Tasting Notes
after persimmons by li-Young lee - carolyn chen
cond. Drew Corey
This is a round that grew from a line from Li-young Lee's "Persimmons," a poem that touches on memories and the shaping of cultural identity. Persimmons return as mispronounced word, nourishment, culturally-specific knowledge, painting subject repeated over a lifetime. I also love the fruit. - Carolyn Chen
TEXT
knowing the difference
how to choose persimmons
this is precision
how to eat
how to choose what is sweet
how to eat
morning ripe
morning plain put away
morning knife sang
not to tear
the sun going blind
his eyes all gone
so full they want to peal to tear to drop
which is this
this is persimmons
I painted them a hundred times eyes closed
These I painted blind
knowing the difference
how to choose persimmons
this is precision
how to eat
how to choose what is sweet
how to eat
morning ripe
morning plain put away
morning knife sang
not to tear
the sun going blind
his eyes all gone
so full they want to peal to tear to drop
which is this
this is persimmons
I painted them a hundred times eyes closed
These I painted blind
About the Composer: Carolyn Chen has made music for supermarket, demolition district, and the dark. Recent projects include a scream essay and commissions for Klangforum Wien and the LA Phil. The work has been presented in 25 countries and described by The New York Times as “the evening’s most consistently alluring … a quiet but lush meditation.” It has been supported and commissioned by the Berlin Prize, Green Umbrella, impuls, MATA, Fulbright, Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowships, ASCAP Foundation Fred Ho Award, Stanford University Sudler Prize, and Emory Planetarium. She lives in Los Angeles.
Song of the Gallows - Fahad Siadat
cond. Evan Roberts
soloist: David García Saldaña
soloist: David García Saldaña
In 2018 I premiered a chamber opera, The Moon Has Made Us Brothers, based on the first English translation of Albert Giraud’s set of poems Pierrot Lunaire, a selection of which were made famous by Arnold Schoenberg’s seminal atonal work of the same name. My opera did not use all 50 poems (Schoenberg also only used 21 of the original 50) which left a great deal of visually and musically evocative text untouched. This piece is a setting of a poem I did not include in the opera but uses many of the same musical themes and guiding compositional principles. The poem narratively acts as a transitional moment for Pierrot between intoxication and violent madness.
Thanks to Pete Agraan, my cooking collaborator in this project, for his inspiring descriptions of eating oysters, which helped create the overall mood of the piece. And thanks, always, to Gregory Richter for his flexibility with these translations and support of this ongoing musical project. -Fahad Siadat
Culinary pairing - "Elegance in Cream": A spoonful...
TEXT
The slender hetaera with lengthy neck
Will be the last lover
Of this woeful laggard
Who Dreams of gold but lacks a cent.
Inebriation pounds the thought,
Like a nail, into his brain:
The slender hetaera with lengthy neck
Will be the last lover.
She's as svelte as bamboo;
On her throat sways a tress.
In her strangling caress
He'll enjoy the mad delights
The slender hetaera with lengthy neck.
- Albert Giraud, trans. Gregory Richter
The slender hetaera with lengthy neck
Will be the last lover
Of this woeful laggard
Who Dreams of gold but lacks a cent.
Inebriation pounds the thought,
Like a nail, into his brain:
The slender hetaera with lengthy neck
Will be the last lover.
She's as svelte as bamboo;
On her throat sways a tress.
In her strangling caress
He'll enjoy the mad delights
The slender hetaera with lengthy neck.
- Albert Giraud, trans. Gregory Richter
Saguaro - Karen Siegel
cond. Saunder Choi
soloists: Molly Pease and Tessie Prakas
soloists: Molly Pease and Tessie Prakas
Inspired by a visit to Tuscon, Arizona in the spring of 2007, I expressed my awe of the landscape, history, and people of this desert in a poem that would become the text for this piece. The title "Saguaro" is the name of the cactus described in the first stanza, as well as the national park in the Catalina mountains to which this cactus has given its name. These cacti are the kind seen in old Western movies, and they are often hundreds of years old. The seemingly endless expanses of this beautiful desert are reflected in the music's evocation of space. Saguaro was commissioned by the Manhattan Choral Ensemble in 2007, as a result of my being a winner of their Commissioning Competition. -Karen Siegel
TEXT
This cactus has been here longer
Than my family has been in this country.
Waiting.
Watching
The slow blooming of pink yellow white wildflowers,
The quick building of Marriot, No Tell Motel,
The invisible dying of Mexicans on foot.
Tell me,
Saguaro.
Do you remember when the ground was soft,
Before men and cattle trampled through?
Did the sunrise look the same then?
The rock bounces off your weathered skin.
To weary to be annoyed,
To strong to fall,
You maintain your post in a silent army,
Defending the Catalinas against time.
Watching.
Waiting.
- Karen Seigel
This cactus has been here longer
Than my family has been in this country.
Waiting.
Watching
The slow blooming of pink yellow white wildflowers,
The quick building of Marriot, No Tell Motel,
The invisible dying of Mexicans on foot.
Tell me,
Saguaro.
Do you remember when the ground was soft,
Before men and cattle trampled through?
Did the sunrise look the same then?
The rock bounces off your weathered skin.
To weary to be annoyed,
To strong to fall,
You maintain your post in a silent army,
Defending the Catalinas against time.
Watching.
Waiting.
- Karen Seigel
About the composer: Composer Karen Siegel draws on her experience as a vocalist in her creation of innovative choral and vocal works. Hailed as “complex and wonderful,” (TheatreScene.net) and “colorful and at times groovy” (WQXR.org), her works are frequently performed by the New York City- based ensemble C4: the Choral Composer/Conductor Collective, which she co-founded in 2005. She holds a PhD from the CUNY Graduate Center and degrees from Yale and NYU Steinhardt. Karen has been on the faculty at Drew University and the City College of New York.
ocean poems, i and iv - amy gordon
cond. David Rentz, Saunder Choi
soloists: Evan Roberts, Heather Ogilvy, Tessie Prakas
soloists: Evan Roberts, Heather Ogilvy, Tessie Prakas
Ocean Poems contains musical settings of the 1st and 6th poems from a set of poems of the same name by Jonathan Talberg, Director of Choral, Vocal, & Opera Studies at California State University, Long Beach (where the composer completed her Graduate studies). Each poem in the set is dedicated to an important person in the poet's life.
"When We're Gone 10,000 Years" from Ocean Poems sets the beautiful poem of the same name by Jonathan Talberg. This piece uses hocket-like interplay between the vocal parts and metric displacement to create rhythmic propulsion. There is a limited set of rhythmic motifs used throughout the piece, including eighth note and quarter note trios, triplets, and metric displacement. The technique of text painting is used for certain words to bring the text to life, such as soaring, howling, and tumbling.
"I'm Still Here," the sixth poem from Ocean Poems, sets the beautiful poem of the same name by Jonathan Talberg. The poem is dedicated to Al Talberg (1928-2018), Jonathan Talberg's father. The piece opens with an insistent rhythmic motor, which is passed among the parts throughout the piece. The constant motion of the repeated text symbolizes the continuing presence of our loved ones, stating "I'm here. I'm still here.". This rhythmic motif continues in various permutations until the final chord, finally resting on the words "I'm still here twixt sea and sky", reminding us that our loved ones are always with us.
Culinary pairing - "A riff on Tako": Exploring the connection between life, death, ocean and land
TEXT
I. When we're gone 10,000 years
When we're gone 10,000 years and waves still break
Gloriously on this radiant sand,
Gulls soaring, winds howling, mist spraying o'er the port,
Only then will we know if our lives rang true,
When you and I tumbled together amidst all of this blue
VI. I'm Still Here
Horizon twixt sea and sky
Prospect, vista, or realm,
Gives perspective on life
even death cannot quell.
Creating and being on this hallowed sphere
and silently chanting:
"I'm here. I'm still here."
- Jonathan Talberg
I. When we're gone 10,000 years
When we're gone 10,000 years and waves still break
Gloriously on this radiant sand,
Gulls soaring, winds howling, mist spraying o'er the port,
Only then will we know if our lives rang true,
When you and I tumbled together amidst all of this blue
VI. I'm Still Here
Horizon twixt sea and sky
Prospect, vista, or realm,
Gives perspective on life
even death cannot quell.
Creating and being on this hallowed sphere
and silently chanting:
"I'm here. I'm still here."
- Jonathan Talberg
willow lullaby - townsend losey
cond. David Conley
"Willow Lullaby" is the third movement of a larger chamber work Reckless Remembering by Los Angeles native Townsend Losey. From the composer, "The title of the piece [Reckless Remembering] conveys the process of depression to me, in which we subconsciously pull our identity apart, dismembering ourselves so that we may remember ourselves." Townsend describes each movement as "possible responses to depression, including risk-taking and isolation or even self-harm, which, after persevering through long winters, will eventually end in reconciliation and discovery."
TEXT
Wind in the willow.
Her heart goes with the fallen leaves;
Her bones defy the calling breeze.
And cold, her loving arms once wrapped in green,
brittle and bare.
The earth receives her voice
with which she could speak to the sky.
And cold, her loving arms wrapped in green,
brittle and bare.
Wind in the willow.
Her heart goes with the fallen leaves;
Her bones defy the calling breeze.
And cold, her loving arms once wrapped in green,
brittle and bare.
The earth receives her voice
with which she could speak to the sky.
And cold, her loving arms wrapped in green,
brittle and bare.
About the composer: Townsend Losey communicates his deep love for the earth and its people through his service as a composer, conductor, and poet. A creative artist who has written prolifically for vocal and instrumental performance, Townsend avidly defines himself first and foremost as genuinely human in focus and in purpose. For all his dedication and love for music, he understands it as only one avenue of pursuing and empowering the connection between human hearts that represents a far greater call. He currently lives in the greater Los Angeles area, where he serves as Director of Music Ministry at La Verne Heights Presbyterian Church, as well as Artistic Director of Ensoma Creative.
there's a wind - david avshalomov
cond. David Rentz
soloist: Molly Pease
soloist: Molly Pease
In this work the chorus must be the wind. Not merely sing about it, nor invoke it, but gradually build up to embody a gale-force wind. It is a technically challenging workout for full 8-part chorus. The text is based loosely on a moment in a well-known American novella where a young couple in jeopardy must flee for their lives to the mountains. A great wind comes up across the day, and blows all night. The wind reinforces the drama at this turning point—and covers their tracks. (In my opera on this story, the chorus plays an important role. My original intent was that they would sing this piece backstage as a scene-changer, to keep the audience engaged.)
In style the work is folk-based. It has simple melodies—short, driving, rhythmic—and uses simple tonal harmonies, except for a few dense dissonant chords that build up and evolve to evoke choking dust and piled-up sand. The form starts with a mood-setting introduction of quiet high wind whistling and low humming, then builds up through several rhythmic declamations to a climax on “can you hear it crying?” followed by wild flowing wind scales alternating in the men and women, gradually dying down to brooding calm at the end.
My deep thanks to my friend and collaborator Meredith Kennedy for commissioning this work, to the intrepid and skilled singers of Camerata Long Beach, and to their fearless leader Maestro Jonathan Talberg for helping me to workshop and improve this piece during abundant rehearsals before their excellent premiere. -David Avshalomov
TEXT
There's a wind comin', can you hear it hummin'?
There's a wind risin', can you hear it blowin'?
Oh, the wind blows keenly into the bay, a nervous, restless breeze,
Oh, the wind blows keenly into the bay, with the scent of storm in its mouth,
And there is shifting and unrest in the air.
There's a wind blowin', can you hear it cryin'?
Oh the wind comes up to pound the bay,
And it runs through the seaweeds and shrubs on the beach,
And the wind cuts through the shacks of sticks,
And no boat dared go out on the water,
Oh the wind.
There's a wind blowin', can you hear it cryin'?
There's a wind blowin', now you hear it cryin'.
It screams over the bay and churns up the white caps.
Oh, the palm trees sway like terrified beasts.
A dust stirs up from the soil and hangs in a choking haze over the sea!
Oh the wind, oh the dust, of the haze, oh the sea!
There's a wind blowin', now you hear it cryin'.
The wind clears out the sky and blows away the clouds
And piles the sand like snowdrifts all around.
Oh the wind!
The wind blows all night while the fishermen cower in the shacks of sticks,
It blows all night while the young couple walks to the mountain,
And then it blows away, and then it goes away, away.
There's a wind goin', can you hear it dyin'?
the fire cycle - diana hill woolner
cond. David Conley
soloists: Kc Daugirdas, Heather Ogilvy
soloists: Kc Daugirdas, Heather Ogilvy
"The Fire Cycle" is a poem from Scary, No Scary (Black Ocean, 2009) by Zachary Schomburg. “I wrote it late one night when I was full of hope and despair all at the same time, when the world was crashing around me and building back up somewhere else.”
Upon first reading this poem, I was fascinated by the urgency and momentum of it, as well as the eventual transformation: perhaps the fire was worth it, leading to the emergence of a passionate love. While writing the piece, I thought of someone yelling “fire!” and tried to manifest that action musically. I took advantage of the some of the more tender moments hidden within the text to provide some relief. The climax of the piece involves DIFFUSION, or the intermingling of substances by the movement of particles (which heat accelerates), the main chemical process in this dish. What the audience hears is the gradual chromatic rising of tones, increasing in speed and energy, until all four parts (Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass) merge into one large chord on “There is you”. This is the piece’s romantic (and arguably sexual) peak. -Diana Hill Woolner
Culinary pairing - "Enkindle the Word": Chipotle Cinnamon Cake Truffles
TEXT
The Fire Cycle
There are trees and they are on fire. There are hummingbirds and they are on fire. There are
graves and they are on fire and the things coming out of the graves are on fire. The house you
grew up in is on fire. There is a gigantic trebuchet on fire on the edge of a crater and the crater
is on fire. There is a complex system of tunnels deep underneath the surface with only one
entrance and one exit and the entire system is filled with fire. There is a wooden cage we're
trapped in, too large to see, and it is on fire. There are jaguars on fire. Wolves. Spiders. Wolf-
spiders on fire. If there were people. If our fathers were alive. If we had a daughter. Fire to the
edges. Fire in the river beds. Fire between the mattresses of the bed you were born in. Fire in
your mother's belly. There is a little boy wearing a fire shirt holding a baby lamb. There is a
little girl in a fire skirt asking if she can ride the baby lamb like a horse. There is you on top of
me with thighs of fire while a red hot fog hovers in your hair. There is me on top of you
wearing a fire shirt and then pulling the fire shirt over my head and tossing it like a fireball
through the fog at a new kind of dinosaur. There are meteorites disintegrating in the
atmosphere just a few thousand feet above us and tiny fireballs are falling down around us,
pooling around us, forming a kind of fire lake which then forms a kind of fire cloud. There is
this feeling I get when I am with you. There is our future house burning like a star on the hill.
There is our dark flickering shadow. There is my hand on fire and your hand on fire, my body
on fire above your body on fire, our tongues made of ash. We are rocks on a distant and
uninhabitable planet. We have our whole life ahead of us.
- Zachary Schomburg
The Fire Cycle
There are trees and they are on fire. There are hummingbirds and they are on fire. There are
graves and they are on fire and the things coming out of the graves are on fire. The house you
grew up in is on fire. There is a gigantic trebuchet on fire on the edge of a crater and the crater
is on fire. There is a complex system of tunnels deep underneath the surface with only one
entrance and one exit and the entire system is filled with fire. There is a wooden cage we're
trapped in, too large to see, and it is on fire. There are jaguars on fire. Wolves. Spiders. Wolf-
spiders on fire. If there were people. If our fathers were alive. If we had a daughter. Fire to the
edges. Fire in the river beds. Fire between the mattresses of the bed you were born in. Fire in
your mother's belly. There is a little boy wearing a fire shirt holding a baby lamb. There is a
little girl in a fire skirt asking if she can ride the baby lamb like a horse. There is you on top of
me with thighs of fire while a red hot fog hovers in your hair. There is me on top of you
wearing a fire shirt and then pulling the fire shirt over my head and tossing it like a fireball
through the fog at a new kind of dinosaur. There are meteorites disintegrating in the
atmosphere just a few thousand feet above us and tiny fireballs are falling down around us,
pooling around us, forming a kind of fire lake which then forms a kind of fire cloud. There is
this feeling I get when I am with you. There is our future house burning like a star on the hill.
There is our dark flickering shadow. There is my hand on fire and your hand on fire, my body
on fire above your body on fire, our tongues made of ash. We are rocks on a distant and
uninhabitable planet. We have our whole life ahead of us.
- Zachary Schomburg
For more about the composer, see our Members page.
3 small bites - molly pease
cond. Drew Corey
mvt. 1 - cooking
soloists: David Conley, Molly Pease
This first movement of "3 Small Bites" explores the experience of cooking, which is stressful for some, but glorious for others. The lyrics in the solo incorporate some of the ingredients in the bite that the piece is paired with, sung in a lethargic, decadent manner, while the choral parts relentlessly press forward, highlighting the stress of cooking.
mvt. 2 - eating
"eating" focuses on the sounds of eating, which can sometimes be obnoxious, but can also be surprising and can greatly enhance the experience of a bite of food.
mvt. 3 - what's in this?
soloists: KC Daugirdas, Alexandra Apolloni, Ben Greenberg, Carol Binion
Incorporating spoken word, this final movement is about reaction, and joy!
Culinary pairings - "Sound Samples": Crunchy Golden Granola, Blueberry Pop Rock Crumble, Rosemary Chewy Caramels
TEXT
mvt. 1 - cooking
Old fashioned oats
slivered almonds,
ground nutmeg
Light brown sugar
golden syrup
butter melted
water
mvt. 3 - what's in this?
I can't believe it, this dinner is so amazing! What did you put in this? Oh my God! I can taste the butter, and the salt... is that Rosemary? What herb is that? I smell some citrus...
Mmm, this is so delicious Oh! What did you put in this? Oh, that broth is so rich! Ugh, yum! Can I have this every day?
Ugh, this is so amazing! I've never had curry like this before. You said this is Japanese curry? I think I like it better than Indian curry or Thai curry. It's so good! Thank you!
What even is this? I swear this is the most delicious meal I've had in months. Yeah, really. You should have your own restaurant. This is so good. What's in this?
More about our collaborative chefs:
After graduating from Denison University with a BA in Cinema Studies, Joey Firoben took an interesting turn with his digital filmmaking knowledge. As his obsession with baking technique and chemistry festered, he began taking on gigs as a Culinary Assistant on cooking competition shows such as Next Food Network Star and Best New Restaurant. Eventually, he weaseled his way into a food internship at BuzzFeed, quickly snagging a Video Producer role on the pages Tasty and Goodful. His current endeavor oft leaves him covered with buttercream and shame while building confections for the digital video page So Yummy. Joey believes that food media is a young and ever growing behemoth in the cinematic and culinary landscape. By harnessing film to tell the story of food, he strives to rekindle the viewers love and curiosity for home cooking.
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Always interested in expanding his artistic understanding, Pete Agraan enrolled in the prestigious Le Cordon Bleu Academy for Culinary Arts in 2011. After winning the school’s “Battle of Cuisine” and graduating with high honors, Pete decided to extend his culinary knowledge by enrolling in Tokyo Sushi Academy in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. There he became fully immersed in the culture, history and lifestyle that is Edomae sushi. After completing the course with high honors, Pete returned to the U.S. and worked at many different sushi restaurants in Boston and California. Pete’s passion is teaching and he’s been teaching private cooking lessons and group seminars since 2015. His classes have centered around cooking basics, to traditional sushi technique, but encouraging and empowering others to cook for themselves is his main goal.
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Food allergens present in the dishes for this concert include: dairy, eggs, fish, gluten, nuts, pepper
