vox/viola Wendy Richman

• Christian Carey (b. 1973):
• 1 He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven 03:49
• Stephen Gorbos:
• 2 Veiled 05:03
• Lou Bunk (b. 1972):
• 3 Scelsi frammenti 11:40
• David Smooke:
• 4 Extraordinary Rendition 06:23
• Arlene Sierra (b. 1970):
• 5 Cricket-Viol 04:38
• José-Luis Hurtado (b. 1975):
• 6 Palabras en alto 09:47
• Jason Eckardt (b. 1971):
• 7 to be held... 06:09
• Everette Minchew (b. 1977):
• 8 Gakka 06:25
• Ken Ueno (b. 1970):
• 9 Song for Sendai 09:05
• Total Runtime 01:02:59

Info for vox/viola

Violist Wendy Richman, a founding member of the International Contemporary Ensemble, releases her debut full length recording of music she commissioned for voice and viola for one performer. Including premieres by Ken Ueno, Christian Carey, Arlene Sierra, Everette Minchew, José-Luis Hurtado, David Smooke, Jason Eckardt, Lou Bunk, and Stephen Gorbos, Richman significantly expands the repertoire for singing violist with this varied program.

Wendy Richman’s “vox/viola” chronicles her evolving project commissioning works for singing violist. From conventional textures of melody and accompaniment (Carey, Ueno), experimental scores exploring timbral variation in both instruments (Hurtado, Bunk), compositions oriented around creating intentional clashes and beatings in pitch (Minchew, Smooke), works incorporating electronics (Gorbos, Eckardt), to Arlene Sierra’s character piece, each work on “vox/viola” discovers innovative ways of taking advantage of the added parameter of Richman’s voice to create a unique sound world. The repertoire for singing instrumentalist is a growing one, and these nine pieces significantly expand the available works for viola in the genre.

“vox/viola” opens warmly with Christian Carey’s inviting He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven. Setting a Yeats text, the work opens with a broad, processional solo viola introduction. The voice enters over a flowing instrumental line and rises in register over the course of the song, closing with a luminescent perfect fifth double stop. Stephen Gorbos’ Veiled is the first work including electronics on the album, and uses the different elements at play to explore textural and sonic distances. The vocal line chants wordless contours, the viola inhabits a more rhapsodic role, and the electronics create a shimmering, metallic environment which envelops both.

Wendy Richman, violin

Wendy Richman
has been celebrated internationally for her compelling sound and imaginative interpretations. As a soloist and chamber musician, she has performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center Festival, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Miller Theater, Mostly Mozart Festival, Park Avenue Armory, Phillips Collection, and international festivals in Berlin, Darmstadt, Helsinki, Hong Kong, Karlsruhe, Morelia, and Vienna. She is a founding member of the New York-based International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) and a member of The Rhythm Method, a string quartet of four performer-composers that strives to reimagine the genre in a contemporary, feminist context.

Hailed by The New York Times and The Washington Post for her “absorbing,” “fresh and idiomatic” performances with “a brawny vitality,” Wendy collaborates closely with a wide range of composers. She presented the U.S. premieres of Kaija Saariaho’s Vent nocturne, Roberto Sierra’s Viola Concerto, and a fully- staged version of Luciano Berio’s Naturale. Upon hearing her interpretation of Berio’s Sequenza VI, The Baltimore Sun commented that she made “something at once dramatic and poetic out of the aggressive tremolo-like motif of the piece.”

Though best known for her interpretations of contemporary music, Wendy enjoys performing a diverse range of repertoire. She regularly performs with NYC’s Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and has collaborated with fortepianist Malcolm Bilson, the Claremont and Prometheus Trios, and members of the Cleveland, Juilliard, and Takács Quartets. She has also been a frequent guest with the viola sections of the Atlanta Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, and St. Louis Symphony

Wendy is on the string faculty of New York University (NYU Steinhardt), where she teaches viola, chamber music, and a class on extended string techniques. She has also held teaching positions at the University of Tennessee, University of Alabama, and Cornell University, as well as NYU Summer Strings, Walden School Summer Young Musicians Program, Sewanee Summer Music Festival, and Music in the Mountains Conservatory.

Wendy earned degrees from Oberlin Conservatory (BM), New England Conservatory (MM), and Eastman School of Music (DMA). She studied viola with Carol Rodland, Kim Kashkashian, Peter Slowik, Jeffrey Irvine, and Sara Harmelink, and voice with Marlene Ralis Rosen, Judith Kellock, and Mary Galbraith.

Her debut solo album, vox/viola, will be released in early December 2019 on New Focus Recording’s TUNDRA imprint.

Booklet for vox/viola