C4 Choral Composer Conductor Collective

Programs: Fy 17-18 highlights c4concert i: love and other stories (november 9, 11) - c4 presented a concert of songs about love - both for and against. One of the centerpieces of this concert was bernard rands' lovely and haunting canti d'amor, a cycle of 15 love madrigals based on poetry by james joyce. On the other side, c4 performed mario gullos anti-love songs, featuring the poetry of pamela august russell, which takes a humorous look at the not-so-lovely side of love. Other pieces performed were mirjam tallys sinu vari, scored for chorus, tape, and seashell wind chimes, david sees two poems by robert herrick, michal zilkowskis evening star, and perry townsends dont ride off. Concert ii: devotion (march 8, 10)- this concert presented works both sacred and secular that explored the concept of devotion, and the myriad ways it can be expressed. For devotion, c4 collaborated with the award-winning brooklyn youth chorus (byc), with byc commissioning three c4 composers to write pieces for their mens ensemble. Karen siegels infinite hour and jamie klenetsky fays i remain were premiered on devotion by the byc mens ensemble, and martha sullivans devotion featured both the byc and the men of c4. Another centerpiece work of this concert was wolfram buchenbergs vier geistliche gesnge, carlo perez tabaress simple motets for mens choir, and hayes biggss who are you? The result of a collaboration between mr. Biggs and zsuzsanna ard who provided the evocative text. Other works on the concert were gilad cohens al mishkavi belaylot, peter louis van dijks chariots, and joseph prestamos heavy, like water, all showing the diverse colors and talents of the c4 ensemble. Concert iii: water music (june 7, 9) - this concert featured the three winners of c4s ignite commissioning competition: massimo lauricella, nilo alcala, and lucas marshall smith, all of whom had their commissioned works premiered by c4. Lauricellas para alm, alcalas crossing the bar, and smiths hide and seek all expressed the composers unique voices and embodied different characteristics and emotions associated with water. A centerpiece of the concert was jaakko mntyjrvis canticum calamitatis maritimae, based on the shipwreck of the estonia on september 28, 1994, and served as the inspiration for the water music concert title. Other works featured were vince petersons full fathom five, j. D. Frizzells water, julian david brysons fire and ice, timothy browns drip dream, bettina sheppards big catch, carlo vincetti frizzos fugue with robin and dogwood, and wilma alba cals prtico. Performances occurred in manhattan, brooklyn, and queens. With the addition of our executive administrator at the beginning of this year, more of the administrative tasks have been shifted to her, freeing up the ensemble members to create new artistic committees and to devote more time to initiatives such as cultivating relationships with local music schools, seeking out interesting and exciting collaborators, choosing challenging and inspiring repertoire, and much more. In addition, c4 continued its practice of surveying our audiences to solicit feedback on our marketing and artistic efforts, including repertoire and quality of performance; for our cycle iii concert, we added questions seeking suggestions for future themes, as well as recommendations and connections with new venues.