Shelley Hirsch
Encyclopedia
Shelley Hirsch is a singer, performer, and composer. Central to Hirsch's work are her versatile vocal abilities, which are often enmeshed in a kaleidoscope of electronic music and sound effects.
Born and raised in New York City, Hirsch dropped out of high school and moved to San Francisco, California, where she worked in experimental theater, explored extended vocal techniques]], and began composing pieces for voice. In Berlin she had her first totally free improvised music concert with Sven-Åke Johansson
, deepened in collaborations with Jon Rose
and - back in New York City
- with Christian Marclay
. She has appeared at festivals throughout Europe and performed at the Kitchen, Roulette, BAM and other venues in New York. She appears on the recordings of John Zorn
, Elliott Sharp
, Jim Staley and many others. Her regular partners are Christian Marclay, Ikue Mori
, David Weinstein
and Anthony Coleman
. In 1988 she released the LP "Singing" and a year later another LP/CD "Haiku Lingo" with Weinstein. Her most recent work "O Little Town of East New York" can be found on Zorn's label Tzadik in the series "Radical Jewish Culture". Hirsch also collaborated with DJ Olive
, Mark Dresser
, Greetje Bijma, Chantal Dumas, David Moss
, Min Xiao Fen, Jerry Hunt, Toshio Kajiwara, Jin Hi Kim
, Marina Rosenfeld
and Ned Rothenberg
. She recorded with September Band (Rüdiger Carl, Hans Reichel
and Paul Lovens
) and with X-Communication (Butch Morris
, Martin Schütz and Hans Koch), too. Hirsch can also be heard interpreting compositions such as Cathy Berberian
's „Stripsody“ or Alvin Curran
's Philharmonie.
Hirsch has also collaborated with visual artists Barbara Bloom and Jim Hodges
, choreographer Noémie Lafrance
, and filmmakers Nina Danino (Temenos soundtrack with Sainkho Namtchylak
, 2001), Zoe Beloff, Abigail Childs, and Lee Sachs. In 2008 her piece "In the Basement" was included on the compilation album Crosstalk: American Speech Music
(Bridge Records) produced by Mendi + Keith Obadike
.
The radio version of Hirsch's O Little Town of East New York won first prize at the Prix Futura International Media Competition in Berlin.
Born and raised in New York City, Hirsch dropped out of high school and moved to San Francisco, California, where she worked in experimental theater, explored extended vocal techniques]], and began composing pieces for voice. In Berlin she had her first totally free improvised music concert with Sven-Åke Johansson
Sven-Åke Johansson
Sven-Åke Johansson is a Swedish drummer and composer associated with free jazz and free improvisation. He was in the Globe Unity Orchestra and played with German reedist Alfred Harth and Belgian pianist Nicole Van den Plas in E.M.T..- External links :*...
, deepened in collaborations with Jon Rose
Jon Rose
Jon Rose is an Australian violinist born in the UK in 1951. Rose began playing violin at age 7 after winning a music scholarship to King's School in Rochester. For over 35 years, Rose has been at the sharp end of new, improvised, and experimental music and media...
and - back in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
- with Christian Marclay
Christian Marclay
Christian Marclay is a Swiss-American visual artist and composer.Marclay's work explores connections between sound, noise, photography, video, and film...
. She has appeared at festivals throughout Europe and performed at the Kitchen, Roulette, BAM and other venues in New York. She appears on the recordings of John Zorn
John Zorn
John Zorn is an American avant-garde composer, arranger, record producer, saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist. Zorn is a prolific artist: he has hundreds of album credits as performer, composer, or producer...
, Elliott Sharp
Elliott Sharp
Elliott Sharp is an American multi-instrumentalist, composer, and performer.A central figure in the avant-garde and experimental music scene in New York City since the late 1970s, Sharp has released over eighty-five recordings ranging from blues, jazz, and orchestral music to noise, no wave rock,...
, Jim Staley and many others. Her regular partners are Christian Marclay, Ikue Mori
Ikue Mori
, also known as Ikue Ile, is a drummer, composer, and graphic designer.-Biography:Ikue Mori was born and raised in Japan. She says she had little interest in music before hearing punk rock...
, David Weinstein
David Weinstein (musician)
David Weinstein is an American musician and composer. He has been cited as avant garde and postmodern by the New York Times...
and Anthony Coleman
Anthony Coleman
Anthony Coleman is an American musician. Coleman is a piano and keys player, trombonist and vocalist mainly working within the free improvised and avant-garde jazz scenes in downtown New York during the late 1970s through to the present day.His greatest impact was during the 80s and 90s when he...
. In 1988 she released the LP "Singing" and a year later another LP/CD "Haiku Lingo" with Weinstein. Her most recent work "O Little Town of East New York" can be found on Zorn's label Tzadik in the series "Radical Jewish Culture". Hirsch also collaborated with DJ Olive
DJ Olive
DJ Olive is an American disc jockey and turntablist active in free improvisation, jazz and illbient music. He is often credited with coining the latter term....
, Mark Dresser
Mark Dresser
Mark Dresser is an American double bass player and composer.-Biography:He has performed and recorded with many of the luminaries of "new" jazz composition and improvisation. For ten years he performed with the Anthony Braxton Quartet, as well as diverse groups led by Ray Anderson, Tim Berne,...
, Greetje Bijma, Chantal Dumas, David Moss
David Moss (musician)
David Moss is an American composer, percussionist and self-taught vocalist, founder of the David Moss Dense Band; co-founder and artistic director of the Institute for Living Voice, Antwerp...
, Min Xiao Fen, Jerry Hunt, Toshio Kajiwara, Jin Hi Kim
Jin Hi Kim
Kim Jin-Hi is a geomungo player and composer.She is known for introducing the geomungo to the wider world through her contemporary chamber and orchestral compositions and large-scale multimedia pieces, as well as her extensive work in avant-garde and cross-cultural free...
, Marina Rosenfeld
Marina Rosenfeld
Marina Rosenfeld is an American composer, sound artist and visual artist based in New York.- External links :*http://newyork.timeout.com/articles/art/26736/marina-rosenfeld*http://whitney.org/www/2008biennial/www/?section=artists&page=artist_rosenfeld...
and Ned Rothenberg
Ned Rothenberg
Ned Rothenberg is an American multi-instrumentalist and composer. He specializes in woodwind instruments, including the alto saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet, flute, and shakuhachi...
. She recorded with September Band (Rüdiger Carl, Hans Reichel
Hans Reichel
Hans Reichel was a German improvisational guitarist, experimental luthier, inventor, and type designer.-Career:...
and Paul Lovens
Paul Lovens
Paul Lovens is a musician. He plays drums, percussion, singing saw and various selected and unselected cymbals. He has also performed with the Aardvark Jazz Orchestra and Berlin Contemporary Jazz Orchestra....
) and with X-Communication (Butch Morris
Butch Morris
Lawrence D. "Butch" Morris is an American jazz cornetist, composer and conductor.-Biography:Before his musical career, Morris served in Vietnam during the Vietnam War....
, Martin Schütz and Hans Koch), too. Hirsch can also be heard interpreting compositions such as Cathy Berberian
Cathy Berberian
Catherine Anahid Berberian was an American soprano and composer. She interpreted contemporary avant-garde music composed, among others, by Luciano Berio, Bruno Maderna, John Cage, Henri Pousseur, Sylvano Bussotti, Darius Milhaud, Roman Haubenstock-Ramati , Igor Stravinsky.She also interpreted...
's „Stripsody“ or Alvin Curran
Alvin Curran
Composer Alvin Curran , is the co-founder, with Frederic Rzewski and Richard Teitelbaum, of Musica Elettronica Viva, and a former student of Elliott Carter. Curran's music often makes use of electronics and environmental found sounds....
's Philharmonie.
Hirsch has also collaborated with visual artists Barbara Bloom and Jim Hodges
Jim Hodges (artist)
Jim Hodges is a New York-based installation artist.Hodges was born in Spokane, Washington in 1957. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Fort Wright College in 1980 and his Master of Fine Arts degree from the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY in 1986.Since the late 1980s, Hodges has...
, choreographer Noémie Lafrance
Noémie Lafrance
Noémie Lafrance is a Canadian-born choreographer living and working in New York since 1994. She is known for making large-scale site-specific dance performances that uses the architecture of the city as settings for her work...
, and filmmakers Nina Danino (Temenos soundtrack with Sainkho Namtchylak
Sainkho Namtchylak
Sainkho Namtchylak is a singer originally from Tuva, a small autonomous republic in the Russian Federation just north of Mongolia. She is known for her Tuvan throat singing or Khöömei.-Style:...
, 2001), Zoe Beloff, Abigail Childs, and Lee Sachs. In 2008 her piece "In the Basement" was included on the compilation album Crosstalk: American Speech Music
Crosstalk: American Speech Music
Crosstalk: American Speech Music is a compilation album of speech-based music by various composers, poets, visual artists and DJs.- Track listing :# "Declaratives in First Person" – 5:04# "Electroprayer 5.0" Crosstalk: American Speech Music is a compilation album of speech-based music by various...
(Bridge Records) produced by Mendi + Keith Obadike
Mendi & Keith Obadike
Mendi Obadike and Keith Obadike are a married Igbo Nigerian American couple who create music and art. They were both born in 1973. Their music, live art, and conceptual Internet artworks have been exhibited internationally. Mendi is a poet and Keith is a composer and sound designer...
.
The radio version of Hirsch's O Little Town of East New York won first prize at the Prix Futura International Media Competition in Berlin.
External links
See also
- Vocal extended techniqueVocal extended techniqueVocalists are capable of producing a variety of extended technique sounds. These alternative singing techniques have been used extensively in the 20th century, especially in art song and opera...