Joelle Wallach

Joelle Wallach received first prize for the composition Why the Caged Bird Sings at the First Annual Jezick Ensemble Prize competition. She received another first prize (the Miriam Gideon Prize for Vocal Chamber Works) for A Revisitation of Myth in the International Women in Music Search for New Music; this work also received the New York Women Composers Recording Award for a collaborative recording project, along with composers Victoria Bond and Joyce Hope Suskind. Wallach was also awarded a first prize for her work Therefore, which was premiered in October 2005 by the New York Virtuoso Singers. You are invited to visit the composer’s website at www.joellewallach.com.

Premieres

Psalm XXIII for choir, oboe, and strings was introduced December 10, 2004, by the Bridgewater (MA) State College Choir under the direction of Steven Young. Therefore received its world premiere on October 30, 2005, in a performance by the New York Virtuoso Singers conducted by Harold Rosenbaum, Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church Concert Series, New York, NY. After Alcyon’s Dream for clarinet, viola, and piano will receive its premiere March 4, 2006, in a performance by the American Chamber Ensemble, Weill Concert Hall at Carnegie Hall, New York, NY.

Performances

A Revisitation of Myth received multiple performances in 2004: the Gold Coast Chamber Players performed the work on April 10 at the Acalanes Performing Arts Theatre in Lafayette, CA, and on April 16 for the Old First Church Concerts, San Francisco, CA; a special intimate “salon” performance was given at the home of Frederica von Stade in Alameda, CA, on April 20; and Janice Meyerson, Harriet Wingrin, and Dorian Reece performed it on November 21 at Christ and St. Stephen’s Church in New York, NY, in a special benefit program for the Artemis Project. String Quartet was performed March 3, 2005, by the Lumina Quartet at Greenwich House, New York, NY. Pianist Claudia Knafo presented Voices of the Iron Harp on April 3 at Manhattanville College, New York, NY. Sweetbriar Elegies was performed by Jeremy Juteson and the CASE Arts Group April 17 on the Reading (PA) Museum Concert Series.

Publications

In Memory the Heart Still Sings, rhapsody for clarinet and chamber orchestra; Why the Caged Bird Sings, treble voices, horn, and strings (or piano); both by E. C. Schirmer.

Recordings

Contemporary Eclectic Music for the Piano Volume 7: “Voices of the Iron Harp,” pianist Jeffrey Jacob; New Ariel Recordings. The Wreath of Silver Birds: flutist Nina Assimakopoulis; Laurels International CD Series.

Further Information

• 2002-2003 American Composers Update
• 2001-2002 American Composers Update
• 2000-2001 American Composers Update
• 1998-1999 American Composers Update
• 1997-1998 American Composers Update
• SAI's Composers Bureau Online
• SAI's Music for Young People section
• Further information may be found at the composer's website