Members of the Setnor School of Music are helping the Society for New Music (SNM) celebrate its annual “Vision of Sound” program, Feb. 17-19.
Loren Loiacono
For the past 17 years, “Vision of Sound” has embodied the best in new music and modern dance throughout the region. This year’s program features compositions by Assistant Teaching Professor Loren Loiacono, master’s student Jaclyn Breeze ’23 and composer Christopher Cresswell ’11, to name a few.
Musical performances are by the Society Players, whose members include clarinetist and saxophonist Ronald Caravan, a retired professor in the Setnor School, which is part of the College of Visual and Performing Arts.
“Vision of Sound” runs Friday, Feb. 17, at 7:30 p.m. at the Palace Theater (2384 James St., Syracuse); Saturday, Feb. 18, at 7:30 p.m. at the Gearan Center for the Performing Arts at Hobart and William Smith Colleges (299 Pulteney St., Geneva); and Sunday, Feb. 19, at 3 p.m. at Wellin Hall at Hamilton College (198 College Hill Rd., Clinton).
Regular tickets are $20. Student and senior citizen tickets are $15. People 18 and under are admitted free. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit societyfornewmusic.org.
“We’re excited to showcase members of our campus community,” says Pilgrim, a former Syracuse professor who co-founded SNM in 1971. “’Vision of Sound’ is a celebration of not only new and established talent, but also the combined experience of live music and dance.”
Of the eight compositions on the program, five are world premieres, including Loiacono’s “Miniatures“ for solo piano. The award-winning composer will perform the piece with a sextet of dancers, choreographed by Caitlin Mahon of MAYHEM//dance fame. Loiacono dedicates the piece to her cats.
Co-founder of the Kettle Corn New Music series, Loiacono composes music that is described as “plush … elusive” (“The New York Times”) and “vivid and colorful” (Albany’s “Times Union”).
Breeze’s “Structures” is a five-movement work for two saxophones. Utilizing traditional compositional techniques, the 2022 piece is something of a departure for the master’s student of music composition. “I tried writing outside my comfort zone,” admits Breeze, whose piece features a Cyr wheel performance by Cirque du Soleil alumnus Avi Pryntz-Nadworny.
A Rising Star at SNM’s 2022 Cazenovia Counterpoint festival, Breeze also is an accomplished flutist and a member of SNM’s board.
Christopher Cresswell
The program continues with Cresswell’s “Three Studies” for baritone saxophone and electronics. Premiered at Syracuse, the 2011 work marks the composer’s fascination with human-generated sounds and electronic media. “Each movement is connected by pitch content but explores different timbral possibilities,” explains the multi-instrumentalist who teaches at Onondaga Community College.
“Three Studies” accompanies a quartet of dancers, choreographed by Maya June Dwyer, a faculty member at Le Moyne College and the Manlius Pebble Hill School.
“Vision of Sound” highlights dozens of other musicians and dancers, including Ryan Chase, an Emmy-nominated composer on the faculty of Colgate University, as well as Sean McLeod and Kierstyn Zaykoski, both of whom are affiliated with the New York Institute of Dance and Education.
Based in Syracuse, SNM is the only year-round new music organization in New York state outside of Manhattan. Pilgrim attributes its success to partnerships with universities like Syracuse, where students, faculty and alumni participate in some 30 concerts and workshops a year.
“We provide a format for living composers, much like galleries do for visual artists,” says Pilgrim, whose organization also collaborates with Syracuse Symposium in the Syracuse University Humanities Center. “Our longevity is a testament to the hard work of many people and the enduring popularity of contemporary music.”
