 | Wild Shore is pleased to announce that Eve Beglarian is Wild Shore's 2025 featured composer. Wild Shore is commissioning Beglarian and sponsoring her artist residency in Homer, Alaska alongside Bunnell Street Arts Center in the spring of 2025. She will return to Alaska in September 2025 with Wild Shore musicians to premiere the commissioned work. |
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 PROGRAM Kate Soper Cipher voice + violin Kamala Sankaram Kivalina voice + violin Anna Pidgorna Keening flute + 2 violins + piano pause Anna Pidgorna Through closed doors 2 violins Anna Pidgorna Lullabies for my unborn children* voice + flute + 2 violins + piano Sarah Goldfeather Come Back/Leave Me voice + violin * World premiere & Wild Shore/ Bunnell commission PROGRAM NOTES
Cipher by Kate Soper (see libretto page for text) I. Jenny Holzer ft. Ludwig Wittgenstein II. Pietro Bembo ft. Michael Drayton III. Introducing Sigmund Freud IV. Guido D’arezzo presents Sarah Teasdale (ft. Jenny Holzer) Kivalina for voice & violin text and music by Kamala Sankaram Kivalina is a small Inuit village in Alaska. Located on a barrier island only 1.9 square miles across, the rising sea level threatens to submerge the village, its people, and their culture. The second movement is inspired by Inuit throat singing. Sedna is the Inuit goddess of the sea. Agloolik is a mythical creature who lives below the ice. Keening by Anna Pidgorna The terms “keening” refers to an old Irish tradition of lamenting the dead. The practice was meant to guide the departed safely into the next world, and to help the living express and process their grief. We can grieve the death of a loved one, the loss of a relationship, a medical diagnosis, a long distance move which separates us from those we love, or even our past selves. Grief contains a plethora of often conflicting emotional states such as anger, guilt, denial, devastating sadness, lethargic melancholy, emptiness. The pain of grief can ravage us for days, or sneak up on us in otherwise serene moments of reverie or in response to the most mundane activities. Relentless attacks of such violent emotions leave us in a state of severe physical and mental exhaustion. This work was originally commissioned by UltraViolet Ensemble from Edmonton, Alberta. Through closed doors by Anna Pidgorna Through closed doors is a clandestine dialogue between two lovers trapped on opposite sides of a closed door. The definitive version of the score is inscribed on a restored antique door, which was once hacked with a hatchet leaving a jagged hole. This disturbingly fascinating wound inspired the dramatic conception of this piece and some of the musical gestures. The musical phrasing draws loosely on speech and song patterns, while the work's structure grows around the door guided by its various panels and defects. The graphic notation, designed specifically for this piece, eliminates accents, dynamics and bow pressure markings by incorporating them directly into the staff lines. The wavering staves resemble natural wood patterns and invite the performers to approach the score more intuitively. The layout of the musical lines on the door guides the physical manifestation of the drama being played out in the music. This work was commissioned by Thin Edge New Music Collective in Toronto, Ontario. Lullabies for my unborn children by Anna Pidgorna This work explores my rather intense maternal feelings, which have been plaguing me for some time now. I feel much tenderness and love thinking of my future children, mixed with a great deal of pain and anxiety about not being able to have them now or possibly ever. During my exploratory residency at the Bunnell Arts Centre in Homer, AK, as I perused volumes of Alaskan poetry, I noticed the recurring theme of teenage pregnancy and the difficulties faced by women who became mothers not by choice but through lack of proper sex education and access to birth control and abortion. It struck me how cruel it is that it seems so horribly easy to become a mother when one does not want to be and yet so hard to do it when one really wants to but one’s life does not fit the normal mold. Somehow, our society makes it hard for most women to make the choice we really want to make. I pondered this while wandering the Alaskan wilderness and decided to write these songs in the form of lullabies to encapsulate both my maternal hope and my pain through the gorgeous imagery surrounding me. I would like to thank all the Homer residents who welcomed me to their community and generously took me out on outings to their favorite natural environments. You are all a part of this work. Come Back/Leave Me by Sarah Goldfeather Come Back/ Leave Me are companion pieces that explore the emotions of abandonment and reunification. “Come Back” addresses the obsessive and inconsolable thought process you undergo after losing someone important in your life. “Leave Me” explores the emotional gymnastics of meeting this person again after a very long time - how you must confront the ways your mind has tinted your crystalized image of this person through rose-colored lenses, how he or she is both a stranger and yet hasn’t changed, how the sight of this person abruptly peels you back into an outdated version of yourself. After waiting and fantasizing about reuniting, the pain and anger of seeing this person again is momentarily too much to bear. By Andie Springer, Co-Founder Hello and happy February! That’s right, I am so happy it’s February because, let’s face it, January was a really long year. I’m also happy because it’s the shortest month of the year, which means pretty soon it will be spring, then summer, and then fall—and what a fall it’s going to be! Here’s what’s going on: We at Wild Shore had a bittersweet winter. The bitter part was saying “Bon Voyage” to Wild Shore co-founder, Conrad Winslow, as he set off for Berlin for the next three years. We will miss him dearly but are so excited to watch as he and Michael Amico (a close advisor of Wild Shore) take Berlin by storm. The sweet side of this story is that we get to welcome Mary Kouyoumdjian to the Wild Shore team! Mary has been a close friend, colleague and collaborator to all of the Wild Shore founders over the years, and has traveled to Alaska several times. She is the perfect fit and we are thrilled that she said, “Yes!” Mary and I will take on the titles of Co-Artistic Directors, Katie will remain our fearless Executive Director, and Conrad will stay on the team as a member of the Advisory Board. After our winter of change, we are ready to put the pedal to the metal to make our 2019 season one of the best ever (do I say that every year?). Our 2019 season will explore the theme of Light/Dark and will feature the music of, including a new commission by, the incredible Anna Pidgorna, who is heading up to Alaska this March for her first residency. CIPHER Duo will be our ensemble in residence, and together with the Wild Shore Trio we will fill out the program with music by Sarah Goldfeather and Kate Soper. One of the things I’m most excited about for this season is the workshop period of our Homer residency in September, and getting all of these brilliant and talented artists into a room together. Together we will build a through-directed evening of music, art objects, and…we’ll have to find out! Thank you so much for your support, which comes in many forms. We can’t wait to share our 2019 season with you. Stay tuned for news on NYC performances and some big things cooking for 2020! With that, I’ll leave you with some words by our new Co-Artistic Director, Mary Kouyoumdjian: "As a long time fan of the work Wild Shore New Music has been doing, I am delighted and honored to join and work alongside this adventurous team of new music advocates. Alaska's incomparable landscape and residents hold a very special place in my heart, have generously offered a welcomed perspective beyond my own, and have inspired so much reflection and creativity. I hope to not only share some of my favorite creative voices with Alaska's incredible communities, but I hope to continue to learn from them and look forward to listening."  Katie Cox, Andie Springer, Mary Kouyoumdjian "I’ve just returned to snowy New York City from a fantastic two-week residency at the Anchorage Museum with Mivos Quartet. Anchorage was clear, white, and cold—a welcome change, I’m told, from the previous two winters—forming a perfect backdrop for investigations into contemporary string music about the north and by northern voices.
We presented daily pop-up concerts at noon in various spots around the museum, concerts in the planetarium with commissioned visuals for Hans Abrahamsen’s String Quartet 4 and Robert Honstein’s Arctic, and a final concert within the new Polar Bear Garden exhibition about the cultural and geographic zone between Russia and Alaska. On this concert, Mivos performed Sofia Gubaidulina’s fervent String Quartet 4, using a backing track (and superball mallets) that Mivos recorded and I edited and mixed with dedicated engineering by the Museum’s Jay Hall. The show also featured movements by Canadian composer Taylor Brook, American composers Scott Wollschleger and Robert Honstein, and Danish composer Hans Abrahamsen. In addition to these museum activities, Mivos performed at 6:45am on Channel 11 KTVA Alaska, and visited the music department of UAA, playing excerpts and discussing repertoire, collaborations with living composers, and making a life in contemporary music. We even managed to squeeze in a couple of visits to the surrounding mountains and glaciers of southcentral Alaska, to face-plant in the deep snow, to freeze our toes at the start of the Iditarod, and to savor the strange and persistent dusky colors of the subarctic winter." - Conrad Winslow, Wild Shore Artistic Director  "I am beyond excited to have joined the Wild Shore team earlier this fall! This past summer I had the experience of a lifetime attending the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival and participating in the "Composing in the Wilderness" course, where 9 composers get to do backcountry hiking through Denali and the Yukon Charlie Rivers National Parks then write a piece based on our experiences. I've always had a love of the great outdoors, but never have had the opportunity to combine my love nature with my love of music. When Katie, Andie and Conrad approached me about joining the Wild Shore team I immediately agreed! To be able to share new music in any capacity is a gift, but an even rarer one is to share it with the most isolated and farthest reaching edges of where many commonly perceive it to reach. I hope to help spread new music as far and wide as possible, and for me it's even more satisfying to be so connected with nature while I do so! Can't wait to see where we go next!" - Shelley Washington , Wild Shore Program Associate
Southern-born and Midwest-raised Shelley Washington (b. 1991), writes music to fulfill one calling- to move. As a composer and baritone saxophonist with a heavy background in jazz, American folk, rock and classical styles, Washington strives to create a hodgepodge of sound with hard grooves and indelible melodies. Her major body of work is written for saxophone, large and small chamber ensembles and string quartet. contact: [email protected]  March 30th, 7:30pm, FREE to the public
The McGowan Theater at the National Archives Museum + YouTube Live Stream Constitution Ave. NW [between 7th & 9th St.] Washington, DC 20408 Metro: Archives-Navy Memorial-Penn Quarter Information and Reservations HERE The State of Alaska is sponsoring in the nation’s capital commemorations of the life and contributions of William Henry Seward on Thursday, March 30, 2017, with a luncheon at the National Press Club, a reception at the US State Department, and concluding with an evening performance of Wild Shore New Music. Wild Shore New Music performs the work of living composers who have found inspiration through their experiences with the natural beauty and indigenous cultures of Alaska: My Country, Tis of Thee sung by Jon Ross in the Dena’ina language First Lady of Alaska Donna Walker: Why Alaskans Celebrate Seward’s Day Shelley WASHINGTON: Their Name is Yours John Luther ADAMS: Make Prayers to the Raven John Luther ADAMS: The Light Within Conrad WINSLOW: The End of the Road Two of the composers, Conrad Winslow and Shelley Washington will be in Washington, and will attend the concert. Throughout the program, scenic and historical photos of Alaska will be projected on a backdrop screen that will enhance rather than distract from the musical program. This event will be live streamed. Live Stream Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AR3wU2aKjQ4  Last month Wild Shore's Andie Springer (violin) and Katie Cox (flute) presented a kids concert at the Jamaica Bay Wild Life Refuge. They demonstrated their instruments and lead the kids in an interactive composition activity centered around creating melodies. Katie played the traditional C flute, alto flute, and piccolo, showing the different sounds each instrument makes. Andie introduced the audience to her violin Millie and played a traditional fiddle tune that tells the story of passengers riding a locomotive train.
"Katie and Andie charmed an audience of some 50 people in a recent program at Gateway's Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge during which Andie's violin, Millie conversed with Katie's flute demonstrating their abilities and differences. The introduction of some duet pieces was capped with the Orange Blossom Special with some clues as to its program had kids listening intently throughout with a reprise that was such fun. There was rapt attention as kids got musical answers from Millie posed by audience members. And the most fun was when the kids created a melody line with string played by both players. The wonderful presentation and perfect timing wrapped up with an instrumental petting zoo, and many enthralled kids... Come back soon, and bring some friends!" — Charles Markis, Park Ranger and Arts and Culture Program Manager, National Park Service Thank you for having us and we would love to come back! WILD SHORE & MIVOS STRING QUARTET AT THE ANCHORAGE MUSEUM
February 27-March 12 The Anchorage Museum The highly-acclaimed MIVOS string quartet, which tours worldwide, will take up residence in the Museum, and offer performances in the galleries and special multimedia performances in the planetarium, celebrating contemporary string quartet music about the Circumpolar North by composers from Iceland, Denmark, Finland, and Russia, alongside visuals curated by Michael Walsh and crafted by Ryan Anderson. The Circumpolar String Quartet was conceived and curated by Conrad Winslow, Homer-raised and NYC-based artistic director of Wild Shore New Music, an Alaskan presenting organization dedicated to new classical music by living composers. EVENT SCHEDULE Friday 3 March — Performance in the office of Michael Walsh during Fur Rondy broadcast on the plaza for passersby at 7:30PM Tuesday 7 March — Pop-up Concert 1 in a stairwell Wednesday 8 March — Pop-up Concert 2 in the museum Thursday 9 March — Pop-up Concert 3 in the museum Friday 10 March — Planetarium Shows at 7PM & 8PM Saturday 11 March — Closing Gala Matinee in the Chugach gallery at 3PM RESIDENCY DESCRIPTION Do northern composers have a particular sound? Is it related to their environment? Their music has been described with such qualities as emotional restraint, manic extremes, and a vital lyrical vein buried just beneath the surface. Winslow and MIVOS have selected music from six regions north of the 49th parallel (Finland, Russia, Iceland, and Denmark) to offer possible answers to these questions. By presenting music from these locations in the Anchorage Museum, listeners can connect their experiences of life in Alaska to the rhythms, sonorities, and structures of circumpolar music. Ryan Anderson will create and curate visuals to accompany Danish composer Hans Abrahamsen’s crystalline String Quartet No. 4 (2012) which alludes to the small-scale components of the large-scale beauty of a frozen landscape. Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho’s Sept Papillons (Seven Butterflies) explores fragile and ephemeral musical qualities in a collection of miniatures for solo cello. Robert Honstein’s Arctic (2013) was created in response to Chris McCaw’s Sunburn photographs, which viscerally reveal the precise path of the Northern sun in by searing it through photographic paper. Honstein’s musical diptych response to the photographs swings from a manic summer mood to introspective winter stillness. Russian composer Sofia Gubaidulina’s String Quartet No. 4 (1993) explores notions of artifice and reality by pitching the players against pre-recorded electronic sounds and uncanny acoustic sounds of a plastic ball bouncing on strings. These juxtapositions may put one in mind of the reality of northern outdoor extremes and the artificial environments that sustain life in the winter. In 2016, Wild Shore joins forces with the National Park Service in celebration of its Centennial, and presents concerts in Alaska, New York City, and Washington, D.C.
This year’s program is comprised entirely of pieces selected through our 2016 call for scores. We received over 160 submissions from composers around the world. The program includes: Albert Behar, "Be Hear Now" Ben Cosgrove, "Carrying Capacity" Erik DeLuca, "Cascades" Aaron Helgeson, "A place towards other places" Aaron Kirschner, "Cryokenetic Variations" Stephen Lias, “Jeffrey Pine" Brian Simalchik, "Overlooks" Max Stoffregen, "California Crest: Cinder Cone” The pieces reflect on questions related to the National Park Service mission of preservation and conservation: How does instrumental music make us stop, look, and listen, while also modeling ways to move through and play with nature? Wild Shore begins in Homer, Alaska on August 9. Our two mainstage concerts will be held at Bunnell Street Arts Center, a multidisciplinary arts space in Homer. On August 23, NYC’s Federal Hall will host Wild Shore in free lunchtime and evening concerts. On August 25, Founders' Day for the National Park Service, we will present an evening concert at Sylvan Theater on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. at 7pm. We invite audiences at all our events to listen to, and reflect on, the age-old struggle to understand the natural world in all its beauty and danger. The 2016 Wild Shore Ensemble includes some of the nation’s finest classically-trained musicians: clarinetist Ken Thomson (Bang on a Can All- stars), cellist Mariel Roberts (MIVOS String Quartet), percussionist Owen Weaver (Mantra Percussion), flutist Katie Cox (Hotel Elefant), violinist Andie Springer (TRANSIT New Music), and pianist Conrad Winslow.  We are excited to welcome Michael Amico to our team as Knowledge Director! Michael is currently finishing his PhD in American Studies at Yale University, where his work questions the place of art and beauty in sexual desire. His dissertation is about the love between two men in the Civil War. His areas of expertise include aesthetic theory and American art. Before attending Dartmouth College, Michael was a professional actor. He has also directed for the theater. After college, he worked in arts marketing for Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth, designing original campaigns for visiting music, theater, and film artists targeted to students and young people. He used performance, activist techniques, and video editing to connect marketing to a larger conversation around particular artists and their work. Presentations of his scholarly research have also included performative elements, and his historical writing has incorporated dramatic and novelistic idioms, to explore how feeling and intellect work together to produce catharsis. Michael is also writing the librettos for two music theater projects in collaboration with composer Conrad Winslow.
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AuthorKatie Cox, Executive Director Archives
January 2025
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