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| Fotina Naumenko and the performers on Bespoke Songs |
Fotina Naumenko is an American soprano of Russian heritage. Her album Bespoke Songs on New Focus Recordings was nominated for a 2025 Grammy for Greatest Classical Solo Vocal Album. The disc options 4 works for soprano and various ensembles that Fotina commissioned from composers Jonathan Newman, Benedict Sheehan, Carrie Magin and Jennifer Jolley setting texts by feminine authors. The disc options Jonathan Newman’s track cycle, Bespoke Songs for soprano, clarinet, saxophone, violin, cello, guitar, percussion and piano, Jennifer Jolley’s track cycle ‘Hope’ is a Factor with Feathers for soprano, flute and guitar, Carrie Magin’s Find out how to See an Angel for soprano, bassoon and piano, and Benedict Sheehan’s track cycle, Let Night Come for soprano, cello and harp.
Fotina studied on the Eastman College of Music, and the Cincinnati Faculty-Conservatory, and is a Fulbright scholar, having accomplished a post-graduate diploma specializing in Russian vocal music on the Rimsky-Korsakov State Conservatory in St. Petersburg, Russia. The end result of this work was the creation of www.RussianAriaResource.com, a lyric diction useful resource for Russian operatic arias.
She sings and data with ensembles equivalent to Skylark, Clarion, the Saint Tikhon Choir, and PaTRAM, and is Affiliate Professor of Voice at Shenandoah Conservatory in Winchester, VA.
Fotina has at all times cherished chamber music, so when the pandemic got here and contracts have been cancelled, she had time to assume, to plant some seeds that might develop into one thing that she would need to do. The consequence was her commissioning music, although the method of commissioning the items, after which creating, performing and recording them took time. The intention was to make new music, however by utilizing various instrumental ensembles she might contain as many mates as attainable, and the disc entails round a dozen instrumentalists.
She loves new music that features components that she will be able to relate to, and she or he selected 4 composers who’re colleagues and mates, and whose music she was aware of. Jonathan Newman is a colleague of Fotina’s at Shenandoah Conservatory, each Carrie Magin and Jennifer Jolley went to graduate college with Fotina, while composer/conductor Benedict Sheehan is a long-time buddy. Commissioning music is at all times a bet, and she or he wanted to belief the composers; her choice was based mostly on their current works that she thought she would really like.
The texts set are various, Jonathan Newman units seven poets throughout completely different eras and languages, Jennifer Jolley units Emily Dickinson, Carrie Magin units Dorothy Walters (1928-2023) and Benedict Sheehan units Jane Kenyon (1947-1995). She had conversations in regards to the texts with every composer, as each she and the composer wanted to be impressed by the chosen textual content. Jennifer Jolley, Carrie Magin and Benedict Sheehan advised poets that Fotina preferred, while Jonathan Newman selected a theme. Then they chose poetry of various eras and languages, linked by a brand new set of texts by Kristina Faust. It was a problem for Fotina to sing poetry in several languages and from completely different eras, however she feels that Faust’s poems bridge any gaps.
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| Fotina Naumenko |
The completely different languages, English, French, Hebrew, Korean, Swedish and
Russian have been an additional step to take, requiring her to be correct and
honour the langued. However she loves digging into completely different languages, and
she finds it enjoyable. Nevertheless, it did current a problem, being the primary
time she had sung in Hebrew and Korean.
With every composer, she additionally had conversations in regards to the ensembles that they envisioned. Jonathan Newman started with the Pierrot ensemble (flute, clarinet, violin, cello and piano) after which made the adjustments that he wished. With the opposite three, the conversations encompassed each the form of ensembles that Fotina envisioned and the people who she wished to work with. In Jennifer Jolley’s cycle, she highlights the way in which the flute works nearly as a soloist with the voice.
Probably the most intense dialog was with Carrie Magin as Fotina was eager for the ensemble to be piano and bassoon, and while the poem by Dorothy Waters is Find out how to See an Angel, Magin has created an important amber-coloured, religious, earthy sound.
Having carried out all of the items individually, Fotina admits that the concept of taking all 4 on tour could be troublesome as it will veer in the direction of a travelling circus with a number of transferring components. However she hopes to carry out completely different songs in numerous locations, while a few of her college students are additionally within the songs, so she is assured that they’ll have a life past their recordings.
Her working life combines life as a full-time tenured professor at Shenandoah with freelance work with quite a lot of ensembles. However she was bitten by the brand new music bug early and relating to additional commissions, she says ‘keep tuned’, there will probably be extra.
Bespoke Songs – Fotina Naumenko – New Focus Recordings – fcr410
- Jonathan Newman – Bespoke Songs: Fotina Naumenko, soprano; Garrick Zoeter, clarinet; Timothy Roberts, alto & soprano saxophone; Akemi Takayama, violin; Julian Schwarz, cello; Mark Edwards, guitar; Karlyn Viña, percussion; Marika Bournaki, piano; Nadège Foofat, conductor
- Jennifer Jolley – ‘Hope’ is the Factor with Feathers: Fotina Naumenko, soprano; Julietta Curenton, flute; Colin Davin, guitar
- Carrie Magin – Find out how to See An Angel: Fotina Naumenko, soprano; Ryan Romine, bassoon; Marika Bournaki, piano
- Benedict Sheehan – Let Night Come: Fotina Naumenko, soprano; Julian Schwarz, cello; Nadia Pessoa, harp
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