Oxib'

Unexpected sources: the haunting “winnowing” of a snipe, a ghostly pub overtaken by goblins, and the recorded voices of close collaborators. Themes of enmeshment, spirituality, and ecological interconnection emerge, alongside reflections on loss, community, and conflict. From hymn-based stillness to volatile theatricality, each work navigates shifting identities and fragile control, tracing how sound can embody longing, instability, and the search for meaning.

Program Notes, Composers Bio, and Performers Bio

Bilotta, Dirks, and Knecht

"Petroushka Dreams," commissioned by conductor Martha Stoddard, was premiered at a concert in honor of Stravinsky’s 125th birthday featuring works related musically to his ballet. In this piece, I imagine Petroushka, who was murdered at the ballet’s end, existing now in the grey slumber of dreamtime—his only desire to dance with and win the ballerina. The slow, stately music of a saraband surrounds them, but the melody, has an awkward, jagged character—like Petroushka himself—uncoordinated, unattractive, comical. The dance shifts moods, often abruptly. The ballerina disappears as everything spins out of control. Petroushka is alone again, no more in control of his dreams than his life.

John G. Bilotta was born in Waterbury, Connecticut, but has spent most his life in the San Francisco Bay Area where he studied composition with Frederick Saunders. His works have been performed by Rarescale, Earplay, Talea Ensemble, Washington Square Contemporary Music Society, North/South Consonance, Avenue Winds, the Ives Collective, Boston String Quartet, Trio Casals, Belfiato Quintet, the Kiev Philharmonic, San Francisco Cabaret Opera, Bluegrass Opera, Boston Metro Opera, Thompson Street Opera, New Fangled Opera, and Floating Opera. He serves on the Executive Committee of the Society of Composers, Inc., and is currently treasurer of the San Francisco Chapter of NACUSA.

PERFORMERS: Yahasmin Valenzuela, clarinet; Michal Shein, violoncello; Hannah Shields, piano

Yhasmin Valenzuela holds a degree in performance and music education from Conservatorio de Lima, in clarinet from Texas Christian University, and in clarinet from Longy School of Music. Michal Shein is on faculty at Boston String Academy and on faculty at New England Conservatory and maintains a cello studio at the University of Rhode Island. Hannah Shields is a strong advocate for contemporary composers, having performed and recorded many of their works.

"Charlotte Dreams of Winnowing"

A snipe is a bird which soars wonderfully through the evening sky making the air “winnow” through his feathers, producing a wonderful hu-hu-hu-hu-hu to impress the ladies. This piece is created totally from a recording I made of that sound. After she died, I wondered if my mom had ever heard a snipe winnow. It’s possible, since she was raised on the Wyoming prairies. She was a very accomplished acrobatic pilot, and I hoped she had thought of how it would be to winnow as she looped her plane.

Although educated in classical music (Eastman DMA), I spent most of my life in psychology as counselor for the seriously mentally ill and professor of brain anatomy and neurology. I'm surrounded by the Wind River Indian Reservation, and am now retired, old, and arthritic. My consuming passions in life remain roaming wilderness areas with my pack goats and composing with natural sounds. All my music is created from sounds that are around me that I’ve recorded, such as coyotes, birds, donkeys, branches. I explore many different ways that sounds can be heard through various effects and sampling tools.

"Goblins' Nightmare Dance"

This is a pantomime during the intermission in a play. The scene is in a pub. Midnight is near, all dark and quiet. Only some low noise from the carnival floats in by the window. Small sounds from the band begin, soon an ugly goblin appears on tip toes through the window. Others follow by door and stair. The dance begins, growing wild and furious, bringing nightmares to everybody. Suddenly they stop, frozen in their attitudes. Slowly one after the other leaves silently through door and window. The curtain drops and we can enjoy the intermission with drinks in the cafeteria....

Georg L. Gottschamel was born in Austria, July 31st, 1954. After his secondary education he studied chemistry at the University of Technology of Vienna. He was granted a technical doctorate in 1983 and worked in industry for about 40 years till his retirement. Being bored by his piano lessons (from 1962 to 1973), he started to invent short pieces for piano in 1969 - purely as a hobby. He is also very dedicated to all kinds of theatre and painting. In the late nineties began his interest for William Blake, the 18th century poet and painter. He began to write songs to poems of W.B. and other pieces. From 2007 onwards he had some private studies in composition with Bruno Strobl. Currently he is working on a Singspiel called "Il Ritorno di Enrico."

PERFORMERS: Jacob Wolf, clarinet; John Sample, violoncello; Alexey Logunov, piano

"shoulder to shoulder" (2024) is a work for fixed media based on a poem by the same title from my dear friend and writer, Martina Litty. I want to thank my fantastic friends and colleagues for lending me their voices for this piece: David Vess, Chawin Temsittichok, Brian Awad, Rodrigo Castro, Brendan Weinbaum, Colin Martin, David Caldarella, Dr. Dorothy Hindman"

Indigo Knecht is a composer, tubist, and educator fascinated with the challenges people face as they navigate this world. Through a synthesis of contemporary classical music and rock & roll, Indigo explores themes such as environmentalism, mental illness, and self-realization. They are currently in their fourth year at University of Miami pursuing a DMA in Composition under the guidance of Dr. Juan Chattah. Indigo currently teaches music theory and composition at Tennessee Technological University while they continue to develop expansive compositions that bring awareness to issues in our world with groundbreaking technology.

fixed media, text by Martina Litty

Martina Litty is a poet and editor. Her microchapbook The Wall Where You Leave Me was published by Bull City Press in June 2022. More of her work has been published in Pembroke Magazine, Slippage Lit, and Poets Reading the News, among others. She graduated with a BFA in Creative Writing, a Certificate in Publishing, and a Certificate in Professional Writing from the University of North Carolina Wilmington in 2021. Litty is a managing editor in research publishing. Past editorial work includes editing for Atlantis, Grimsy, and Torch, volunteering for the USC Prison Education Project national systems-impacted writers contest, and copyediting for The Laurinburg Exchange.

traditional, experimental, and interdisciplinary performance.

Raynovich, Fleisher, and McFerron

WZJB in Drone

At first we are Untitled, but it is a Time of Being. Imagine a committee at a table. The room is covered in SAWdust. Four people are sitting at that table, three people are standing, and the shadow of the Underworld looms near. The smoke from a cigar is blinding. We argue and Curse over the aesthetics of sound and rhetoric. Some speak of cliche, others speak of an Addiction. We speak of the MEan. I have learnt much from them. I thank them.

William Jason Raynovich’s compositions have been performed at national festivals as well as many local venues. He has received commissions through organizations such as the Chicago Composers Forum, homeroomchicago.org, Access Contemporary Music, Renaissance Society, Athens Municipal Small Brass Ensemble, and the Ear Taxi Festival (Chicago, IL). Currently, William has been working with the open-source visual programming language, Pure Data, to create interactive compositions using notational systems and a series of unconventional instruments built in collaboration with artist Rebecca Reineke. These compositions, including "tre’," and his cello solo piece, now for cello and computer, explore self-similarity systems with audio processing.

Six Little Piano Pieces

These six miniatures inspired by Schoenberg's Op. 19 were composed for the noted British pianist Martin Jones, who premiered them at Radford University (VA) in 2018. His studio recording was released on PnOVA’s American Music Piano Series, Vol. 5 (2019). The outer movements stem from the 1970s, but "No. 1" has a new interior. "No. 2" begins with a brief Op. 19 gesture. "No. 3" contains encryptions of the name Martin Jones. "No. 4" weaves threads together from Schoenberg’s Transfigured Night and a "Mass Sanctus" Mr. Jones composed in his youth. "No. 5" recalls another Schoenberg piano work. "No. 6" has one new melodic pitch and a new chord from Op. 19. This live October 11, 2019 performance occurred during a Society of Composers, Inc. (SCI) region 5 conference at Eastern Illinois University (Charleston, IL).

Robert Fleisher’s music has been heard throughout the U.S. and in more than a dozen other countries and has been released on as many record labels. His acoustic compositions have been called “eloquent” (Ann Arbor News), “beautiful chaos” (Musicworks), “ingenious” (The Strad), and praised for their “astoundingly attractive vertical sonorities” (Perspectives of New Music). His electroacoustic works have been described as “fascinating” (Fanfare), “endearingly low-tech” and possessing “a rich, tactile texture” (New York Times). The author of Twenty Israeli Composers (1997), Fleisher is also a contributor to Theresa Sauer’s "Notations 21 (2009)." He is Professor Emeritus at Northern Illinois University.

PERFORMER: William Koehler, piano

William Koehler, a Houston native, taught piano at the University of Missouri-Columbia (1981-1982) and at Northern Illinois University (1985-2014). He studied with Moreland Roller, Adele Marcus, and William Race, and received first prizes in the 1984 San Antonio International Keyboard Competition and the 1989 New Orleans International Piano Competition. Koehler received his D.M.A. from the University of Texas at Austin in 1986. He performs chamber music throughout the Midwest and has recorded for Cedille Records, Canti Classics, and Centaur Records as a collaborative pianist. In 2011 and 2013, he taught masterclasses and appeared on chamber music concerts in Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas State, Mexico.

"Voltage of this Night" for fixed media was written in 2018. This work is the result of a collaboration between Simone Muench (poet), Keith White (actor), and myself for the Lewis University "Celebration of Scholarship" program.

Mike McFerron is professor of music at Lewis University, and he is founder and co-director of Electronic Music Midwest (http://www.emmfestival.org). His music can be heard on numerous commercial recordings as well as on his website at http://www.bigcomposer.com.

Montalto, Dice, Shapira

"Cantus" is the first in a series of works, each utilizing one to three performers, with electroacoustic accompaniment. In contrast to most of my works, I have chosen in this series to abandon complexity. All musical elements, including electroacoustic source material, are strictly limited. Unambiguous tonality, with an occasional nod to polytonality, is a distinguishing characteristic of the pitch material. Each of the works in the series make use of a cantus firmus. In Cantus, the borrowed material is the hymn tune, Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silent, intoned by the wind controller.

"Richard Montalto earned a DMA from the University of North Texas. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including an ASCAP Grants to Young Composers Award, over 40 ASCAP Standard Awards, and a several Mississippi Artist Fellowships. Montalto has composed over 300 works, with performances at Carnegie Hall, Symphony Space in New York, the Montreaux International Jazz Festival, the New Orleans Contemporary Arts Center, and the International Computer Music Conference. He has served as President of the Southeastern Composers’ League, and the College Music Society Southern Chapter. Richard retired as Professor Emeritus at the Mississippi University for Women.

PERFORMERS: Julia Mortyakova, piano; Richard Montalto, wind controller

Pianist Julia Mortyakova maintains an international performing career. She serves as Professor and Chair of the Department of Music at the Mississippi University for Women and Artistic Director of the International Annual Music by Women Festival. She is the recipient of the 2026 and 2022 Performing Arts Fellowships from the Mississippi Arts Commission, the 2023-2024 MUW Excellence in Creative Activity Award, and the 2023 Programming Award from the International Alliance for Women in Music. She is on the Mississippi Artist Roster. Dr. Mortyakova is a graduate of Interlochen Arts Academy, Vanderbilt University, New York University and the University of Miami.

"Angelic Beings Alighting From Above"

With all the divisiveness, hatred and cruelty in today’s world, I wondered how it could all be resolved. The only solution I imagined was some kind of divine intervention. This piece depicts angelic beings descending to Earth to view the damage to the planet and its inhabitants. They seek ways to rebuild war-torn homelands and calm tensions between people inhabiting disparate worlds of thought and belief systems. Overwhelmed by the enormity of their task they return to where they came from. But did they finish the job, or just give up?

Paul Dice, a former Midwest and New England rock and jazz musician, studied composition at the Boston Conservatory and privately with Lou Harrison and John Clement Adams. His music has been commissioned and performed worldwide in China, Vietnam, Russia, Australia, Armenia, the UK and the U.S. Honors include 4 Global Music Awards Silver Medals, a 2016 Dunhuang Cup (China) and a 2022 Red Jasper shortlist. His music is primarily inspired by movements and sounds of nature, and practices used in other art forms and cultural traditions that he adapts for use in his own brand of music.

PERFORMERS: Lydia Grimes, viola; Sonia Mantell, cello; John Jenson, Piano

Violist Lydia Grimes joined the Minnesota Orchestra in September 2022. A native Minnesotan, Grimes began studying the viola at 16 and received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in viola performance from the Juilliard School. Illinois native Sonia Mantell studied at the New England Conservatory and DePaul School of Music. She joined the Minnesota Orchestra cello section in 2020 and in 2024 was appointed acting co-associate principal cello. After earning music degrees from USC and Occidental College, pianist John Jensen became a Columbia Artists studio musician and later played with VocalEssence, the Minnesota Orchestra, and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra.

"Enmeshment" in psychology describes a relationship where the boundaries between partners dissolve. Enmeshed Development is built around two contrasting motives, which go through nine phases of transformation, until each of them acquires characteristics from the other one - thus the enmeshment.

Alex’s music is performed throughout the US and Europe, he received composition awards from numerous competitions and is featured on the Navona Recordings label and in Jun, an album produced by SkyDeck Music label, which won a 2024 Global Music Award. Alex creates music at the intersection of East and West, Ancient and Modern, which balances between artistic intuition and structural rigor, always prioritizing the authentic emotional experience. He lives in Dallas, has two adult children and four grand-children. He likes to hike, jog, dance, meditate and enjoys modern art and a gourd laugh.

PERFORMER: Ben Gimm, piano

Ben Gimm has appeared as a recitalist and collaborator throughout the Pacific Northwest. He is a graduate of Portland State University, holding Master of Music (M.M.) and Bachelor of Music (B.M.) degrees in piano performance. Praised for his effortless technique and tremendous sensitivity, he was a finalist in the MTNA national competition for chamber strings. His recording of Alex Shapira's new music with pianist Sequoia was released recently on the album "Jun" (Skydeck Music, 2024), presented by Sounds New NACUSA. Other appearances include Orpheus PDX, Lark Opera, Lakewood Theatre, Cascadia Composers, Blueprint Ensemble, and The Portland Ballet.

"This is Love" is the setting of text by the Suffi mystic and poet, Rumi (1207-1273).

This is love: to fly towards a secret sky,
to cause a hundred veils to fall each moment.
First, to let go of life.
In the end, to take a step without feet;
to regard this world as invisible,
and to disregard what appears to be the self.
Oh, Heart, I say, what a gift it has been
to enter this circle of lovers,
to see beyond seeing itself,
to reach and feel within the breast.
-Rumi

A native of Texas, Mel Mobley currently resides in Monroe, Louisiana. As composer, conductor, performer, and advocate of new music, he has been part of numerous premieres and festivals around the country. He is a founder and coordinator of the New Music on the Bayou Festival in north Louisiana. While frequently performing with the Monroe, Shreveport, and South Arkansas Symphonies, Mel is also heavily involved in the production of contemporary chamber music. His compositions have been performed throughout the U.S. and abroad and can be found on the Ansonica, Navona, and Revello labels. Dr. Mobley teaches at the University of Louisiana at Monroe and at several camps throughout Haiti in the summers. He is a member of ASCAP, National Association of Composers USA, and the Southeastern Composers League. More information can be found at melmobley.com.

PERFORMERS: University of Louisiana at Monroe Chamber Singers, Justin Havard, piano

The University of Louisiana Chamber Singers is a select group of 12-24 voices. The group performs accompanied and a cappella music of all styles and periods. Chamber Singers are auditioned out of the ULM Concert Choir and give 1-2 chamber concerts on their own each year. Justin Havard is an accomplished director, pianist, singer and educator. Originally from Mobile, Alabama, he received his Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Choral Music Education from Florida State University with an emphasis on Piano. He is on faculty with the Sherrill Milnes VOICExperience as a director and pianist, and he has played for many national tours including The Book of Mormon, Wicked, and Spamalot. Mr. Havard is particularly known for his work with Acapella Groups and Musical Theatre, and he has presented for the American Choral Directors Association, Florida Music Educators’ Association Conference, and the Florida State Thespian Conference."

"A Wisdom Seldom Seen"

In this piece, I hope to evoke a mystical, energetic, somewhat alien atmosphere, as humans might feel while observing the plant world. Each of the instruments creates unusual sounds; microtones, sounds of friction and wind, bent tones, intricately weaving lines, subdued yet exquisite colors. Each of the instruments has its own beauty – colors, textures, ways of moving. Then these complex instruments interact with each other, in just of a few of the infinite ways they could. This parallels the plants involved in mycorrhizal networks – each plant is discrete and huge networks of these plants come together to create something amazing.

Sarah Bassingthwaighte is a Canadian-American composer whose work focuses on climate and social justice. She’s the winner of the European Music, International Satie, International Saint-Saëns, and the International Couperin Competitions, the NFA Newly Published Music Award and is a finalist for the American Prize and the ICMA Awards. The London Symphony Orchestra recorded an album of her orchestral work titled Orchestrating the Wild. She teaches at Seattle Pacific University and Cornish College of the Arts.

PERFORMERS: Sarah Bassingthwaighte, flute; Bhavani Kotha, oboe; Storm Benjamin, percussion; Ellie Yamanaka, electric harp; Eric Rynes, violin; Rose Bellini, cello

Bhavani Kotha was a winner of the 2019 National Yamaha Young Performing Artists Competition and the National Federation of Music Clubs Carolyn Nelson Double Reed Award. Eric Rynes has been hailed for his “intrepid,” “spellbinding,” and “achingly beautiful” performances in diverse styles and genres. Storm Benjamin is an ambitious percussionist and music educator from the Pacific Northwest. Cellist Rose Bellini is an adventurous musician accomplished in traditional, experimental, and interdisciplinary performance.

"Calm is the Ocean"

This short composition rounds out the album with a call to the ocean.

PERFORMERS: Benjamin Schoening, voice; David Peoples, percussion and electronics

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