Explore the limitless way in which music provides a new dimension to poetry and prose with the Mirror Visions Ensemble’s 2014-2015 season performances and projects, led by Artistic Director Tobé Malawista.   This season’s schedule is an ideal example of the mission of Mirror Visions Ensemble – the commissioning, performing and recording of vocal chamber music.  What began as programs built around individual poets and a fascination with multiple settings of the same text – a “mirror vision” – has expanded to include the commissioning of over 80 works from 24 composers.  Each concert is designed in the soirée style made popular during the 19th century, introducing composers, poets and historical figures not only through their published works, but also through correspondence and anecdotes woven throughout each performance.

CONCERT À LA CARTE
Allowing the musicians and audience to indulge in their “foodie” inclinations, this popular program celebrating the delights of dining is centered around the MVE commission of Clean Plates Don’t Lie – a cantata by Richard Pearson Thomas based on the menus and philosophy of renowned chef Dan Barber, originator of the farm-to-table movement.  Barber’s principles have changed the way many Americans approach farming and food, using art as a vehicle for explaining that relationship and furthering the important conversation of food and sustainability.  The October tour covers San Francisco, Pasadena, Fullerton and Newport Beach with master classes at USC’s Thornton School of Music and California State University at Fullerton.  A special performance of this program will also be given at Williams College. 

JOURNEYS
Mirror Visions has created a new program entitled Journeys, which explores land, sea and air travel in any number of ways – including various modes of transportation, destination travel experiences and hotel accommodation.  This program features five MVE commissions, including one world premiere commission, in addition to familiar works set to the poetry of Baudelaire, Joyce and Metastasio and correspondence of Bourget, James and Edna St. Vincent Millay.  Journeys will be performed in San Francisco, Newton, Chappaqua, Hillsdale and in New York City at Lincoln Center’s Library of Performing Arts.

THE THREE-PANELED MIRROR - CENTAUR RECORDS
Mirror Visions Ensemble is proud to announce the release of its first album for Centaur Records in March of 2015.  The album is comprised of the following Mirror Visions commissions:  CHRISTOPHER BERG:  The Months;TOM CIPULLO:  A Visit with Emily; RICHARD PEARSON THOMAS:  Clean Plates Don’t Lie; and The Three-Paneled Mirror, a triptych of songs commissioned from Messrs. THOMAS, BERG and CIPULLO.   The release will be celebrated at SubCulture with a concert and conversation with composers. 

SOUNDS OF SWEDISH POETRY: SEVEN COMMISSIONS
The ensemble has an affinity for the rich Scandinavian vocal repertoire which is rarely performed in song recital.  They have commissioned seven Swedish composers to write vocal chamber works, to be premiered in Paris during May of 2015 at the American Church, followed by performances in Sweden and the United States.  Participating composers will be Jonas Forssell, Hans Gefors, Kim Hedås, Anders Nilsson, Kjell Perder, Ylva Skog and Andrea Tarrodi.  Each will set a Swedish poem that has an existing "mirror vision" in the Swedish canon. Instrumentation will vary – ranging from voice and piano to three voices with piano, flute and cello. 

MIRROR VISIONS ENSEMBLE YOUNG COMPOSERS COMPETITION
In January 2015, Mirror Visions Ensemble will announce its first competition for composers of vocal chamber music.  The competition will be open to composers under the age of 35 living, working or studying in the United States.  The January announcement will be followed by a three-month submission window beginning in March.  Up to five winners will be announced in October 2015 with a concert planned for Spring 2016.  This competition is intended to encourage the next generation of composers to continue developing the catalogue of vocal chamber music as well as continuing Mirror Visions’ legacy of commissioning, performing and recording.  

MIRROR VISIONS ENSEMBLE: 2014—2015 SEASON
Vira Slywotzky, soprano
Scott Murphree, tenor
Jesse Blumberg, baritone
Tobé Malawista, artistic director

CONCERT À LA CARTE
September 27 – Williamstown, MA – Williams College (including masterclass)
October 3 – Pasadena, CA – Boston Court Performing Arts Center
October 5 – Newport Beach, CA – Newport Beach Library
October 7 – Fullerton, CA – California State University Fullerton (including masterclass)
October 8 – Pasadena, CA – Pasadena Presbyterian Church
October 10 – Los Angeles, CA – Masterclass, USC Thornton School of Music
October 11 – San Francisco, CA – Seventh Avenue Performances
Vira Slywotzky, Scott Murphree, Jesse Blumberg
Richard Pearson Thomas, piano; Naho Parrini, violin; Alberto Parrini, cello

COLE PORTER Come To The Supermarket In Old Peking
SAMUEL BARBER The Heavenly Banquet from Hermit Songs 
WILLIAM BOLCOM Man Eating from Briefly It Enters
*CHRISTOPHER BERG Carrot Jingle
STEPHEN SCHWARTZ Bread from The Baker's Wife
*CHRISTOPHER CULPO Tango du Dessert (Berthillon Sorbet List)
LEONARD BERNSTEIN La Bonne Cuisine
*CHRISTOPHER BERG Les gourmandises from Portrait en miniature de Madame de Sévigné
MARTIN HENNESSY Daliah's Soup
*RICHARD PEARSON THOMAS Tuna Supreme from Fish ‘n’ Chicks
*RICHARD PEARSON THOMAS Clean Plates Don't Lie
1. Invocation: Know Thy Farmer
2. Chorus: Greenhouse
3. Recitative: What does a lamb want to eat?
4. Aria: Field 
5. Recitative: An Egg
6. Passacaglia and Chorale: Pasture
7. Recitative: An Ecology of Eating
8. Aria: Foraged 
9. Madrigal: Sustainable
10. Aria: Ocean 
11. Chorus: Taste
12. Chorus: Hudson Valley
13. Fugue and Finale: Clean Plates Don't Lie

JOURNEYS
September 21 – Chappaqua, NY - Chappaqua Public Library
February 21 – Hillsdale, NY – Adventures in Music at the Jansen Library
February 22 – Newton, MA – Druker Auditorium, Newton Library
March 7 – New York, NY – Lincoln Center Library for the Performing Arts
March 30 – San Francisco, CA – Music at Meyer
Vira Slywotzky, Scott Murphree, Jesse Blumberg 
Grant Wenaus, piano

HENRI DUPARC  L'invitation au voyage        
HUGO WOLF Auf einer Wanderung 
HENRI DUPARC La fuite 
HECTOR BERLIOZ L’Ile inconnue 
*GILDA LYONS Great Barrier Reef 
JOSEPH HAYDN The Mermaid’s Song 
COLE PORTER Tale of the Oyster 
*SCOTT WHEELER Letters to Isabella 
FELICE BLANGINI Per valli, per boschi 
*DEBORAH FISCHER TEASON The Bells at Saint-Aignan 
*TOM CIPULLO The Parlor Car
FRANCIS POULENC Hôtel 
SAMUEL BARBER Solitary Hotel 
*TOM CIPULLO At the Windermere Hotel from Chicago Nightmares       
CHRISTOPHER BERG The Ghost of Madame de Sévigné at the Carnavalet                                                              

 *Mirror Visions Ensemble Commission

Mirror Visions Ensemble - click here for biography

ARTISTS - click here for individual biographies

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Mirror Visions Ensemble Website
Mirror Visions Ensemble List of Commissions

Photo Credit: J. Henry Fair