September 5th MacDowell Downtown Lecture

I am honored to the invited lecturer of MacDowell Downtown during my MacDowell residency on September 5th, 7:30pm. I will discuss my process and background that contributed to Why Women Went West, the current project In America: Modjeska, and the a focus on my work during the residency.

Lecture Description

I am a composer, pianist, writer, and curator of new music. My work spans immersive concert-length projects, solo compositions, chamber music, and multimedia opera collaborations, rooted in archival historical research, the evolution of compositional thought, deep listening, and the celebration of women in music. Notable projects include the Opera America, National Endowment for the Arts, and New Music USA awarded opera "Why Women Went West" and "Oratorio for the Earth." I have been recognized as a Huntington Library Fellow, Alpert Award Panelist, and Creative Capital artist “on the radar,” and have received residency fellowship awards from Copland House, MacDowell, UCross, Women’s International Studies Center, Wurlitzer, Huntington Library Mellon Foundation, and American Scandinavian Foundation. I am a professor of Music Composition at California State University, Fullerton, where I direct the New Music Ensemble, New Music Series, and InterArts Collaborative Projects.

I am excited to present my latest large-scale project: "In America: Modjeska!" This 40-minute concerto/aria project for piano and voice focuses on immigration in America. The work follows the complex story of Helena Modjeska, a Polish immigrant and renowned Shakespearean actress who emigrated to the United States in the late 19th century for personal and political reasons. She settled in Southern California to establish the Bohemian artist community "Arden" in what is now Modjeska Canyon, near my home in Laguna Beach. My work at MacDowell explores the legacy and impact of women artists, tracing this through archival research, site explorations, and the creation of new works influenced by the region. I will present the concerto/aria project "In America: Modjeska," featuring the song cycle "Tesknota" (“Longing”) with piano interludes inspired by MacDowell’s Woodland Sketches.

About MacDowell Downtown

MacDowell Downtown is a free series of presentations by MacDowell Fellows that are open to the public. It takes place on the first Friday of the month from March to November in downtown Peterborough, NH. Each season of MacDowell Downtown features a wide array of programming, including film screenings, readings, artist talks, interviews, musical performances, and more.