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 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. The theme of this collaboration is linking visual art to music. Could you tell us about the visual component or inspiration behind your piece? Color – especially vibrant color – is a huge part of how I approach the world, so I surprised myself by writing a meditation on grey. I found myself staring at Helen Frankenthaler's Grey Fireworks and Shippan Point: Twilight and thinking about grey as a fictional color space that can stand in for every color at once (as in black and white media) or no color at all. Piano trio has such a rich history of composers who have contributed to the repertoire. What was your experience like writing for this more standard instrumentation? Have you written for piano trio before? Writing for piano trio, like any ensemble with a long, rich history, can be daunting. But it also comes with a huge palette of textures and timbres to draw from! This is my first piano trio, and it's been a joy to write. What are some fun facts about yourself? I love embroidery, cooking overly ambitious meals and reading science fiction. Find out more about Emily by visiting: emilyshisko.com Don't miss Emily's piece! October 18, 2019, 8:00pm* Holy Names University 3500 Mountain Boulevard (map) Oakland, CA Tickets: $15 suggested donation * sponsored by Holy Names University Preparatory Music October 19, 2019, 7:30pm Seventh Avenue Performances 1329 7th Avenue (map) San Francisco, CA Tickets: $15 General, $10 Student/Senior, Children 12 and under FREE Tickets available at the door, or online here
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