Ms MIRIAMA YOUNG
Lecturer in Music
Dr
Personal Details
| Telephone: | +44 (0)1224 274618 |
| E-mail: | miriama.young@abdn.ac.uk |
| Personal website: | http://www.miriamayoung.com |
| Address: | Room 823 School of Education University of Aberdeen MacRobert Building 8th Floor King's College Aberdeen AB24 5UA t: + 44 (0) 1224 274618 direct e: miriama.young@abdn.ac.uk |
Biography
Miriama Young is a composer and sound artist, scholar and writer. Her compositions span a variety of genre and media – from instrumental and vocal chamber music, to works for the electronic medium. Much of her work involves interdisciplinary collaboration, and includes works for radio, spoken poetry projects, and interactive electronic music for dance.
Miriama's instrumental works continue to be programmed by ensembles in the United States, the UK, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, including recent performances by So Percussion, New Millennium Ensemble, the Nash Ensemble, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Stroma, the Yesaroun' Duo, Strike Percussion, Now Ensemble, and Anemone Dance Theater.
As a scholar, Miriama examines the human voice, the body, and its mediation through the recorded medium. She is currently preparing her research as a manuscript for publication as a book. An abbreviated form of the first chapter is published in _Contemporary Music Review_ (2006): “Latent Body – Plastic, Malleable, Inscribed: The Human Voice, the Body, and the Sound of its Transformation through Technology”.
Miriama's current sonic work is informed by her theoretical research on the voice, the mediated body, and technology. This involves working with the voice, spoken and sung, in conjunction with electronic media. Recent projects in this vein explored the nexus where oral histories, music and radio collide, and include "The Prime Cut", a sound documentary for radio that aired on NPR (USA), Radio New Zealand, and Resonance FM, London. Work continues in collaborations with poet Cathy Bowman, and "1, 000 Kisses" opens a set of pieces for spoken word and electronic media. Miriama composes music for her spoken and singing voice, and these will feature on her forthcoming debut album, _Speak Volumes_ (May 2008).
Research Interests
SELECTED PERFORMANCES
'Two Monk Miniatures' percussion trio (1998) 3’
Premiered by So Percussion, Princeton Univ. (Feb. 2007)
'Souffle' voice and vintage organ (2006) 10' (Collaborative work entitled All's Hallowed)
Collaboration with Anemone Dance Theater, choreographer Sara Baird & dancer Erin Dudley.
Premiered at CRS, New York City, (Oct. & Nov. 2006)
'The Inner Voices of Blue' pierrot ensemble plus percussion (2006) 12’
Premiered by New Millennium Ensemble, Princeton Univ. (Nov. 2006)
'1,000 Kisses' spoken voice, electronics (2005) 5’
Features Cathy Bowman’s speaking of her poem integrated into an electronic poem-scape.
'Côte d’Azur' clarinet, cello, piano, tenor (2004) 12'
Premiered by the Nash Ensemble of London with tenor John Gilchrist, Princeton Univ. (April 2005)
'Titlipur' dance performance with real time interactive sound, and video projections (2003-2004) 13'
Collaboration with choreographer Sara Baird (Anemone Dance Theater) & video artist Lee Whittier.
Premiered at "Raw Material" Dancespace Center, New York City (Sept. 2003); Subsequent performances at "Listening in the Sound Kitchen" Electronic Music Festival, Princeton Univ. (Nov. 2003); The Puffin Room, New York City (May 2004); Australasian Computer Music Conference, Victoria University, New Zealand (June 2004); Gallery 138 Installation, New York City (Feb. 2005)
'Warmbeat Domain' orchestra (2004) 8'
Read by the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Princeton Univ. (May 2004)
'L'Horloge (The Clock) – My Metal Throat Can Speak All Tongues' pierrot ensemble + percussion (2003) 11'
Premiered by Proteus Ensemble with soprano Melissa Madden-Gray at Taplin Auditorium, Princeton Univ. (May 2003); subsequent performance with Now Ensemble at Tenri Cultural Institute, Chelsea, New York (Feb. 2006) with soprano Miriama Young; Now Ensemble, Princeton University (Dec. 2006)
'Snapdragon' baritone saxophone and percussion (2003) 9'
Premiered by the Yesaroun' Duo, Princeton Univ. (May 2003); subsequent performances at the Bang on a Can Summer Institute, MassMoca, New Hampshire (July 2003); Michael Jamieson, Arkezaal Muziekcentrum Enschede, ArtEZ Conservatorium, The Netherlands (June 2007); score published by Waiteata Press, and features on the compilation album Chamber Music II, The Waiteata Collection of New Zealand Music (2005)
'The Prime Cut' a sound documentary for radio (2002) 22'
Premiered on “The Next Big Thing Show,” New York Public Radio (Oct. 2002) and (March 2005); Subsequent performances at Princeton Univ. (May 2002); “Unknown Country” show on Resonance FM, London (Nov. 2002); “The Houyhnhym Tales” on Resonance FM, London (Dec. 2002); “RPM” show, Radio New Zealand (Dec. 2002)
'Learning to Breathe on the A-Train' large chamber ensemble (2002) 12'
Commissioned through Creative New Zealand, and premiered by Stroma, Wellington International Jazz Festival, New Zealand (Oct. 2002)
'Speak Volumes' electronic sound piece, featuring my spoken voice (2000) 9'
Premiered at "Experiments in Sound," Victoria University, New Zealand (Aug. 2000); features on the compilation album New Zealand Sonic Art 2000
'Iron Tongues' percussion trio (2000, revised 2004) 7'
Commissioned through Creative New Zealand, and premiered by Strike Percussion Ensemble, Wellington Town Hall, New Zealand (Oct. 2000); Strike Percussion Ensemble gave numerous subsequent performances including at the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester, UK (Nov. 2000); Nelson College, New Zealand (July 2001); Baycourt Theatre, New Zealand (Apr. 2001); Massey University, New Zealand, (May 2001); In its revised form, performances by So Percussion Ensemble, Princeton Univ. (Dec. 2004); TimeTable at “Day of Percussion,” Saratoga Springs (Jan. 2005); Quey Percussion, Bloomsburg University, Bloomsburg PA (Oct. 2006); River Crossings Concert Series, East Hartford, CT (Oct. 2006); The Loomis Chaffee School, Windsor, CT (Nov. 2006); recorded by Strike Percussion Ensemble on album New Zealand Percussion Music (Jan. 2000)
'Monkish' tuned percussion ensemble (1999) 6'
Premiered at the Composing Women’s Festival, New Zealand (Apr. 1999); subsequent performance at Wellington International Jazz Festival, New Zealand (Oct. 1999)
'Caul' clarinet and diffused sounds (1998) 10'
Premiered and awarded 1st prize at the Victoria University Composers’ Competition, New Zealand (Sept. 1998); subsequent performances at the Composing Women’s Festival, New Zealand (Apr. 1999); “Imaginary Space,” the Australasian Computer Music Conference (July 1999); Concert of Contemporary New Zealand Music, IAML Conference (July 1999)
'Like Two Balls of Liquid Silver Pedalling the Sky' baritone saxophone and electronics (1997) 8'
Premiered and awarded 1st prize at the Victoria University Composers’ Competition, New Zealand (Sept. 1997); subsequently performed at "Banging, Blowing and Bowing," Wellington Fringe Festival, New Zealand (Feb. 1998)
Publications
DISCOGRAPHY
_Speak Volumes_, debut album
Creative New Zealand Grant (forthcoming, May 2008)
'Snapdragon',
_Chamber Music II, The Waiteata Collection of New Zealand Music_, Waiteata Press (2005)
'Speak Volumes',
_New Zealand Sonic Art 2000_, The University of Waikato (2000)
'Iron Tongues', Strike Percussion Ensemble
_New Zealand Percussion Music_, Trust Records; awarded “New Zealand Classical Album of the Year” (2000)
WRITTEN PUBLICATIONS
'Singing for Supper'
_New Zealand Listener_(forthcoming, May 2008)
'Latent Body – Plastic, Malleable, Inscribed: The Human Voice, the Body,
and the Sound of its Transformation through Technology'
_Contemporary Music Review_ (Routledge) (Feb./April 2006)
'Up on the Roof'
_New Zealand Listener_ (Jan. 2006)
'Snapdragon', published score
Waiteata Press (2005)
'Practicing Public History'
_Public History Newsletter_, New York University (2001)
'Sonic Maps: The Musical Worlds of Annea Lockwood'
_Music in New Zealand_ (Summer 2000-2001/38)
'Amalgam: Adventures in the Circus of Contemporary Music'
_Music in New Zealand_ (Winter 2000/37)
Research Grants
PRIZES, AWARDS, COMMISSIONS, AND HONOURS
Creative New Zealand Project Grant, for funding debut album, Heart Murmur (2006)
Princeton University Graduate Tuition Fellowship and Naumberg Prize (2001-2005)
Graduate Fellow, Mathey College, Princeton University (2002-2005)
Yaddo Artist Residency, Saratoga Springs, NY (Summer 2004)
MacDowell Artist Residency, New Hampshire (Summer 2004)
Association of Princeton Graduate Alumni Award (2004)
P.E.O. International Peace Scholarship (2001-2003)
Creative New Zealand new work commission for Stroma New Music Ensemble (2002)
Fulbright Graduate Study Award (2000)
New York University Graduate School Tuition Scholarship (2000)
New Zealand Classical Album of the Year “New Zealand Percussion Music” (2001)
Victoria University Centennial Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement (2000)
Creative New Zealand new work commission for Strike Percussion Ensemble (2000)
Wellington City Council Music Prize (1999)
Victoria University of Wellington Graduate Award (1999)
First Prize, Victoria University School of Music Annual Composers' Competition (1998)
Victoria University of Wellington Graduate Tuition Award (1998)
First Prize, Victoria University School of Music Annual Composers' Competition (1997)
New Zealand Federation of University Women Tertiary Study Award (1992)