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Orchestral Music
- "Arp 87" (2010)* for large orchestra; after an
image captured by the Hubble Space Telescope; commissioned and
premiered by the Contemporary Youth Orchestra, Liza Grossman
conducting, on December 11, 2010 (7 minutes) (Hear
the CYO premiere concert on YouTube)
pic 333 bcl 3 cbsn 4341 5perc harp strings
"Osa
Sinfonia" (2007) for
chamber orchestra; inspired by a visit to Corcovado National Park in
Costa Rica; premiered by the Cleveland Chamber Symphony, Steven
Smith conducting, on March 30, 2008, with support from the American
Music Center (13 minutes)
1(pic) 1 (eh) 1 (bcl) 1 1 2 perc harp piano strings (5,4,3,2,1)
"One
Morning in September" (2004)* for large wind ensemble; composed in
response to the events of September 11, 2001; commissioned and
premiered by
University Circle Wind Ensemble, Gary Ciepluch conducting, February 20,
2005, with support from the American Music Center (12 minutes)
2 pic, 2 fl, 2 ob, ca, 2 bn, cbn, scl in Eb, 3 cl in Bb, 2 bcl in Bb, cbcl in Bb, ssx in Bb, 2 asx in Eb, tsx in Bb, barsx in Eb, 4 hn in F, pic tpt in Bb, 2 tpt in C, 4 tbn (1 btbn), tba, timp,3 perc, pf, 2-4 string cb
"Glancing
at Flowers" (2002) for small orchestra; premiered by
the Cleveland Chamber Symphony, Young and Emerging Composers Reading,
Andrew Rindfleisch conducting, November 14, 2002; second
performance by the Lake Superior Chamber Orchestra, Warren Friesen
conducting, July 27, 2005 (4 minutes)
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"Canyon
Voices" (2001) for
large orchestra; inspired by a raft trip down the Grand Canyon; Winner
ASCAP/SCI Region V 2002 and the CIM Orchestra
Prize; premiered by the Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra, Carl
Topilow conducting, on January 29, 2003; second performance by the
Contemporary Youth Orchestra, Liza Grossman conducting, December, 13,
2003 (4 minutes)
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Chamber Music
"Three Songs Without Words" (2010) for
flute and guitar, premiered by Mary Kay Ferguson, flute and Don Better,
guitar, February 20, 2011, (6 minutes)
"Epigram" (2008) for string
quartet, inspired by the last quartet of Ludwig van Beethoven;
premiered by members of the Cleveland Chamber
Collective (Takako Masame and Sae Sirigami, violins; Lisa
Boyko,
viola; Linda Atherton, 'cello) for the
Cleveland Chamber Music Guild, October 11, 2009; second performance
December 7, 2009 (7 minutes)
"Four Seasons Gentlemen"
(2008) for flute, string quartet and piano; an evocative work based on
an original ink brush scroll painting by
artist Mitzi
Lai; premiered by the Cleveland Chamber
Collective, for the Rocky River Chamber Music Society, March
16, 2009 (8 minutes)
"Whalefall" (arr.) for viola
and organ (2007); premiered by Lynne Ramsey, viola, and Karel Paukert,
organ, at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Cleveland Heights, April 20,
2008; second performance by organist Todd Wilson, with Drew Robertson,
viola, on
March 21, 2010, in the Paul S. Weaver Memorial Auditorium, Morley Music
Hall, Lake Erie College, Painesville, Ohio (7 minutes)- "Ocho Duos de los Refugios" (2007)* for two violins commissioned by Israel Heller (10 minutes)
"Here on Earth"
(2006) for violin, clarinet, 'cello and piano; premiered at the
Cleveland Institute of Music, April 6, 2008; second performance on
Decemeber 5, 2010 at Lorain Community College (9 minutes)
"Sky
Signs" (2005)* for
soprano saxophone, violin and piano; commisisoned and premiered by the
Cleveland Duo and
James Umble on April 29, 2007 (7 minutes)
"Dante's
View" (2005) for soprano saxophone, percussion and contrabass;
inspired by a visit to Death Valley National Park; premiered by the
Fireworks Ensemble at the Oregon Bach Festival Composers Symposium,
July 2, 2005; subsequent performances by Case Western Reserve
University Percussion Ensemble, Matthew Bassett conducting, on April 9,
2007 and April 14, 2007 (8 minutes)
"Close
(Far)" (2003) for violin, 'cello, piano, horn, and percussion (marimba
and s. cymb); inspired by the call of a mourning dove; premiered by the
Ernest Bloch Music Festival Ensemble,
June 30, 2003; second performance by Richard King, horn, and friends,
at the Cleveland Institute of Music, April 6, 2008 (9 minutes)
- "String Quartet No.1" (2001/03) in three movements (see
below) premiered by Ruth Marie Bridge, Daisuke Yamamoto,
Joanna
Patterson and Jared Ballance, December 4, 2001; subsequent performances
for the Tuesday Musical Association February 11, 2003; at the Cleveland
Institute of Music, March 2,
2003, with
Ruth Marie Bridge and Nazig Tchakarian, violins; Jin Yu, viola; and
Micheal Kaufman, 'cello; and for the Shanghai Spring International
Music Festival, May 14, 2004;
Cleveland Composers Guild, February 27, 2005; Fortnightly Muscial Club,
March 14, 2006 (14 minutes)
"The
Tree Serenades" (2002) for flute, clarinet, violin, 'cello, piano,
percussion, optional vocalist and conductor, with text by the composer,
premiered May 5, 2002 at the Cleveland Insitute of Music.
Subsequent performances March 2, 2003 at CIM; and by the Cleveland
Chamber Collective
with guests soprano Sandra Simon, clarinet Tom Reed and percussion
Benjamin Winters, Andrew Rindfleisch conducting, at
Epworth-EuclidUnited Methodist Church, May 7, 2006. Winner,
ASCAP Region V 2003 (15 minutes)
"Villa
Dallas (Pantoum)" (1999/2001) for soprano voice, clarinet and harp,
with text by Renata Cinti; performed for OFMC October 2001, Eileen
Moore, soprano,Dennis Nygren, clarinet, Jodie Guinn, harp. First Prize,
Ohio Federation of Music Clubs 2001 (8 minutes)- "Menage a Trois" (1997) for violin, cello , and piano,
premiered at Lake Erie College, May 17, 1998 (7 minutes)
Solo Instrumental Music
"Corpo
Sonoro" (2007)* for
solo piano (based on poetry of Maria Davico) commissioned by the Ohio
Music Teachers Association and premiered by Halida
Dinova, pianist, in Columbus, Ohio, on November 16, 2007;
subsequent
performances by Ms. Dinova at Cleveland Institute of Music and
Cleveland State University, and for the Thanatopolis Exhibition (Quase
um Soneto only) October 2010 (11 minutes)
"In the
Dunes" (2005)* for solo piano; commisisoned and premiered at
SUNY Stony Brook by Tuyen Tonnu, May 10, 2006; subsequent performances
by Ms. Tonnu on February 24, 2008, at Pilgrim Congregational Church,
Cleveland, Ohio, and February 12, 2008, at
Illinois State University (6 minutes)
"Odyssey" (2005) for solo
viola; premiered by Christiana Reader, February 22, 2009 (7 minutes)
"Mishi
Peshu: Vision at Big
Water" (2005) for solo tuba; premiered by Brian Kiser, April 10, 2006;
sunsequent performances by Don Harry, November 27, 2006 and Andrew
Welborn, May 17, 2007 (8 minutes)
"Blue
Shuffle" (2004)*
for solo guitar, commissioned and premiered by Don Better on acoustic
guitar, September 25, 2005.
Consisting of nine
segments inspired by common phrases or associations with the word
"blue" (examples include "patch of blue," "black and blue, " and
"little boy blue"), neither the performer nor the audience knows ahead
of time in what order the segments will be performed. This gives rise
to a particularly keen sense of "being in the moment" as the
performance unfolds. Second performance, Cleveland Institute of Music,
April 6, 2008 (11 minutes)
"Blue Shuffle" (2004)* on electric
guitar, October 3,
2010 at Drinko Hall, Cleveland State University (11 minutes)
"Erebus" (2003)* for solo
organ; commissioned and premiered by Karel Paukert at the Cleveland
Museum of Art,
August 22, 2003; subsequent performances for AKI Festival, November 2,
2003 ; Yale University, December 2004; Cathedral of St. Bavo, Ghent,
Belgium, August 2005; Lincoln Organ Showcase, February 4, 2007; St.
Paul's Episcopal Church, March 11, 2007; and by Dr. Frances Nobert for
the International Alliance for Women in Music, in California, June 6,
2004. Commercially available in a recording by Mr. Paukert for AZICA Records as part
of a
collection entitled, "Aubade: Organ Music of Ohio Composers" (7 minutes)
"Sonata
for Piano" (1998) in four movements; first performance by Lisa
Musca, November 7, 1999; subsequent performance for the Lyman Prize
competition April 2000; this work was composed for and is dedicated to
Diana Fanning, pianist. Ms. Fanning performed it in February and March
2004 at Marlboro College, Middlebury College and Kimball Union Academy
in New Hampshire; in October and November 2004 and
January 2005 in Vermont, February 2005, in Cleveland, and April 2005 in
Paris, France, and Munich, Germany. Winner, Lyman Prize 2000
(10
minutes)
Opera
- "The Big Bonanza" (2008) in two acts with a libretto by Jon
Christensen; Winner, First Boston Metro Opera NMNE Mainstage Concert
Award;
for complete information and audio samples visit www.monicahoughton.com/thebigbonanza
(90 minutes)
5 principals, 3 comprimarios, small chorus from which additional solos and small roles are drawn; 1122 211 2 concertina erhu piano harp strings
Art Song
- "Three Songs on Poems of Emily Dickinson," (2011) for
soprano and piano (4 minutes)
"Five Songs on Poems of James Wright" (2009) for baritone
and
piano, premiered by Patrick Mason, with Alexandra Nguyen, piano, Grusin
Hall, University of Colorado,
Boulder, September 21, 2010; second performance by Andrew White,
baritone, with Eric Charnofsky, piano, West Park UCC, Cleveland, Ohio,
April 3, 2011 (11
minutes)
"Whalefall" (2006) for
soprano (or mezzo soprano) and piano (text by Elizabeth Bradfield);
premiered by Andrea Chenoweth, soprano, and Eric Charnofsky, pianist,
at Cleveland State University, September 23, 2007; Winner in the Vocal
Category Contemporary Americana
Festival, with a second performance in Boston, Massachusetts, September
24, 2010 (5 minutes)- "Talismans
I-IV" (2003) for high voice and guitar (text by Linda
Robiner); premiered by Eileen Moore, soprano, and Don Better, guitar on
March 2, 2003; second performance by Andrew White, baritone, and
Don Better, guitar, AKI Festival of New Music, October 3, 2003 (6
minutes)
- "Umbrella
Drink" (2003) for high voice and guitar (text by Gail
Bellamy); premiered by Eileen Moore, soprano, and Don Better, guitar on
March 2, 2003; second performance by Andrew White, baritone, and
Don Better, guitar, AKI Festival of New Music, October 3, 2003 (2
minutes)
"Three
Songs for Lyric Baritone" (2002)* for baritone (or tenor) and piano
(text by
Walt Whitman); commissioned and premiered by Jose Gotera, December 4,
2002; second
performance by Mr. Gotera, March 2, 2003; on
March 29, 2008, baritone Patrick Mason performed the excerpted
song "I
Dreamed in a Dream" in recital with pianist Mitsumi Moteki, at Ludwig
Recital Hall, Kent State University.
Tenor version premiered by Christopher Aaaron Smith,
in Boston Massachusetts, May 9, 2010, under the title "Three Songs on
Poems of Walt Whitman" (7
minutes)
"In
Singing Weather" (1997) song cycle for soprano voice with piano (text
by Maggie Anderson); excerpts premiered by Eileen Moore, soprano;
second performance of excerpts by Laurie Lashbrook. Full cycle
premiered by Andrea Chenoweth, soprano, and Eric Charnofsky, piano; in
Mixon Hall, at the Cleveland Institute of Music, April 6, 2008 (25
minutes)
"Fireflies"
(1995) for soprano voice and piano (text by the composer) premiered by
Eileen Moore, soprano, on October 15, 1995.
(3 minutes)
"In
the Neighborhood" (1995) for baritone voice and piano (text by the
composer) premiered by Andrew White, baritone, on October 15, 1995. (3
minutes)
Secular Choral Music
- "Defenceless under the Night" (2009) SSATB with organ (text
by W. H. Auden) was one of three
finalists for the Rockefeller Memorial Chapel Composition Contest at
University of Chicago (5 minutes)
Sacred Music
- "Rise up, Shepherd, and Follow," arr. (2011) for SSAATTBB a
capella (6 minutes)
- "Four Antiphons of the Blessed Virgin (2009) SATB a capella (9 minutes) of which Alma Redemptoris Mater premiered at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Cleveland Heights on December 6, 2009
- "Te lucis ante terminum" (2009) SATB a capella (2 minutes)
- "Psalm 121" (1995) for soprano voice and organ; premiered at Houghton Chapel, Wellesley College (4 minutes)
Cross-Cultural Explorations
"Ghost
Temple" (2006) for percussion quintet; premiered by the Oberlin
Percussion Group, April 9, 2007 (8 minutes)
"We
Rise above Our Little Quarrels" (2003)* for dan tranh (zither) and sao
(flute),
commissioned by Phong Nguyen and premiered at the Hanoi Opera House,
Hanoi, Vietnam, January 2, 2005 (6 minutes)
Electronic Music
* Commissioned work