About
About the Piece
Instrumentation:
Solo Violin
Exclusionary Period:
1 year starting on Delivery date. (January 1, 2025 - January 1, 2026)
Project Description:
When I begin to conceive of a new piece, I like to imagine the sound, the overall texture, before trying to put it in words. With this, I came up with the idea of “fragments,” “echoes,” and “whispers” as means to frame the piece. Musically, perfect 5th figures prominently. The violin is obviously tuned in 5 th . But the interval also suggests at once stability and comfort but also hollowness, uncertainty, and extraordinary otherworldliness.
As an instrument, the violin projects great magical powers and emotional range; the violin’s mystical lore as a “devil’s instrument” and its dedicated and devoted practitioners so capably exploring the instrument’s vast possibilities. The piece unfolds gradually as a variation on the opening series of double stops, 3rds and 5ths (senza vibrato, mm. 1-9).
About the Composer
Composer Bio:
Born in Moscow, Russia and raised in Riga, Latvia, Helena Michelson is a composer and pianist based in the San Francisco-Bay Area. She completed her undergraduate studies in Music at the University of California, Berkeley and holds a doctorate in composition and theory from the University of California, Davis. Helena Michelson studied piano with Mack McCray at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and, in masterclasses, with Richard Goode and Awadagin Pratt.
She has studied composition, among others, with Olly Wilson, Cindy Cox, Jeffrey Miller, Pablo Ortiz, and, in masterclasses, with Louis Andriessen, Martin Bresnick, Mario Davidovsky, Eric Chasalow, Philippe Leroux, Bernard Rands, Judith Shatin, and Joel Hoffman. Michelson has been a fellow at numerous festivals including Composers Conference at Wellesley College, MusicX, June in Buffalo, Domaine Forget in Québec, Oregon Bach Festival Composer Symposium, Source Song Festival - MN Song, and Choral Arts Initiative. In addition, she has been a participating composer in Opera From Scratch program (Halifax, Canada), New Music at the Bayou in Monroe, LA, Music by Women Festival in Columbus, Mississippi, N.E.O. Voice Festival in Los Angeles, Really Spicy Opera Arial Institute, and Four Corners Ensemble/Operation Opera Festival at California State University, Sacramento.
Her vocal music has been performed by such organizations as ENAensemble, New Voices Opera, and Fresh Voices Festival by San Francisco Cabaret Opera.
Named one of the finalists in the 2017 HGOco Song of Houston Composer Call, her recent awards include grants from the American Composers Forum and Composer Assistance Program from New Music USA.
She is a distinguished member of the judging panel for The American Prize National Nonprofit Competitions in the Performing Arts.
How to Participate
Thank you for supporting the creation of new music through New Works Project! Here's how you can join this exciting journey:
Donate Directly
You can contribute by making a direct donation to the consortium.
Donations will list your name as a contributor in the final score, but they will not include a copy of the music or other rewards.
Register as a Consortium Participant
To unlock rewards, sign up as a Consortium Participant.
As a Consortium Participant, you can fundraise, track your progress, and receive exclusive rewards, including:
$75–$100: Name in the score and a digital copy of the piece as a thank-you gift.
$101–$150: Name in the score and a print copy of the piece as a thank-you gift.
$150+: Name in the score and both digital and print copies of the piece as thank-you gifts.
All Consortium Participants who receive a copy of the piece ($75+ tier or higher) will also enjoy 12 months of exclusive performance rights to the piece.
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For questions or assistance, please reach out to us at info@newworksproject.org.