Upcoming Concerts and Events
Sunday, April 20, 2008, at 3:30 PM, at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Cleveland Heights
The organist Karel Paukert and the violist Lynne Ramsey will perform the composer's own arrangement for their instruments of the art song "Whalefall" based upon a poem of Elizabeth Bradfield.
Thursday, April 24, 2008, 7:30 PM, Drinko Hall, Cleveland State University
Eileen Moore, soprano, and Don Better, guitar, will perform the song "Umbrella Drink" based on a poem by Cleveland poet, Gail Bellamy.
Accolades, Commissions and Recent Activities
On Sunday, April 6, 2008, a recital of Houghton works took place in Mixon Hall, the beautiful new performance space at the Cleveland Institute of Music.
The event, entitled "Music of Monica Houghton, OMTA Composer of the Year," included the WORLD PREMIERES of "Here on Earth" for clarinet, violin, cello and piano; and "In Singing Weather," the complete song cycle based on poetry of Maggie Anderson; along with the CLEVELAND PREMIERES of "Corpo Sonoro," the OMTA Composer of the Year commissioned work; and "Close (Far)" for horn, violin, 'cello, piano and percussion; plus a second performance of "Blue Shuffle" for solo guitar. Performing were CIM faculty members Matthew Bassett, percussion; Don Better, guitar; Eric Charnofsky, piano; Linda Jones, piano; and Richard King, horn; along with guest artists Lindsay Wile Charnofsky, clarinet; Andrea Chenoweth, soprano; Amber Dimoff, violin, Halida Dinova, piano; Leah Goor ,violin; Julie King, 'cello; and Thiago Tiberio, reciter and conductor. For an online review of the concert visit the following address, scroll down to the end until you reach "Sunday in the Arts at CIM 4/6" and click on "more from Kelly Ferjutz"
http://www.coolcleveland.com/index.php?n=Main.Passionate#Sunday
The Cleveland Chamber Symphony presented the WORLD PREMIERE of "Osa Sinfonia," a new work composed especially for this ensemble, on March 30, 2008, at Baldwin-Wallace College, Berea, Ohio. In his review for the Plain Dealer Donald Rosenberg comments, " Houghton writes with spare skill, her ear especially keen on ethereal sonorities." To read the entire review of the concert visit
Ms. Houghton is to be awarded a Composer Assistance Grant from the American Music Center in support of this performance.
On Saturday, March 29, 2008, the baritone Patrick Mason performed one of Monica's Whitman settings: a song entitled, "I Dreamed in a Dream," in recital with pianist Mitsumi Moteki, at Ludwig Recital Hall, Kent State University.
Pianist Tuyen Tonnu presented the CLEVELAND PREMIERE of "In the Dunes," in a program of music by members of the Cleveland Composers Guild on February 24, 2008, at Pilgrim Congregational Church, in Cleveland, Ohio. On February 12, 2008, she performed the same work at Illinois State University.
In December, Monica participated in the Opera America Symposium, "Pathways to a Premiere" in Syracuse, New York. She is now in the process of planning a self-produced run-through of her opera, The Big Bonanza.
Pianist Halida Dinova presented the WORLD PREMIERE of "Corpo Sonoro" (based on poetry of Maria Davico) in fulfillment of the Ohio Music Teachers Association "Composer of the Year for 2007" commission on November 16, 2007, at the Columbus Airport Marriott Hotel, in Columbus, Ohio. Sonia Brookhart, of Cincinnati read each poem aloud in Portugese in turn between the pieces, creating, together with Halida, a magical effect.
Soprano Andrea Chenoweth and pianist Eric Charnofsky presented the world premieres of "Whalefall" (based on a poem by Elizabeth Bradfield) and "Calypso" ( a selection from the song cycle "In Singing Weather" based on the poetry of Maggie Anderson) on September 23, 2007 at Drinko Hall, on the campus of Cleveland State University, in a concert sponsored by the Cleveland Composers Guild. Both performers were outstanding--one listener was moved to tears, while another said simply, "beautiful!".
View a recent online interview with Monica at http://coolcleveland.com/index.php?n=Main.InterviewMonicaHoughton?action=print
On May 14, 2007, the first performance of the final scene from The Big Bonanza took place in Finney Chapel at Oberlin College. The performance featured tenor Samuel Read Levine in the role of Mark Twain, soprano Jenna Hall as Caroline, and baritone Kevin Ray as Dan DeQuille, with Alan Montgomery at the piano. Jonathon Field directed.
"Sky Signs" was premiered by The Cleveland Duo and James Umble, who commissioned the work, on April 29, 2007, at Epworth Euclid United Methodist Church on a concert of the Cleveland Composers Guild.
WCLV FM 104.9 broadcast works of Monica Houghton on the program "Not the Dead White Male Composers Hour," on Sunday, August 19, at 9 PM: "The Tree Serenades," as performed by the Cleveland Chamber Collective "; Dante's View," as performed by the Case Western Reserve University Percussion Ensemble and "We Rise Above Our Little Quarrels," for Vietnamese zither and bamboo flute; and on April 29, 2007: the premiere performances of "Blue Shuffle" by Don Better , "Ghost Temple" by the Oberlin Percussion Group, and "One Morning in September" University Circle Wind Ensemble.
Monica's percussion quintet, "Ghost Temple," was premiered by the Oberlin Percussion Group on April 9, 2007, at Cleveland State University, in a concert sponsored by the Cleveland Composers Guild, with the generous support of the Bascom Little Fund. The Case Western Reserve University Percussion Ensemble, under the direction of Matthew Bassett, performed "Dante's View" on the same concert, and again on April 14th in Harkness Chapel on the CWRU campus--the music was described by one fellow composer as "intriguing."
Monica completed a set of eight violin duos, commissioned by violinist Israel Heller.
Don Harry, Principal Tuba of the Buffalo Philharmonic, performed Monica's work for solo tuba, "Mishi Peshu," in recital at Kilbourn Hall, Eastman School of Music, on November 27, 2006. This work also received a fine performance from Andrew Welborn, at the Cleveland Institute of Music, on May 17, 2007.
Monica Houghton was awarded a $5,000 Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award for 2007.
Monica Houghton was named "Composer of the Year for 2007" by the Ohio Music Teachers Association, and received a commission to write a new work for premiere at the 2007 OMTA Convention in Columbus, Ohio.
"Erebus" is now available on CD ( AZICA #71229) under the title "Aubade: Organ Music of Ohio Composers." Recent performances of "Erebus" were given at St. Pauls' Episcopal Church in Cleveland on March 11, 2007, and also in Lincoln, Nebraska, on February 4, 2007, for the Lincoln Organ Showcase series of the Lincoln Chapter of the American Guild of Organists, by Karel Paukert.
Monica was one of six Composer Fellows at the Virginia Arts Festival John Duffy Composers Institute which will took place in Norfolk, Virginia, May 15-28, 2006. Readings were presented of two scenes from The Big Bonanza, based in part on the life and writings of Dan De Quille, with a libretto by Jon Christensen. Mark Twain is but one of the colorful characters in this new American opera set in Virginia City, Nevada, during the heyday of the Comstock Lode. For more details on the opera, visit The Big Bonanza area of this site.
Tuyen Tonnu was eloquent in her premier performance of "In the Dunes" (2005), in recital on Wednesday, May 10, 2006, at SUNY Stony Brook.
"The Tree Serenades" was heard in concert on Sunday, May 7, 2006, on the Lloyd Max Bunker Recital Series at Epworth-Euclid United Methodist Church, Cleveland, in a peformance by members of the Cleveland Chamber Collective-- Mary Kay Fink, flutes, Takako Masame, violin, Linda Atherton, 'cello and Nicholas Underhill, piano--together with guests Sandra Simon, narrator, Thomas Reed, clarinets, Benjamin Winters, percussion, and Andrew Rindfleisch, conductor, for what turned out to be a sublime rendition of this evocative work, with texts by the composer.
"String Quartet No. 1" was heard again in concert on Tuesday, March 14, 2006, in Kulas Hall at the Cleveland Institute of Music, with Ruth Marie Bridge and Nazig Tchakarian, violins; Jin Yu, viola; and Micheal Kaufman, 'cello performing. The concert was presented by Fortnightly Musical Club.
Pianist Diana Fanning gave an impressive performance of "Sonata for Piano" (1998) at Pilgrim Church in the Tremont area of Cleveland, on Sunday, February 19, 2006. Ms. Fanning has performed this work at the American Church in Paris, France, and in Munich, Germany, and in various locations throughout New England. Following Ms. Fanning's performance in Montpelier, VT,
Times Argus arts critic Jim Lowe decribed it as "a substantial work that is at once clearly contemporary and quite accessible. The sonata is grand and pianistic, and made particularly interesting by its attractive elusive tonality."Don Better premiered his commissioned work for solo guitar, "Blue Shuffle," on September 25, 2005, at Cleveland State University, on a concert of the Cleveland Composers Guild. One listener described the piece as "egoless...a string of antique beads." 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. - Download "Blue Shuffle", (9.78 MB mp3)
"Erebus" was heard in recital at the Cathedral of St. Bavo in Ghent, Belgium, on August 11, 2005, with Karel Paukert performing. One listener wrote, "the piece was very well recieved--it sounded spectacular in the Cathedral space!"
"Glancing at Flowers" received a performance on July 27, 2005, by the Lake Superior Chamber Orchestra, under the direction of Warren Friesen, in Weber Hall, on the campus of the University of Minnesota, Duluth. One audience member told the composer afterwards, "This is the kind of music I love to hear!"
The New York based ensemble "Fireworks" gave the world premiere performance of "Dante's View," for soprano sax, percussion and amplified string bass, in a public performance on July 2, 2005, at Beall Hall on the campus of the University of Oregon, in Eugene, Oregon, for this years' Oregon Bach Festival Composers Symposium. Monica participated fully in the Symposium, presenting three of her recent works to the more than fifty composers assembled.
"One Morning in September," a new work for symphonic winds based on the events of September 11, 2001, recieved its premiere performance on February 20, 2005, from the University Circle Wind Ensemble under the direction of Gary Ciepluch. Referring to it as a "masterful composition, creatively and expertly scored," Dr. Ciepluch went on to describe the work as "a significant addition to the repertoire, effective and memorable for the conductor, players and audience...with sounds and colors rarely heard in a wind band piece...an exciting work most worthy of study and performance."
"We Rise Above Our Little Quarrels," a new work for two traditional Vietnamese instruments, dan tranh (zither) and sao (bamboo flute), recieved its world premiere at the Hanoi Opera House in Hanoi, Vietnam, on January 2, 2005, under the supervision of the renowned musicologist and conductor Phong Nguyen, who said afterwards to Monica, "People love your work!" See photos...or...Listen to the performance (mp3 4.1 MB)
Monica's "String Quartet No. 1" was performed on May 14, 2004, at the Shanghai Spring International Music Festival in the Peoples' Republic of China. Monica was the sole American composer represented on the program which also featured music by well-known composers from Australia, Germany, France, Korea and China. Previously in March, Monica had spent nearly three weeks visiting at the Shanghai Conservatory as Composer in Residence. "I was fortunate to be able to visit the world famous Shanghai Kun Qu Opera Troupe, in addition to spending time at the Conservatory, where I listened to student works, met many distinguished faculty, and gave a lecture on the topic of "Finding the Form." Conservatory students conducted a reading of a newly composed scene from The Big Bonanza, in which the character Zhang sings of how he came to Gold Mountain to seek his fortune in Chinese folk song style with erhu accompaniment. Click here to see the photos!