Bernadette Speach (born January 1, 1948) is an American avant-garde composer and pianist. Known for her minimalist approach, she often synthesizes improvisation and through-composed material.
Although trained in the classical idiom, Speach is equally rooted in jazz, and in the latter vein includes room for aleatory elements in her compositions, ranging from solo and chamber to orchestral and vocal/choral works. An example is her second string quartet, les ondes pour quatre (1988), which blends fixed and free durations. Notable performers of her work include the Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra under Lukas Foss, the Absolute Chamber Orchestra under Kristjan Järvi, pianist Ursula Oppens, saxophonist Oliver Lake, Duo Avanzando, pianist Anthony de Mare, the Soldier String Quartet, soprano Joan LaBarbara, Arditti String Quartet, and cellist Frances-Marie Uitti. Her music has been programmed in such venues as Roulette Intermedium (NYC), Festival International de Musica (São Paulo, Brazil), the Ravinia Festival (Highland Park, IL), Merkin Hall (NYC), Walker Art Center (Minneapolis, MN), the Internationales Musikinstitut (Darmstadt, Germany), and the Knitting Factory (NYC).
Her large-scale work Embrace the Universe (2001), for orchestra, mixed chorus, soprano, viola and piano was premiered May 9, 2016 at Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari, Italy. In 2010, she was commissioned by the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center to compose a piece as part of pianist Anthony de Mare’s “Liaisons: Re-imagining Sondheim from the Piano.” The result was In and Out of Love and received its premiere at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center in 2011. Inspired by “Liaisons” and “Send in the Clowns” from Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music, In and Out of Love was released September 2015 as part of a 3-CD set of the entire “Liaisons” project recorded by de Mare for the ECM label to critical acclaim. Its producer, Judith Sherman, received a Grammy Award for Classical Producer of the Year.
Other commissions have come from percussionist Ricardo Souza (Only/Solimente for solo vibraphone, 2004), soprano Lauralyn Kolb (Set of Three for soprano and piano, 2005), the National Endowment for the Arts 1992 (Parallel Windows – Unframed for piano and orchestra, 1996), the Minnesota Composers Forum 1992 (Avanzando for bass clarinet, piano, marimba, vibraphone and glockenspiel, 1993), iEAR Studios/Department of the Arts/Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 1989 (9/8/89 for digital sampler and tape, 1990), the Manhattan Neighborhood Network/The Kitchen Video Workshop, 1995-96 (Angels in the Snow, a film/video documentary with solo piano), and the New York State Council on the Arts, 1992 (Baobab 4 for flute, clarinet, alto saxophone, trombone, acoustic and electric guitar, bass, two pianos, balafon, reciter, three women’s voices and dancer, 1994).
Speach has been composer-in-residence at the Brooklyn College Electroacoustic Studio (2002), received a fellowship from the New York Foundation for the Arts (1998–99), and received grants and awards from Arts Midwest (1993), Margaret Fairbank Jory Copying Assistance Program (1989 & 1997), and Meet the Composer (1985-2001). She is also a seasoned improviser—sharing performances with her husband, guitarist/composer Jeffrey Schanzer and poet Thulani Davis, among others—and as pianist is regarded for her interpretations of the keyboard repertoire of John Cage, including In a landscape and his pieces for toy piano.
Speach is a lifelong teacher and arts administrator. Before her current post at SUNY Adirondack, she held positions at Darmstadt (1988), The New School (1994–98), SUNY Purchase (2005), the College of Saint Rose (2009–14), and Brooklyn College (2001–08, 2012–13), and has been a guest lecturer at many others besides. She has also served as panelist and advisor for a large number of organizations, including Colorado Council on the Arts, Jerome Foundation, Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust, New Music America Festivals, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, and the New York State Council on the Arts. She also served as executive director for The Kitchen (1996–98) and Composers’ Forum, Inc. (1986-1990) in New York City. She continues to vitalize the northeastern United States music scene through her multiple roles as fundraiser, presenter, and educator, seeking new relationships between sounds and their interpreters.
Works
Pillars (2017)
for piano, electric guitar and saxophone
April 29, 2017, Tannery Pond Center at Tannery Pond Community Center, North Creek, NY.
Performed by Bernadette Speach (piano), Jeffrey Schanzer (electric guitar) and Oliver Lake (saxophone)
altrove/elsewhere (2012)
for piano/toy piano and violin
February 4, 2012, Music of Now Marathon, Symphony Space, NYC.
Performed by Bernadette Speach (piano/toy piano) and Madalyn Parnas (violin)
after sunrise (2011)
for percussion and clarinets
October 24, 2012, University of Arkansas, Fort Worth.
Performed by Duo Avanzando: Ricardo Souza (percussion) and David Carter (clarinets)
In and Out of Love (2010)
after “Liaisons” and “Send in the Clowns” (A Little Night Music) by Stephen Sondheim.
Commissioned by Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center
April 2, 2011, Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center/UMD School of Music.
Performed by Anthony de Mare (piano)
Recording: ECM New Series. Liaisons: Re-imagining Sondheim from the Piano. Grammy Award - Judith Sherman, Classical Producer of the Year.
TreeSing (2007)
for bass clarinet, marimba and piano with video processing
May 24, 2007, Roulette, New York, NY.
Performed by Margot Leverett, Bass Clarinet, Gustavo Aguilar - Marimba, Bernadette Speach - Piano, Anney Bonney - Video
A Set of Three (2005)
for soprano and piano
Texts by e.e. cummings
February 24, 2007, Hamilton College, Clinton, NY.
Performed & Commissioned by Lauralyn Kolb - Soprano, Tina Toglia - Piano
Only/Solimente (2003/04)
for solo Vibraphone
Commissioned by Ricardo Souza
June 6, 2005, Festival International de Musica, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Performed by Ricardo Souza - Vibraphone
Embrace the Universe (2001)
for orchestra, chorus (SATB) and soloists (mezzo-soprano, viola, piano)
Text: “Hymn to Matter” from The Divine Milieu by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
May 9, 2016, Teatro Petruzzelli, Bari, Italy.
Performed by Orchestra Sinfonica del Conservatorio “Niccolo Piccinni” (director: Giovanni Pelliccia), Ensemble vocale “Forilegium Vocis” (director: Sabino Manzo), Anastasia Abryutina (mezzo-soprano), Paolo Messa (viola) and Emanuele Arciuli (piano)
Viola (1999)
for viola and piano
April 29, 2000, Roulette, New York, NY.
Performed by Rozanna Weinberger (viola) and Anthony de Mare (piano)
for flute, clarinet, alto saxophone, trombone, acoustic and electric guitar, bass, two pianos, balafon, reciter, three women’s voices and dancer.
Commissioned by MusicVistas, Inc. with funds provided by the New York State Council on the Arts
April 9, 1994, MusicVistas and P.S. 122, New York, NY.
Performed by Rob DeBellis (reeds), Jeff Hoyer (trombone), Jeffrey Schanzer (guitars), Lindsey Horner (bass), Myra Melford (piano), Thulani Davis (poet/reciter), Michelle Kinney (voice), Alva Rogers (voice), Dawn Saito (voice), Bernadette Speach (conductor, piano II, balafon) and Ron Brown (dancer)
Telepathy Suite (1986–87)
for chamber ensemble
March 8, 1987, Celebrate Brooklyn Festival, Prospect Park Picnic House, Brooklyn, NY.
Performed by Thulani Davis (reciter), Oliver Lake (alto saxophone), Jeff Hoyer (trombone), Myra Melford (piano), Jeffrey Schanzer (guitar), Lindsey Horner (bass), and Bernadette Speach (piano and conductor)
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References
Arcuili, Emanuele. “Bernadette Speach.” Musica per Pianoforte negli Stati Uniti. EDT, 2010.
Gagné, Nicole V. “Bernadette Speach.” Historical Dictionary of Modern and Contemporary Classical Music. Rowman & Littlefield, 2019.
Gann, Kyle. “Bernadette Speach.” American Music in the Twentieth Century. Schirmer Books, 1997.
Gann, Kyle. “Bernadette Speach.” Grove’s History of Music and Musicians. Macmillan, 2010.
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