Outreach
Like most opera companies, we have an outreach program, but our new program is much different from the norm.
In brief, we select an emerging composer to work in conjunction with the school’s music teacher and other instructional staff and actually help the students “compose” their own opera. The art teacher and her students will design and construct both the set and costumes. The composer rehearses the students and the opera is performed for the entire school and families . The children (augmented by our own young artists) “star” in their opera and are also accompanied by a student ensemble playing their Orff instruments and recorders.
You can imagine the good a program like this will do, not only giving the students a first hand look into the creative process, but also teaching them important lessons in responsibility and teamwork.
Our 2008 composer-in-residence is Dr. Justine F. Chen. Her work Three, Two, One, Bang! will be performed by Triangle area teens at the ArtsCenter Carrboro on June 11th & 12th.
A native of Brooklyn, New York, composer/violinist Justine F. Chen has been the recipient of many prestigious awards and commissions. Organizations and performers who have commissioned and performed her works include the The Juilliard School, New York City Opera, The New Juilliard Ensemble, New York Choreographic Institute, the Washington Ballet, the Brooklyn Philharmonic, the FLUX Quartet, the Elements Quartet, the Vinca Quartet, the New York Miniaturist Ensemble, Concertante, The Arial Wind Ensemble, the Chamber Dance Project, and the Broyhill Ensemble.
She received her violin and composition training at The Juilliard School, and her ballet training at the School of American Ballet. After beginning her violin studies in Juilliard's College Division, she was accepted into the Composition department becoming the first violin and composition double-major in Juilliard's history.
Because of her unique inter-disciplinary background, Ms. Chen has a keen interest in artistic collaborations. To this end, she has written incidental music for numerous theatrical productions including Arthur Miller's The Crucible and Shakespeare's Macbeth. In its 2001-2002 season, The Playwright's Theater in New Jersey put on a production of James Glossman's award-winning adaptation of Jim Lehrer's novel, The Special Prisoner, with Justine's incidental music that juxtaposed soundscapes of the modern world with the musical traditions of Noh theater. Critics praised her work as "...A distinct asset is the atmospheric original score, performed by composer Justine Chen, who uses a Japanese shamisen and traditional kabuki sound effects." (Robert L. Daniels, Variety.com), "Justine F. Chen's musical motifs and sound effects add the necessary tension and her presence on the stage provides a visual third dimension that suits the stark atmosphere." (Liz Keill, Independent Press,) "Justine Chen's music and sound effects using traditional instruments punctuated with efficient lighting to create really effective theater support flashbacks and a trio of actors playing a myriad of roles." (Pat Ferro, Entertainment section of Suburban News-East).
In 2001, she collaborated with digital artist Yewon Cho in scoring a short animation Trilemma, which was selected for and screened in such prestigious festivals as the Hiroshima Animation Festival, the New York Expo, the Student Academy Awards, Anima Mundi in South America, and broadcast on PBS in "Reel New York" June 2002.
She collaborated with David Parson's Katarzyna Skarpetowska on Perpetual Flux, a dance piece premiered at Alice Tully Hall as a part of Juilliard's "Choreographers and Composers" series in 1998. This piece was subsequently programmed on Juilliard's 1998 Summer Dance Tour of New York City Schools. Other collaborative projects include Of Roots and Stones, a work with Alvin Ailey's Iyun Harrison, performed in the Juilliard Spring Dance Concert, by the Juilliard Dance Ensemble and the Juilliard Orchestra at The Juilliard Theater in 2000. The New York Times said of this piece, "Justine Fang Chen... blended popular dance rhythms into the kind of propulsive, emotionally resonant score that choreographers tend to dream of." In the summer of 2000, she held the Robert and Lilian Turchin Chair as Composer-in-Residence of the Appalachian Summer Festival in Boone, North Carolina. There she collaborated with up-and-coming choreographer Adam Hougland, members of The Juilliard Dance Ensemble, and the Broyhill Chamber Ensemble in the creation of a chamber work, Stand Nine.
As a violinist, she has performed extensively throughout the world and specializes in contemporary music. As a scholar, she has lectured on Stravinsky, electronic music, Mario Davidovsky and his Synchronisms series, Sofia Gubaidulina's Offertorium, and Beethoven's late quartets. Since 1999, she has been actively studying the intricacies of interactive computer music program MAX/MSP. Her studies, guided by Mari Kimura, cutting-edge violinist and MAX/MSP programmer, has resulted in her composition and performance of several interactive pieces, including a computer-enhanced chamber opera for The Juilliard School. This chamber opera, The Maiden Tower, was also featured in New York City Opera's VOX: Showcasing American Composers in May 2006.
Recent theatrical collaborations include a dance piece for choreographer Adam Hougland for the New York Choreographic Institute, in conjunction with New York City Ballet, and a collaboration with poet Regie Cabico for ComposersCollaborative. She completed her doctoral studies in composition at The Juilliard School in May 2005. She currently heads the music department at Pierrepont School in Westport, Connecticut, where she has taught since 2004.