Program notes

seed/quiescence (2021)
Conceptually, seed/quiescence draws inspiration from the idea of waiting to grow or develop until conditions are right. In the scientific world, this can be called diapause, quiescence, or dormancy. Seed quiescence specifically is when a seed waits to germinate until it has a good chance of survival. Until that point, it stays underground, dormant and safe, but full of potential. It is a type of neutral stasis, not growing, but also not dying. As humans, without the ability to enter this kind of biological pause, we tend to feel that if we're not moving forward, we're moving backward. But perhaps we can learn something about waiting to bloom until conditions are favorable; until we have the best chance of thriving.

seed/quiescence was commissioned by Concertia for their 2021-2022 Emerging Composer Fellowship.

Inflorescence (2024)*
"Inflorescence" is a botanical term that refers to the arrangement of flower petals on a stem. I thought about this idea of spiraling and blossoming in terms of expansive movement through pitch and tonality. I've become very interested in expressions of tonality that wander instead of resolve, and the experience of listlessness it can create. In my mind, this experience is similar to watching petals growing upwards along a stem.

Inflorescence was commissioned by Garden Unit.

a question it has never had to answer (2024)*
a question it has never had to answer is the most recent iteration of my ongoing practice of composing works for myself to perform on viola and voice simultaneously. Conceptually, this piece deals with confronting hard truths and uncertainties; it perhaps offers hope, but no answers.

Skyggen (2020/2024)
Skyggen is named after a Hans Christian Anderson fairytale. In this story, a shadow convinces a man that he is real, and that the man is his shadow. I drew inspiration from this story by imagining how a voice can shadow an instrument; at what point is the performer heard as a "real man?" When are they a shadow?

Text: He fancies himself a real man, and I his shadow!

Skyggen was commissioned by Sarah Brady.

An Endless Night (2019/2024)
An Endless Night was originally a work for SSAA choir, which utilizes text by poet Maria Beben.

Text:
Her arms and legs go through the motions,
but her heart and mind are disconnected.
She feels the whispers of another life,
but quickly quiets them and retreats back into the shadows.
It’s where she thinks she belongs.
But one morning,
a delicate ray of light peeks through the curtains.
She stares at it, lost in its radiance,
before she walks over
and dashes the curtains to the ground.
There’s a whole world out there,
hidden behind the oppressive and heavy fabric.
Stride out into the dawn of possibility,
for the sunrise is most beautiful after an endless night.

Deiopia (2023)
"Deiopea" is the name of a bioluminescent comb jelly that lives many miles under the sea. The creature has tentacle-like combs that are animated with rainbow lights, as the plates on the combs split the light spectrum as they move. I held this image in mind as I composed this piece, imagining how a sound can emerge and reemerge in many colors.

Deiopea was commissioned by Timothy Hanley.

like a whisper, like a rope (2022)
like a whisper, like a rope is an exploration of space and place, which became simultaneously important and unimportant in different ways during the height of pandemic lockdowns. The piece utilizes electronic elements as well as spatialization and physical movement throughout the performance space.

like a whisper, like a rope was commissioned by Duo Entre-Nous, comprised of Jackie Glazier and Don-Paul Kahl. It is also featured on Duo Entre-Nous’ most recent album, Progress.

*indicates world premiere

artist bios

Alissa Voth
Alissa Voth (she/her) is a composer and artist who uses music and paper art to explore narrative and the unconscious mind, with an artistic focus on the voice and woven imagery. Recent performances include works for the Stare at the Sun choir, the Unheard-of Ensemble, and Masso Quartet; she has upcoming performances by the Lilith Vocal Ensemble, Missing Piece, Flannau duo, and others. She is a PhD candidate at the Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University.

Megan DiGeorgio
Megan DiGeorgio is a composer, violist, vocalist, educator, and arts administrator based in Chicago. As an artist, Megan believes in collaboration and community over competition, and strives for integration of her various artistic pursuits into one comprehensive creative practice.

Her work has been featured on Duo Entre-Nous’ latest album, Progress. Select commissions include Edgewood High School, Natalie Groom, Bryan Young, Duo Entre-Nous, Concertia, University of Maine Farmington, Joanna McCoskey Wiltshire, and Fear No Music, among others, and recent performances include Quincetitute, Chicago songSLAM 2024, Erin Lesser, Julianna Smith, “Flexing the Canon,” by Natalie Groom, Catherine Robinson, and Qun Ren, and Boulanger Initiative’s WoCo Fest. Additional past performances include the International Contemporary Ensemble, TURN UP Multimedia Festival, ClarinetFest, Syracuse University Singers, Artifice, Hypercube, TURNmusic, Fear No Music’s HEARINGS, Invoke, Susquehanna Symphony Orchestra, Pennsbury Community Band, District New Music Coalition’s New Music DC Conference, and Megan’s own composer-performer show, Equilibrium. She has been selected for opportunities such as Quince Ensemble’s Quincetitute, the Out of Our Shells project, facilitated by American University’s Humanities Truck, and Concertia’s Emerging Composer Fellowship 2021-2022. Megan is pursuing a PhD in composition and music technology at Northwestern University.

Isidora Nojkovic
Praised for her "great control" (Chicago Classical Review), cellist Isidora Nojkovic is an active soloist, chamber, and orchestral musician. She has a passion for contemporary music and commissioning, having premiered over 50 works, and is one half of the contemporary violin/cello duo Orbit (“the new cross-continental duo to pay attention to.” – Classical Post). A founding member of Varo String Quartet, she also performs regularly with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Vancouver Opera, Vancouver Symphony, Illinois Symphony, Vancouver’s Turning Point Ensemble, and the Lucerne Festival Contemporary Orchestra.

Garden Unit
Garden Unit is a Chicago-based clarinet/saxophone duo formed by Julia Ansolabehere and Cameron Roberts, who met during undergrad at Northwestern University in 2016 and have been collaborators since. Garden Unit is the latest incarnation of their creative partnership, debuting at Thirsty Ears Festival in 2022 and quickly developing a repertoire through collaborations with some of Chicago's leading young composers. Hailed (mostly by themselves) as the premier experimental clarinet-saxophone duo within a 5 block radius of Winnemac Park, their goal is to challenge traditional paradigms of classical music by presenting programs pulling from a diverse repertory of music—including new works, reimaginings of traditional works, and improvised works—and by performing in non-traditional concert settings.

Zachary Good
Zachary Good is a multifaceted clarinetist, chamber musician, and composer based in Chicago. Zachary is the clarinetist of the sextet Eighth Blackbird and a member of Ensemble Dal Niente. He has frequently performed with International Contemporary Ensemble, Music of the Baroque Chicago, and the puppet company Manual Cinema. As an improviser, he performs and records with the trio ZRL and the quintet Honestly Same. He is the recipient of the 2021 Luminarts Classical Winds Fellowship. Zachary has participated in fellowships with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and the Aspen Contemporary Music program. Zachary is a D’Addario Woodwinds Artist.