PROJECTS
LIMINAL
Liminal is a chamber opera that explores the evolving threshold between human imagination and artificial cognition. Set in the 22nd century, a woman reports the disappearance of a man named “K” to CERES, an A.G.I. oracle governing social order. As CERES interrogates the woman, it concludes that “K” never existed, diagnosing her with hallucinations and prescribing neural “realignment.” Re-imagining the seventeenth-century polymath Athanasius Kircher as “K,” Liminal is a philosophical detective story asking how faith, perception, and art endure when intelligence becomes absolute.
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For the 2027/2028 season, Dramatic Voices Midwest and Cardinalis/Choral Guild KC have jointly commissioned Liminal as a flexible composition performable by an opera company and/or a choral ensemble. The modular design allows for new forms of collaboration in terms of production capabilities, budgetary matters, and audience-reach and speaks to the need for presenting relevant works on contemporary issues.
DIGITAL OPIUM
A caustic mediation on human interaction with technology for Electric Guitar, Tenor Solo, Choir and Electronics.
CANON FOR RACIAL RECONCILIATION
Experience a groundbreaking fusion of traditions with the Pacific Northwest première of the complete Canon for Racial Reconciliation for choir and gospel instrument ensemble.
Isaac Cates (Gospel music) and Nicholas Reeves (Orthodox music) co-composed an unforgettable score to African American Carla Thomas’s poem that takes the form of an ancient Byzantine canon.
Their composition weaves a tapestry of healing and hope, taking you on a journey from brokenness to reconciliation, bridging two traditions of sacred song. It’s more than music, it’s a movement.
source: Cappella Romana
BETTY’S NOTEBOOK
What appeared to be a normal afternoon for a teenaged girl turned out to be one of the most significant findings in the aftermath of Amelia Earhart’s disappearance. Based on a radio transcription from 1937, Betty’s Notebook utilizes the historical accounts of Betty Klenck Brown, who, as a fifteen year-old girl, wrote down what she believed to be the distress call of Amelia Earhart. After years of being dismissed, Brown’s notebook finally has been given the serious historical consideration it always deserved. The disappearance of Earhart remains an unsolved mystery to this day motivating many to keep seeking answers to a question which eludes as much as it inspires. Under the enthusiastic direction of Sam Brukhman, the Verdigris ensemble premiered Betty’s Notebook in Dallas at multiple venues (February, 2019). The ensemble is currently embarking on a ambitious premiere recording project of the work, synthesizing art music and blockchain technology to be released in 2021.
To read more on the recording project: Betty’s Notebook Recording Project.
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Artwork by Bryan Brinkman
MELODÍA
Known for programming a vast range of contemporary repertoire with a tenacious approach to detail, the Goeyvaerts String Trio is an ideal ensemble to premiere a new composition. Melodía is a multimedia work written specifically for the Goeyvaerts exploiting the symphonic potential of their chamber instrumentation (Violin, Viola, and Cello). The first performance, in February of 2020, was given in Belgium at the Passages VII festival with a premiere recording underway (2021).
Listen to the Sound Installation version: Melodía-Sound Installation
CONCERTINO CAMPANE
Concertino Campane was premiered on October 30th, 2019 by the Capital Symphony Orchestra and soloist Tania Stavreva under the direction of Vladimir Gorbik. Specifically written for Stavreva, this work features famous bells found within different cultures while showcasing her rhythmic intensity at the keyboard. Each movement highlights a unique feature of three world renowned bells: societal function (Prague Astronomical Clock), sensuous presence (Uspensky Bell), and method of ringing (Westminster Abbey).
Listen to the first Movement, “Three Days in a Minute”: Concertino Campagne
PULSE
After the successful premiere in October of 2018 at Adelphi University, Vladimir Gorbik will once again lead the Capital Symphony Orchestra in a performance of Pulse. The title, Pulse, indicates the driving force behind this composition’s thematic material as well as its structural contours: the human heart rate. This work is a rhapsody scored for violin solo and string orchestra.​
ALL-NIGHT VIGIL
The custom of morning the loss of the departed at their burial site while awaiting their resurrection is a custom found from ancient times in the Gospels and re-experienced many times throughout the centuries right up to present times. The original Greek word á¼€γρυπνία denotes wakefulness or a time of watching and this anticipation in the night for the light of the risen Christ is the hope and joy found in the All-night Vigil. Taken from the offices of the Orthodox Church, this setting of the Vigil encompasses the vast richness of chant traditions (and their original languages) currently used by the Eastern Orthodox. The expanse of cultures employed is reflected in the size of the ensemble; the All-night Vigil is scored for two six-part choirs and an ensemble of Byzantine chanters. The William Jewell choir Cardinalis under the direction of Anthony Maglione continues to premiere movements of this work in progress.
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Listen: Lord, Now Lettest
ARVO PÄRT PROJECT
From the fall 2011 through the Spring of 2014, Reeves and Peter Bouteneff created the Arvo Pärt Project, a collaboration borne out of the deep connection between the composer Arvo Pärt and the spiritual tradition that grounds his music. The Project is designed to shine a light into the previously unexplored depths of Pärt’s work through a lasting collaborative relationship in three forms:
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Concerts and lectures
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Publication Projects
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Academic Collaboration
Recent events include concerts in 2018 and 2017 as part Sacred Music in a Sacred Space, in 2016 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and a series of performances in 2014 at the Kennedy Center, the Phillips Collection, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Carnegie Hall. The Grammy award winning conductor Tõnu Kaljuste led the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra and the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir in a 2014 performance described by the New York Times as “emotionally devastating, traversing expressions of grief, bitter anger and hope.” The concerts also provided audiences a rare opportunity to see Pärt attend performances of his own music in the United States; his last visit to New York was in 1984.
To see more about this project please visit arvopartproject