Updates from Lisa Ann Marsh
Serenade
This piece was premiered by Wyatt True and Jannie Wei, members of Delgani String Quartet, on November 10, 2020. It is a love song for two violins, inspired by Baroque composer Barbara Strozzi.
Score and parts available for purchaseConcert Mosaic
This song cycle for soprano, string quartet and percussion was inspired by the poems of Deborah Buchanan and my desire to celebrate the beauty of our city and the natural world. In these changing times filled with turmoil and uncertainty, we can find peace around us and among us. The song cycle is dedicated to the memory of Lyndee Mah, Portland’s own musical treasure. It was premiered at Concert Mosaic February, 2020.
Score and parts available for purchaseThe Light of Music
The Machine
Triptych
Program Notes:
The Wave - Wind and water have carved the sandstones in this area of Northern Arizona over millions of years. The wavelike patterns left behind are like none other on the planet. Time as a signpost is appreciated as one moves slowly over and through the geologic eras.
Horseshoe Canyon - Deep in the canyon, miles from civilization, we viewed pictographs from Native Americans dating as far back as 2,000 B.C. The luminous figures, approachable yet distant, stared out at us.
Orkney - The heart of Neolithic Orkney is a group of 5,000-year-old sites on the mainland including rings of giant stones and preserved ancient villages. The strength and heritage of the Pics/Scots are reflected in the landscape.
Score available for purchaseDisconnect
Program Notes: Frettoloso
"Frettoloso" is Italian for hurried. From the moment we awake out of peaceful slumber we are rocketed into a world of frenetic energy that propels us through our lives with little time or space for human connections. With chaotic conflicting meters, searing glissandos and pounding rhythms, this string quartet gives sonic expression to the hurried pace of our modern life.
Score available for purchaseProgram Notes: Connectivity
Woven into the frustration and antagonism of our time are many common emotional threads connecting human beings. This three-movement piece explores emotions we all share: Love, Fear and Hope. It is scored for amplified viola, electric piano/synthesizer, percussion, and a dancer. The power of love is expressed in the first movement with strains of a famous love song and a heartbeat motive. Fear is love's greatest enemy. The second movement expresses this strong emotion. We fear for our lives, our children's future, and the health of our planet. Bombs drop; machine guns fire, and we seek cover- often in isolation. I have included a rhythmic motive Ravel used in one of his most frightening pieces. Finally Hope brings peace and purpose to a troubled world. The cycle ends with a rousing jig; inspired by the Scottish people I met last summer whose lives celebrate family and history.
I have incorporated a special instrument for this piece. The thunder sheet was created by Joe Johnson, using a metal sheet composed of brass and copper that he hammered to create different sound effects.
Christina Ebersohl contributed to the creation of this piece by exploring sounds of bombs and machine guns on her amplified viola. Our dancer, my niece Christina Wolken, choreographed her dance from Seattle, using audio tracks we sent her. Ellen Blazich will paint the dancer the day of the show, adding a stunning visual element to this piece.
Fire and Ice
Program Notes: Will We Remember
I wrote these songs for my daughters and for all future generations to help them remember the beauty of the glaciers and our role as stewards of this planet. The music is directly inspired by the poetry of Deborah Buchanan- the lyrics for this song cycle. Sound effects for the first two songs, "Deep in the Veins" and "Blue the Color of Eyes," were chosen to evoke the icy glaciers disseminating into water and include an ice xylophone created by Joe Johnson. "Pollen Adrift," the third song, opens with the sounds of Native American water drums, created for this song cycle by Michael Heralda. The last song, "They Once Lived Here'" contains motives derived from the Selk'nam people's chants I heard on a Smithsonian recording and translated into melodies. Their tribe is now extinct.
Forces of Nature - CD Release - Two Nights
Event:
Burn After Listening: Fire and Ice
When:
Friday, April 28, 2017
Saturday, April 29, 2017
Where:
PLACE
735 NW 18th Avenue
Portland, Oregon 97209
Tickets:
General: $20 advance/$25 @ door
Students: $10 advance/$12 @ door
VIP package: $40 (advance purchase only)
Standing room may be released @ door only: $10 (limited availability)
Visit Design Week Portland for tickets and information.
The Amusement
The Amusement, Act I
- Miserere- Polyhymnia and Chorus
- Arthur's Motto- Arthur
- Arthur's Motto Interlude- Arthur, Erato, Melpomene, Terpsichore, Polyhymnia
Living Local
Perceptions of Sound
Performance of "Counting Again, Beginning at One" from the Perception of Sound Concert
Score available for purchase
Crazy Jane Prevails
Dark Waters
Lisa Ann Marsh, composer and conductor; Benjamin Leinfelder, flute; Tatiana Kolchanova, violin; Hannah Hillebrand, cello; Jackie Miclau, piano; Tyler Bragg, percussion
Score available for purchaseDesert Etudes
Lisa Ann Marsh, piano. Cascadia Composers January Jubilation concert 1/24/15 in Portland, Oregon.
Score available for purchaseLa Mer Plastique
Lisa Ann Marsh, synthesizer and instruments en plastique;
Bonnie Miksch, musique concrète and instruments en plastique.
Premiered at the Crazy Jane Inner Nature concert 11/14/14 at Portland State University.
Newly Released: Serpentine
Written for the John Cage prepared piano
Performed October 2012 at PSU
Listen to a sample
My solo piano pieces "Along the Road" and "Hidden" will be performed at the Cascadia Composers "In Good Hands" concert.
Performance: Thursday, July 10th, 2014 at 4:00 pm
Venue: Portland Piano Company 711 SW 14th Ave., Portland, OR 97201
The last movement of my Suite for Flute and Piano- “Changeling”- will be performed for the Cascadia “Lights Out Concert” in January, 2014 by Sydney Carlson and myself.
Performance: Friday, January 24th, 2014 at 7:30 pm
Venue: Temple Baptist Church, 1319 NE 7th Ave, Portland, OR 97232
Distillation
"Distillation" is my plunge into writing for amplified instruments. It is a song based on a poem by Deborah Buchanan that uncovers the myriad of emotions we hide with laughter. Renée Favand-See's haunting voice was the inspiration for the melody, and Dustin Silva’s guitar wizardry informed the guitar part. It was premieres at the "Crazy Jane Misbehaves" concert in Portland, Oregon. November 15, 2013.
"Arthur and Urania" from the opera "aMusement"
"Arthur and Urania" from the opera "aMusement", performed at Iowa State University June 24th, 2013. Performed by Melissa Malde, mezzo-soprano; Kurt Zeller, tenor; Stephen Caplan, oboe; David Nesmith, French Horn, and Lisa Ann Marsh, piano.