The Vernon Salon Series, hosted by Anne Rainwater (https://annerainwater.com/vernonsalonseries/), will present CNMAT affiliated composer and vocalist Sarah Grace Graves on March 10 at 7:30 PM PST. Her program is called Circular Song: an evening of hushed, recursive music, featuring works by Joan La Barbara, Erin Gee, Giacinto Scelsi/Michiko Hirayama, John Cage and herself.
Sarah Grace Graves writes: the pieces on Circular Song have been curated for Anne’s cozy living room, taking listeners on an intimate, cyclical journey through many facets of the voice. Joan La Barbara’s Circular Song takes the performer outside the bounds of classical singing: first by exploring the other half of the breath, the inhale, and then by opening up multiphonics throughout the entire vocal range. Erin Gee’s Mouthpiece II treats the voice as a soundmaker, rejecting self-expression and linguistic meaning in favor of a quietly effervescent physicality. Rooted in experimental voice legend Michiko Hirayama's deeply personal improvisatory practice, the Canti del Capricorno require each new interpreter to find their own intention within the music, discovering and applying their own forces of play, internal conflict, and synthesis. John Cage’s A Flower was written for a choreography by Louise Lippold and possesses a wild innocence. My piece embrace puts the listener inside the singer’s voice, externalizing the internal world of sound and sensation coursing through the singer’s body through an intricately woven journey through ephemeral and complex vocal spaces. All the works on this program are honest and physical, showing different sides of my voice and allowing me to explore a multitude of relationships with my body as my instrument.
