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trickpony is a research and creation project of singer/actor/performer, Sarah Albu. Working with 8 composers on 8 new pieces for solo voice, Sarah has committed herself to a year of exploring her voice, the rehearsal and the development process.

Sarah has generously included me in this project. I had a wonderful time during our first meeting here in Toronto this past weekend. We went over some initial sketches and discussed possibilities, timelines and due-dates.  Work is satisfying in the setting of workshop. Exchange ideas. Ask questions. Listen. I feel ready, armed with new information regarding Sarah’s voice, to complete a first draft of my piece this month.

When first considering this project, I was struck by Sarah’s comfort in the theatrical. I wanted to include this strength in my writing and find inroads into narrative style. Feeling that a 10 minute solo voice piece could benefit formally, from characterization and a beginning-middle-end arc, I set to work writing a text that satisfied these conditions. A new approach for me. I am waiting on results of experiment.

Here is the rough text (for comment/suggestion):

(narrator) And then emerging from what had come before, the young girl sat, on this beautiful sun covered day in the cool green grass – pondering the strange and sudden predicament she found herself within. Trying to figure how one thing can seemingly so suddenly lead to another – she mused:

(girl) The crime build the jail that is the system that names the crime. What fool’s trick is this? Oh! The secret lives of eggs and chickens.

(narrator) And there she still sat. Excited but patient. Propelled into her stationary predicament by her commitments to her current state – she questioned: 

(girl) If the devil is a coward he is fire hiding in the smoke. Hidden in plain sight God is everywhere, the feeding breath for devils hiding.

We are two, or three, or four. Perhaps more in balanced form.

Am I bound in this world. Bound to be this form.

(warning/threat) You may be fearless in this world, but there are other worlds.

(narrator) And with that the girl willed herself turn into a glistening pool of water. Cool and refreshing. And the witch – thirsty from the heat of the sun took a large glass and drank the girl up.

For me, text is the learning curve for my involvement with this project. How do I write it? It imbues meaning effortlessly. Can I be careful with it? Stop it from breaking. Or exploding. I am attempting to use it as a compliment to formal and harmonic rhythm. Place clarity on the sliding scale of consonance and dissonance. So it too, supports the construct. This is new to me.

Stay tuned for news of performances of the new works of myself and 7 other composers and Sarah’s forthcoming studio album. For a complete run-down of trickpony visit Sarah’s project blog.

We took a break to hunt for wool. There are so many ways in which new people find to cross.

Thank you Sarah. Lovely to meet you.