I am happy to announce that my music is now published by Oxingale Music. We are slowly editing scores and adding them to the catalogue. All inquiries about score purchase and rentals should go to Oxingale. If you are interested in purchasing something not currently in the catalogue, reach out to the publisher anyway and we’ll try to make it happen.
Today is the world premiere of Our Trudy, a full length opera commissioned from librettist Maria Reva and myself by the Ad Astra Music Festival in Russell, Kansas. This project celebrates the 150th anniversary of the town’s founding. The three performances take place as part of an enormous festival called Prairiesta, which rolls through Russell every ten years. Our Trudy honours the legacy of a beloved local artist and teacher, Trudy Furney, who inspired several generations to pursue an artistic practice and cultivated a lively appreciation for visual arts in the town and the state as a whole. Thirty years after her death, her impact is still felt in the community and in the hearts of those who remember her.
Maria and I joined the project three years ago when the Ad Astra brought us to Russell to interview people who knew Trudy. A week of interviews revealed a rather complex emotional legacy. Initially the idea of boiling all this complexity down to a single narrative seemed utterly overwhelming. On the one hand were all of Trudy’s professional achievements (numerous teaching awards and artistic recognition) and her sociable and nurturing personality, which endeared her to everyone who knew her. On the other, were the horrible personal tragedies she suffered: the loss of her husband to cancer, her son’s death in a somewhat mysterious gun incident in her own kitchen, and Trudy’s own battle with cancer. Trying to reconcile these struggles with her religious, social and personal worldview, Trudy dipped into fringe theories that blended Christian end-of-the-world prophesies with alien contact. Her connection with these theories and their followers landed her name on the pages of national tabloid papers shortly after her death, an unfortunate circumstance that caused much trauma for the people who knew her and the community as a whole.
Maria and I were faced with the challenge of how to represent this complex human being who was remembered in such contrasting light by people who had access to different parts of her life and psyche. Some remembered her as a hardy, fun-loving person who could always cheer them up, a pillar of support, someone who appeared unbroken by the tragedies in her life. Others saw her as vulnerable and struggling with intense grief, questioning everything, including her Christian faith. In this deeply religious community, such questioning was a very serious and potentially threatening matter at that time. Many were rightfully nervous about this project, worried that we would sensationalize the end of her life.
Instead of trying to define a single “correct” version of Trudy, Maria and I decided to construct her out of memories and to represent the different perspectives through several fictional characters who act as amalgams of the people we interviewed. Dora, herself a sunny but perhaps avoidant personality, focuses on Trudy’s nurturing and cheerful nature. Todd, a brooding man who also suffered loss, dwells on Trudy’s darker side. Neither is wrong, but neither is fully right either. Managing this somewhat conflict-ridden but also humorous navigation through memory space is the Narrator. He attempts to remain neutral and uninvolved but is eventually forced to grapple with his own unresolved grief and guilt. Filling out the memories is the Chorus, a quartet of singers who transform into Trudy’s students, townspeople, vicious rumours or Trudy’s friends. In the end, the opera is as much about the town and the people who remember Trudy as it is about Trudy herself.
Maria and I are deeply grateful to the people who welcomed us to Russell and made themselves vulnerable to total strangers by sharing deeply personal memories and reflections on Trudy’s life, memories that were often painful and raw even thirty years after her death. Thank you.
The premiere is directed by Cara Consilvio, with music direction by Austin McWilliams. The set design is by Terrance Volden. The cast includes Katelyn Mattson-Levy (Trudy), Dominic Aragon (Narrator), Alyssa Toepfer (Dora), Gregório Taniguchi (Todd), Janie Brokenicky (Chorus Soprano), Lily Belle Czartorski (Chorus Alto), Michael Davidson (Chorus Tenor), and Alan Williams (Chorus Bass). The musicians of the ensemble are Man Wang, Negar Afazel, Julius Adams, Benjamin Cline, Even Hillis and Megan Bailey. Tina Gorter is the rehearsal pianist. A huge thank you to this wonderful cast and crew for their dedication, enthusiasm and energy. You really made this project happen!
Because of ongoing pandemic travel restrictions in Canada, Maria and I are not able to attend this premiere and have been observing the rehearsal and staging process from afar. This has been a complex emotional experience in itself. We hope that it is the last major premiere we have to attend virtually.
To learn more about the development of this project, check out this documentary created by Ad Astra following a workshop in the summer of 2020.
A couple of years ago, while taking a class on Irish orality taught by renowned sean nós singer Iarla Ó Lionáird, I received an email asking me if I was interested in writing a set of art songs based on Irish poetry. It was a beautiful coincidence and of course, I was delighted! The Irish Song Project lead by Dáirine Ní Mheadhra and Pauline Ashwood commissioned a total of 50 songs from Irish and international composers with the aim of increasing the number of art songs in the Irish language. For various complex political and historical reasons, Irish tends to be associated with oral folk traditions while the classical world, even in Ireland, is dominated by English. The project was funded by the Irish Arts Council. All the scores and recordings are now available for use free of charge on a website hosted by the Irish Contemporary Music Centre. The texts are accompanied by IPA and word-for-ward translations, as well as poetry readings.
Because of my interest in lamentation traditions, I chose excerpts from three keening texts to set for soprano and piano. “Eileen’s Lament” is based on excerpts from the most famous of Irish laments composed by Eibhlín (Eileen) Dubh Ní Chonaill upon the death of her young husband, Art Ó Laoghaire. What I chose to focus on are the young widow’s ruminations about her husband’s erotic appeal, the luxurious life they shared, as well as his quick temper, which she sometimes had to navigate. “Mother’s Lament” draws on excerpts from a larger lament composed by the mother of Diarmaid MacCarthy upon his death, which also includes several verses lamenting her daughter Máire, who was severely abused by her husband. “Joking Lament” is a setting of several verses from a mock lament, written from the point of view of a woman who is ecstatic at the death of her abusive and miserly husband.
The scores and recordings can be found here and are available for use according to the Creative Commons license.
October 3rd will be a first for me: my music will be performed in two countries located on different continents on the same day. In Toronto, Canada there will be the premiere of The Three Woes for three trumpets and string orchestra at Top Brass presented by Soundstreams. Earlier the same day, Ilana Waniuk will play the new violin version of The Child, Bringer of Light in Selianitika, Greece. And just a few days ago, Wild Shore New Music and Cipher duo premiered Lullabies for my unborn children while on tour in Alaska, USA. I feel like a pretty lucky duck all around.
I am currently in Toronto – feeling very giddy and under slept from all the time-zone travel – getting ready for the premiere of my latest work The Three Woes for three trumpets and string orchestra commissioned by Soundstreams for their Top Brass concert happening on October 3. The work will be performed by three world-renowned trumpet soloists, Ingrid Jensen, Jens Lindemann and Ole Edvard Antonsen, and a string orchestra conducted by Joaquin Valdepeñas. I am, understandably, quite elated.
The work is quite unusual for me in terms of subject matter. I tend to write things that are intensely personal, fussing endlessly tiny details performed by small ensembles, but for this piece I turned to the end of the world prophesy from the Book of Revelations. Since I wasn’t raised Christian (or with any religion at all), this prophesy, with all its highly imaginative horrors, initially read as delightful mythology to me. Flying locusts with lion heads and scorpion tails! Blood soaked oceans! Armies of 200 million led by rogue angels! It all seemed kind of cute and sensationalist in its extravagance, that is until I started noticing the eery parallels between the catastrophes the prophesy promised and the current and predicted effects of climate change. With its creative metaphors, the prophesy is actually describing what is happening to us. The piece became rather unsettling once this thought invaded my brain…
The concert also features premieres from Heather Schmidt and Brian Current. Heather will be playing in her own double concerto, and Brian is responding to R. Murray Schafer’s Trumpet Aubade (also on the program). I am honoured to be in their company and to be working with such incredible players.
You can read more about this piece and the concert as a whole in one of these delightful articles:
The Whole Note: https://www.thewholenote.com/index.php/newsroom/feature-stories/29527-soundstreams-and-the-trumpets-of-october
Ludwig Van Toronto: https://www.ludwig-van.com/toronto/2019/09/30/interview-fresh-views-anna-pidgorna-heather-schmidt-ingrid-jensen-soundstreams-top-brass/
I am traveling around Alaska for the next ten days with the Wild Shore Festival, stopping in Anchorage, Talkeetna, Kenai and Homer. Wild Shore commissioned a brand new piece from me for the combined forces of Wild Shore Trio (Katie Cox, flute, Andie Springer, violin, Mary Kouyoumdjian, piano) and Cipher Duo (Justine Aronson, soprano, Sarah Goldfeather, violin). Lullabies for my unborn children is a set of songs which explore my complex maternal feelings in all their tender and painful shades. We are also performing my violin duo Through closed doors, notated on an antique door (unfortunately, the door itself was too difficult too ship) and Keening, a quartet originally commissioned by UltraViolet Ensemble and rearranged especially for this festival. There will also be works by Sarah Goldfeather, Kamala Sankaram and Kate Soper.
09/22/2019, 7:30pm – CIPHER Duo + Wild Shore Trio play music by Anna Pidgorna, Sarah Goldfeather, Kamala Sankaram, & Kate Soper.
Sheldon Community Arts Hangar
Talkeetna, AK 99676
Tickets: $15 suggested donation
09/26/2019, 6:30pm – CIPHER Duo + Wild Shore Trio play music by Anna Pidgorna, Sarah Goldfeather, Kamala Sankaram, & Kate Soper.
Kenai Fine Art Center
816 Cook Ave., Kenai, AK 99611
Tickets: Free! General Admission
09/28/2019, 7:30pm – CIPHER Duo + Wild Shore Trio play music by Anna Pidgorna, Sarah Goldfeather, Kamala Sankaram, & Kate Soper.
Bunnell Street Arts Center
106 W. Bunnell Ave., Homer, AK 99603
Tickets: Purchase here
09/29/2019, 7:30pm – CIPHER Duo + Wild Shore Trio play music by Anna Pidgorna, Sarah Goldfeather, Kamala Sankaram, & Kate Soper.
University of Alaska Anchorage
3211 Providence Dr, Anchorage, AK 99508
Tickets: Free! General Admission
I recently spent a week in Russell, a small town smack in the middle of Kansas, and almost in the very center of America. This is my second visit to this community which hosts an annual three-week music festival called Ad Astra. The festival, with the participation of the whole community, is commissioning a full-length chamber opera from me and my writer sister Maria Reva, which will premiere at Prairiesta 2021, a giant town fair that happens once every ten years. It’s been an incredible experience getting to know this fascinating, art-filled community while researching the story of local art teacher Trudy Furney. While last year Maria and I conducted a bunch of interviews who knew this remarkable lady, this year we introduced the community to some of my music and Maria’s writing. Can’t wait to get going on this project!
Also, I got to see an albino donkey. How cool is that? He’s hiding in the little donkey house. You can see him peaking out shyly…
I was lucky enough to spend four weeks of June at the I-Park artists’ residency in East Haddam, Connecticut along with six other incredible artists: Sarah E. Brook, Gina Kamentsky, Sharon Koelblinger, Brenna K. Murphy, Clarisse Baleja Saidi and Hui-Ying Tsa. The place is like adult summer camp and we were a fun crew enjoying happy hours on the Floating Living Room on the pond, swimming at various local beaches, sweating in the sauna and improvising an endless stream of songs ranging from the heartfelt to the comedic (or both). In between the merriment, we also got a little work done. I made many recordings of the local soundscape (the frog choruses here are incredible!) and worked on a commission for the Wild Shore Festival in Homer, Alaska. This set of lullabies explores my maternal feelings and draws poetic imagery from my visit to Homer in March during a residency at the Bunnell Street Arts Centre.
Rehearsals are in full swing at the Shalin Liu Hall in Rockport, MA for an hour-long concert of my Invented Folksongs, which I’m performing with the Boston-based Ludovico Ensemble. I started writing these songs, which borrow elements from Ukrainian folk music, three years ago after arriving at Princeton University. This is the first time that these songs will be performed together in one show along with the premieres of the brand-new “Walk under the moon” and the radical reworking of an older piece under the new name, “Another meditation on an invented folksong”. The concert will feature Nick Tolle on the cimbalom, a rare beast in North America. I am so grateful to Nick and Rockport Music for inviting me to perform in this amazing space! This is truly amazing!
The concert takes place on Wednesday, May 9 at 7 pm at the Shalin Liu Hall in Rockport, MA. It is free!
Program:
What else can I give him?
Teach your daughters
Another meditation on an invented folksong
Drown in the depth
Walk under the moon
Performers:
Anna Pidgorna, voice
Mike Williams, percussion
Nick Tolle, cimbalom
Yoko Hagino, prepared piano
Gabriella Diaz, violin
Leo Eguchi, cello
Randall Zigler, bass
Last November, I performed for the very first time with composer-vocalist Annika Socolofsky, who is a fellow student at Princeton University. My piece, The Mint Picker’s Man, for two voices, percussion and string quartet, was our very first duet. We love how our voices sound together and plan on creating more duo repertoire. Stay tuned!
Coming in from the garden,
your hands perfumed
by vines and marigolds,
you slide your palm
up my flowing weightless dress
and you mark me with your scent.
(I once met the Cinnamon Peeler’s Wife,
her body streaked with yellow brown dust.)
Your grassy whisper upon my lips,
you name me the Tomato Grower’s Wife.
Thus titled, I run my mint-stained fingers
through your golden curls,
and I crown you the Mint Picker’s Man.
– Anna Pidgorna
Annika Socolofsky and Anna Pidgorna, voices
Mark Eichenberger, bass drum
Min-Young Kim and Anna Lim, violins
Jessica Thompson, viola
Alberto Parrini, cello