Sky Macklay composer, oboist, installation artist www.skymacklay.com Curriculum Vitae 5550 S. Dorchester AVE #1003 (507) 521-0548 Chicago, IL 60637 [email protected]
EDUCATION
2018 D.M.A. in Composition Columbia University in the City of New York
Dissertation: Violence and Empathy: Jennifer Walshe’s XXX_LIVE_NUDE_GIRLS!!! as a Simulation of Acquaintance Rape (paper) and Microvariations for Large Ensemble (piece) Composition: Georg Friedrich Haas, Fred Lerdahl, George Lewis Electronic music: Brad Garton, Douglas Repetto
2012 M.M. in Composition University of Memphis
2010 B.A. in Music, magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa Luther College (Decorah, IA)
PROFESSIONAL APPOINTMENT
2018-present Assistant Professor of Music, Valparaiso University (Valparaiso, IN)
AWARDS, GRANTS, AND FELLOWSHIPS
2019 Civitella Ranieri Foundation Fellow Kronos Quartet’s “Fifty for the Future” selected composer 2018 Commission from the Barlow Endowment for Music Composition (with andPlay) Avaloch Farm Music Institute Residency (with andPlay) Bowling Green State University New Music Ensemble Competition winner for Microvariations Brush Creek Foundation for the Arts Fellow 2017 Fromm Commission from Harvard University (with Ensemble Dal Niente) Charles Ives Scholarship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters GRAMMY nomination for Spektral Quartet’s album Serious Business featuring Many Many Cadences in the Best Small Ensemble Performance category Miami chapter selection for ISCM World New Music Days Charles S. Miller Award from Columbia University for The Surrogate 2016 Chamber Music America Classical Commissioning Grant (with Splinter Reeds) ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Award for Many Many Cadences New Music USA Project Grant for MEGA-ORGAN Le Nouvel Ensemble Moderne FORUM selected composer Macklay 2
Patricia Plude Faculty Fellowship for Excellence and Innovation in Musicianship Teaching from The Walden School 2015 The Jerome Fund for New Music Award (with Ryan Muncy) Composers and the Voice Fellow with American Opera Projects Ruth Anderson Prize from the International Alliance for Women in Music for Harmonibots Mosenthel Endowed Fellowship in Composition from Columbia University 2014 Patricia Plude Faculty Fellowship for Excellence and Innovation in Musicianship Teaching from The Walden School 2013 ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Awards Leo Kaplan Award (top prize) for Dissolving Bands Composition Fellow at the Bennington Chamber Music Conference 2012 New Music USA CAP Grant for Dissolving Bands
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Valparaiso University Private Composition Lessons (Fall 2018 and Spring 2019) Theory I (Fall 2018) Theory II (Spring 2019) Theory III (Fall 2018) Post-tonal Theory (Spring 2019) New Music Ensemble (Fall 2018 and Spring 2019) Intro to Electronic Music (Fall 2018)
Columbia University Intro to Digital Music (Instructor Spring 2017, Co-lecture with Brad Garton Fall 2016) Undergraduate Composition (Co-lecture with Georg Friedrich Haas Spring 2016) Masterpieces of Western Music (Instructor Fall 2015, TA Spring 2015 and Fall 2014)
University of Memphis Aural Skills II (TA Spring 2012) Music Theory I (Instructor Fall 2011)
The Walden School Young Musicians Program (5-week summer course for pre-college composers) Composition (Summers 2018, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, and 2010) Computer Music (Summer 2017) Advanced Spectral and Microtonal Musicianship (Summer 2016) Musicianship (Summers 2017, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, and 2010) High Chorus (Co-Conductor Summers 2017 and 2016) Let’s Make A Musical (Summers 2016, 2014, and 2010) Classical Form and Analysis (Summer 2015) John Cage (Summer 2012)
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CONFERENCE ACTIVITY, INVITED TALKS, AND WRITINGS
2019 Composition lessons and lectures on my music, Indiana University Bloomington, Feb. 13-14 2018 Composition lessons and lecture on my music, University of Notre Dame, Dec. 2 Master classes and lecture on my music, Western Michigan University, Oct. 12 Lecture on my music, Northwestern University Composition Seminar, Oct. 11 Lecture on my music, The University of Chicago Composition Seminar, May 29 Master classes and lecture on my music, The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, May 1 Master classes and lecture on my music, The Hartt School, April 18 “Student-Created Content in the Core Music Class,” Musicology in the Age of (Post)Globalization, CUNY Graduate Center, April 3-6 Lecture on my music, Lawrence University Composition Seminar, March 6 Lecture on my music, BGSU Composition Seminar, March 1 2017 Lecture on my music and interview with musicologist Tim Rutherford-Johnson, Gaudeamus Muziekweek, Utrecht, Netherlands, Sept. 9 Lecture on my music, The Juilliard School Composition Seminar, Feb. 13 2016 “The Drama Unfurling Process,” McGill University Composition Seminar, Nov. 10 “The Drama Unfurling Process,” University of Montreal Composition Seminar, Nov. 9 “Propaganda and Music: The Questionnaire,” Sound American, Issue 15, May 11 “The Analog Robotic: The Liminality of Naturalness in Harmonibots,” Women in Music Technology Symposium, University of California, Irvine, Feb. 6
SERVICE AND ADMINISTRATIVE EXPERIENCE
Summer 2018 Academic Dean, The Walden School Young Musicians Program 2017-2018 Assistant Academic Dean, The Walden School Young Musicians Program 2014-2016 Board Member, Columbia Composers (concert-organizing body) 2012-present Advisory Board, American Composers Forum Next Notes high school composition initiative
DISCOGRAPHY
2019 Hypothetical Islands, featuring Choppy, Splinter Reeds’ album released on New Focus Recordings
2018 We Who Walk Again, featuring 60 Degree Mirrors, Ghost Ensemble’s album released on Indexical Records (also featured as an oboist on works by Pauline Oliveros, Ben Richter, Andrew C. Smith, and Sky Macklay)
2016 Serious Business, featuring Many Many Cadences, Spektral Quartet’s album released on Sono Luminous
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WORKS LIST WITH COMMISSIONERS AND PERFORMANCES
Large Ensemble
2017 Disputation(s) on the Power (of Indulgences) for SATB choir and brass ensemble Commissioned by the Marilyn Roverud Endowed Fellowship in Lutheran Studies Luther College Collegiate and Cathedral Choirs, Reformation Commemoration Concert, Decorah, IA, Oct. 2017
X + X = ? for horn and alto sax soloists and wind ensemble Commissioned by the Concertos for Young Soloists Project Arizona State University Wind Orchestra and youth soloists from area middle schools, Tempe, AZ, Jan. 2018
2016 Microvariations for fl, ob, cl, b.cl, c.bsn, hrn, tpt, tbn, pno, perc, vln I, vln II, vla, vlc, and cb Commissioned by Le Nouvel Ensemble Moderne BGSU New Music Ensemble, Bowling Green, OH, March 2018 Société de musique contemporaine du Québec, Montreal, QC, Sept. 2017 Le Nouvel Ensemble Moderne, Montreal, QC, Nov. 2016
Ode to Alice for youth orchestra Commissioned by The Rivers School Rivers Upper School Orchestra, Musicfest Canada, Niagara Falls, ON, May 2017 Rivers Upper School Orchestra, Croatia and Italy tour, Jan. 2017 Rivers Upper School Orchestra, Seminar on Contemporary Music for the Young, Weston, MA, Feb. 2016
2015 Sing Their Names for 17-part SATB choir Commissioned by ASCAP and the New York Virtuoso Singers New York Virtuoso Singers, National Sawdust, Brooklyn, NY, Nov. 2015
2012 Dissolving Bands for orchestra Commissioned by The Lexington Symphony Lexington Symphony, Lexington Town House, Lexington, MA, Sept. 2012
Opera
2018 The Surrogate, one-act opera for 5 singers and sinfonietta Commissioned by The University of Illinois Opera and American Opera Projects National Opera Association Conference, Salt Lake City, UT, Jan. 2019 University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, May 2018
2016 Why We Bleed, chamber opera for 2 sopranos, baritone, and piano Contemporary Insights Composer Portrait, Spectrum, New York, NY, Oct. 2016 Macklay 5
American Opera Projects Composers and the Voice: Six Scenes, American Opera Center, New York, NY, Oct. 2016 American Opera Projects Composers and the Voice: Six Scenes, South Oxford Space, Brooklyn, NY, Sept. 2016
Instruments and Electronics/Multimedia
2019 Maps (of Friendship) for violin, viola, and video Commissioned by the Barlow Endowment and andPlay andPlay, Areté, Brooklyn, NY, April 2019
2016 Fly’s Eyes for soprano, flute, tenor saxophone, violin, piano, percussion, and electronics Nova Ensemble, University of North Texas, Denton, TX, Nov. 2018 Wet Ink Ensemble, DiMenna Center, New York, NY, September 2018 Wet Ink Ensemble, St. Peter’s Church, New York, NY, April 2016
2015 White/Waves for fl, ob, b.cl, t.sax, tpt, tbn, pno, perc, vln I, vln II, vla, vlc, and electronics Asko Schönberg, Gaudeamus Muziekweek, Utrecht, NL, Sept. 2017 ICE, Abrons Arts Center, New York, NY, April 2017 Wet Ink Large Ensemble, DiMenna Center, New York, NY, April 2015
Lessina, Levlin, Levlite, Levora for speaking violinist and electronics Josh Modney, Contemporary Insights Composer Portrait, Spectrum, New York, NY, Oct. 2016 Josh Modney, Contemporary Insights Presents: Josh Modney, Spectrum, New York, NY, Jan. 2016
Acoustic Chamber Music
2018 Escalator for oboe and horn soloists, harp, guitar, violin, viola, cello, and bass Commissioned by The Fromm Foundation and Ensemble Dal Niente Ensemble Dal Niente, Constellation, Chicago, IL, June 2018
2017 Choppy for oboe, clarinet, bass clarinet, saxophone, and bassoon Commissioned by Chamber Music America Splinter Reeds, Blue Sage Center for the Arts, Paonia, CO, March 2018 Splinter Reeds, University of Texas, Austin, TX, Nov. 2017 Splinter Reeds, University of North Texas, Denton, TX, Nov. 2017 Splinter Reeds, Indexical at Wind River, Santa Cruz, CA, Nov. 2017 Splinter Reeds, BAMPFA, Berkeley, CA, Nov. 2017 Splinter Reeds, The Walden School, Dublin, NH (preview performance), July 2017
Exponential for saxophone, violin, electric guitar, piano, and percussion Commissioned by Gaudeamus Muziekweek Macklay 6
Hotel Elefant, Areté, Brooklyn, NY, April 2019 Kluster5, Gaudeamus Muziekweek, Utrecht, NL, Sept. 2017
Six Years Six Days for vocalist, flute, clarinet, violin, and percussion TAK, DiMenna Center, New York, NY, Feb. 2017
2016 Density Dancity for tenor saxophone and piano Commissioned by the Fusik/Larson Duo MATA Festival, The Kitchen, New York, NY, April 2018 Fusik/Larson Duo, Augustana College, Oct. 2016 Fusik/Larson Duo, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, Oct. 2016 Fusik/Larson Duo, Narloch Piano Studios, Chicago, IL, Oct. 2016 ICE, The Walden School, Dublin, NH, July 2016
Glossolalia for mezzo soprano and piano Commissioned by Fordham University VoicesUP! Lucy Dhegrae and Nathaniel LaNasa, ArtShare, Los Angeles, CA, June 2017 Lucy Dhegrae and Nathaniel LaNasa, The Crypt, New York, NY, May 2017 Elaine Daiber and Yumi Namoto, Bard First Songs, Cambridge, MA, April 2017 Ruston Ropac and Jakob Ruderer, Manhattan School of Music, Jan. 2017 Ruston Ropac and Jakob Ruderer, Firehouse Space, New York, NY, Nov. 2016 Sharon Harms and Mila Henry, Contemporary Insights Composer Portrait, Spectrum, New York, NY Oct. 2016 Lucy Dhegrae and Josh Groffman, Fordham University, The Bronx, NY April 2016
The Big Wind-Up for toy piano and toy viola Commissioned by Wind-Up Elephant Wind-Up Elephant, Mise-en Place, Brooklyn, NY, May, 2017 Wind-Up Elephant, BOWERBIRD, Philadelphia, PA, April, 2017 Wind-Up Elephant, Shapeshifter Lab Neue Forum, Brooklyn, NY, Jan. 2017 Wind-Up Elephant, Florida International Toy Piano Festival, Tampa, FL, Jan. 2017
2015 FastLowHighSlow for violin and piano, optional 5th movement for 2 violins and piano 4-hands Network for New Music, University of Pennsylvania, Feb. 2019 Network for New Music, Stockton University, Feb. 2019 Latitude49, University of Chicago Logan Center, March 2016 Josh Modney and Jacob Greenburg, Contemporary Insights Composer Portrait, Spectrum, New York, NY, Oct. 2016 ICE, The Walden School, Dublin, NH, July 2015
Many Many Cadences for string quartet Commissioned by Spektral Quartet Aizuri Quartet, Boulanger Initiative Launch Festival, Washington D.C., March 2019 Louis Moreau Institute, New Orleans, LA, March 2019 Macklay 7
Musicians of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (MusicNOW), Chicago, IL, Nov. 2018 Students of the Perlman Music Program, Shelter Island, NY, July 2018 Musicians of the LA Chamber Orchestra, Los Angeles, CA, May 2018 Quatuor Bozzini, ISCM World New Music Days, Vancouver, BC, Nov. 2017 Utrecht String Quartet, Gaudeamus Muziekweek, Utrecht, NL, Sept. 2017 Spektral Quartet, The University of Maryland, April 2016 Spektral Quartet, The University of Wisconsin-Madison, March 2016 Spektral Quartet, The University of Chicago, Jan. 2016 Spektral Quartet, Mayne Stage, Chicago, IL, Jan. 2016 Spektral Quartet, SubCulture, New York, NY, Jan. 2016 Spektral Quartet, The Arkansas Governor’s Mansion, Little Rock, AR, July 2015 Spektral Quartet, Constellation, Chicago, IL, May 2015 Mivos Quartet, The DiMenna Center for Classical Music, New York, NY, Feb. 2015
2014 Doppelgänger III for 2 oboes and organ Sky Macklay, Karisa Antonio, and Jacob Greenburg, Contemporary Insights Composer Portrait, Spectrum, New York, NY, Oct. 2016 Sky Macklay, Karisa Antonio, and Dave Broome, St. Paul’s Chapel, New York, NY, Oct. 2015 Sky Macklay, Kaia Sand, and Brad Schultz, Luther College, Decorah, IA, Oct. 2014
The Braid for clarinet, cello, and percussion Mosa Tsay M.M. recital, The Juilliard School, New York, NY, Oct. 2018 Talea Ensemble, The Italian Academy, New York, NY, Feb. 2014
2013 60 Degree Mirrors for flute, oboe, accordion, harp, percussion, viola, and bass Ghost Ensemble, Bread and Salt, San Diego, CA, May 2018 Ghost Ensemble, Basic Flowers, Los Angeles, CA, May 2018 Ghost Ensemble, Lafondusac, Paso Robles, CA, May 2018 Ghost Ensemble, Wind River, Santa Cruz, CA, May 2018 Ghost Ensemble, Center for New Music, San Francisco, CA, May 2018 Ghost Ensemble, Firehouse Space, Brooklyn, NY, April 2016 Ghost Ensemble, Queens New Music Festival, Queens, NY, Nov. 2013 Ghost Ensemble, Permutations Series at Brooklyn Conservatory of Music, Nov. 2013
Zoom In for tenor saxophone, violin, cello, piano, and percussion Ensemble Dal Niente, The Walden School, Dublin, NH, July 2013
2012 Doppelgänger for 2 solo oboes, clarinet, bassoon, horn, piano, violin, and viola Michelle Vigneau and Columbus State University faculty, International Double Reed Society Conference, Columbus, GA, June 2016 Jacqueline Leclair and Sky Macklay with Bennington Chamber Music Conference faculty, Bennington, VT, Aug. 2013 Michelle Vigneau and Sky Macklay with PRIZM Ensemble, Memphis TN, April 2012
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2011 Missing Parts of Moonspots for violin, viola, cello, and percussion Firebird Ensemble, The Walden School, Dublin, NH, July 2011
Before There Was Backspace… for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, percussion, and typewriter U of M Contemporary Chamber Players, Imagine Festival, Memphis, TN, April 2011 U of M Contemporary Chamber Players, University of Memphis, March, 2011
2009 Lake Dublin for clarinet, piano, and bowls of water Da Capo Chamber Players, Merkin Hall, New York, NY, June 2014 Iowa Composers Forum Spring Festival, Coe College, Cedar Rapids, IA, June 2011
Installation (solo exhibitions)
2017 MEGA-ORGAN, site-specific interactive harmonica-playing inflatable sculptures and space for improvisation, Judson Memorial Church, New York, NY, March-April 2017
2015 Harmonibots, harmonica-playing inflatable sonic and kinetic sculpture installation Waseca Art Center Main Gallery, Waseca, MN, Jan. 2015
OBOE PERFORMANCE
2018 OPERA evening-length work for ensemble of singing instrumentalists by Lucie Vítková, New York University, New York, NY, December 2018 Ensemble Dal Niente: PARTY! (soloist on Escalator by Sky Macklay), Constellation, Chicago, IL, June 2018 Ghost Ensemble: California Tour (works by Liisa Hirsch, Teodora Stepancic, Kittie Cooper, Pauline Oliveros, Ben Richter, Andrew C. Smith, and Sky Macklay), shows in San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Paso Robles, Los Angeles, and San Diego, May 2018 Ghost Ensemble: Album Release Concert (works by Pauline Oliveros, Ben Richter, Andrew C. Smith, and Sky Macklay), The DiMenna Center, New York, NY, April 2018 Feedback TVs for oboe and television feedback by Sam Pluta, SPLICE Festival, Western Michigan University, Jan. 2018 2017 OPERA evening-length work for ensemble of singing instrumentalists by Lucie Vítková, commissioned by Roulette, Roulette, Brooklyn, NY, April 2017 2016 Ghost Ensemble: New Commissions (works by Elizabeth Adams, Kristina Wolf, and Teodora Stepancic), The Invisible Dog, Brooklyn, NY, Dec. 2016 VISIBLE for oboe and accordion by Lucie Vítková, Spectrum, New York, NY, Oct. 2016 Ghost Ensemble at Firehouse Space (works by Stockhausen, John Rot, Pauline Oliveros, and Andrew C. Smith), New York, NY, April 2016 Musical Ecologies Presents: Ghost Ensemble (works by Marc Sabat, Pauline Oliveros, and Lucie Vítková), Old Stone House, New York, NY, April 2016 2015 Indexical presents: Ghost Ensemble (works by Ben Richter, Andrew C. Smith, and Pauline Oliveros), Pioneer Works, Brooklyn, NY, Oct. 2015 Pamplemousse, guest performer on Eoin Callery’s Morning in the Manor, DiMenna Center, Macklay 9
New York, NY, May 2015 Counter)induction, guest performer on works by Zeynep Toraman and Vicente Hansen Atria, Columbia University Faculty House, New York, NY, May 2015 Feedback TVs for oboe and television feedback by Sam Pluta, MATA festival opening gala, Paula Cooper Gallery, New York, NY, April 2015 Musicians Against Police Brutality: A Benefit for the Family of Akai Gurley (electroacoustic improvisations with flutist Martha Cargo), The Silent Barn, Brooklyn, NY, April 2015 2014 Ghost Ensemble Winter Concert (works by Marc Sabat, Leonie Roessler, Matt Sargent, and Ben Richter), Barn and Bale, New York, NY, Dec. 2014 Ghost Ensemble at the Queens New Music Festival (works by Kyle Gann, Ben Richter, Pauline Oliveros, and Sky Macklay), Secret Theater, Queens, NY, May 2014 Ensemble Moto Perpetuo, guest performer for Philippe Manoury Portrait Concert, Hunter College, New York, NY, May 2014 East Bank Music Series Presents: Ghost Ensemble (works by John Cage, Somna Bullist, Matthew Sargent, and Jean de Sainte-Colombe arr. Macklay) 2013 Permutations: Ghost Ensemble (works by Hildegard von Bingen, Ben Richter, Pauline Oliveros, and Sky Macklay), Brooklyn Conservatory of Music, Nov. 2013 Pauline Oliveros’s Anthology of Text Scores Book Release Celebration with Ghost Ensemble (works by Pauline Oliveros), Eyebeam, Brooklyn, NY, Nov. 2013 Squeem for oboe and electronics by David Bird, Transient Series, Willow Place Auditorium, Brooklyn, NY, March 2013 Triptych for oboe, trumpet, electronics, trombone, and percussion soloists and wind ensemble by Peter Evans, Manhattan School of Music, New York, NY, Feb. 2013 2012 University of Memphis Contemporary Chamber Players (many student and faculty works), Memphis, TN, Fall 2011 and Spring 2012
MEDIA COVERAGE
“Sky Macklay: Why I Love Weird Contemporary Music” New Music Box Composer Profile by Frank J. Oteri, June 1, 2017 “Sonic Monuments: An Introduction to Sky Macklay” by Brendan Howe, VAN Magazine, Jan. 19 2016 Reviews have appeared in The Chicago Tribune, The Boston Globe, The Washington Post, Time Out New York, Best of Bandcamp, Strad Magazine, De Volkskrant (Netherlands), The Chicago Reader, WQXR, The New York Classical Review, The Classical Reader, I Care If You Listen, and The Big City Blog
REFERENCES
George Lewis Edwin H. Case Professor of American Music, Columbia University 2960 Broadway, Dodge Hall New York, NY 10027 (212) 854-3825 Macklay 10 [email protected]
Brad Garton Professor and Director of the Computer Music Center, Columbia University 2960 Broadway, Dodge Hall New York, NY 10027 (212) 854-9266 [email protected]
Fred Lerdahl Fritz Reiner Professor of Musical Composition, Columbia University 2960 Broadway, Dodge Hall New York, NY 10027 (413) 222-9295 [email protected]
Georg Friedrich Haas Professor of Music Composition, Columbia University 2960 Broadway, Dodge Hall New York, NY 10027 (212) 663-5181 [email protected]
Seth Brenzel Executive Director, The Walden School 30 Monterey Blvd Suite E San Francisco, CA 94131 (510) 469-3575 [email protected]