Bennington

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Bennington was composed in the summer of 2015.  It is inspired by a vocal warm-up that I heard earlier that year in a theater production at Bennington College for which I played piano.  During that warm-up, the ensemble of about 20 began by vocalizing on any pitch and each person moved to any pitch they wanted to and whenever they felt like it.  The result was very striking to me, and I immediately thought about the possibilities of writing a choral work where pitches are not specified and each singer has the freedom to choose his and her own (within certain boundaries.)  It is dedicated to the college and my two years living and teaching there.

In terms of pitch, this piece uses a three-line staff where a note on the highest line means that the singer should sing any pitch in the highest third of his or her vocal range, a note on the middle line signifies any pitch in the middle third, and on the bottom line any pitch in the bottom third.  Singers should strive to find a good variety of different pitches within each register instead of returning to the same pitch for each successive note in that register.

Premiered April 4, 2019 by singers from the Eastman School of Music conducted by Connor Doran in Rochester, NY.