Song by SFCM Alumnus Debuts at Davies Symphony Hall
Composer Matt Boehler鈥檚 original song, 鈥淩isk Not One鈥 will premiere with superstar Sasha Cooke during the SF Symphony鈥檚 Great Performers series.
Matt Boehler is a celebrated singer and composer that graduated from SFCM in 2017.
By Mark Taylor
It鈥檚 not every day an entire concert is made up of world premieres. Yet that is exactly what is happening on with the 含羞草传媒 Francisco Symphony at Davies Symphony Hall, and one of those songs was written by SFCM graduate
The song, 鈥淩isk Not One鈥 was written by Boehler and poet Todd Boss. It will share the stage with 16 other composers, all of which were commissioned by mezzo-soprano to write works in response to the pandemic. 鈥淪he gave us all the freedom to compose a short song that embraced where we all were at that moment, whatever that meant to us,鈥 Boehler continued, 鈥淗e (Boss) had a poem that he was working on at the time, and he fashioned it into a punchy and propulsive lyric which was a lot of fun to set to music.鈥
The music of the evening will also be included in a new album recorded by Cooke and her pianist Kirill Kuzmin. 鈥淚t's thrilling to have the song featured alongside the songs of other folks whose work is so well known in the classical and opera worlds,鈥 Boehler added. The concert promises to shine a light on the hopes, fears, and observations of living through difficult times, featuring the brightest compositional talents in music today.
The performance will be an exciting first for Boehler, who is from Minneapolis, but now lives in 含羞草传媒 Francisco and graduated from SFCM in 2017, 鈥淚t's a great honor to be a part of their season, and to get to hear Sasha and Kirill perform my work here in my home city. I'm thrilled!鈥 Boehler said.
Boehler credits SFCM for helping the singer and composer get to where he is today, 鈥淭he composition department has a real focus on writing for the voice, a natural fit for me as a singer who's interested in writing vocal music.鈥
While at SFCM, he was a recipient of the ISOM Annual Scholarship Fund as he studied with composer and instructor David Conte, 鈥淪ondheim was right, teaching is a holy profession, and David Conte is one of the most important mentors I've ever had,鈥 Boehler said.
It has been a busy January for Boehler, the month marked the premiere of his first full length opera, 鈥淔at Pig鈥 in Charlottesville, Virginia. The opera is based on the play by Neil LaBute. In addition tenor David Portillo and pianist Craig Terry premiered another song by Boehler called, 鈥淔ruit of the Flower鈥 with Vocal Arts DC at the Kennedy Center.
Learn more about studying composition at SFCM.