Music Newsletter Spring 2016

Music News

SPRING 2016 ALUMNI NEWSLETTER

Composer collaborates with students for his latest work omposer, singer, actor, and music educator David Sisco joined MSUM students in a premiere performance of his latest composition, Variations on a Theme of You: The Songs of David Sisco. The composition was partially based on text provided by MSUM music students. Sisco called the composition a “theatrical song cycle” which explored relationships in their various stages. “Together with the MSUM students, we crafted a collection of personal reflections that have universal resonance,” says Sisco. “The piece highlights a wide range of musical styles, from art song to jazz and contemporary musical theatre, while telling a unique, yet collective story.”

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Sisco’s performance was the culmination of a week-long residency with music students at MSUM. He was also on campus last fall to perform and to audition students for the new work.

“Spending one-on-one time with him so that we could get help on our individual songs was wonderful,” says student performer Kaele Rogers. “He was really available to help. He helped me grow as a performer, and I think everyone learned a lot.” Sisco is a member of the Dramatist’s Guild and BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theater Workshop (Advanced) and is an alumnus of the New Dramatists Composer-Librettist Studio in New York. He is the author of Here I Am: A Musical Personal Ad, and Bait n’ Swish. Sisco is currently collaborating with book writer and lyricist Tom Gualtieri on two musicals: Falling to Earth, and I’m Afraid, You’re Afraid: 448 Things to Fear And Why. He is also working with Los Angeles-based playwright Sylvan Oswald on a forthcoming show. A winner of the 2010 NATS (National Association of Teachers of Singing) Composition Award, David is a prolific art song composer.

Together with the MSUM students, we crafted a collection of personal reflections that have universal resonance.” - David Sisco

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