Jan 28, 2016
Soprano Ann Moss, acclaimed champion of contemporary vocal music, performs and collaborates with a dynamic array of American composers. Her high, silvery, flexible voice has been singled out by Opera News for “beautifully pure floated high notes” and by San Francisco Classical Voice for “powerful expression.” In addition to working closely with well-known composers such as Jake Heggie, John Harbison, and Aaron Jay Kernis, Ann seeks out and performs music by emerging voices at forums and festivals across the USA. A co-founder and Artistic Director of new-music repertory group CMASH, Moss has been personally responsible for the creation of over eighty art songs, vocal chamber music and operatic works, and has been a featured soloist with Left Coast Chamber Ensemble, SF Contemporary Music Players, Earplay, Eco Ensemble, the Ives, Alexander, and Hausmann String Quartets, and at FENAM, Other Minds, Fresno New Music, PARMA and Switchboard Music Festivals, among others. Moss has lectured about vocal composition at schools including MIT, UC Davis, Longy School of Music, NYU Tisch School For The Arts, Sacramento State University and CSU Los Angeles. Her debut album Currents (Angels Share Records, 2013), produced and recorded by multi-GRAMMY® award winner Leslie Ann Jones at Skywalker Sound, features extraordinary new and recent American music Ann has championed over the past decade. Ann Moss has recorded for PARMA, Naxos, Albany, Navona Records and Jaded Ibis Productions labels.
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Soprano and CMASH Artistic Director Ann Moss discusses the importance of meeting deadlines and providing value through partnerships.
Topics discussed in this episode:
- Character and meaning in music
- Composer/performer relationship
- Collaborating with composers
- Fear
- Sharing control in creation of new music
- Creating feedback loops
- Premieres of finished products
- CMASH
- Founding an ensemble
- Connecting with performers outside of music
- Providing value through partnerships
- Tips for composers
- Don't ask a singer for their range
- Ask a vocalist for their voice type and fach
- Ask what roles the vocalist sings
- Ask for a comfortable tessitura
- Deadlines
- Ask performers how long they like to prep a score before a performance
- Maturing as a composer
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