We're re-emerging!

Ten years after EVP's inception we're doing it all again!

In 2009, just out of school and starting music careers in New York City, Elisabeth Halliday-Quan and Zach Herchen formed The Emerging Voices Project, a voice/sax duo commissioning, performing, and recording new works for soprano and saxophone. We loved the combo of our instruments, but couldn't find any music! After a successful three years of commissioning pieces, touring the new works, and releasing a CD, we retired our duo.

A lot has changed since then.

In the current increasingly hostile climate - an economy hostile to artists, a government hostile to all our vulnerable populations, and a planet becoming more hostile to life itself - we are moved to look at our communities and lift up perspectives, using the lens of "Place."

How do we define "Place"? It it where we are from? Where we were formed? How we are constrained? Who we are with on the journey?

The Emerging Voices Project reboot will commission five composers with diverse perspectives to create Place-works for voice and saxophone.

Join us on the journey!

-Elisabeth & Zach

"Two Songs for the Sounds Outside" by Kathleen Bader

Kathleen Bader joined Emerging Voices Project for our recent show at Minás Gallery and Boutique (Baltimore, MD). Below you can watch her talk about our commissioned piece "Two Songs for the Sounds Outside", plus a live performance from our NYC CD release show! Funded in part through New Music USA’s MetLife Creative Connections program.

Pre-performance talk:

 EVP premiere in NYC, from 2011:

Talk with Kathleen Bader

Funded in part through New Music USA's MetLife Creative Connections program. Before our recent Baltimore show, we got a chance to sit down with composer Kathleen Bader for an in-depth talk about her music, text writing, and love for Arizona.  Kathleen was commissioned by us for our CD project, resulting in "Two Songs for The Sounds Outside". We'll post again tomorrow to share a short talk and a performance video of her piece.

Funded in part through New Music USA's MetLife Creative Connections program.

Coming to Baltimore

Watch out, Baltimore!

We will be performing at Mina's Gallery on Saturday, March 23rd @ 5pm.

The Emerging Voices Project is winding to a close and this will most likely be our last Baltimore performance.

If you join us on the 23rd here are all the cool things you'll get:

1. Baltimore composer and performer Ruby Fulton as an opener
2. A live interview with EVP composer Kathleen Bader
3. The Maryland premier of Amy Beth Kirsten's piece "Fire Balloon"
4. Our awesome CD! ...if you pay us $10 :)

Hope to see you there!

Saturday, March 23rd @ 5pm

Mina's Gallery

815 West 36th Street

Baltimore, MD

Reviewed by I Care If You Listen

David Pearson wrote a review of our cd Emerging Voices over at the wonderful blog I Care If You Listen!

"On the whole I think this disc is a great success at putting the saxophone and soprano voice together, and will hopefully influence saxophonists to put greater attention to beauty and blend. The timbres and phrasing of both Herchen and Halliday reflect a lot of hard work and contemplation, and the composers likewise have molded their music to the unique qualities of this duo."

Read the full review: http://www.icareifyoulisten.com/2013/01/emerging-voices-blend-and-beauty-from-saxophonesoprano-duo/

"The Person In The Room Wishes To Be Left Alone" by George Lam

During our recent performances, we had the chance to bring George Lam with us to Cambridge, MA to talk about his piece The Person In The Room Wishes To Be Left Alone. This piece was commissioned by Emerging Voices Project, and included in our CD. Check it out:

Pre-performance talk:

 EVP premiere in NYC, from 2011:

 Funded in part through New Music USA’s MetLife Creative Connections program!

Belcher/Hennessy/Ojeda trio

 Jason Belcher and friends open for Emerging Voices Project with an improvised set.  This is from our show on November 18, 2012 at Out of The Blue Art Gallery in Cambridge, MA.

Leah Hennessy - Voice
Jason Belcher - Valve trombone
Frank Ojeda - Bass

Talk with George Lam

Emerging Voices Project met up with composer George Lam to talk about his music, Rhymes With Opera, and our commissioned piece The Person In The Room Wishes To Be Left Alone.

You can see Rhymes With Opera (including all three of us) present Numbers/Dates by Thomas Limbert this week!

Thursday, Dec 13 8pm @ Vaudeville Park in Brooklyn, NY - https://www.facebook.com/events/171334026344250/
Saturday, Dec 15 8pm @ Space 2640 in Baltimore, MD - https://www.facebook.com/events/131982833621067/

Fire Balloon by Amy Beth Kirsten

We are excited to share with you our newest commission: "Fire Balloon" by Amy Beth Kirsten!  Below is a pre-performance talk with Amy followed by our NYC premiere at The National Opera Center:

Pre-performance talk:


Live premiere of Fire Balloon:


Funded in part through New Music USA's MetLife Creative Connections program!

Successful Massachusetts Tour

Whew!

We had a great time in Plymouth and Cambridge - two very different venues, audiences and experiences but both totally successful.

The highlight, really, were the GIANT dog and two cats that (surprise!) came with the Cambridge venue, Out of the Blue Gallery. They were totally into the music!

So nice to see old friends, relatives, new friends, musicians and enthusiasts make it out for our shows. Thanks to all.

Check out photos from Cambridge, courtesy of fellow musician Kateri Chambers. Can YOU spot composer George Lam's head??

Our tour continues next week with New York on November 29th and New Haven on November 30th. We hope to see you there.

Yours,
Elisabeth & Zach

Talk with Amy Beth Kirsten

Last Friday we met with Amy Beth Kirsten during her residency at Copland House!  After rehearsing her new piece "Fire Balloon" we sat down to talk about her music, background, and approach to composing.  Many thanks to New Music USA's MetLife Creative Connections program for partial funding.

CD On Sale

Emerging Voices Project is headed on tour to Plymouth, Cambridge, NYC, New Haven, and beyond!  Can't make it to a show?  Well, we want to spread the love.  So for the next couple weeks, we are putting our CD on sale!  I'm taking $5 hard copies and $1 digital downloads.  Plus we've got limited edition behind-the-scenes DVDs of our Kickstarter project for $15.  Visit Zach's website to grab your copy.

There's no DRM and payments go right to us. Thanks for your support and enjoy the music!

Amy Beth Kirsten at Copland House

We went to Aaron Copland's house yesterday to work with Amy Beth Kirsten on her new piece Fire Balloon!  Amy is the current composer staying there (composers are offered multiweek residencies).  It's a wonderful home and the perfect space for working on music. All around the house are framed handwritten scores by Copland, photos, and posters from concerts.

Fire Balloon is the latest commissioned piece by my Emerging Voices Project.  It uses an original text by Amy Beth Kirsten about fire balloons (hot air balloons).  She grew up in an area with lots of hot air balloons and mimics the unique sound of the burners turning on and off.  We will be premiering the piece this weekend and taking it on tour with the other commissioned works from our 2011 CD.

We also spent some time interviewing Amy for my composer talks series.  We hope to get the video online within the week.  Many thanks to New Music USA's MetLife Creative Connections program for partial funding of our project.

And yes, the above photo is the Copland House's mailbox.

Performance at the NEW National Opera Center

SO excited to announce that we'll be performing at the BRAND NEW National Opera Center in New York City.

The details:

Thursday, November 29th at 7:30pm
National Opera Center - Recital Hall
330 7th Avenue
NY, NY 10001
Tickets $10 at the door

Here's what the NY Times has to say about the National Opera Center.

Hope to see you there!

Here comes our next tour!

It's official!

Our November - February tour is up and running. Booking is ongoing BUT we officially have our first show booked, which means it's really happening!

Join us Sunday, November 18th @ 4.30
Out of the Blue Gallery
106 Prospect Street
Cambridge, MA

We're super excited to unveil Amy Beth Kirsten's new piece, Fire Balloon, and to revisit all three pieces we commissioned for our CD: Adam Knauss' Portrait, George Lam's The Person In The Room Wishes To Be Left Alone and Kathleen Bader's Two Songs for the Sounds Outside.

Stay tuned for more concerts, coming soon to a city near you!

Love,
Z&E

EVP 4:33

In the midst of work on our Emerging Voices Project DVD, I decided to make a super fast, octave-shifted version of our entire CD. Elisabeth and I thought the result was so funny/awesome that we wanted to share with you! In a nod to John Cage's centennial, we made the final version 4:33 long.

So, here it is: EVP 4:33

FREE download of EVP 4:33 - right-click to download

CD anniversary: live-stream concert

Happy 1-year CD anniversary! We are streaming a concert from Zach's living room starting at 3pm. Tune in here and send us questions/comments during the show via Twitter: @ZachHerchen and @ElisabethMusik.

Program:
Adam Knauss: Portrait
George Lam: The Person In The Room Wishes To Be Left Alone
Kathleen Bader: Two Songs for the Sounds Outside

If technical disastor occurs and our stream ends early, check http://www.youtube.com/user/ZachHerchen for a new stream.

EVP premiere of George Lam's "The Person In The Room Wishes To Be Left Alone"

Only a few days away from our CD release anniversary! Here's our final premiere video from the CD release: George Lam's The Person In The Room Wishes To Be Left Alone, with a libretto by Benjamin Rogers.

Elisabeth and Zach will be performing these commissioned works this Sunday in a livestream concert from Zach's living room! Details:
-Sunday Sept. 16 at 3pm
-Livestreamed from a post on our front page and Zach's YouTube channel

Web Concert Sept. 16th @ 3pm

To celebrate the 1-year anniversary of the release of our Emerging Voices CD we are doing a live web concert and we hope YOU will tune in!
We'll be playing all three of our commissioned pieces: 

George Lam's "The Person In The Room Wishes To Be Left Alone"
Adam Knauss' "Portrait"
Kathleen Bader's "Two Songs for the Sounds Outside"

There will also be some chatting, question-answering, fun-having AND announcements about our upcoming tour.
Check back here on September 16th at 3pm to watch us LIVE!
Yours,
Elisabeth & Zach

EVP premiere of Kathleen Bader's "Two Songs for the Sounds Outside"

Continuing our video releases... here's Kathleen Bader's "Two Songs for the Sounds Outside"!