2011/12 Music Series

Wayne Horvitz's Smokestack Arias
Tuesday, February 07, 2012, 12:30 pm


Free and open to the public

Free event

Event Summary

Join composer Wayne Horvitz, soprano Maria Mannisto, pianist Cristina Valdes and librettist Robin Holcomb, for this special presentation and discussion about “Smokestack Arias” Horvitz’s latest work to be presented at ACT: A Contemporary Theater, based upon the historical events surrounding the fateful 1916 labor protests that have come to be known as the “Everett Massacre.”

Wayne Horvitz is a composer, pianist, and electronic musician. He has performed extensively throughout Europe, Asia, Australia, and North America. He has performed and collaborated with Bill Frisell, Butch Morris, John Zorn, Robin Holcomb, Fred Frith, Julian Priester, Philip Wilson, Michael Shrieve, Bobby Previte, Marty Ehrlich, Skerik, William Parker, Ron Miles, Sara Schoenbeck, Peggy Lee, Steven Bernstein, Briggan Krauss, and Dylan van der Schyff among others. He has been commissioned by the NEA, Meet The Composer, Kronos String Quartet, Seattle Chamber Players, Mary Flagler Cary Trust, PGAFF, BAM and others. Collaborators include Paul Taylor, Liz Lerman Dance Exchange, Gus Van Sandt and Gordon Edelstein. He has produced CDs for Eddie Palmieri, Fontella Bass, Robin Holcomb and Bill Frisell among others. He is the 2001 recipient of the Seattle Artist Trust Fellowship, 2003 and 2006 recipient of the City of Seattle Office of Arts and Culture fellowship, 2002 recipient of the Rockefeller Map Grant for JOE HILL, 16 Actions for Chamber Orchestra, Voices and Improviser, and the 2008 NEA American Masterpieces grant for These Hills of Glory for string quartet and improviser. Ensembles include The President, Pigpen, Zony Mash, The HMP Trio, The New York Composers Orchestra, The 4 Plus 1 Ensemble, Sweeter Than the Day and The Gravitas Quartet. Horvitz is currently on the composition faculty at Cornish College of the Arts.

Finnish-American soprano Maria Mannisto has an extensive performing history as an opera singer, concert soloist, pianist, and organist. She received her M.M. in voice performance from the University of Washington in 2009, studying under renowned soprano Jane Eaglen. Mannisto has appeared in numerous Seattle area productions by Puget Sound Concert Opera, Seattle Experimental Opera, Puget Sound Opera, and the University of Washington, and has performed in new operas and oratorios by Seattle composers Wayne Horvitz, Bill Smith, Garrett Fisher, Brian Cobb, and Tom Baker. In 2007 she was awarded the Finlandia Foundation Performer of the Year, which provided her the opportunity to perform recitals around the United States, Canada, and Finland. Mannisto was a finalist in the 2010 Kangasniemi Song Competition in Kangasniemi, Finland. She is the primary organist at the Finnish Lutheran Church, and also directs the Finnish Choral Society and Svea Womens’ Chorus.

Committed to both contemporary and standard repertoire, Cristina Valdes is known for presenting innovative concerts with repertoire ranging from Bach to Xenakis. She has performed across four continents and in a multitude of venues including Lincoln Center, Carnegie Recital Hall, Nordstrom Hall, and the Kennedy Center. An avid chamber musician, Valdes has toured extensively with the Bang On a Can “All Stars” and has performed with the Seattle Chamber Players, the Mabou Mines Theater Company, the Parsons Dance Company, Antares, and Trio V. Her festival appearances include the Singapore Arts Festival, Brisbane Arts Festival, Foro Internacional de Musica Nueva in Mexico City, New Music in Miami Festival, Festival of Arts and Ideas, and the Festival of Contemporary Music in El Salvador among others. She has also performed with the Johns Hopkins Symphony Orchestra, the Binghamton Philharmonic, and the Stony Brook Symphony Orchestra. Valdes can be heard on several recordings on the Newport Classics, Albany, and Innova labels. She holds degrees from the New England Conservatory and SUNY at Stony Brook, and is the recipient of an Arts International Grant, the Thayer Award for the Arts, and an Yvar Mikhashoff Trust for New Music grant. She is currently on the piano faculty of Cornish College of the Arts.

Pianist, composer, singer and songwriter Robin Holcomb has performed extensively in North America, Europe, Australia and Asia as a solo artist and the leader of various ensembles. Living in the Lower East Side of New York in the 1980s, she was the founder of Studio Henry, a venue for maverick composers, and the New York Composers Orchestra. Living in Seattle since 1989, she continues to compose and record songs and music for solo piano, chamber ensembles, dance, theatre and film. Her most recent recording is John Brown’s Body (Tzadik), a collection of solo piano compositions, a string quartet and duets and trios with Eyvind Kang, Steve Moore and Dave Carter. Holcomb is currently on the composition faculty of Cornish College of the Arts.

Humanities Washington sparks conversation and critical thinking using story as a catalyst, nurturing thoughtful and engaged communities across our state.