corpo risonante

excerpt of Aperghis "Recitations" for solo voice

Picture: a singer in a red dress takes the stage for Aperghis's complete Recitations. What journey is she taking? How has she prepared for this moment? Christie Finn, as part of this year's Resonant Bodies Festival, took this work by the balls and ran with it (so to speak). I think my mouth may have been agape for the duration. 

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Christie, now based in Stuttgart, was a classmate of mine, briefly, in the Contemporary Performance Program at Manhattan School of Music. She jetted to Europe soon after graduating in 2011, having booked performances in Turkey and Amsterdam. She quickly acclimated to the scene there, eventually settling with her wizard of a partner, clarinetist Felix Behringer, in Stuttgart. I spoke at MSM recently to a group of undergraduates and realized that leaving New York was not in my immediate sightline. I used to think, in the beginning, that maybe Paris would be it, sooner rather than later, but Christie's jaw-dropping performance made me shake my head and go: maybe not yet. 


The question remains: how does one begin work on a score like this? Mentally, physically, metaphysically? Our process should be open, receiving and giving equally, yielding a performance that is personal yet inclusive. I have work to do.