Performers:
Kaia String Quartet:
Victoria Moreira, violin
Naomi Culp, violin
Susan Bengtson Price, viola
Hope Shepherd DeCelle, cello
Laura Strickling, soprano
Michelle Areyzaga, soprano
Hayley Fox, soprano
Naomi Brigell, mezzo-soprano
Grace Ryan, mezzo-soprano
Program:
Amos Gillespie | Shadow Effect
Rosśa Crean | to cradle empty air*, text by Christina Ramirez
Lee Kesselman I No Longer Pray*, lyrics by Chelan Harkin
Ty Bloomfield | Cicadian Rhythms*, original text
Justin Weiss | Hold out your hands and listen to the rain*, Robin Wall Kimmerer
Graham Meyer | Sappho, Woven*, text by Sappho
*World Premiere Performance
Kaia String Quartet is joined by Laura Strickling, Michelle Areyzaga, and Hayley Fox, Sopranos, and Naomi Brigell and Grace Ryan, Mezzo Sopranos to present five new works by Illinois-based composers Rosśa Crean, Lee Kesselman, Ty Bloomfield, Justin Weiss, and Graham Meyer, alongside a work written for Kaia Quartet by Amos Gillespie. Texts for the program range from Sapphic verses interwoven with music by Justin Weiss, to original texts created by Ty Bloomfield. Rosśa Crean writes a song cycle about recovery from abuse and trauma through a hopeful lens. Justin Weiss writes music based on Robin Wall Kimmerer's book, Braiding Sweetgrass, exploring elements of nature, time, memory, and collective experience.
“Shadow Effect” was written for the Kaia String Quartet and based on selected poems by Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz. The first section titled “Let us Pretend” is about being skeptical of those who boast knowledge. The second section titled “The Original” is about recognizing the mind's natural will for good, i.e. dreams being the effort of the mind to sort things out, or art being the imprint of the mind's effort to make all that is ‘good’ the greater importance in life. The third section titled “You Foolish Men” is about disgust in others that was caused by the accuser/observer. Since the messages in these poems were so relevant to today, I drew on the baroque music of Sor Juana’s time period to illustrate how wisdom from past eras can be used to benefit modern times. The title “Shadow Effect” refers to constructive childhood impulses that we have before ego sets in, ego that often covers up who we really are. If we can find truthful messages from childhood as individuals, then we can do the same in society from earlier eras, as is the case with the words of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz.
