Patricia Morehead

Pat’s new CD on Navona released

Pat Morehead — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 12:20:38 +0000

Pat’s newest CD, Good News Falls Gently, has now been released on Navona Records. It features settings of texts by acclaimed Canadian author Margaret Atwood, African-American poet/composer Regina Harris Baiocchi, and showcases performances by Carolyn Hove, Jonita Lattimore, Abraham Stokman, Barbara Ann Martin, and Caroline Pittman. It is available through iTunes, at Amazon.com and through many other digital and physical distribution sources.

Here’s the official release:

Composer/oboist Patricia Morehead and Navona Records are pleased to announce Ms. Morehead’s second CD, Good News Falls Gently, officially released in July, 2011. Her previous recording, Cityscape (for full orchestra) is on the ERM label (Kiev Symphony Orchestra).

GOOD NEWS FALLS GENTLY features “Disquieted Souls”, inspired by pre-Christian Celtic legends of goddesses and the supernatural; “The Handmaid’s Tale”, motivated by the chilling, futuristic writing of Canadian writer Margaret Atwood; “It is Dangerous to Read Newspapers”, a reflection on modern times and the proclivity towards bad news; “Ladders of Anxiety”, an abstract work inspired by colorful medical charts that taps into our inner anxieties; and “Good News Falls Gently”, a setting of the poetry of Chicago-based writer Regina Harris Baiocchi that portrays an intense spiritual faith from a feminist perspective.

Compositions on Good News Falls Gently:

DISQUIETED SOULS (2009) was recorded June 12, 2010 at WFMT studio, featuring Carolyn Hove, English Horn; and Philip Morehead, conductor.

THE HANDMAID’S TALE (1998) is inspired by the novel of the same name by Margaret Atwood. The four movements of this composition reflect the composer’s passionate reading of the Atwood text. It was recorded live in Toronto at a concert of Ensemble Noir; Abraham Stokman & Philip Morehead, pianists.

IT IS DANGEROUS TO READ NEWSPAPERS (1999) is based on a poem of the same title from the collection The Animals in That Country (1968) by Margaret Atwood. It was recorded by WFMT’s “Live from Studio One” on October 28, 2002, featuring Barbara Ann Martin, soprano; Philip Morehead, piano.

LADDERS OF ANXIETY (2007) for flute/alto flute, guitar and string trio is dedicated to Claire Chase and ICE (International Contemporary Ensemble). It was recorded by WFMT’s “Live from Studio One” on February 4, 2008, featuring Caroline Pittman, flute, James Baur, guitar, and members of the Avalon Quartet.

The title track, GOOD NEWS FALLS GENTLY (1995), a setting for soprano and orchestra of the poetry of Chicago poet/composer Regina Harris Baiocchi, recorded live March 16, 2003 at the Harold Washington Library, Chicago, IL, and performed by CUBE Contemporary Chamber Ensemble (Jonita Lattimore, soprano; Philip Morehead, conductor).

There was a CD Release event on September 25th at Elizabeth Stein Company in Chicago.

Metropolis for orchestra

Pat Morehead — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 16:00:53 +0000

Metropolis (2011) for Orchestra (14 min.) was commissioned and premiered by conductor Russell Vinick of the Chicago Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra.

The composer writes: Metropolis is inspired by several sources. The first movement is motivated by the concept of building an imaginary city and was inspired by a late night viewing of the Fritz Lang silent film Metropolis. The pitch material for this movement is based on a secret code for the name of the orchestra. The second and third movements are based on pentatonic American plains Indian melodies that I have researched for my opera in progress “Black Hawk Speaks” with libretto by Sharon and Richard Carlson. The second movement uses a love theme that Black Hawk might have played on his Indian handmade flute to seduce his wife “Singing Bird”. The third movement portrays my musical concept of the “Corn Dance” as performed by the three sisters, representing corn, beans and squash.

The overall concept of the work, written for the celebration of the 90th Anniversary of the Chicago Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, is building, loving and dancing. It is a celebration of all that is good in mankind’s life span.

Pat’s newest work, Metropolis for full orchestra, premiered

Pat Morehead — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 00:50:18 +0000

Pat’s newest work, Metropolis for orchestra, was premiered by the Chicago Metropolitan Orchestra (formerly the Chicago Businessmans’ Orchestra), which commissioned the work. The premiere took place under the baton of music director Russell Vinick on Sunday, November 13, 2011, in Gottlieb Hall of the Merit School of Music in Chicago. For information on the orchestra, visit their web site at http://www.cmsorch.org.

Pat Morehead to work with Chamber Opera Chicago

Pat Morehead — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 21:24:34 +0000

Pat will be orchestrating arrangements of period works for Chamber Opera Chicago’s September production of Jane Austen’s Persuasion, Barbara Landis, artistic director.

Works by Pat Morehead published by Jeanné, Inc.

Pat Morehead — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 21:14:27 +0000

The woodwind publisher Jeanné, Inc. has published three works by Pat Morehead. Elegy for English Horn and piano (also versions for clarinet, viola, or saxophone are available) has just appeared (fortuitously in conjunction with the release of a new recording of the work by Carolyn Hove of the Los Angeles Philharmonic on her new disk Eclecticism). Y 2 Klarinets and Event Horizon for saxophone quartet are also now available.

Sempre un giorno nuovo

Patricia Morehead — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 12:00:00 +0000

Soprano Henriët Fourie

Pat’s newest composition –”Sempre un giorno nuovo” — was just premiered in Chicago by soprano Henriët Fournie (the performance can be seen on Youtube). The work is based on a poem written in Italian by Cathy Ann Elias, who teaches at DePaul University and who has been a finalist in several poetry competitions in Italy. “Sempre un giorno nuovo” is a rather dark poem and Pat reflects this mood in her setting.

Pat speaks at Medieval conference

Pat Morehead — Fri, 13 May 2011 17:04:05 +0000

Pat presented “From the Twelfth Century to the Twenty-First Century on being a Composer” at the conference of the International Society of Medieval Music held May 13-15, 2011 at the University of Western Michigan, Kalamazoo, for the Hildegard von Bingen Society. She has given this popular presentation on several other occasions in the recent past.

Music of Pat Morehead featured in school production

Pat Morehead — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 17:26:35 +0000

Portions of Pat Morehead’s Disquieted Souls and Conversations were used during the imaginative stage production of Alice at the Walter Payton College Prep, Chicago, February 2011. The director, Kerry Catlin, had heard the works when they were performed on WFMT by CUBE Contemporary Chamber Ensemble.

Conversations (2011)

Pat Morehead — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 02:44:47 +0000

Conversations for oboe and percussion is dedicated to and composed especially for oboist Alicia Cordoba Tait and percussionist George Blanchet to celebrate their new friendship and engagement. It has three movements: “Early Morning” evokes an intimate conversation one might have upon waking up in the early morning with one’s partner. “Liquid Light” portrays the sensuous patterns of light playing on and flowing across the surfaces of one’s environment. “Fallen from the Garden of Eaton” was composed as a 75th birthday tribute to John Eaton, one of my composer-mentors at The University of Chicago.

[Conversations score]

Athens Saxophone Quartet performs Morehead “Event Horizon”

Pat Morehead — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 01:11:34 +0000

Pat’s Event Horizon for saxophone quartet was performed on April 8, 2011 by the Athens Saxophone Quartet at the Society of Composers Region VI Conference 2011 at the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg, MO. Pat also presented a paper on Ralph Shapey’s rhythmic practice at the conference.