Happy New Year!!!!

 

Happy New Year!!!! Melissa is starting 2022 off strong, with no punches held and no quips unsaid! This month has already had Melissa all over this place, working on experiments in opera and film, podcast appearances, performances, and amassing a larger Twitter following by telling historians where to stick it! It's led to some fun moments, as pictured above - is she telling a privy story or is she warning (threatening?) the interviewer? You'll have to watch Melissa and Matt's interview with the Museum of American Revolution and find out for yourself! UPCOMING PERFORMANCES AND PROJECTS In February, beloved Philadelphia mezzo Maren Montalbano will be performing selections from The Bodice Ripper Project, her one-woman show with songs by Melissa, for East Passyunk Opera Project—both live at Society Hill Dance Academy, and streaming online! The $35 ticket to the live show includes two complimentary cocktails for guests over 21—what a steal!  The Singers will be performing American DREAMERS as part of their AT HOME concert on January 23rd at 2PM. If you're in Minneapolis that day, swing by the American Swedish Institute to check it out! On February 13th (on the other side of the pond), the BBC Singers conducted by Howard Goodall will be singing Mourning into Dancing. Find tickets and venue information here! This month, Melissa is also back at Theater Exile to sound design The Motherfucker with the Hat by Stephen Adly Guirgis. The show opens for previews on February 3rd with an awesome director and an awesome cast, so don't miss out!! ADDITIONALLY! Melissa is working on new songs for a host of upcoming commissioners, including Skylark Ensemble, Lyric Fest, Washington and Lee University, and the BBC Singers! Stay tuned! Be on the lookout: Lara St. John will also be releasing a studio recording of kommós soon—here's a previous video recording of the piece! PREVIOUS PERFORMANCES AND PROJECTS La Caccina performed the world premier of New Dreams, the piece based on the life and work of Grace Lee Boggs mentioned in last month's newsletter! Chicago Classical Review called this and Wild Embers the "compositional standouts of the night." Voices of Concinnity performed Halcyon Days last month! The Young New Yorkers' Chorus also performed Halcyon Days! Grace and St. Peter's Choir performed O Oriens last month in Baltimore! Production still from filming of Everything for Dawn. Experiments in Opera and Film!! Experiments in Opera began shooting the film project Everything for Dawn. The project consists of nine episodes written by different composer-librettist teams, and Krista Knight and Melissa were the team for episode 6! Omicron shut down the shoot before they were finished, but not before they got some great production shots! They will resume shooting when the surge has calmed down and release later this year.  Meanwhile, check out this snippet of video from the shoot to get you excited! SHEET MUSIC and ALBUM RELEASE Melissa just released a piano-vocal version of her baritone art song Black Thunder, a setting of Luke Stromberg's poem. Download this score here!   #UnitedWeDream from American DREAMers appears on Tonality's newly released album America Will Be featuring pieces which speak "directly to the injustices that have yet to be labeled." Buy/stream on Bandcamp, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Spotify, and Tidal! MELISSA TALKING On top of the MoAR interview, Melissa was also interviewed for The Composer Chronicles podcast! She talks about her process and how, if you want to be a composer, you need to write what you're passionate about and that music and composing are both political in nature. Listen to the episode wherever you get podcasts—here's the Apple Podcasts link. I'D LIKE TO ASK YOU AGAIN: DO YOU LIKE BONES? The Boghouse Gift Shop is still open! And Melissa and Matt are selling mostly animal bones from the 1700s found in their privies! Bone earrings! Bone necklaces! Loose bones for crafts! Buy one to tide you over till the next (rumored to be soon) episode of The Boghouse! That's it from me folks! Have a great rest of your month - stay cozy, stay safe all! —Claris

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