Daron Hagen

VEGETABLE VERSELETS

The opposite of dehumanization is anthropomorphism -- the attribution of human characteristics or behavior to a god, animal, or object. In her slender volume of verse, Margaret G. Hayes elected to anthropomorphize an entire gardenful of vegetables. From her charming literary cornucopia I harvested, at Tracy Cowden's urging, just nine--(in order of appearance): cucumbers, corn, oyster plants, parsely, celery, beans, squash, lettuce, tomatoes, turnips, eggplants, and Marrowfat peas.

I admire the subversiveness of Hayes' bagatelles. On the surface, her poems are arch, and a little silly, the poetry verging on doggerel. However, Hayes' often tart observations about her fellow humans and their foibles ring with a beguilingly prim, fierce dignity that pre-date Dorothy Parker and the Vicious Circle. There was room, I felt, for the addition of music, which heightens characterization, and creates a context in which the listener is encouraged (or not) to empathize with the warm humanity underlying Hayes' observations.

Commissioned by Tracy Cowden with support from the Niles Faculty Research Award through the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences at Virginia Tech, the complete cycle lasts fifteen minutes. It was premiered by Tracy Cowden and Caroline Worra on 27 April 2011, in the Virginia Tech Auditorium.

JAIK’S SONGS

Over two decades, the singer, songwriter, and poet Jaik Miller (February 2, 1970 – February 24, 2012) collaborated with a wide variety of master artists including Patti Smith, Warren Haynes, John Popper, and Suzanne Vega. Several of his own projects achieved cult status, including Xanax 25, Jerk, TRUStY, Jaik Miller Band, and Dennis Black, Instant Classic! Miller's alter ego of 201.  Shortly before his passing in 2012, the haunting melody The Event was released from his final project with urban country supergroup The New Years.

Jaik's Songs collects eight of Jaik's poems. They move from the hurlyburly of daily life through memories both pleasant and stark, to a final rueful consolation. Commissioned by the Jaik Miller Foundation, dedicated to encouraging work inspired by Jaik's music and poetry, the cycle alludes to fragments of melody from a number of Jaik's own songs (and songs that he alludes to in his poetry by John Lennon and others) while exploring the complex psychological and emotional makeup of the poet.

A HANDFUL OF DAYS

Composed in 1987-1989 at the MacDowell Colony, Yaddo, San Francisco, and in New York City, the cycle limns the full course of a brief liaison. Addonizio's characteristically frank, sensually compelling poetry is paired with sophisticated, heartfelt music ranging from the expressionistic to the neo-romantic.

The cycle, dedicated to the poet, was first completed in 1988, then revised in 1989 and orchestrated for soprano and orchestra. After submitting it to several conductors, Hagen withdrew the cycle for further revisions. Hagen then folded the voice part into the orchestra and turned the cycle into a suite for orchestra (now withdrawn) called Beauty and Desire. At that point, in fall 1989, the sketches of the voice and piano version were thought lost along with a number of other manuscripts, during a move from Greenwich Village to the Upper West Side. All that survived was a single print of the orchestral score.

Hagen's assistant discovered the original sketches, along with the original letter of permission from the poet to to set the poems to music, in fall 2015 when E.C. Schirmer returned to Hagen a number of Hagen's manuscripts that had been found in storage at their facility in Boston when the company was sold to the Canticle Publishing Group. After singing and playing through the cycle, Hagen lightly revised the manuscript, engraved it, and presented it to University of Nevada Las Vegas faculty artists Stephanie Weiss and Christina Wright-Ivanova, who will premiere the cycle sometime during the 2016-2017 season.

Christina Wright-Ivanova, hailed by critics as “a brilliant pianist" (Wiener Zeitung, Vienna) and “an ideal partner" (Huffington Post), is a pianist, chamber musician, scholar and vocal coach currently based in Boston, MA. She serves as an Assistant Professor of Music and Co-ordinator of Piano / Collaborative Piano at Keene State College. 

Dr. Wright-Ivanova frequently performs solo recitals with a special focus on new music, in addition to an international performing career in chamber music. She is on faculty at New England Conservatory’s Summer Institute for Contemporary Performance Practice, and has premiered over one hundred works by living composers. She has performed both solo and collaborative new works in such venues as New York’s DiMenna Center for Chamber Music, Opera America, Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Berklee School of Music, MIT, The Harvard Club, Jordan Hall, Tanglewood’s Ozawa Hall, Old North Meeting House, in the Clutch New Music Series in Austin TX and the NEXTET new music series in Las Vegas. 

She has enjoyed working with composers such as Jo Kondo, Augusta Read Thomas, Steve Reich, Juliana Hall, Julian Anderson, Joan Tower, Daniel Brewbaker, Tristan Murail, Robert Beaser, Jennifer Bellor, Daron Hagen, Paul Chihara and Virko Baley. She has worked with several ensembles in new music, including the Callithumpian Consort, MIVOS Quartet (NEON Festival), Juventas New Music Ensemble, and at the Academie für Neue Musik with the Arditti Quartet. She also recorded a series of demos for Jonny Greenwood’s (Radiohead) soundtrack for the movie ‘The Master’ (Western LLC, 2012).

Her love of art song has brought fruitful collaborations in recital with singers from the Metropolitan Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Greek National Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Lithuanian National Opera, Calgary Opera, Boston Lyric Opera and more. As a student, she attended the Schubert-Institut in Baden-bei-Wien on a full scholarship from the Johann Strauss Foundation, and is a Britten-Pears Scholar (UK) and a Crear Fellow (Scotland) under the mentorship of Malcolm Martineau. Dr. Wright-Ivanova has played in Master Classes by leading artists such as Elly Ameling, Barbara Bonney, Helmut Deutsch, Renee Fleming, Nicolas Hodges, Wolfgang Holzmair, Jorma Hynninen, Rudolf Jansen, Warren Jones, Ursula Oppens, Rita Sloan, Anthony Spiri, Edith Wiens, Pierre Vallet, Roger Vignoles and Brian Zeger. She has worked as opera pianist, coach and scenes director with Boston Opera Collaborative, Commonwealth Lyric Theater, Handel & Haydn Society and the Pacific Opera Victoria (Canada), and has been the official pianist for the Metropolitan Opera Auditions.

Recently, with 'duo au courant' partner, mezzo-soprano Stephanie Weiss, she has performed in venues in Australia, US and throughout the EU. A debut duo recording entitled ‘Songs Sacred and Profane’ was released on Albany Records in 2019 with new song cycles by composer Daron Hagen. The duo recently commissioned a large-scale art song project entitled “Passageway" which experiences the journey of immigrants into Europe through music by German composer Jonathan Stark. They were the 2nd place winners at the New York City songSLAM 2019, where they performed a world premiere by composer Heather Gilligan.

As a chamber musician, she has been heard in over twenty countries throughout North & South America, UK, Europe, Asia and Australia, appearing in recital with many established artists, including Tchaikovsky Competition Bronze medal cellist Bion Tsang, virtuoso violinist Yevgeny Kutik, Israel Philharmonic violinist Sharon Cohen, and Joachim International Violin competition winner Dami Kim. 
She enjoys frequent performances with orchestral musicians, including members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Las Vegas Philharmonic, Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Kansas City Symphony, San Antonio Symphony, and Boulder Philharmonic. This season, she collaborated with The Lydian Quartet (Brandeis University), the TenHagen Quartet (Germany) and Castle of our Skins in acclaimed performances. In summer 2019, she joins the faculty of the newly-created Classic Festival Jülich of Chamber Music in Germany.

She was previously on faculty as Assistant Professor of Music at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where she was the Opera Coach for UNLV’s Opera Theatre. She also worked at Dolora Zajick’s Institute for Young Dramatic Voices, Boston University School of Music and the BU Tanglewood Institute Opera Intensive (BUTI), American Institute for Musical Studies in Graz, Austria, and at the Franco-American Vocal Academy (FAVA) in Salzburg. Recent international concert performances at the Alte Schmiede (Vienna, Austria), Teatro di Musica (Lake Como, Italy), Humboldt University (Berlin), École Normale Supérieure (Lyon, France), Joanneumsviertel Museum (Graz, Austria) and the Schloss Frohnburg (Salzburg). She is a frequent guest artist at the Amici della Musica Paisello Concert Series, directed by cellist Francesco Mastromatteo (Lucera, Italy).

Dr. Wright-Ivanova has a deep commitment to teaching. In 2019, she acted as the Music Director for the National YoungArts Foundation Classical Music category in Miami, where she worked with the winners to help create a multi-media, interdisciplinary showcase. 
In addition to her private and studio teaching, she enjoys presenting master classes throughout the country. As a Guest Pianist-in-Residence with Venezuela’s classical music program, El Sistema, she taught classes, worked with emerging young artists and was interviewed on TV, newspaper, and radio broadcasts about the importance of teaching music to youth. She has presented at several College Music Society Conferences (Potsdam, 2014; Boston, 2015; Sydney Australia, 2017) and gave a lecture recital in Vancouver (Oct. 2018) on the music of Barbara Monk Feldman. 

Dr. Wright-Ivanova frequently serves as an Adjudicator for piano and chamber music competitions in the US and abroad. She has most recently presented art song and chamber music master classes at institutions such as Harvard University, Arizona State University, New England Conservatory, the Nanjing University for the Arts (China) and the Rodi Conservatory (Italy).

For the past five seasons, she has served as the Artistic Director for the ‘Bijou de la Vida Concert Series’ (North End Performing Arts Center) serving Little Italy and the North End community in Boston. She holds degrees from the University of Texas at Austin (DMA), New England Conservatory (MM) and the University of Victoria, Canada (BM). 

She has had radio appearances on Deutschland Radio, WDR3 Kultur Radio, Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR Klassik, Munich), NPR, Radio Caracas (Venezuela), WORD Madison, WRUV Radio Vermont, and Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR), and can be heard on Albany, New World Records, MSR Classics, and ARS Produktion.

Stephanie Weiss, mezzo-soprano, is an assistant professor of voice at Arizona State Universitys Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts' School of Music. She earned her bachelor's in music from New England Conservatory (voice), bachelor's in biology and drama Tufts University, master's in music from University of Missouri-Kansas City, Professional Studies Diploma from Mannes College of Music, and Doctor of Musical Arts from University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Previously, she was assistant professor of voice at University of Nevada, Las Vegas, a teaching fellow with the Metropolitan Opera Education Department, and has served on the faculty of COSI (Centre for Opera Studies in Italy) in Sulmona, Italy. Since 2010, she has been on the voice faculty at AIMS in Graz.

A San Diego native, she was a Midwest Regional Finalist of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and at Mannes College of Music, a recipient of a Richard F. Gold Career Grant from the Shoshana Foundation. As the winner of the American Berlin Opera Foundation Competition (now called Opera Foundation), she became a member of Deutsche Oper Berlin as a Stipendiatin and continues to be a regular guest artist with the company. Roles at the Deutsche Oper Berlin have included Frasquita (Carmen), Musetta (La boheme), Erste Dame and Zweite Dame (Die Zauberflote), Gerhilde and Grimgerde (Die Walkure), and Schlafittchen (Berlin premiere of Das Traumfresserchen), Marianne Leitmetzerin (Der Rosenkavalier), Aufseherin (Elektra), Johanna [cover] (Szenen aus dem Leben der Heiligen Johanna), and Venus [cover] (Tannhauser) in the companys tour to Beijing.

Weiss, mezzo-soprano, has sung Zweite Dame, Grimgerde, Leitmetzerin, Marcellina, Santuzza, and Venus with Deutsche Oper Berlin, Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Oper Koln, Oper Leipzig, San Diego Opera, and Berlin Philharmonic.

On the concert stage, she debuted with the Berlin Philharmonic as the Cook in "Le Rossignol" under the baton of Pierre Boulez. She has also sung the role of Rose in "Lakme" at Carnegie Hall with Opera Orchestra of New York under Eve Queler. She performed "Wesendonck Lieder" with the Henderson Symphony Orchestra, Mahlers "Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen" and Symphony No. 4 with the Lviv Philharmonic (Ukraine), and Santuzza in "Cavalleria rusticana" with Singakademie Potsdam.

A versatile performer, she has also been seen on other European stages, such as Berlins Staatsoper Unter den Linden as Erste Dame (Die Zauberflote), Marcellina (Le nozze di Figaro) and Marthe (Faust), Oper Frankfurt as Musetta, Oper Leipzig as Grimgerde (Die Walkure) and Stadttheater Bern, Oper Dortmund, and Oper Koln as Marianne Leitmetzerin. Other notable performances have included Venus in "Tannhauser" with Mecklenburgisches Staatstheater Schwerin, and the title role of Johanna in "Szenen aus dem Leben der Heiligen Johanna" by Walter Braunfels at Oper Koln.

• Recorded: 12-15 May 2017 at Doc Rando Recital Hall, Las Vegas, Nevada. U.S.A.

• Executive Producer: Susan Bush

• Producer: Daron Hagen

• Engineer: Chuck Foley

• Mastering: Gil Kaupp

• Publisher: Burning Sled Music (ASCAP)

• CD Design: Chris Lyons Illustration

• Albany Records

VEGETABLE VERSELETS [1.]-[8.]

WORDS BY MARGARET G. HAYES, ADAPTED BY THE COMPOSER

 [1.] Narcissus Cucumber
Oh, once there was a Cucumber,
A dainty green young lass;
She saw herself reflected in
The brook's clear looking-glass.
"Is that me?" cried the damsel gay.
"I wish a prince would pass this way;
I am not rich, I am not great, I am not witty,
But goodness, gracious me!
Oh, goodness gracious me!
I'm pretty! I'm pretty.
I'm pretty?"

[2.] The Regiment
The Cornstocks march in rows,
They have no fear of foes,
For each Corn soldier knows
The flag that o'er him blows-
So boom-ta-ra-ra, gay,
The Fife and Drum Corps play,
So boom-ta-ra-ra, gay,
Oh, sweethearts, alack-a-day,
Weep as they march away.
So boom-ta-ra-ra, gay,
The Fife and Drum Corps play,
So boom-ta-ra-ra, gay,
Oh, sweethearts, alack-a-day,
Weep as they march away.
Grieve not, oh damsels fair,
Ev'ry handsome soldier there,
Although he loves your beauty,
He is bound to do his duty-
No time for sentiment In the Cornstock Regiment.

[3.] Well!
"I say you shall!"
"I say I shan't!"
argued papa Oyster Plant
Trying to force his gay son Ned
A wealthy heiress for to wed.
"I say you shall!"
"I say I shan't!"
Oh, what a naughty Oyster Plant!
Have you thought, Ned,
Where you might go
For disobeying papa so?
"I say you shall!"
"I say I shan't!"
argued papa Oyster Plant.

[4.] The Elopement
Pert and pretty Polly Parsely,
Prinking at her glass,
Pranked in posy-printed poplin
Posed the pretty, perky lass.
Clever Cecil Celery, climbing,
Clambered through the casement, clear.
"Gadzooks, Gadzooks" cried the canny Cecil.
"Wilt thou wed me, dear?"
asked the clambering Cecil,
"Wilt thou wed me?"
"Wilt thou wed me, dear?"

Charming Cecil, Pretty Polly,
Radiant rays shine through the rains;
Gayly gamb'ling, glad and gleeful,
To the pious priest they go.
While benignant smiles above them
Sweetheart's patron saint Rainbow.

[5.] Boston Bean
Book in hand and spec's on nose,
That's how the Boston Baked Bean grows.
Plato, Homer, Cicero,
Such a lot she sure does know;
German, Latin, French, and Greek,
And other tongues, she well can speak.
Stately pleasures at command,
Ibsen plays and Opera Grand,
Maeterlink and dear Rostand.
Though she's int'rested in Flag-time,
Doubt she ever heard Rag-Time.
S'pose this dame would deem it shocking
Should one dub her a blue stocking.

[6.] The Opera
Prima donna Salad sang Mimi divinely,
While tenor Squash, as Rudolfo, trilled superfinely;
But conversation waxed so loud
In the nouveau riche Tomato crowd
That the music-loving public found
The singers' voices drowned.
Rich Vegetable Dames were there,
In jewels dressed,
While all the beaux appeared in tails
With décolleté white vests.
All the Johnny Turnips carried flowers
To the stage-door down the alley,
With supper invitations
To the beauteous.

[7.] Practical Peg
"I'm 'fraid that I might starve some day,
The price of food's so high;
Meat, and fish, and soup, and Veg'tables
Are very dear-so I
Am going to the garden."
Smiles Miss Peg, Miss "Practical Peg."
"I'm 'fraid that I might starve some day,
The price of food's so high;
Meat, and fish, and soup, and Veg'tables
Are very dear-so I
Am going to the garden."
Smiles Miss Peg, Miss "Practical Peg."
"I'm going to plant this little egg-plant, so
I'll always have an egg,"
Says Peg. Says Mis "Practical Peg." Says Miss Peg.

[8.] Nautical Language
Gallant Captain Squash he sailed the high seas.
And his crew consisted of Green Peas;
Sound and round were these jolly "tars," they did but roll
When reefing the sails or stoking coal,
"Avast there, me hearties," the captain roared;
"I'll marlin-spike each Pea aboard,"
"Ah! hard-a-port," and "Ship ahoy," "Avast" and
"Haul, hold fast and belay."
All this, and much more, and all very fierce, and every day.
"Heave ho," and "belay," "let's wait for the roll,"
"steer larboard,"
"Let go pinion," "make weigh," "you'll taste the
cat," "the scuppers run red,"
"Stretch on the thwart," roared fierce Captain
Squash to his "jack tars."
Gallant Captain Squash he sailed the high seas.
His crew was Marrowfat Peas;
Sound and round were these jolly "tars."
I don't know what he meant by the words he said,
Suppose we'd find out if we, too sailed the seas
With fierce Captain Squash.
If we sailed the seas with fierce Captain Squash!

JAIK’S SONGS [9.]-[16.]

WORDS BY JAIK MILLER

[9.] eleven three and double OH! seven

something about elevens

i don’t know

i could not put my finger on the pulse

my mother, born this day some time ago

and i remember still

from year to year

i wake up from these dreams

they are so clear

of you

and me and polly in the snow

and now that we can fly and walk through walls

you are my heart

i will not let you go

[10.] whatever gets you through the nightmare

i wanna run run run run run. walk. fly.

i want to dream without sleeping. hear without listening.

close my eyes and see everything.

i want to remember you the way you are.

the way you were.

the way you will be when i’m finished with you.

i want i want i want.

walk with me

and smell the morning.

tell me everything is alright.

you

are my favorite song

[11.] salient moment

this is my favorite kind of rain

when it drops

i feel

my skin is burning

and the window is gray and green

i can see

right through your face

your

facade

is

weak

as are your words

all those little lies you tell

cracks in the basement

taste some truth

it is sweeter than bitter resentment

there is no FEAR here

only love

only songs of courage

and returning

face your real self

it is time to choose

[12.] (what she was thinking about before the explosion)

she wanted to dream

the colors washed away and there it was

the little voice inside her little mind

suggesting that she not be so unkind

not so unraveled, lost without a cause

but tragedy plus time just made her laugh

and laugh until she jiggled on the floor

and ev’ry window opened, slamming doors

and burning bridges as she drew her bath

believing there was nothing left to love

she reveled in her loneliness and fear

and thoughts erased the ones she once held dear

until there was no heart left to sing of

so daft my tease

and cross my eyes

the truth about her somewhere hides

in all these wasted words and lies

in dreamless sleep

in starless skies

[13.] electrolux

i was trying to glue it back together when

i dropped the candy dish and

mommy was weeping

and i did not understand what that meant

i would look for bits of crystal and candy corns

for years and years

still

my stomach flips

when i see an electrolux

i crouch under the record cabinets

i am small and silent

you will never find me here

[14.] i know that you can hear me bleeding

remember

we are red like the sun

all powder and finished corners

sweat drenched pillows and dancing nightmares

flowers wilting in an empty glass

we are telepathic and mute

we know

but will never say

and truth in turn

is silver breath

is waking up with heart

with eyes

where hands and ankles fear to tread

swell winds

spin little wheels

wash our lips with dust and sky

stop traffic

and hold onto me

we are watching from the aspens

sleep now

so we may dress you

when morning never comes again

[15.] metaforest

there is a crack in your face

where the smile used to hide

i whisper the same sweet song

(it’s not the only one i know)

it will heal you still

it will make you real, all

mend your broken dreams

restore your faith

i will hold on to these truths

i will wrap your turban and adorn

with a single pearl

as blue as your ocean

so when you feel my lips on your throat

you can never be afraid again

[16.] quiet nectar

a part

of you

i’ve seen a million times

will wash these holy hands

if you don’t mind

i lure alleged lovers liars and thieves

who breathe known names

who drop dreams to their knees

for all you fear i’ve not been here at all

until you steal my grace

to break your fall

all blood and bone all milk all plasticine

these things are not

in fact they’ve never been

ten thousand voices sing

these thoughts i hear

on angel wings fly you from tear to tier

aloft, alone

all one, all everything

when you create

you are that joy i sing

if something stirs from deep inside your heart,

do never be afraid. it is your art.

Poetry © the Jaik Miller Foundation. Used by permission.

A HANDFUL OF DAYS [17.]-[23.]

WORDS BY KIM ADDONIZIO

[17.] The Second Night

The second night is not as urgent.

We take out clothes off slowly,

indoors, in the lamplight. The moths

quiet, pulsing on the window screen.

Mosquitoes that sang past as last night

in the field where we fell together

bruising the tenderest places,

the grass blades stinging.

Now the circle of light on the screen.

Hesitation and desire.

Your mouth fluttering against my neck,

my fingers brushing your belly

in a long spiral downwards.

[18.] Gardens

Your tongue circles my breats,

lingers on the dark scar

dark and puckered like the nipple

you taste next. I am beautiful

because you do this, because each

time you enter me you

create a place of beauty to come into.

Like the Japanese garden where we walked,

that were tended with such care. The statues

of the monks, whose desire was great,

though separate from them. When you slip

out of me and close your eyes,

lying still and white

on the pale sheets, I think of saints

in their ecstasy of denial.

You do not believe you are beautiful,

curled there with the marks of my kisses

blossoming on your shoulders.

[19.] Variation I

Music is silent on the page.

A caged bird that will not sing

until the cover it mistakes for night is raised.

All day you imagine an orchestra,

working alone in your studio.

The violinist you lived with is gone.

The concerto you wrote a sorrow played by strangers.

What we love flies from us.

Is a gift, given back

[20.] Variation II

A rose floats in a violet bowl of water

on the white table. You keep

touching it, pulling off petals,

lifting one to your lips. Now

the table is covered with these

delicate hearts, rearranged

by the slightest breeze.

[21.] Imagine

 a lion crouched over

the kill, sun

on his hips, his shoulders,

the steaming insides

of the antelope, fallen,

foaming, its filmed

eyes, dark

blood leaking into the grass,

wind stirring far

back in the forest,

monkeys, blue

parrots, snakes slapping

into the river,

alligators, thick

reeds, gills, mud,

shallows, imagine

the landscape,

imagine hunger

and the lion eating,

the heat, the

stopped heart,

the flesh, the body,

the body.

[22.] Waking Early

 I walk naked and

dripping to the kitchen,

the floor sticky,

rubbing myself

with a damp towel.

When I go out on the porch

two fawns get up

from the grass.

We have surprised each other;

their soft black noses

swing away from my breasts,

quivering.

I remember you nuzzling me,

raising my hips,

my cheek against the mattress.

The little deer

have been at the berries

nibbling stems. The doe eases out

from the bushes,

juice streaking her flanks.

They follow her away down the hill

and the wet

flattened grass

slowly rises behind them.

[23.] Coda

Today the weather changed and I began

doubting everything. Your letters, the handful

of days we spent. I spread your pictures on the bed

and take my love away from you until

you are a stranger, as the dead are strangers

when the spirit that snagged itself in the body

breaks free. All day the sky lowered itself

over my cabin, and I walked out along the road

frightened when cones thumped down in the woods—

the brief storm and the drenched world

and walking alone along the same road back.

Poetry © Copyright 1989 by Kim Addonizio.

Used by kind permission of the author, 1989.