Contemporary Media
Written for vocal solo and accompanying vocal duo. Premiered online (FB LIVE) on March 21 2021 at 5:00pm PST as part of the 1:2:1 weeklong composer-performer intensive led by Grammy Award-winning cellist and educator, Nick Photinos.
The sound of a human voice is, in some ways, the most effective tool in communicating human to human. Whether one hears talking, crying, breathing, or laughing, we humans are conditioned to decipher many layers of meaning within each sound made by another. Even when there is nothing to decode.
As each of you read these very words with the voice in your head, ask yourself: Is the voice in your head inherently a human voice? Are you truly the one in control of that voice? If I was to speak out loud for you, would the mind’s voice still be there? Would the value become more inescapable if repeated? Could an entire new landscape be accidentally created piece by piece?
Thoughts aren’t inherently good or bad. But if they’re dwelled upon, do they become more real?
Premiered online (FB LIVE) on Jan. 17, 2021 at 6:15pm PST as part of the 1:2:1 weeklong composer-performer intensive led by Grammy Award-winning cellist and educator, Nick Photinos.
Dreams come and go, shift and change, inspire and scare, yet affect only those who choose to be affected. Sigmund Freud famously stated, “dreams are the royal road to the unconscious.” What would the landscape of a subconscious dreamscape sound like? Some welcome, even invoke, dreams, while others cannot wait to wake up from them. Dreams are both common and unique to each individual, but the opinions towards them vary drastically. Are those who are more intune with their subconscious mind more willing to reflect on their dreams?
These mixed perspectives on dreams inspired this interpretive composition, along with the title of Sylvain Coulombe’s painting, a simple request: “Let him dream.”
written by Chase Chandler in March 2020, recorded March 2021
The most popular version of the original Medieval hymn, “Pange lingua,” was written by Saint Thomas Aquinas in the 13th century as a means to celebrate the “Feast of Corpus Christi.” The first phrase roughly translates from Latin into “Sing, my tongue, the Savior’s glory.” The title of this piece takes the first word of every two phrases (“pange,” “sanguinisque,” and “fructus”) to form: Sing, Noble Blood.
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“Restitution” narrates the story of an enslaved nanny who is forced to care for her captors’ five children for twenty hours a day, every day, for two years. The tentative beginning, portrayed by the repeating syncopated rhythms intermixed with long inhales and exhales between the four players, begins this tragedy with a sense of tainted adventure fueled by the hope for a promising new job.
“Shoreline Avulsion” illustrates on its very definition, given most accurately by America’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA):
“avulsion – the loss of lands bordering on the seashore by sudden or violent action of the elements, perceptible while in progress.”
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Rescoring of the 1925 silent film, The Lost World. This work is approx. 25:00 min. in length and was performed by Newgate Music & Arts. Written for this specific instrumentation:
Flute & Bb Clarinet
Alto & Tenor Saxophone
Bb Trumpet / C Trumpet / Flugelhorn
Violoncello & Contrabass / Electric Bass
Piano & Drum Kit / Small percussion
Trombone
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A jazz-influenced, comical work in five movements about the transformation of a werewolf. Written for a Halloween-themed premiere concert in Mission Viejo’s Fairhaven mortuary – performed by members of Newgate.
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Travel opens our eyes to new ways of thinking, new ways of living, new customs, traditions, new perspectives; and our senses can be overburdened with the sense of adventure, sprouting self-sufficient energy only released through dance, celebration, and more adventure. Follow the rhythms to a blissful negligence of temporary change amongst people far away from home.
“The world is seldom what it seems; to man, who dimly sees, realities appear as dreams, and dreams realities.” – Samuel Johnson
Chase Chandler, tenor vocalist
Hannah Hickey revealed shocking data on population growth after a new study led by the University of Washington and the United Nations, published on September 18, 2014, entitled “World population to keep growing this century, hit 11 billion by 2100.”
Orbis augmentum is written to help spread awareness of the looming overpopulation issue by portraying population statistics through the use of sound and time. Orbis augmentum is roughly translated to “territory increase.”
Movement 1: incrementa
The first movement is named incrementa, or “growth,” and is meant to portray the rapid increase in population that humanity saw starting in the 6th century. The music is based off of data taken from Max Roser’s 2015 project, based and supported by the Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School. The data was then separated into key events.
Movement 2: plus aquae
As human population continues to grow, resources will continue to diminish. Apart from food, water is one of the most valuable resources for life. With less availability comes the likelihood for consumption of any water available, even uncleansed water. According to the non-profit origination “water.org,” a child dies every minute from a water-related disease, based off data from the World Health Organization’s booklet, “Safer Water, Better Health,” published by WHO Press in 2008.
Movement 3: vita morsque – “Life and Death”
Vita morsque, roughly translates to “life and death.” Through the length of the movement itself, the nature of global birth and death rates is portrayed.
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Dedicated to the Sunshine International Music Festival of 2015 – Set Me Free is a piece that celebrates the joy of music and the happiness it brings.
Just as our life source shines upon the trees, and warms the surface of this world with ease, Music truly is the sunshine to our soul… warming our hearts and, making us whole!
Music brings us light, joy and grace,
to our children, our people, the human race. Wherever there is music, sunshine can be found, delivered to us through the sweet vibrations of sound.
What has music done for thee? Music, your voice, has set me free!
Text by Matias Loyola
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