Gregory Spears
| Gregory Spears | |
|---|---|
| Born | Virginia |
| Residence | New York, New York |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Eastman School of Music, Yale University, Princeton University |
| Website |
www |
|
Musical career | |
| Occupation(s) | composer |
| Labels | New Amsterdam Records |
Gregory Spears is an American composer of instrumental and operatic works that blend aspects of romanticism, minimalism, and early music.[1] Among his best known works are the opera Paul’s Case and Requiem on New Amsterdam Records.[2]
Background
Spears grew up in Virginia. He attended Eastman School of Music, received a master's degree at Yale University, and earned his PH.D. at Princeton University.[3] He studied with Hans Abrahamsen and Per Nørgård while a Fulbright Scholar at the Royal Danish Academy of Music.[4]
Style
Spears’ music often draws on earlier musical styles processed through contemporary minimalist techniques.[5]
Heidi Waleson described Spears' compositional style in her Wall Street Journal review of the opera O Columbia: "Mr. Spears writes brilliantly for vocal ensembles. Starting with neoclassical-style clarity, he builds textured, complex musical structures that sound old and new at the same time, and his skillful text settings use minimalist-like repetition to give Mr. Vavrek's pointed, thoughtful words even more power and emotional specificity."[6]
Steve Smith, in his New York Times review of the opera Paul's Case, based on the Willa Cather short story of the same title, described the score: “Mr. Spears’s elegantly spare music, with its gamelan-redolent modes and clockwork repetitions, Baroque vocal fillips, intricately woven ensembles and dramatically placed dissonances, further infuses the tale with a sense of ritual and inevitability.”[7]
David Patrick Stearns, in his Philadelphia Inquirer review of Spears' Requiem, described his musical influences: "Spears intersperses the swan myth with the requiem text, much of it reflecting lyrical Baltic influences of Arvo Pärt, but with a young composer's restlessness. The swan's song is speculatively re-created with otherworldly vocal ornaments. The piece also contains counterpoint that echoes 16th-century madrigals as well as a modern sense of theatrical timing that keeps your ears on edge until the last note."[8]
Fellow Travelers, adapted by Greg Pierce from the novel of the same name by Thomas Mallon, premiered at Cincinnati Opera on June 17, 2016. It received positive notices in Opera News,[9] the New York Times,[10] and parterre box.[11]
Selected works
Opera
- Fellow Travelers, world premiere at Cincinnati Opera, Libretto by Greg Pierce, 2016[12]
- O Columbia, commissioned by Houston Grand Opera, Libretto by Royce Vavrek, 2015[6]
- Paul's Case, world premiere at UrbanArias, Libretto by Kathryn Walat, 2013[13]
- Wolf in Skins, work-in-progress with choreographer and librettist Christopher Williams[14]
- The Bricklayer, commissioned by Houston Grand Opera, Libretto by Farnoosh Moshiri, 2012[15]
Chorus and orchestra
- A New Sanctus, Benedictus, and Agnus Dei for the Mozart Requiem, commissioned by Seraphic Fire and the Firebird Chamber Orchestra, 2013[16]
Large chamber ensemble
- Virginiana, on texts by Robert Bolling, commissioned by The Damask Ensemble and New Vintage Baroque, 2015[17]
- Requiem, commissioned by Christopher Williams Dances and released by New Amsterdam Records, 2010[8]
Small chamber ensemble
- Our Lady, written for Ryland Angel and The Sebastian Chamber Players, 2011[18]
- Buttonwood, commissioned by the JACK Quartet, 2010[19]
References
- ↑ "Profile Gregory Spears". New Music USA. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
- ↑ "Spears Requiem". New Amsterdam Records. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
- ↑ "Gregory Spears 02 MM wins Carlos Surinach Commission". Yale School of Music. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
- ↑ "Schott Music - Gregory Spears - Profile". Schott Music. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
- ↑ Ross, Alex (February 3, 2014). "The Opera Lab". The New Yorker. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
- 1 2 Waleson, Heidi (September 28, 2015). "'O Columbia' and 'Sweeney Todd' Reviews". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
- ↑ Smith, Steve (January 10, 2014). "Prototype Presents Operatic Version of 'Paul's Case'". The New York Times. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
- 1 2 Stearns, David Patrick (November 13, 2011). "New Recordings". Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
- ↑ Cohn, Fred (July 2016). "Fellow Travelers". Opera News. 81 (1). Retrieved June 22, 2016.
- ↑ da Fonseca-Wollheim, Corinna (June 20, 2016). "Review: Gay Love in the Time of McCarthy". New York Times. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
- ↑ Anna, Donna (June 21, 2016). "Cruise, control". parterre.com. Retrieved June 21, 2016.
- ↑ "Home Cincinnati Opera". cincinnatiopera.org. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
- ↑ Catlin, Roger (April 22, 2013). "Skillful singers bring a short story to life in UrbanArias 'Paul's Case'". Washington Post. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
- ↑ Stearns, David Patrick (January 21, 2013). "Beasts of a musical wild". Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
- ↑ Waleson, Heidi (March 19, 2012). "The Bricklayer - Houston Grand Opera - A Glimpse Behind the Wall". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
- ↑ Fleshler, David (November 16, 2013). "Seraphic Fire's premiere of complete Mozart Requiem effectively blends old and new". southfloridaclassicalreview.com. South Florida Classical Review. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
- ↑ Prisco, Jaime (February 19, 2015). "New Vintage Baroque, Damask Ensemble Tour". classicalite.com. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
- ↑ "PSNY: Gregory Spears - Our Lady". eamdc.com. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
- ↑ "PSNY: Gregory Spears - Buttonwood". eamdc.com. Retrieved November 24, 2015.