Composer/Musician Relations

Eileen Strempel

Introduction

In 2004 I was invited by the Society For New Music to compose a song cycle for soprano and piano. I composed Natural Questions which includes an inspiring text by my father-in-law Richard Hibbert. The piece was being rehearsed and all was going well, however, a week before the concert I was informed that the soprano backed out and was not going to sing for the performance. The next day I was told the concert was still on and another soprano had been hired. Living in Albany I was not able to attend any rehearsals during the week which made me quite anxious about the premiere of my music. My father-in-law and I showed up a half-hour before the concert. I had just enough time to be introduced to soprano Eileen Strempel. After the first couple of measures of the first song (there are six) I was put at ease and knew my music was in great care. Eileen delivered a most memorable and sublime performance of Natural Questions. After the performance we had a chance to meet and I told her I hoped we would to work together in the future. In the next year Natural Questions would receive many performances by Eileen.

Recording

In 2005 I spoke to Eileen about a recording project that would include all of my song cycles to date. During our talks I informed her that I would soon be starting another cycle for the recording. Eileen asked if I would consider using poems by Canadian poetess Margaret Atwood. I was interested and Eileen sent me about seventy-five poems to choose from. I was instantly attracted to Ms. Atwood’s writing and found it difficult to settle on just four for my cycle. When completed, this cycle was entitled Four Settings of Margaret Atwood for soprano and piano. During the recording project Eileen had asked me why I was making the recording. I told her that I wanted a professional CD to be able to send for competitions and for performance consideration. My answer did not satisfy Eileen and she strongly encouraged me to shop the CD around to a label. This seemed to be a daunting task for me at the time, a young composer. I took her advice, shopped the CD, and received several different offers and decided to distribute through the Albany Record Label.

The Musician

Eileen’s accomplishments as a musician as numerous, however, in my opinion more importantly is her approach to music. The thoughtfulness and care that she takes in preparing a piece of music is exceptional. The composers’ intent is always realized in her performances, which is a blessing for any composer.

Composer/Musician Relations

During my short time as a composer thus far, I have been blessed to work with some great musicians. In addition to their accomplished musicianship, they bring to their performances a genuine and thoughtful approach to the music. It is a great experience to be able to constantly work with professional musicians, however when they go beyond learning the notes and rhythms and take the time to fully understand the music, a new appreciation for their craft is understood. I believe in the psychological aspect that a comprehensive understanding of the music translates to a great performance.

I will be writing a series of blogs based on my relationships with some of the musicians with whom I have worked. These are just few of the many musicians I regard highly. This series will focus on my relationship with the following musicians and how our association came to be: Eileen Strempel (soprano), Nat Fossner (saxophone), Karlinda Caldicott (harp), Neva Pilgrim (Society For New Music), and pianists Sylvie Beaudette and Justin Kolb.