Writing music is how I express myself. After all, “where words fail, music speaks.” — Chelsea Loew, composer
Writing music is how I express myself. After all, “where words fail, music speaks.” — Chelsea Loew, composer
Leading up to our Helia + Natalie Raney Catalyst concert on September 4th, we are featuring our collaborators to offer you a sneak-peak into their lives, their musical process, and their inspiration. Meet Natalie Raney! On September 4th, Natalie Raney will be giving the world premiere of four brand-new pieces for cello. Read our interview with her to learn more about her musical journey and how this concert came to be. Tell us about yourself. What has been your musical journey so far? I started cello after seeing my super cool neighbor play it in the house next door in Cincinnati, OH. I had already been playing the piano, but after starting cello that became front and center for me. During middle school my family moved to Seattle where I got to work with my lovely teacher Mara Finkelstein who really sealed the deal for me when it came to completely falling in love with cello. After continuing with cello through high school in Illinois, I decided to pursue a life as a musician. While in college, I found myself most inspired by chamber music and most of my musical decisions were in pursuit of a life as a cellist in a chamber group. My journey led me to San Francisco to get an Artist Certificate in Chamber Music at the SF Conservatory of Music. I have lived here in San Francisco now for 9 years and as I continue to grow roots here, I find myself happiest when balancing a musical life of chamber music, solo performances, and teaching. What do you look for when choosing music? I had a student ask me once, “do women write music?” That one question verbalized all of the complicated feelings I had been having toward classical music. I made it a goal to do my part in chipping away at this incredibly one-sided foundation classical music stands on so I never have to answer that question from a student ever again. Since I spent much of my musical upbringing with the cello playing music by a bunch of guys, I find myself making up for lost time by trying to elevate only works by women. When choosing music there is no set formula, it’s mostly just whatever calls out to me, I think sounds cool, or scares me just enough to make me feel challenged. I also love to program with clear themes in mind... like spring and nature. ✿ ❀
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Leading up to Helia & Natalie Raney's September 4th concert, Catalyst, we are featuring our collaborators to offer you a sneak-peak into their lives, their musical process, and their inspiration.
About Elizabeth
"Perhaps Baker will be the Pauline Oliveros of her generation, and perhaps she will be more than that.” – Raymond Tuttle
Eschewing the collection of traditional titles that describe single elements of her body of work, Elizabeth refers to herself as a “New Renaissance Artist” that embraces a constant stream of change and rebirth in practice, which expands into a variety of media, chiefly an exploration of how sonic and spatial worlds can be manipulated to personify a variety of philosophies and principles both tangible as well as intangible. Elizabeth has received recognition from press as well as scholars, for her conceptual compositions and commitment to inclusive programming. In addition to studies of her work, Elizabeth has been awarded several fellowships, grants, and residencies, in addition to sponsorships from Schoenhut Piano Company and Source Audio LLC. As an experimental filmmaker, her work has been shown at festivals including Women of the Lens (United Kingdom), and the African Smartphone International Film Festival (Nigeria). As a solo recording artist, Elizabeth is represented by Aerocade Music, her first solo album on the California-based label Quadrivium released worldwide in May 2018 to rave reviews. She is founder of the Florida International Toy Piano Festival, The New Music Conflagration, Inc., author of three books, and the subject of a number of scholarly articles, thesis papers, and other academic research. In March 2018, Elizabeth retired from nonprofit arts administration to focus on her international solo career, though she remains committed to the community through workshops and public speaking engagements. Elizabeth is a recipient of a 2019-2020 Individual Artist Grant from the State of Florida as well as a commission for The Great Black Music Ensemble through the American Composers Forum (ACF) Connect programme in partnership with The Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM Chicago).
Want to learn more? Read 5 Questions to Elizabeth A. Baker on I Care If You Listen.
About her latest album, Quadrivium (2018)
“After some thought, I have come up with an album name Quadrivium. I am drawn to this name because I’ve been very fascinated with the actual Quadrivium for several years and a copy of it is always on my studio desk. It also, ties into my concept of what a new renaissance artist is because it covers arithmetic, geometry, music and astronomy… all subjects that are of interest to me in my creative practice.” – Elizabeth A. Baker
Find out more about Elizabeth A. Baker by visiting:
Web: https://elizabethabaker.com Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube: @ebakermusic Don't miss the premiere of her piece, stringDefinition for speaking cellist! Friday, September 4, 2020 at 8:00 pm PDT Live-streamed by Center for New Music Tickets: $10 General, $5 Members & Students Leading up to Helia & Natalie Raney's September 4th concert, Catalyst we'll be posting interviews with our collaborators to offer you a sneak-peak into their lives, their musical process, and their inspiration. For this spotlight, we have a special video interview with one of our featured composers, Belinda Reynolds! Check it out to learn more about her compositional style, her feelings about the current state of women composers, and about writing a piece on the theme of spring during the COVID-19 lockdown. Find out more about Belinda Reynolds by visiting:
belindareynolds.com Don't miss the premiere of her piece, Moments! Friday, September 4, 2020 at 8:00 pm PDT Live-streamed by Center for New Music Tickets: $10 General, $5 Members & Students Leading up to Helia & Curium's October 18th and 19th concert, Color Through Music, we'll be posting interviews with our collaborators to offer you a sneak-peak into their lives, their musical process, and their inspiration. Read on to learn more! Meet Curium Trio! On October 18 and 19, 2019, Curium will be giving the world premiere of three brand-new pieces for piano trio. Learn about their background, their ensemble, and fun facts about their lives. Tell us about Curium Trio - how did you meet? When and how was Curium born? We originally met while attending the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. The idea of Curium was born from three female musicians who all really wanted to explore and perform works by women composers. We formed Curium around that mission. Since Carlyn Kessler is the newest member, how did you meet her? Carlyn came highly recommended by our original cellist, Natalie Raney. We especially liked that she had an extensive background in piano trio chamber music. We read with several other cellists as well, but loved playing with her the most. Luckily she loved us too! What do you look for when choosing music? We start by looking for pieces that fit our mission: music by women composers that are also not often performed. Our current fall season is 100% music by women composers. We also try to have one large work in each program, and that can be from the standard piano trio repertoire. We also like to think programmatically by looking for themes and pieces that go together well. For example, last year the theme of the program was “going home.” We performed Shostakovich’s Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor, which was all about his home country, Chen Yi’s Tunes From My Home, and Kaija Saariaho’s Light and Matter which she wrote from her apartment in New York, while watching from her window the changing light and colors of Morningside Park. So we try to incorporate these three elements in each program: performing traditional repertoire as well as music by women composers that all tie together with a theme. Leading up to Helia & Curium's October 18th and 19th concert, Color Through Music, we'll be posting interviews with our collaborators to offer you a sneak-peak into their lives, their musical process, and their inspiration. Read on to learn more! Meet composer Emily Shisko! On October 18 and 19, 2019, Curium Trio will premiere her work Radiant Gray for piano trio. Find out about her background, her piece, and what it was like writing for piano trio. Tell us a little about yourself - where you’re currently based, your musical journey so far, where you think you’re going, etc. I'm currently based in Oakland, CA and have been writing, teaching and performing all around the Bay Area for the last ten years. Growing up, my sisters and I all played instruments and there was always a lot of singing and playing around the house. Even today, I'm most content when I'm making art in collaboration with other creators. Since moving to the Bay Area, I've done quite a bit of interactive and installation-based sound art, experimenting with spatial audio, non-linear forms and visual elements. Recently, I find myself gravitating back toward traditional ensembles, text-setting and storytelling. I'd love to combine these approaches on a large scale! What inspires your music? Describe your voice. My music almost always starts with a prompt of sorts – whether that's a commissioned theme/subject/text, or some other source, I'm often writing in response to some other piece of art or thought. My music is heavily melodic and contrapuntal and my harmonic language tends to be dense. |