Luna Pearl Woolf

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Luna Pearl Woolf is a Canadian-American composer, producer, and dramaturg. Her oeuvre includes opera, chamber music, orchestra, and choral compositions including works for dramatic chamber music, silent film scores, and musical story-telling. Her works have been commissioned Carnegie Hall, Washington National Opera [1] , Tapestry Opera [2] , Minnesota Sinfonia, Salle Bourgie, ECM+, Perelman Arts Center [3] , Concours Musical International de Montréal [4] , among others, with collaborations with artists including Jeremy Irons, Cornelia Funke, Joyce Didonato, Frederica von Stade, Royce Vavrek, David Van Taylor, Matt Haimovitz, and Dame Evelyn Glennie. amongst many others. [5] [ failed verification ]

Contents

In 2014 she was an inaugural recipient of Opera America's first grant for female composers. [6]

Biography

Luna Pearl Woolf was born in 1973 in Western Massachusetts. She received a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard University, graduating Summa Cum Laude in music composition in 1996, and a Master of Arts from Smith College in music composition. [7]

Woolf's principal composition teachers have been Mario Davidovsky, Augusta Read Thomas, Lewis Spratlan and Don Wheelock. Woolf was awarded the Ellen Taafe Zwilich Prize from the IAWM, the John Greene Scholarship and John Knowles Paine Fellowship from Harvard University, and the Settie Lehman Fatman Prize from Smith College.

Canada’s CBC Music named the JUNO award-nominated recording Vagues et Ombres including Woolf’s 2022 work, Contact, as their #1 Classical Album of the year [8] ; and her 2021 composer-portrait album, LUNA PEARL WOOLF: Fire and Flood (Pentatone Oxingale Series) was nominated for a GRAMMY-Award. [9]

She is a co-founder of Oxingale Productions, Inc. which includes Oxingale Records and Oxingale Music, and is a recording producer with producing credits on Leaf, Atma, Oxingale and PENTATONE albums. [10] She is Creative Mentor & Dramaturg at Musique 3 Femmes. [11]

She currently resides in Montréal, Canada.

Oxingale Records

Luna Pearl Woolf along with cellist Matt Haimovitz, created the label Oxingale Records, a sub-label of PENTATONE, in 2000. [12]

Oxingale Music

Oxingale Music is an independent music publisher launched in 2010 focusing on exceptional contemporary composers, featuring works from solo to chamber to opera and beyond. A destination for cellists, their catalog is rich in music for strings and string ensembles, including original works and innovative arrangements from the traditional repertoire, Jazz and rock. Current represented composers include Luna Pearl Woolf, Lewis Spratlan, David Sanford, Anna Pidgorna, Matt Haimovitz (arranger), Thibault Bertin-Maghit (arranger), and Niloufar Nourbakhsh. [13]

Critical responses

The Pillar

First performed by The Washington Chorus for its New Music for New Age Series, February 28, 2016. [14] Performed at the National Presbyterian Church by cellist Matt Haimovitz, soprano Marnie Breckenridge, tenors Rexford Tester and Jonathan Blalock, baritone James Shaffran, and The Washington Chorus dorected by Julian Watchner. [15]

The Pillar is based on Diana B. Henriques' book The Wizard of Lies; Bernie Madoff and the Death of Trust. Woolf was among the first recipient of the Opera America's Discovery Grant in 2014 to develop this work. [16]

Angel Heart, a music storybook

A children's story told in words and music. First performed in September 2014 with narration by actor Jeremy Irons, with words from Cornelia Funke.The New York Times writes: “Ms. Woolf’s atmospheric music serves a different purpose… her compositions add psychological nuances and emotional depth through ever-changing textures. The … ensemble produces a dazzling variety of sounds, from the rich and earthy to the ethereal.” [17]

Entanglement

Entanglement is a composition for a cello and percussion duo that was inspired by Melange a Trois, an “instrumental theatre work that featured percussionist Krystina Marcoux who used the body of a cello for her instrument”. The piece was written for one player that bowed the cello, and another that struck and caressed the cello.

Notable works

Discography

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References

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  2. "Jacqueline - Tapestry Opera". 7 December 2019.
  3. "Number Our Days | Perelman Performing Arts Center".
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  7. "Crossover Media". www.crossovermedia.net. Retrieved 2020-05-04.
  8. https://www.cbc.ca/music/junos/here-are-all-the-2023-juno-nominees-1.6724343.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  9. https://www.grammy.com/news/2021-grammys-complete-winners-nominees-list.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  10. "Luna Pearl Woolf Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio &". AllMusic .
  11. "About".
  12. "MusicalAmerica - Press Releases".
  13. https://oxingalemusic.com/.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  14. Porter, Cecelia H. "Washington Chorus makes splendid theater out of Luna Pearl Woolf's works". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 22, 2024.
  15. Laing, Patty. "The Washington Chorus presents New Music for A New Age". Patch. Retrieved July 22, 2024.
  16. "OPERA America Announces Recipients of Opera Grants for Female Composers: Discovery Grants". Opera Ameria. Retrieved July 22, 2024.
  17. da Fonseca-Wollheim, Corinna. "A Crushed Spirit, Healed by the Whispers of Angels". The New York Times. The New York Times. Retrieved July 22, 2024.
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  27. Kelly, Jeanette. "Montreal composer Luna Pearl Woolf writes first opera, Better Gods". CBC. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
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