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Composition Overview

Violetta, current project

Libretto by Leo Balkovitz

Wanting: 3 Mini Operas about Queer Dating and Relationships, May 16, 2021

     The Misperception 10 min (originally premiered May 2020 with Kristen Marion as Idina and Cortlin Presley as Tasha)

     The Date 16 min

     Epilogue 5 min

Kristen Marion as Idina, Julia Marcus as Tasha, Soren Austenfeld as Asher, Scott Scarlett Kluger as Billie, Tuan Nguyen violin, Yuek Sze (Zoe) Chau viola, Luping (Robyn) Xu and Jules Frenette piano. Livestreamed from Pickman Hall, Cambridge MA

Riven Driftwood, December 7, 2014. Libretto by Louise Edwards with Christine Jay soprano, Sarah Kahn straight-tone soprano, Quinn Gutman soprano, Brendan Case baritone, Caterina Yetto violin, Hannah Dara viola, Nicholas Loucks bass gamba, Jessica Bieniarz cello, Casey Karr bass, Randal Chaves-Camacho and Carson Frattus percussion, Ana Nelson clarinet, Jacob Blizard guitar, and Aida Baladian and I-Lin Tsai piano at Oberlin Conservatory’s Warner Concert Hall. 32:02

Softer or something?, 2021, text by Quinn Gutman. Quinn Gutman soprano, Hunter Horne horn at Pickman Hall in the Longy School of Music, Cambridge, MA. 1:30

7 Banned Words, 2018, for voice and vibraphone.

Tesla in Love, April 2016. Poem by Nicholas Bassman. James Vitz Wong dancer, Justin Weiss conductor, Kelsey Burnham flute, Quinn Gutman soprano, Daphne Pickens and Stephanie Atwood violins, Thomas Chafe viola, Linnea Scott cello at Oberlin Conservatory, Oberlin, OH. 10:03

Warbler Woman, April 2016, poem by Louise Edwards. Quinn Gutman soprano, Leonard Ranallo guitar, Benjamin Craig vibraphone at Oberlin Conservatory, Oberlin, OH. 5:23

Somebody?…Anybody?…,  February 28, 2014. Christine Jay soprano and flute, originally named "Wilber". Fairchild Chapel, Oberlin, OH. 10:04

Where will Rest the Wanderer?, Translation by Joseph  Auslander of “Wo wird einst des Wandermüden” by Heinrich Heine. November 15, 2013 Noah Underhill boy soprano, Leo Ziporyn oboe, Chrispin Swank guitar, Derek Zinky and Christiana Rose piano at Warner Concert Hall, Oberlin Conservatory, Oberlin, OH. 9:04

Parting at Morning, Text by Robert Browning. April 6, 2013 Micaela Aldridge mezzo-soprano, Zijun (Blaine) Xiong clarinet, and Candy Chang flute at Oberlin Conservatory. 4:56

The Eagle that is Forgotten, June 2012, for voice, flute, and two guitars. Text by Vachel Lindsay.

Palindrome, for Transient Canvas, bass clarinet and 5-octave marimba 2021. Livestreamed from Pickman Hall. 5 min.

Come Along, for Longy's Ensemble Uncaged, 2021, Nicholas Schleyer, Abby Temple, Hollyn Slykhuis trumpets, Livestreamed from Pickman Hall. 3 min

Just Sit and Relax, for solo guitar, 2020

The Toys We Played With, 2019. Nickolas Stavros flute, Kathryn DeLaMare cello at Pickman Hall of Longy School of Music, Cambridge, MA.

The Immortal, 2017, performed by the Mivos Quartet at the Walden School of Music Creative Musicians Retreat at The Dublin School, Dublin, NH. 4:56.

The Writer, 2016. Inspired by the poem by Richard Wilber. Robert Cosgrove percussion, Evangeline Werger piano at SUNY Stony Brook Staller Center for the Arts, Stony Brook, NY. 5:56

Sandpipers, 2015. Nave Graham flute, Eric Umble clarinet, and Bram Margoles violin at the Middlebury Town Hall, Middlebury, NH. 9:58

There’s Nothing to be Afraid of…, 2013. Ben Prima and Casey McLellan percussion, Thea Mesirow cello at Ferman University’s Daniel Recital Hall. 9:45

To Unity, 2013. Alex Baker cello, Alex Rossi tuba, Ben Stock piano at Oberlin Conservatory’s Kulas Recital Hall. 5:55

Breaking Habits, 2012 in a Composition Concert at Oberlin Conservatory with Nathaniel Cornell violin and Annika Sundberg viola. 5:46

Abnormal Day, 2012 with Giovanni Bertoni clarinet at Oberlin Conservatory’s Kulas Recital Hall. 2:53

Trio for Bassoon, Kalimba, and Bass Drum, 2012 with Dana Jessen bassoon, David Meyers kalimba, and Quinn Gutman bass drum at a Walden School Composers Forum, Dublin, NH. 1:39

Tension or Child’s Dream, 2012 with Trio KAVAK, Amelia Lukas flute, Miranda Sielaff viola, and Kathryn Andrews harp at a Walden School Alumni Composers Forum, New York City, NY. 3:16

7 Bagatelles 2011 with Jessi Rosinski flute, Tierney O’Brien clarinet, Tawnya Popoff viola, Robert Burkhart cello, and Steve Beck piano at a Walden School Composers Forum. 7:28

Monkey and Zookeeper, 2011 with Joshua Clampitt flute and Tony Makarome electric bass at a Walden School Composers Forum. 1:13

Arrangements

Excerpt from Voices Followed: The Illuminations of Joan of Arc by Bruno C. Faria

Orchestra FLEX and soprano Quinn Gutman

4 Enchor Songs by Florence Price, arranged for Orchestra FLEX and mezzo-soprano Nina Kasper

Walt Whitman in 1989 by Chris DeBlasio, arranged for Orchestra FLEX and tenor Enjie Lian

O Choruscans lux stellarum by Quinn Gutman, arranged for Orchestra FLEX and soprano Quinn Gutman

Warbler Woman by Quinn Gutman, arranged for Orchestra FLEX and soprano Quinn Gutman

Kavanu Bechoshech from Three Yuval Rabin Songs by Osnat Netzer, arranged for Orchestra FLEX and soprano Quinn Gutman

Lo Yisa Goy, Hebrew folk song arranged for Oberlin's CHALLaH cappella

Hava Nashira, Hebrew folk song arranged for Oberlin's CHALLaH cappella

We Will Outlive Them...Letters to Rivka From Galica, current project, commissioned by Jessica Bloch, set to letters delivered her Great Great Grandmother in the US while the rest of her family was in Galicia of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire through WWI and WWII. 

A Lost Love, a song cycle commissioned by soprano, Cortlin Presley about the life of Mercedes from The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas.

     Mercedes’ Rejection to Fernond

     The Years that Followed

     Mercedes sees Edmond Again

A Cappella Arias, A book of arias meant to be sung a cappella. Continuing Project.

Current complete arias include;

     The Thing About Cats (text by John L’Heureux) 1:48

     Witness (text by Quinn Gutman) 2:16

     Talk (text by by D. H. Lawrence) 0:39

     Mowing (text by Robert Frost) 1:30

     Three Things to Remember (text by William Blake)

          1:30

     Die Erblendende (text by Reine Maria Rilke) 2:30

     The Unseen Playmate (text by Robert Lewis

          Stephenson) 2:30

     Letter (text by Amy Lowell) 2:00

     Pain or Joy (text by Christina Rosetti) 1:30

     Do Me a Favor (text paraphrased from Sappho) 2:00

     The Testimony of Sarah Good (text from the transcript of the witchcraft trial of Sarah Good 1692 Salem Town, MA) 2:00

      I'm not afraid (text by Quinn Gutman) 2:00

Warbler Woman, arrangement for piano and soprano. 5:23

What is G-d?, December 10 and 13, 2018. For SATB choir, Commissioned and performed by Quorum Boston, at the Josephine A. Fiorentino Community Center in Allston, MA and the First Church in Cambridge, MA. 3:30

Music, When Soft Voices Die, for SATB choir, Text by Percy Bysshe Shelley, June 28, 2011 at a Walden School Composers Forum, Dublin NH, with the Walden School Chorus conducted by Leo Wanenchak. 3:00

The Akosta Cats, January 29, 2017. Quinn Gutman voice, visual art, and fixed electronics and Beth Parades piano. Neve Tsedek in Tel Aviv, Israel 7:56

     Smokey (for solo voice) (text by Louise Edwards

     Paulie (for voice and fixed media)

     Bouvier and Tangerine (for solo piano)

Inside and Outside the Monkey Cage, April 2016. Text by linguistic anthropologist Raymond Chira. Quinn Gutman video instalation and dancer, Ryn McWhirter dancer, Nicolas Randarvielo singer, Chelsea DeSouza chanter, Jay Shapiro rapper, Zoe Swann improvised vocals, Benjamin Craig percussion. 12:58

 

Departure, April 2016. Poem by Zachariah Claypole White. Julia Redden actor/spoken voice and Quinn Gutman fixed media at Oberlin Conservatory, Oberlin OH. 3:59

Hunting and Chasing, March 2013. For fixed electronics. 2.25

 

Motion in Sound and Sight, March 13, 2013 I-Lin Tsai piano, Benjamin Rampel percussion, and Quinn Gutman electronics and video playback. Oberlin Conservatory, Oberlin, OH. 9:34

Past and Present, written 2012, premiered July 3, 2012 at a Walden School Composers Forum with Quinn Gutman voice and  fixed electronics, Ian Monroe piano, and Sara Riskind violin. 3:53

Can we just stop this already?, 2020 Commissioned for Digital Divergent with Vanessa Holroyd flute/piccolo, Kemp Jernigan oboe, Chuck Ferlong clarinet, Hazel Dean Davis horn, and Rachel Elliott bassoon. 5 min

How to Sneak in the Night, 2020 Commissioned for Digital Divergent with Daniel Venglar trumpet, and Patrick Wu violin. 4 min.

Tossing and Turning, 2016. Text by John Updike. Commissioned and performed by Evan Miller vibraphone and spoken voice at TEJAS Gallery.

Let’s Keep in Touch, 2015 for percussion quartet. Read by SŌ Percussion at the Lewis Center for the Arts, Princeton, NJ. Premiered at the Summer Institute for Contemporary Performance Practice, New England Conservatory, Boston, MA. 8:30

Alone Amongst Everyone Else, 2015 Evan Miller, Tiago Calderano, and Maxwell Kolpin percussion at Small World Coffee, Princeton, NJ. 8:28

It’s Coming (and You Can’t Ignore it), 2014. Ari Streisfeld and Alexandra Matloff violins, John Pickford Richards viola, Georgiy Khoklov cello, Jessica Woodbridge King bassoon at the Middlebury Town Hall, Middlebury, NH, 9:04

11 Strophes 2019 an open instrumentation graphic score. Longy School of Music N-1 in Cambridge, MA. approx. 8 minutes. 

A Book of Happenings, 2015-current, A collection of happenings that can be performed on a stage, in a public area, or in your own home. 

      Multilingual Lunch

      An Object, How do you feel?

wine/line(in)gradients, 2014. A graphic score/open instrumentation piece premiered by the Oberlin Nonsemble.

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