Meredith Monk's Our Lady of Late and Facing North Suite (Voice & Light Systems Part One) May 7, 2009

Nick Hallett: Voice & Light Systems, Part One: Meredith Monk’s Our Lady of Late
Thursday, May 7, 7 p.m.
Location: New Museum Theater
Series: Uncommon Ground
$12 Members, $15 General Public

Nick Hallett begins his residency tonight with a selection of songs from Meredith Monk’s Our Lady of Late, a cycle for solo voice and wineglass drone, written in 1972 and rendered as a concert piece by the composer a year later. The performer begins by singing in unison with the fingered glass, then gradually diverging from the pitch in microtonal increments, which results in the phenomenon of “beats,” rhythmic pulses that are created in the interference patterns of two waveforms. Eventually, vibrato is added into the mix. In this way, Our Lady of Late introduces its audience to “extended vocal technique,” wherein the singer explores a diverse vocabulary of sounds and performative states. Hallett’s interpretation—working within the composer’s clearly defined parameters—incorporates a multimedia table of his design in collaboration with live cinema artist Brock Monroe. Pure light focused onto the glass, produces an aqueous, mutable projection. Hallett will be joined by singers Emily Eagen and Peter Sciscioli (members of The M6: Meredith Monk Music Third Generation), who will perform duets from Meredith Monk's Facing North, and percussionist/composer Miguel Frasconi.

“Ubiquitous downtown music hero, Nick Hallett, delivered a sober set of three songs from Meredith Monk’s 1972 song cycle, Our Lady of Late. Accompanied only by the proto-electronic oscillation of a crystal wine glass, Hallett sang in microtonally plaintive strands, or jabbered out made-up language, or delivered medieval melodies with simplicity and clarity against the circular pitch from the glass.”
—Countercritic.com (review of the Performa07 closing ceremony)

Official Website: http://http://newmuseum.org/events/330