AUGUST 2010

We haven't updated the website in some time but Sheila has composed a lot of music -- mostly opera-- in the past three years. We're in the process also of adding a listening room to the website, so stay tuned.

The most recent news is the premiere of THE WHITE ROOSTER, A Tale of Compassion, Cantata for women's voices, 6 Tibetan singing bowls, and hand percussion. Commissioned by the Freer and Sackler Galleries of the Smithsonian for the exhibit, In the Realm of the Buddha,the 35 minute work is designed to be performed in any "found" space. It was given three performances over the weekend of July 10 and 11, 2011 in the Exhibition Space of the Sackler Gallery in Washington DC. In addition, a preview performance took place at the Music and Beyond festival on July 7 in Ottawa, Canada. Performances are scheduled for Memphis, Portland (Dec. 2, 2011), and Los Angeles (Dec. 4) for later this year.

The White Rooster is a dramatic cantata, along the lines of a short opera, created by composer Sheila Silver and librettist Stephen Kitsakos for Tapestry, the critically acclaimed women’s vocal quartet.  Five Tibetan Buddhist nuns are fleeing to India when one of them is shot by a soldier. They take refuge in an abandoned hut. While nursing their wounded sister, they enact a Tibetan tale about suppression, liberation and forgiveness. In the end, help comes from a most unexpected source.  Emanating a spirit of reconciliation and healing, the piece celebrates the power of individual acts of compassion.

The WOODEN SWORD, winner of the 2007 Raymond and Beverly Sackler Prize in Music Composition will see two productions this year. The University of Connecticut Opera Theater will premiere the work on Nov. 5 and 7, 2011 at the Naffe Katte Theater in Storrs Conn, and Nov. 13, 2011 on the UConn campus in Stamford, Conn. This production will be directed by Gary English and conducted by Jeffrey Renshaw. In addition, a production will be mounted by the Stony Brook Opera, with David Lawton, conducting, and Joachim Schamberger, directing. Performances will be held at the Staller Center on March 25 and 27, 2011, followed by a New York City performance at Symphony Space on March 31, 2011.

The Wooden Sword, based on a timeless tale, is set in an ancient Near Eastern kingdom.  It tells the story of a powerful but anxious king who tries to discover the secret of happiness from a poor cobbler whose simple philosophy -- to trust in joy and not in fear -- is severely put to the test.  The score incorporates the exotic and lively rhythms of the Near East, chant, and a contemporary lyricism which make it engaging to audiences of all ages. The one hour one act opera is scored for 5 soloists, chamber chorus, and an ensemble of 11 players. 

SIX BEADS ON A STRING, for solo violin, was commissioned for a private memorial concert in honor of Charles Feldman, the composer's father-in-law. Six Beads on a String is a theme and variations in which the theme, based on an original nigun (Jewish prayer melody), serves as the basis for forays into five subsequent worlds of sound, cutting across boundaries of style, character, and tonality.  Written for violinist, Yvgeny Kutik, the piece will have its "public" premiere at his recital on the Smith College Artists Series, Sept. 24, 2010.

HAZIM'S DANCE, for violin, viola, cello, harp and oboe, was co-commissioned and premiered in Spring 2008 by the Stony Brook Chamber Players (including Eugene Drucker, violin, Stephen Taylor, oboe, Bridget Kibbey, harp, Adiel Schmit, cello, ) as well as the Walden Players, who gave performances in Great Barrington and at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Mass. The piece was developed as instrumental music for the opera Sheila was working on, THE WOODEN SWORD.

TWILIGHT'S LAST G LEAMING was premiered by Gilbert Kalish, Christina Dahl, Eduardo Leandro, and Kevin Dufford in December, 2007 at Pierpont MOrgan Library in NYC as well as at Stony Brook. Subsequently, this team recorded the piece as part of Stony Brook Soundings, released on Bridge Records, so now their spectacular performance is available commercially.

The third commercial recording of her SIX PRELUDES FOR PIANO, On Poems of Baudelaire, was released on the Albany Records label by with pianist, Tania Bannister. (Gilbert Kalish and Alexander Paley have also recorded the work.) This stunning performanceSheila Silver takes French impressionism as a starting point for her preludes, especially the first one, which is evocative of the sea. Her horizons expand from there, as the inspiration of nature takes her into the realm of dream-like meditation and more adventuresome harmonies. The clarity of her writing, though, never shuts out the listener, allowing for a relatively easy access to her ample imagination.

JULY 2007

Having just been awarded the 2007 Raymond and Beverly Sackler Prize in Composition in the field of chamber opera, Sheila has begun work on THE WOODEN SWORD, the story of a poor man whose joyful approach to living is put to the test by his powerful king. The man triumphs through wit, resourcefulness, and faith. It is based on a 14th century tale from Afghanistan. It will be scored for 4 soloists, a small chamber choir,and an instrumental ensemble o f nine. Premiere at University of Connecticut with subsequent performances in Moscow, are planned for early 2009.

Sheila has just completed TWILIGHT'S LAST G LEAMING two pianos and percussion for Gilbert Kalish, Christina Dahl, and Eduardo Leandro, to be premiered in New York at the Morgon Pierpont Library in New York and at Stony Brook In November, 2007.

MIDNIGHT PRAYER, written in 2003 for the Stockton Symphony Orchestra, was recently performed by the Rochester Philharmonic to audience and critical acclaim. The work is a prayer for peace and features the trumpet, English horn, trombone as soloists placed antiphonally around the hall. The piece also features an antique Tibetan "singing bowl." The work will be performed by the Stony Brook Symphony Orchestra on Nov. 4th, 8pm, Staller Center for the Arts.

Feature length film of THE THIEF OF LOVE: Silver's opera is finished -- made by master filmmaker, John Feldman. Successful screenings took place at the Wang Center and Performing Space for the 21st Century (PS21) in May and September 2006. The New York City Premiere and release party took place at Makor, 35 W 67th, sponsored by Makor/Steinhardt Center of the 92nd ST. Y and American Opera Projects. To celebrate the release of the DVD, a champagne reception sponsored by Women and Wine followed the screening. It was a terrific event. See reviews on the review page.

Sheila went to Vienna last March to hear her Six Preludes for Piano on poems of Baudelaire performed by Carol Morgan at the Alte Schmiede. A repeat performance took place in September.

RECORDING OF PIANO CONCERTO: Alexander Paley and the Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra recorded Silver's Piano Concerto in the Vilnius Congress Concert Hall in January 2002. The disk was recently released on the Naxos 21st Century Masterworks series, and includes Paley performing Silver's Six Preludes for Piano on poems of Baudelaire. Available wherever Naxos discs are sold. (Naxos #8.557015)

RECORDING OF "SHIRAT SARA" (SONG OF SARAH): for string orchestra, featuring the concertmaster as soloist. Originally written in the 80's, the piece was recently recorded with Gerard Schwarz and the Seattle Symphony as part of the Milken Archive of American Jewish Music. Naxos has just released this work on a disc entitled "Jewish Tone Poems." Available wherever Naxos discs are sold. (Naxos# 8.559426).

FILM SCORE: Sheila Silver wrote the score for John Feldman's recent feature "Who the Hell is Bobby Roos?" which won the 2002 New American Cinema Award at the Seattle International Film Festival. Variety applauded "Silver's tense score, which features pounding piano and probing clarinet..."(Bass clarinet by Michael Lowenstern and viola by Kathy Green, Silver at piano). It is now available on DVD.

CHANT for contrabass and piano: this piece has been enlarged and now includes 3 movements. Following Deborah Dunham's premiere of the first movement at the Portland Chamber Music Festival (Maine) the complete work was premiered by Peter Weitzner in various New York venues in early June. It was recently awarded an honorable mention in the Society of Bassists solo composition competition. Sheet music is now available. The piano part includes playing on the inside of the piano and the bass part pushes bass technique to the limits.

LULLALBY for bassoon and piano. Gili Sharret gave the premiere of a new and enlarged version (it now includes a "fantasy") in May at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall as part of her Young Concert Artists debut recital. Sheet music is now available.