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Composer Page for Karen Siegel

karen-siegel

Composer Karen Siegel draws on her experience as a vocalist in her creation of innovative choral and vocal works. Hailed as “complex and wonderful,” (TheatreScene.net) and “colorful and at times groovy” (WQXR.org), her works are frequently performed by the New York City-based ensemble C4: the Choral Composer/Conductor Collective, which she co-founded in 2005. Her one-act opera, The Hat: Arendt Meets Heidegger, with a libretto by Zsuzsanna Ardó, was premiered by the Thompson Street Opera Company in 2019.

Siegel has received awards from the Yale Glee Club, the Esoterics, the New York Virtuoso Singers, Khorikos, the Manhattan Choral Ensemble, Boston Metro Opera, the CUNY Graduate Center, and NYU. Three of her choral works are on commercial recordings—“Saguaro” is featured on C4’s 2013 album Volume 1: Uncaged; “Why Do We Love Our Guns” is featured on Tonality’s 2019 album Sing About It; and the Choir of Trinity College, Melbourne, will release an album featuring “To Be Free” in 2020.

Also active as a conductor and as a soprano, Siegel often performs her own works. She holds a PhD from the CUNY Graduate Center and degrees from Yale and NYU Steinhardt. She has been on the faculty at Drew University and the City College of New York. Her works are published by See-A-Dot Music Publishing (SeeADot.com), self-published through Chestnutoak Press (KarenSiegel.com), and distributed in the Justice Choir Songbook (justicechoir.org). She lives in Hoboken, New Jersey with her husband and two sons.

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Meditation – Voicing: SSAA  Solo(s): Mezzo-soprano  Instrumentation: Unaccompanied  Performance Length: 5:00  Notation: Arrows showing aleatoric repetition of phrases  Text Source: Karen Siegel  Language: English  Descriptive Terms: Peace, Mindfulness, Forgiveness, Gratitude, Covid, Pandemic  First Performance: November 19, 2020 : Caldwell University Chorale, Laura Greenwald, Caldwell, NJ    Text SettingComposer’s NotesSource for Scores(P:E 222/1577~2021-Q3)
To Be Free – Voicing: SATB  Instrumentation: Piano  Performance Length: 4:00  Notation: Standard  Text Source: Joseph Brackett, Karen Siegel  Language: English  Seasonal/Liturgical Use: Thanksgiving  Descriptive Terms: Community, Gratitude, Immigration, Love, Rhythmic  First Performance: Nov 09, 2018: Yale Glee Club, Jeffrey Douma, Hendrie Hall, Yale University, New Haven, CT    Text SettingComposer’s NotesSource for Scores(P:E 222/1033~2019-Q4)
How She Could Not Drive – Voicing: SATB  Instrumentation: Audio File  Performance Length: 8:00  Notation: Standard  Text Source: Lydia Davis  Language: English  Descriptive Terms: Anxiety, Driving, Electronics  First Performance: Jun 04, 2015: C4: the Choral Composer/Conductor Collective, Tim Brown, Church of St Luke in the Field    Text SettingComposer’s NotesSource for Scores(P:E 222/581~2017-Q1)
Clouds Ephemeral – Voicing: SSATBB  Instrumentation: Unaccompanied  Performance Length: 5:30  Notation: Standard  Text Source: Karen Siegel  Language: English  Descriptive Terms: Calm, Nature, Peaceful, Science, Sky  First Performance: Oct 02, 2015: The Esoterics, Eric Banks, St Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Seattle    Text SettingComposer’s NotesSource for Scores(P:E 222/322~2016-Q1)
Confessions from the Blogosphere – Voicing: SATB  Instrumentation: Unaccompanied  Performance Length: 5:40  Notation: Standard  Text Source: On-line blogs compiled by the composer  Language: English  Descriptive Terms: Blogs, Confession, Humor, Internet  First Performance: Jan 27, 2007: C4: the Choral Composer/Conductor Collective, Phillip Cheah, Norwegian Seamen’s Church, NY, NY    Text SettingComposer’s NotesSource for Scores(P:E 222/292~2015-Q2)
Vit encore la mousque, quel plaisir! – Voicing: SATB  Instrumentation: Unaccompanied  Performance Length: 3:00  Notation: Standard  Text Source: 15th Century Combinative Chansons, Maria Rika Maniates (trans.)  Language: French  Descriptive Terms: Early Music, Love, Profane, Sea  First Performance: Nov 18, 2010: C4, Martha Sullivan, St. Ignatius of Antioch Episcopal Church, NY NY    Text SettingComposer’s NotesSource for Scores(P:E 222/276~2015-Q1)
Maskil of David – Voicing: SSA  Instrumentation: Unaccompanied  Performance Length: 4:00  Notation: Aleatoric passages  Text Source: Psalm 55  Language: English  Descriptive Terms: David, Peace, Psalm, War  First Performance: Nov 15, 2005: Trio Eos, St. Paul’s Chapel, NY, NY    Text SettingComposer’s NotesSource for Scores(P:E 222/224)
Saguaro – Voicing: SSAATTBB  Solo(s): Soprano  Instrumentation: Unaccompanied  Performance Length: 4:00  Notation: Standard  Text Source: Karen Siegel  Language: English  Descriptive Terms: Desert, Environment, History, Immigration, Landscape, Nature  First Performance: Jun 08, 2007: Manhattan Choral Ensemble, Thomas Cunningham, Earl Hall, Columbia University, NYC    Text SettingComposer’s NotesSource for Scores(P:E 222/223)
Signifying Nothing – Voicing: SATB  Instrumentation: Unaccompanied  Performance Length: 4:00  Notation: Standard  Text Source: William Shakespeare, Macbeth  Language: English  Descriptive Terms: Death, Existentialism, Polyrhythm, Shakespeare, Time  First Performance: Feb 25, 2010: C4: the Choral Composer/Conductor Collective, David Rentz, Church for All Nations and St. Ignatius of Antioch Episcopal Church, NY    Text SettingComposer’s NotesSource for Scores(P:E 222/229)
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