Whitney George
WHO
Whitney George is a composer and conductor who specializes in the use of mixed media to blur the distinctions between concert performance, installation art, and theater. Utilizing a wide variety of material including literary texts, silent film, stock footage, and visual arts, George's compositions are characterized by an immersive theatricality that thrives on collaboration in all phases of the creative process. Her affinity for the macabre, the fantastic, and the bizarre frequently gives rise to musical programs that evoke the traditions of phantasmagoria and melodrama, challenging musicians to experiment liberally with their stage personae, and audiences to widen the scope of their attention.
George is the artistic director and conductor of The Curiosity Cabinet, a chamber orchestra formed in 2009 whose members were culled from a network of close collaborators within New York's diverse new music scene. She holds an undergraduate degree from the California Institute of the Arts, a master's degree from Brooklyn College Conservatory, and is currently continuing her studies as a PhD candidate at the CUNY Graduate Center, where she studied with David Del Tredici, David Olan, Bruce Saylor, and Tania Leon. In addition to her composing and conducting, George teaches at the Brooklyn College Conservatory, works at the Hitchcock Institute of American Studies and is the Managing Director for New York’s American Modern Ensemble (AME).
WATCH
WHAT's mentioned in this episode:
LISTEN (& Watch)
Seats Two starts at 1:02. Film by Frans Zwartjes.
A Stiffening Wound and the Pit of Red starts at 5:00.
Flute: Hannah Porter Occena
Clarinet: Shawn Earle
Percussion: Christopher Salvito
Piano: Nicoletta Favari
Violin: Jacobo Hernandez
Cello: Alexandra Jones
Performed/recorded at the Atlantic Music Festival in July 2015.
The Masochist's Tango starts at 10:45. Performed by Adam von Housen. Recorded by Nicholas R. Nelson at the Elebash Recital Hall, New York, NY, in September 2016.
The Yellow Wallpaper: Overture starts at 16:25.
Denise Crawfort: soprano
Ryan Hill: baritone
Christine Duncan: choreographer & dancer
Aaron Blankfield: theatrical co-director
Victoria Benson: theatrical co-director
Whitney George: conductor & composer
& featuring musical performances by The Curiosity Cabinet. Performed and recorded in July 2016 at the DiMenna Center, New York, NY.
The Whispering City, Movement III: More to Me begins at 21:11.
Performed by the AMF Orchestra in July 2015 in a reading session in Lorimer Chapel of Colby College. Conducted by Whitney George.