Bernadette Speach


Bernadette Speach is an American avant-garde composer and pianist. Known for her minimalist approach, she often synthesizes improvisation and through-composed material.

Biography

Born in Syracuse, New York, Speach earned her B.S. in Music Education from the College of Saint Rose in 1971. Five years later, while studying abroad in Siena, Italy, she was introduced to Franco Donatoni and Morton Feldman. She went on to study with Feldman, alongside composers Lejaren Hiller and Leo Smit, at SUNY Buffalo, where she finished her M.A. and Ph.D. in Music Composition, and before that studied under Jacques Louis Monod and Nicolas Rousakis at Columbia University.
Although trained in the classical idiom, Speach is equally rooted in jazz, and in the latter vein includes room for aleatory elements in her compositions, ranging from solo and chamber to orchestral and vocal/choral works. An example is her second string quartet, les ondes pour quatre, which blends fixed and free durations. Notable performers of her work include the Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra under Lukas Foss, the Absolute Chamber Orchestra under Kristjan Järvi, pianist Ursula Oppens, saxophonist Oliver Lake, Duo Avanzando, pianist Anthony de Mare, the Soldier String Quartet, soprano Joan LaBarbara, Arditti String Quartet, and cellist Frances-Marie Uitti. Her music has been programmed in such venues as Roulette Intermedium, Festival International de Musica, the Ravinia Festival, Merkin Hall, Walker Art Center, the Internationales Musikinstitut, and the Knitting Factory.
Her large-scale work Embrace the Universe, for orchestra, mixed chorus, soprano, viola and piano was premiered May 9, 2016 at Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari, Italy. In 2010, she was commissioned by the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center to compose a piece as part of pianist Anthony de Mare’s “Liaisons: Re-imagining Sondheim from the Piano.” The result was In and Out of Love and received its premiere at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center in 2011. Inspired by “Liaisons” and “Send in the Clowns” from Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music, In and Out of Love was released September 2015 as part of a of the entire “Liaisons” project recorded by de Mare for the ECM label to critical acclaim. Its producer, Judith Sherman, received a Grammy Award for Classical Producer of the Year.
Other commissions have come from percussionist Ricardo Souza, soprano Lauralyn Kolb, the National Endowment for the Arts 1992, the Minnesota Composers Forum 1992, iEAR Studios/Department of the Arts/Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 1989, the Manhattan Neighborhood Network/The Kitchen Video Workshop, 1995-96, and the New York State Council on the Arts, 1992.
Speach has been composer-in-residence at the Brooklyn College Electroacoustic Studio, received a fellowship from the New York Foundation for the Arts, and received grants and awards from Arts Midwest, Margaret Fairbank Jory Copying Assistance Program, and Meet the Composer. She is also a seasoned improviser—sharing performances with her husband, guitarist/composer Jeffrey Schanzer and poet Thulani Davis, among others—and as pianist is regarded for her interpretations of the keyboard repertoire of John Cage, including In a landscape and his pieces for toy piano.
Speach is a lifelong teacher and arts administrator. Before her current post at SUNY Adirondack, she held positions at Darmstadt, The New School, SUNY Purchase, the College of Saint Rose, and Brooklyn College, and has been a guest lecturer at many others besides. She has also served as panelist and advisor for a large number of organizations, including Colorado Council on the Arts, Jerome Foundation, Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust, New Music America Festivals, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, and the New York State Council on the Arts. She also served as executive director for The Kitchen and Composers’ Forum, Inc. in New York City. She continues to vitalize the northeastern United States music scene through her multiple roles as fundraiser, presenter, and educator, seeking new relationships between sounds and their interpreters.

Selected Works (with Information on Premieres and Performers)

Pillars
for piano, electric guitar and saxophone
April 29, 2017, Tannery Pond Center at Tannery Pond Community Center, North Creek, NY.
Performed by Bernadette Speach, Jeffrey Schanzer and Oliver Lake
altrove/elsewhere
for piano/toy piano and violin
February 4, 2012, Music of Now Marathon, Symphony Space, NYC.
Performed by Bernadette Speach and Madalyn Parnas
after sunrise
for percussion and clarinets
October 24, 2012, University of Arkansas, Fort Worth.
Performed by Duo Avanzando: Ricardo Souza and David Carter
In and Out of Love
after “Liaisons” and “Send in the Clowns” by Stephen Sondheim.
Commissioned by Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center
April 2, 2011, Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center/UMD School of Music.
Performed by Anthony de Mare
Recording: ECM New Series. Liaisons: Re-imagining Sondheim from the Piano. Grammy Award - Judith Sherman, Classical Producer of the Year.
TreeSing
for bass clarinet, marimba and piano with video processing
May 24, 2007, Roulette, New York, NY.
Performed by Margot Leverett, Bass Clarinet, Gustavo Aguilar - Marimba, Bernadette Speach - Piano, Anney Bonney - Video
A Set of Three
for soprano and piano
Texts by e.e. cummings
February 24, 2007, Hamilton College, Clinton, NY.
Performed & Commissioned by Lauralyn Kolb - Soprano, Tina Toglia - Piano
Only/Solimente
for solo Vibraphone
Commissioned by Ricardo Souza
June 6, 2005, Festival International de Musica, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Performed by Ricardo Souza - Vibraphone
Embrace the Universe
for orchestra, chorus and soloists
Text: “Hymn to Matter” from The Divine Milieu by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
May 9, 2016, Teatro Petruzzelli, Bari, Italy.
Performed by Orchestra Sinfonica del Conservatorio “Niccolo Piccinni”, Ensemble vocale “Forilegium Vocis”, Anastasia Abryutina, Paolo Messa and Emanuele Arciuli
Viola
for viola and piano
April 29, 2000, Roulette, New York, NY.
Performed by Rozanna Weinberger and Anthony de Mare
: Mode Records
Anne
for two sopranos, baritone, string quartet and clarinet
February 19, 1998, Merkin Concert Hall, New York, NY.
Performed by Joan LaBarbara, Cheryl Marshall, Thomas Meglioranza, J.D. Parran and the Soldier String Quartet
Parallel Windows – Unframed
for piano and orchestra
National Endowment for the Arts Composers’ Fellowship
March 20, 1997, The Kitchen, New York, NY.
Performed by Absolute Chamber Orchestra conducted by Kristjan Järvi with Anthony de Mare
When It Rains, Llueve
for piano
February 1, 1996, Merkin Concert Hall, New York, NY.
Written for and performed by Anthony de Mare
: Mode Records
Publisher:
Angels in the Snow
for piano solo
December 9, 1993, Real Music Series, CBGB’s Galleria, New York, NY.
Performed by Bernadette Speach
: Mode Records
Avanzando
for bass clarinet, piano, marimba, vibraphone and glockenspiel.
Underwritten by the American Composers Forum with funds provided by the Jerome Foundation
November 4, 1993, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Commissioned and performed by Zeitgeist
Chosen Voices
for toy piano and prepared guitar
June 8, 1991, MusicVistas, Inc., The Parlour, Brooklyn, NY.
Performed by Schanzer/Speach Duo
: Mode Records
9/8/89
for digital sampler and tape
March 27, 1990, RPI - iEAR Studios, Troy Music Hall, Troy, NY.
Performed by Bernadette Speach
Within
for piano and orchestra
February 15, 1990, Cooper Union, New York, NY.
Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra “Meet the Moderns,” conducted by Lukas Foss with Ursula Oppens
les ondes pour quatre
for string quartet
August 7, 1988, Internationales Musikinstitut, Darmstadt, Germany.
Performed by Arditti String Quartet
: Mode Records
Publisher:
Shattered Glass
for percussion solo
October 17, 1986, Experimental Intermedia Foundation, New York, NY.
Performed by Bobby Previte
by Michael Pugliese on Mode Records

Selected Poetry/Music Collaborations with Poet Thulani Davis

Meditations: Abandon All Hope of Fruition
for reciter and piano
April 21, 2004, Pen and Brush, New York, NY.
Performed by Thulani Davis and Bernadette Speach
Meditations: Kundun and The Womb of Buddha
for reciter and piano
May 16, 18 & 19, 2002, The Performing Garage, New York, NY.
Performed by Thulani Davis and Bernadette Speach
Meditations: Upriver Sea Islands from The Translator and Womb of Buddha
for reciter and ensemble
May 27, 2001, PICA, Portland, Oregon.
Performed by Thulani Davis, Lyndee Mah, Bernadette Speach, Jeffrey Schanzer and Skip Elliot Bowman
Passages and Outtakes
for chamber ensemble
April 29, 2000, Roulette, New York, NY.
Performed by Thulani Davis, Alva Rogers, Jeffrey Schanzer and Bernadette Speach
Woman Without Adornment
for chamber ensemble
Settings from the Novel 1959 by Thulani Davis
March 29, 1995, The Kitchen, NYC.
Performed by Alva Rogers, Thulani Davis, Bernadette Speach, Jeffrey Schanzer and Pablo Aslan
: Mode Records
Baobab 4
for flute, clarinet, alto saxophone, trombone, acoustic and electric guitar, bass, two pianos, balafon, reciter, three women’s voices and dancer.
Commissioned by MusicVistas, Inc. with funds provided by the New York State Council on the Arts
April 9, 1994, MusicVistas and P.S. 122, New York, NY.
Performed by Rob DeBellis, Jeff Hoyer, Jeffrey Schanzer, Lindsey Horner, Myra Melford, Thulani Davis, Michelle Kinney, Alva Rogers, Dawn Saito, Bernadette Speach and Ron Brown
Telepathy Suite
for chamber ensemble
March 8, 1987, Celebrate Brooklyn Festival, Prospect Park Picnic House, Brooklyn, NY.
Performed by Thulani Davis, Oliver Lake, Jeff Hoyer, Myra Melford, Jeffrey Schanzer, Lindsey Horner, and Bernadette Speach
: Mode Records

Improvisations for Piano and Guitar (Conceived and Performed by the Schanzer/Speach Duo)

Debabelized Brook
April 4, 2004, Flea Theater, New York, NY, with video by Anney Bonney.
Hell’s Gate
April 4, 2004, Flea Theater, New York, NY, with video by Anney Bonney.
Toy Rings
in collaboration with John J.A. Jannone
February 8, 2002, Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture, Brooklyn, NY.
Glove Quartet
in collaboration with Holland Hopson and John J.A.Jannone
February 8, 2002, Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture, Brooklyn, NY.
Lago
December 9, 1999, Greenwich House Music School, New York, NY.
Outside In
June 1, 1996, Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church, Brooklyn, NY.
at the same time
February 14, 1993, Music Designs, New York, NY.
Sound Crowds
November 24, 1990, Cirque Divers, Liège, Belgium.
It’s Your Turn
November 24, 1990, Cirque Divers, Liège, Belgium.
: Mode/Avant
3-1/2
September 15, 1990, MusicVistas, Inc., Roulette, New York, NY.
: Mode/Avant
Blue
February 9, 1990, Real Art Ways, Hartford, CT.
: Mode/Avant
Phill’s Phault
July 31, 1988, Logos Foundation, Ghent, Belgium.
Two in the Morning
October 17, 1986, Experimental Intermedia Foundation, New York, NY.
: Mode/Avant

Recordings


Anthony de Mare
Bernadette Speach
Chamber Works

Schanzer/Speach Duo
Improvised Duets, Solos
Bernadette Speach
Chamber Works