Barbara Ulman Articles

News 20

Articles 25

07 December 2018 Article: One Loon's Afternoon: history of this piece
When I first heard about a loon being rescued from tangled fishing line in the summer of 2008, I wanted to share the story by writing a musical composition about it. I asked my friend Rachel Oliver to write a poem telling the tale. During the following summers, I notated the loon calls heard at my house on Rangeley Lake in Maine, next to Lake Mooselookmeguntic, (pronounced Moose-look-muh-gun-tic) where the rescue occurred. Most loon calls fall within the range of the human voice and, surprisingly, ...
05 November 2017 Article: Art Song in late November recital
Soprano Tiffanie Trujillo will include Barbara Ulman's art song "Evening Dress" in a recital on Wed., Nov. 29 at 7:00 PM in the Wahlberg Hall at California State University, Fresno. The music has the mood of the poem, which describes fog quietly settling in at dusk in the foothills south of Yosemite National Park. When Tiffanie first heard my music, she immediately wanted to sing "Evening Dress," and she did perform it in two concerts in Fresno. Now, after studying in Italy and ...
29 September 2017 Article: My "Interval Studies" to be Performed
11 August 2014 Article: Concert next week
I will be playing the piano in a concert with violinist/violist Henry Plotkin. Besides Handel, Schubert, Beethoven, and Massenet, we'll play one of my earliest pieces, "Reverie," which I've just arranged for viola and piano. On MusicaNeo the same piece is played on clarinet and piano; also available: the original solo piano score and an arrangement for wind quintet. At the concert, in addition to our duets, I'll play some short piano solos by Debussy, Grieg, and Prokofiev.
28 March 2014 Article: Fanfare Magazine featured my CD in Jan./Feb. issue
Most of the reviews are positive; the criticisms are mainly about the recording process, not the music. It's true, the recordings are all live, and the volumes vary because they're from different situations. I made the CD as a way to get my music "out there" and to encourage performers to play it in concerts. My goal is to have excellent performances of my music and then to make a better recording. The best recording on the CD, All in green went my love riding, was done in a ...
19 February 2014 Article: Fundraiser for Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Fresno
Besides a string quartet, there will be a singer, a flutist, and four pianists. The afternoon is titled Czechs and Balances, and features the music of Dvorak, Widor, and Smetana. I'll be playing in three of Dvorak's Slavic Dances for piano 4-hands (No. 2, 4, and 7) and will also be one of the four pianists playing Smetana's Sonata for 2 pianos, 8 hands. Very energetic music!
17 February 2014 Article: Waiting to hear the echo....
For most contemporary composers, it's hard to get performances. When my music is performed anywhere in the world, I would like to know how it went, who performed, and how the audience reacted. A printed program, recording, or video would be frosting on the cake. I once read that publishing a book of poetry is like dropping rose petals into the Grand Canyon and waiting to hear the echo. Well, publishing music is like that too. I'm waiting....
20 January 2014 Article: My CD featured in Fanfare Magazine for Jan./Feb., 2014
Phoenix Classical, of Toronto, which sends CDs to classical music radio stations, sent some of my CDs to Fanfare Magazine. The editor of that publication sent some CDs to reviewers. I'm gratified to have an interview by email, and articles by four reviewers published in the current issue. My music was praised for appropriately "illustrating" the poetry I used for the vocal numbers, and for its lyrical yet contemporary sound.
30 August 2013 Article: My newest composition performed
One Loon's Afternoon, for mixed chorus, flute, and clarinet was performed in Rangeley, Maine by the Rangeley Community Chorus, introduced by the man who rescued the loon. When I first heard about a loon being rescued from tangled fishing line in the summer of 2008, I wanted to share the story by writing a musical composition about it. I asked my friend Rachel Oliver to write a poem telling the tale. During the following summers, I notated the loon calls heard at my house on Rangeley ...
17 August 2013 Article: Scores from MusicaNeo
On Saturday, I learned that my friends who play cello, viola, and violin would all be available the next day to play the Mozart piano quartets. All I had here was the piano part. So I bought and downloaded the parts from MusicaNeo, and on Sunday we played through both quartets, with a small invited audience. Great fun, and a wonderful service -- no wait at all to get the scores.

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