the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, New World Symphony, Seattle Symphony and many other ensembles.

Daniel Temkin began writing music at the age of 13. His work has been supported by ASCAP, BMI, Earshot, the American Composers Forum, and the Presser Foundation, and he has been the Composer-in-Residence with Music From Angel Fire and Chamber Music by the Bay, as well as a fellow at the Aspen, Fontainebleau, and Brevard festivals and the Intimacy of Creativity. In 2016, Bright Sheng conducted Daniel's Rising Moon with the Hong Kong Philharmonic, and the Indianapolis Symphony performed Cataclysm, which received the orchestra's Marilyn K. Glick Prize. Other works have been performed by the Nashville Symphony, St. Petersburg Chamber Philharmonic, Buffalo Philharmonic, Aspen's AACA Orchestra, and many collegiate orchestras. Daniel's chamber works and songs have also been commissioned and performed by the Rock Dance School, the Lyra Harp Society, and Nonsemble 6. His piano trios Five Bagatelles and Pendulum Evolutions are regularly performed in the U.S. and abroad, and his Brass Quintet has been heard at the Dresden Music Festival and the Cleveland Chamber Music Society. Daniel's song cycles Songs of Yearning, American Pastoral Songs, and your little voice...,have been performed in Los Angeles, New York, Boston, Chicago, Aspen, and Philadelphia.