Kate Soper (born 1981) is a composer and vocalist. She was a recent
American Academy in Rome
The American Academy in Rome is a research and arts institution located on the Gianicolo in Rome, Italy. The academy is a member of the Council of American Overseas Research Centers.
History 19th century
In 1893, a group of American architect ...
fellow and
Guggenheim Fellow
Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon individuals who have demonstrated d ...
as well as a 2012–13 fellow of the
Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study
The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University, also known as the Harvard Radcliffe Institute, is an institute of Harvard University that fosters interdisciplinary research across the humanities, sciences, social sciences, arts ...
. She was a finalist for the 2017
Pulitzer Prize in Music
The Pulitzer Prize for Music is one of seven Pulitzer Prizes awarded annually in Letters, Drama, and Music. It was first given in 1943. Joseph Pulitzer arranged for a music scholarship to be awarded each year, and this was eventually converted i ...
for her
chamber opera
Chamber opera is a designation for operas written to be performed with a Chamber music, chamber ensemble rather than a full orchestra. Early 20th-century operas of this type include Paul Hindemith's ''Cardillac'' (1926). Earlier small-scale operas ...
, ''Ipsa Dixit''.
Style
In addition to composing, Soper performs frequently as a new music soprano in her own works and the works of others, and many of her vocal works were developed with herself in mind as performer. Her compositional style has been deemed "exquisitely quirky" with "seamless commingling of not only lines but of actual instrumentation and fingering with another player."
Commissions
Recent commissions for work as a performer/composer include a 2012
Guggenheim fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...
for a one-act opera with original libretto, ''Here Be Siren''s; a Koussevitsky Commission for a music theatre work performed with
Alarm Will Sound
Alarm Will Sound is a 20-member chamber orchestra that focuses on recordings and performances of contemporary classical music. Its performances have been described as "equal parts exuberance, nonchalance, and virtuosity" by the ''Financial Times ...
; and ''now is forever'' for soprano and orchestra from the
American Composers Orchestra
The American Composers Orchestra (ACO) is an American orchestra administratively based in New York City, specialising in contemporary American music. The ACO gives concerts at various concert venues in New York City, including:
* Zankel Hall at ...
Since 2006, Soper has served as a co-director and vocalist for Wet Ink, a New York-based new music ensemble founded in 1998 and dedicated to the presentation of programs of new music, with a focus on creating, promoting, and organizing American music. In addition to a New York concert season featuring many of the city's freelancers, Wet Ink performs as a septet consisting of a core group of composer-performers that collaborate in a band-like fashion, writing, improvising, preparing, and touring pieces together over long stretches of time. Alongside fellow composer/directors Alex Mincek (saxophone/founding member), Sam Pluta (electronics), Eric Wubbels (piano), and performers Ian Antonio (percussion), Erin Lesser (founding member, flute), and Josh Modney (violin), Soper frequently tours, performs with, and writes for the Wet Ink Ensemble. Her large-scale monodrama for the group, ''Voices from the Killing Jar,'' was released on Carrier Records in 2014.
Rome Prize
The Rome Prize is awarded by the American Academy in Rome, in Rome, Italy. Approximately thirty scholars and artists are selected each year to receive a study fellowship at the academy. Recipients must be American citizens. Prizes have been aw ...
Fellow, 2023–2024
*
Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study
The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University, also known as the Harvard Radcliffe Institute, is an institute of Harvard University that fosters interdisciplinary research across the humanities, sciences, social sciences, arts ...
John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation is a private foundation formed in 1925 by Olga and Simon Guggenheim in memory of their son, who died on April 26, 1922. The organization awards Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are Gr ...
Fellow, 2012
*
Lili Boulanger
Marie-Juliette Boulanger (; 21 August 189315 March 1918), professionally known as Lili Boulanger (), was a French composer and musician who was the first female winner of the Grand Prix de Rome composition prize. Her older sister was the noted ...
Memorial Fund Annual Prize Winner, 2012
*
Fromm Music Foundation
Paul Fromm (September 28, 1906 – July 4, 1987) was a Jewish Chicago wine merchant and performing arts patron through the Fromm Music Foundation. The ''Organum for Paul Fromm'' was composed by John Harbison in his honor.
Early life
Born in Kitz ...
Fromm Commission, 2008
*
Tanglewood Music Center
The Tanglewood Music Center is an annual summer music academy in Lenox, Massachusetts, United States, in which emerging professional musicians participate in performances, master classes and workshops. The center operates as a part of the Tanglew ...
Fellow, 2006.
List of works
Vocal
*''Now is forever'' (soprano and orchestra), 2012–2013
*''The Crito'' (soprano and percussion), 2012
*''Only the words themselves mean what they say'' (soprano and flute), 2010–2011
*''cipher'' (soprano and violin), 2011–12
*''Nadja'' (soprano and string quartet), upcoming 2013
*'' Voices from the Killing Jar'' (voice, flute, sax/clarinet, piano, violin/trumpet, piano, electronics), 2010–12
*''Helen Enfettered'' (soprano, mezzo-soprano, clarinet, trumpet, piano, violin, viola, cello, contrabass), 2009, a setting of the "e" chapter of
Christian Bök
Christian Bök, FRSC (; born August 10, 1966, in Toronto, Canada) is a Canadian poet known for his experimental works. He is the author of ''Eunoia'', which won the Canadian Griffin Poetry Prize.
Life and work
He was born "Christian Book", but ...
's ''
Eunoia
In rhetoric, ''eunoia'' () is the good will that speakers cultivate between themselves and their audiences, a condition of receptivity. In Book VIII of the ''Nicomachean Ethics'', Aristotle uses the term to refer to the kind and benevolent feel ...
''.
*''Door'' (voice, flute, saxophone, electric guitar, accordion), 2007
*''Songs for Nobody'' (two sopranos and alto), 2006
*''What you think of in the city'' (baritone, viola, cello), 2002
*''Ipsa Dixit'' (voice, violin, flute, percussion), 2016
Instrumental
*''Entre les Calanques'' (orchestra; original chamber version with flute, cello, bassoon, two horns, three violins, three violas, two cellos, two contrabasses), 2010
*''Nine Rakes'' (wind orchestra), 2007
*''The door in the wall'' (flute, oboe, two clarinets, bassoon, horn, trumpet, tn, piano, two percussionist, two violins, viola, cello, contrabass), 2011, revised 2012
*''What makes it go'' (flute, oboe, two clarinets, bassoon, horn, trumpet, tn, piano, percussion, two violins, viola, cello, contrabass; original version with three violins, three violas, three cellos, three contrabasses) 2010, original version 2008
*''As the Crow Flies'' (flute, clarinet, two saxophones, horn, trumpet, trombone, electric guitar, accordion, piccolo, violin, viola, cello, contrabass), 2007
*''Didcas'' (brass septet), 2006
*''Crosshatch'' (flute, clarinet, horn, trumpet, trombone, piccolo, violin, viola, cello, contrabass), 2005
*''In the Reign of Harad IV'' (amplified percussion trio), upcoming, 2013
*''Wolf'' (piano four hands and two percussionists), 2010
*''The Sleep Side'' (clarinet, trumpet, piano, and percussion), 2010
*''I had a Slow Thought on a Hard Day'' (alto saxophone and accordion), 2008
*''Into that World Inverted'' (horn and piano), 2006, revised 2010
*''Purl'' (flute and percussion), 2006
*''Knock'' (solo percussion), 2006
Theatrical
*''The Hunt'' (three voices, ukulele, violin), 2023
*''The Romance of the Rose'' (seven voices, electronics, ensemble), 2021
*''IPSA DIXIT'' (soprano, flute, violin and percussion), 2016
*''I Was Here I Was I'' (voices and chamber ensemble), 2014
*''Here be Sirens'' (three voices, piano), 2014
Electronic
*''Five One-liners'' (tape), 2003
Discography
*''The Romance of the Rose'' (as composer/performer/librettist) (Wet Ink, New Focus Recordings, 2024)
*''The Hunt'' (as composer/librettist)(New Focus Recordings, 2024)
*''Missing Scenes'' (as composer/vocalist)(Wet Ink, Carrier Records, 2023)
*''The Understanding of All Things'' (as composer/vocalist/pianist)(Sam Pluta, New Focus Recordings, 2022)
*''Ipsa Dixit'' (as composer/vocalist) (Wet Ink,
New World Records
New World Records is a record label that was established in 1975 through a Rockefeller Foundation grant to celebrate America's bicentennial (1976) by producing a 100-LP anthology, with American music from many genres."Kate Soper: The Understanding of All Things"
The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...