Radio Radiance Composers Answer Texted Questions

On April 19, the Young People’s Chorus of New York City conducted by YPC 

Artistic Director/Founder Francisco J. Núñez premiered of four of the newest commissions in its Radio Radiance series before a live audience at the 92nd Street Y.  At the session, hosted by WNYC’s John Schaefer and recorded for broadcast by WWFM The Classical Network, audience members texted questions about the music for the composers to answer live. The composers — Thomas Cabaniss, Susie Ibarra, Kevin James, and Toby Twining — have all graciously agreed to answer texted questions not addressed on the 19th  here for the YPC blog.

All photos by Jennifer Taylor unless otherwise noted. 

Francisco Núñez conducts Young People's Chorus of New York City
in the Radio Radiance recording-for-broadcast by WWFM

THOMAS CABANISS

Host John Schaefer interviews Composer Thomas Cabaniss

Was it hard to make these sounds?  

There are three kinds of vocal sounds that open the piece; vocal percussion (or beatboxing), singing, and electronically processed singing. Beatboxing is so common nowadays among young people that getting the choristers to imitate a bass drum, snare and cymbals with their voices was pretty easy for them. The singing consists of some made-up syllables ("cha-ya-ka," for instance) that I thought had the crackling sound of fire, and the processed singing allows the music to echo and reverberate longer than regular acoustic singing would. It's almost as if you are singing into an echoing cave or canyon. 

Where did u get inspiration to make that piece?

In a funny way, the first inspiration is the commission. Francisco approached me, and without his request, the piece wouldn't exist. But once I agreed to do it, I began to search for an idea that would be right for the chorus and could involve an interesting use of technology. At first, I paused on some wonderful Ted Hughes poems, but eventually remembered a poem about fire that I had come across and loved. It was a kind of catalog or list of qualities of fire, and I thought that the repetition would be especially appropriate for a piece that incorporates looping.  

Audience member texts a question

Why did u chose the name Celestial Fire? 

I didn't. That's the title given by the poet Yannai. I do like it, though, since it sums up the relationship between the sacred (celestial) and the physical (fire). I think it's interesting to imagine what transcends our everyday experiences, and music is a great medium for doing that. 

How challenging was it is to determine what to sample.....and loop? 

As a composer creating a looping sequence, you are thinking of several things. It's kind of like designing a crossword puzzle. You need to think of lines that sound interesting alone (think: the words that go ACROSS), and you need to make sure that other lines connect vertically (think: DOWN). It takes some trial and error and a bit of conscious design, but if you like how it all goes together (harmonically), then the puzzle is done and ready to be solved. The listener is always the person who gets to solve the puzzle!

TOBY TWINING

Composer Toby Twining and Francisco Núñez

at Radio Radiance rehearsal

How long did it take you to write the lyrics?

Once I understood that I wanted to use the story about a false alarm with the Emergency Broadcast System (EBS), the lyrics came quickly. I suppose that's partly because many of them come from common radio/TV-speak, like "We interrupt this program…" and "Don't touch that dial!"—which I heard frequently while growing up.

What inspired you to write this piece?

Good question. Inspired is a big word, as I would understand it. The opportunity to work with YPC and Francisco was inspiring (I'm a singer too, and have a son and daughter who sing—I love young voices and feel excited about sharing experimental music with young people). The musical materials in WICBM inspire me—especially in its use of a special way of tuning called just intonation, stretched in new ways to create new harmonies (YPC split the usual SATB into 23 parts to make ginormous chords!).

As for the subject matter of the lyrics:

Audience member concentrating on a question

Though I've become less sensitive to it over time, the flat, dire tone followed by obnoxious bleeps of emergency broadcast tests on the radio have always unnerved me. They scared me as a kid in elementary school and the hypocrisy and futility of warning about nuclear missiles became clear to me as a teenager (who's going to survive, ducking under our school desks, or once we emerge from the school gym?).

So I was keen on narrating this slip up by the EBS that happened in the Sixties as a form of political satire—music is a political force, whether or not we are aware.

In this case, I hope the tinge of sarcasm and dark humor beneath the cheery surface reflects the crazy disconnect of the EBS messages. The slow chord in the middle of the piece is sort of a leap into another dimension (as though the missiles really hit their targets), but I now think it comes out of that flat, dire tone of the EBS signal itself (I've harmonized it).

SUSIE IBARRA

Composer Susie Ibarra

Were there certain images or pictures that you were trying to paint as you wrote "The City"?

There is a metaphorical image of a city dreaming itself back to stardust.  An image of an urban place where many things exist and are taking place as we continually scale out into and beyond the world and are reminded we are connected to a larger space in nature.

Other images come from the lyric of the poem written by Yusef Komunyakaa.

“Everything is dreaming.  Towards the stars

We’re only made of mystery.  Venus and Mars

Everything is dreaming.  Jasmine in the night breeze

The leopard in the tall grass.  The tiger seeing in the dark

Everything is dreaming.  First and last to enter the ark

Nighthawks looping in the air.  Fish in their nocturnal world

and a girl.  At the edge of a dream. Breathing to the sounds of traffic

Street lights drowning at the bottom of the sea. I become you and you become me.

The hero and the antihero. The wind in the leaves

Everything is dreaming towards eternity.”

For a composer who has done so much work with folk indigenous music and earth issues, why compose a work a city?

I have been fortunate to live my life at different times in both cities and rural areas.  I love and value the meaningful dialogue and relationship between both.  I love the rich culture of traditional and contemporary music and art. I’ve been inspired and informed by both. Earth issues are something at the heart of both cities and nature, both built in natural environments.  Cities are a great hope for future greener living.

KEVIN JAMES

Was this piece inspired by synesthesia? [A rare condition that leads some individuals to hear colors and see sounds.]

Host John Schaefer asks Composer Kevin James
a question texted by an audience member

This piece was not inspired by synesthesia. It was much more influenced by the physical experience of a kaleidoscope and its connection to the exuberant mind of young people.

For colors postproduction, are you talking about autotune, or something more complex and less ubiquitous?

Definitely not autotune (a piece of software that I personally believe should be banned from the universe - but that's a different conversation). We're talking about grabbing samples of the performance and layering them over one another with gentle manipulations such as doubling or halving the speed. The resulting audio serves as accompaniment to the chorus while they single the more melodic middle section of the piece.

Is there something special or different about composing for YPC that allows you to include so many unique elements in the piece? Where did you get the ideas to pluck the piano strings and add in puckering noises?

Well, first of all, the YPC singers can do just about anything that fits into their vocal range. So I don't have to limit my imagination when I try to come up with an aural universe for them to occupy. 

The concept of "extended techniques" is part and parcel of experimental music these days. The element of altering the sound of a single string on the piano was a relatively simple way to add a large degree of interest - musically for me, it represents the sizzle of that exuberant mind I mention earlier. The deconstructed sounds in the voices such as the popping were inspired by the way a small child often plays with individual sounds through isolation and exaggeration.

Graphic animators refer to an 'uncanny valley,' a point at which an animated depiction of a human is so lifelike that we find it creepy and unsettling. Is there an uncanny valley with digital approximations of the human voice, that we are able to circumvent by using instruments, or are sounds pleasing regardless of who/what produces them?

Well, in my mind, vocal expression is the most virtuosic capacity that each of us possesses. It's the single skill that nearly every one of us practices tirelessly and endlessly all day every day for entirety of our lives. So while we can begin to approximate its sounds and intentions through digital means, there is a spontaneity and individuality of vocal mannerisms that make it much harder to bring to that point of "creepy quasi-realism."

What's the musical notation the choristers see for the "pop"?

Each of the sound effects is represented by a color coded letter embedded in an enlarged note head. So the "k" is, a red "K". The hissing sound is a yellow "S". And the popping sound is a green "P".


Read more about YPC's Radio Radiance here.

Cantare at the OAKE National Conference!

Hi! We are Maud and Lucy, two choristers who attended the OAKE National Conference in Hartford, Connecticut on March 22nd. For the past few weeks, we have been preparing non-stop for this exciting event. We brought back old repertoire from our trip to Stockholm, Sweden, last spring, and introduced a piece new to our program written by Zoltan Kodály. That morning, we piled onto the bus, ready for a day packed with fun and nervous energy. We arrived, warmed up, and proceeded to the stage.  Halfway through the concert, we were given a standing ovation after the song “Go Where I Send Thee." This was a huge honor!

Nothing feels better than music educators coming up to us after a concert and having them tell us that what we did inspired them. It is a feeling like no other, and we have been continuously honored to be included in events such as this one. YPC has never failed to introduce young people our age to new experiences which we otherwise wouldn't have discovered. Until we graduate, we look forward to all the new things yet to come!

Maud (15) and Lucy (15), Concert Chorus

I had such a fun time at the OAKE Conference in Connecticut with YPC. When we arrived at the conference we went into our holding rooms, ate a snack and then rehearsed for the performance. The performance went amazingly well and we even got two standing ovations! As we were getting off the stage people kept congratulating us. Afterwards we went to Ruby Tuesdays for dinner and Elizabeth was so kind to treat us to dessert for a job beautifully done. Overall it was a really fun experience and I’m really happy I had the privilege to be a part of it. It was really amazing to see that our hard work paid off!

Sofia, Cantare, 15

At the OAKE conference in Hartford, CT, we performed a beautiful concert. This was one of the best experiences I have had in YPC. And the concert was a success! One of my favorite things about performing with YPC is the way that our songs carry memories; I've performed these songs in upstate New York, at spring and winter concerts, and in Sweden. As the oldest singer present on Friday, I may not have a chance to perform these again. Standing onstage during the applause, I knew we had done well; I'm so proud of every chorister, and feel so privileged to have had a part.

Lindsey, Concert Chorus, 17

I had such a great experience at OAKE! It was the first time I was traveling with YPC to perform. Once the day came, I was so excited I could hardly stand still! I had so much fun riding the bus with my friends and my mom who chaperoned on the trip. We talked, laughed, and ate food. Once we got to the venue, I suddenly changed into “Young Artist” mode. In our rehearsal room we changed into our uniforms, and went through our pieces. All through lunch I thought about my choreography and notes because I wanted to make Elizabeth, our conductor, proud. We really had to be prepared. Finally, the time came to go on stage! I was so excited and nervous at the same time. During one of the pieces we sang, one voice part had to sing a difficult note without the pianist playing it for them and they hit it perfectly! The note came through so strongly it startled me! I looked at Elizabeth and saw tears in her eyes. I was so touched by the fact that this one note moved her to tears. During the pieces with choreography, I gave it my all and danced like no one was watching. After “Go Where I Send Thee,” the crowd gave us a standing ovation! I was thinking to myself, “Wait for it, we have a surprise!” In our last piece, “Come Fly with Me,” we made an airplane at the end and we got another standing ovation! I felt so proud of myself for accomplishing this! After the concert, we went to a restaurant for dinner. The food tasted great and so did the dessert. Finally, we took the bus back to New York and I went home thinking about the concert all night. I even dreamt about it! It was one of the best experiences of my life!

Thalia, Cantare, 13

Everybody Rejoice!

     The YPC’s Gala is approaching! We’ve been working very hard to make this a memorable event! There have been countless hours of rehearsals and choreography with the fabulous Jacquie Bird; the small price to pay to make this 25th Anniversary Gala outstanding. Every division has been perfecting their music and their dance moves and I am certain that the audience will want to dance along with us. I am also pretty certain that every chorister has strengthened their core, and has gotten healthier thanks to the physically demanding choreography! 

 

The rehearsals for Chorale’s classical set have been challenging however we are rising to the occasion! I am very excited to perform our Americana set, which we have taken with us to China and France, because of its repertoire and beautiful staging. It will be the American premiere of the Chorale's Americana Set and I am very excited.

As a graduating senior this year, realizing that this will be my last gala gets me very emotional. This is my seventh year with the chorus, and I do not feel ready to let it go yet, especially knowing that I won't get to perform in such grand productions like the gala anymore! I believe that all of the seniors will miss the gala season, although very hectic, because it tests our abilities to work so hard at school and at chorus. The gala is yet another event that we are so accustomed to and must say goodbye to. However, we know that we will cherish this performance!

 It is so exciting to be performing at Carnegie Hall with the New York Pops, Stephen Petronio, Capathia Jenkins, Kate Davis, the Antonio Ciacca Trio and with our host Renée Fleming. We can’t wait to show the audience what we’ve got in terms of musicianship and showmanship. And of course, we’ll show you that we know how to celebrate the chorus’s silver anniversary! See you there!

Rose, Concert Chorus, 17

Adventures in Normandy

Sunday. November 4

Hard to believe this is our last day in France.  It’s been such an incredible learning experience.  We’re not ready to leave, yet we’re anxious to return to our families still dealing with the effects of Hurricane Sandy.

We’re giving a concert this afternoon in the Chapelle de I’Institut d’Agneaux with 400 seats and extraordinary acoustics.  We understand that this concert is the first sold-out concert of the Polyfollia Festival in this particular venue.   The choristers are excited, proud, and ready to give the performance of their lives.

A BIENTOT!

Saturday, November 3

Everyone was up early this morning for a 10 a.m. Polyfollia workshop for choral conductor/teachers given by Francisco Núñez with musical demonstrations by the chorus at the Institut Universitaire de Technologie in Saint Lô.  The classroom was packed with teachers filling every seat and standing two deep against the walls.  The subject of the workshop was Rhythm in America and how music is being transformed in America and all over the world. Francisco put those teachers through their paces by having them sight-read with help from the choristers “Gloria” from Leonard Bernstein’s 1960 work “Mass” and Michael Gordon’s “Exalted,” written in 2010.

After a little nap and lunch, it was back on the bus to the quaint little village of Les Pieux on the coast of France, five miles from the English Channel, for the chorus’s fourth of five Polyfollia concerts, this time in the intimate, but beautiful 140-seat concert hall in the Ecole de musique. We had some time before the tech rehearsal to walk through the cobble-stoned streets of the town filled with lovely shops and bakeries with the most exquisite pastries, tarts, and huge meringues on display. 

Word of mouth once again resulted in a concert that was filled to capacity and some of the attendees were music conductors who had attended the morning’s workshop.  The choristers put on a show no one in this town will soon forget.  Following the concert, the choristers still in their costumes and euphoric from the incredible concert they just gave, lined the exit hallway chatting in their beginners French with the audience members, giving autographs, and accepting thanks from all of the men, women and many children who, it seemed, did not want the evening to end. 

Friday, November 2

The day began in a very poignant way for all of us from New York, with a visit to the Caen-Normandie Cité de l’Histoire Pour La Paix Memorial, a museum with displays, artifacts, and films recounting the events leading to the horrendous destruction and deaths during the worldwide conflicts during World War II, and its aftermath, including the event that began the collapse of the Nazi occupation: the American participation in the June 6, 1944, invasion on the beaches of Normandy, where over 10 million soldiers died. 

From Caen that afternoon, the bus carried the YPC choristers to Louvigny and the Salle des fetes, where Friday’s concert took place. YPC’s 90-minute program with spoken interludes in French by YPC choristers charmed the SRO Louvigny audience.  And when YPC ended this program with “Oye,” there was pandemonium with the whole audience—moms, dads, grandparents, and children—on their feet dancing, clapping, singing, and matching the energy and enthusiasm of the choristers.

It was a bittersweet moment, as reminder once again of how we hoped our loved ones could be with us here, rather than dealing with the recovery in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.

Thursday, November 1

With very little access to the Internet, we’ve not been able to get much information from New York about Hurricane Sandy.  While we here are all safe and enjoying new experiences in a different part of the world, all of us are very worried and concerned about our families back home.  At our concerts we have expressed our concern to the audiences, and they all with us in our apprehension about what we will find when we return home on Monday.  We are working very hard on our tour, but our friends and families are still foremost on our minds. 

November 1 was a holiday in France, but not for the YPC choristers.  Wednesday night’s gala at Beaufils Hall in Saint Lô, featured YPC and the Leios Kantika Korala children’s choir from Spain and was a huge success.  This gala concert was for all the professionals at Polyfollia—the Polyfollia artistic committee, the artists, managers, and those from festivals and concert series worldwide seeking out the best of the best to bring to their own audiences. There was an incredible buzz about YPC. Unfortunately, Beaufils Hall was not big enough to accommodate everyone who wanted to attend.  However, anyone who missed YPC’s performance on Wednesday, will have another chance on Sunday for YPC’s final Polyfollia concert at the Chapelle de I’Institut d’ Agneaux back in Saint Lô.

On the day following the gala, rehearsals preceded a long bus trip through the beautiful French countryside, under the watchful eye of our Polyfollia chaperone Dilette, as we headed for the charming little village of Athis de l’Orne, one of 16 villages in the area.  As we neared the town, a spectacular rainbow was YPC’s first welcome.  When the YPC travelers arrived, they received a second welcome from their hosts, who included the mayors of two of the 16 villages—Alain Lange, the mayor of Athis de l’Orne, and Yanic Soubien, the mayor of Taillebois.  Our hosts were so happy to have us there.  They provided us with a wonderful dinner, including fresh soup made from ingredients from the region and luscious homemade cakes and pastries.

Back row center Francisco, Mayor Soubien, Young Men chorister Ta'Sean, and Mayor Lange

  

The concert for the whole community was held that evening in the church of Saint Vigor, which was built of granite from the area with an interior of limestone, and the acoustics were gorgeous.  YPC put on an extraordinary show, and the audience responded with standing ovations and incessant clapping that wouldn’t stop, even after three encores.

Photographs by Christopher Hall