Bernadette Speach (born January 1, 1948 in
Syracuse, New YorkSyracuse is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States, and the fifth most populous city in the state. At the 2000 census, the city population was 147,306, and its metropolitan area had a population of 732,117. It is the economic and educational hub of Central New...
) is an American
avant-gardeAvant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English, to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
composer.
Speach was a nun at St Joseph of Corondelet from 1966 to 1977, teaching music in
parochial schoolParochial school is one term used to describe a school that engages in religious education in addition to conventional education. In a narrow sense, parochial schools are Christian grammar schools or high schools run by parishes, but this distinction is not universally made.-United Kingdom:In...
s during that time. She studied with Nicholas Roussakis at
Columbia UniversityColumbia University in the City of New York is a private university in the United States and a member of the Ivy League. Columbia's main campus lies in the Morningside Heights neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan, in New York City...
and with
Franco DonatoniFranco Donatoni was an Italian composer.Born in Verona, he started studying violin at the age of seven, and frequented the local Music Academy...
at
SienaSiena is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena.The historic centre of Siena has been declared by UNESCO a World Heritage Site.- History :...
in 1976. After 1977 she left the sisterhood and acquired a
DMADMA can refer to:* Dallas Museum of Art, an art museum in Texas, USA* DMA , a defunct dance music magazine* Danish Music Awards, an award show held in Denmark since 1989...
at SUNY Buffalo, studying under
Morton FeldmanMorton Feldman was an American composer, born in New York City.A major figure in 20th century music, Feldman was a pioneer of indeterminate music, a development associated with the experimental New York School of composers also including John Cage, Christian Wolff, and Earle Brown...
and
Lejaren HillerLejaren Arthur Hiller was an American composer who founded the Experimental Music Studio at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1958 and collaborated on the first significant computer music composition, 1957's Illiac Suite, with Leonard Issacson...
. She moved to New York in 1984 and married musician Jeffrey Schanzer.
Bernadette Speach (born January 1, 1948 in
Syracuse, New YorkSyracuse is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States, and the fifth most populous city in the state. At the 2000 census, the city population was 147,306, and its metropolitan area had a population of 732,117. It is the economic and educational hub of Central New...
) is an American
avant-gardeAvant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English, to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
composer.
Biography
Speach was a nun at St Joseph of Corondelet from 1966 to 1977, teaching music in
parochial schoolParochial school is one term used to describe a school that engages in religious education in addition to conventional education. In a narrow sense, parochial schools are Christian grammar schools or high schools run by parishes, but this distinction is not universally made.-United Kingdom:In...
s during that time. She studied with Nicholas Roussakis at
Columbia UniversityColumbia University in the City of New York is a private university in the United States and a member of the Ivy League. Columbia's main campus lies in the Morningside Heights neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan, in New York City...
and with
Franco DonatoniFranco Donatoni was an Italian composer.Born in Verona, he started studying violin at the age of seven, and frequented the local Music Academy...
at
SienaSiena is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena.The historic centre of Siena has been declared by UNESCO a World Heritage Site.- History :...
in 1976. After 1977 she left the sisterhood and acquired a
DMADMA can refer to:* Dallas Museum of Art, an art museum in Texas, USA* DMA , a defunct dance music magazine* Danish Music Awards, an award show held in Denmark since 1989...
at SUNY Buffalo, studying under
Morton FeldmanMorton Feldman was an American composer, born in New York City.A major figure in 20th century music, Feldman was a pioneer of indeterminate music, a development associated with the experimental New York School of composers also including John Cage, Christian Wolff, and Earle Brown...
and
Lejaren HillerLejaren Arthur Hiller was an American composer who founded the Experimental Music Studio at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1958 and collaborated on the first significant computer music composition, 1957's Illiac Suite, with Leonard Issacson...
. She moved to New York in 1984 and married musician Jeffrey Schanzer. She served as director of Composers Forum from 1988 to 1990 and president of their board from 1990 to 1994; in 1995 she became director of the Kitchen. She is the president of the Buffalo New Music Ensemble.
Her music reflects a strong influence from Morton Feldman, but also is significantly influenced by
jazzJazz is a musical art form which originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States from a confluence of African and European music traditions....
, including liberal use of
improvisationImprovisation is the practice of acting, singing, talking and reacting, of making and creating, in the moment and in response to the stimulus of one's immediate environment and inner feelings. This can result in the invention of new thought patterns, new practices, new structures or symbols, and/or...
.
Vocal works
- Telepathy Suite (1988)
- A Set of Five (1989)
- It Came to me in a Dream (1990)
- Baobab 4 (1994)
- Woman Without Adornment (1994)
Works for piano and guitar
- Two in the Morning (1986)
- Phill’s Phault (1988)
- Blue (1989)
- 3 1/2 (1990)
- It’s Your Turn (1990)
- Sound Crowds (1990)
- at the same time (1993)
Other instrumental works
- Shattered Glass (1986)
- Spero, gui (1986)
- Les ondes pour quatre (1988)
- Boppin’ Again (1989, rev. 1991)
- Bone, Burned, Abandon/Creak (dance score) (1990)
- Within (1990)
- 9/8/89 (1990)
- Almost Tadzio/Overbite Alarm (dance score) (1991)
- Chosen Voices (1991)
- Trio des trois (I, 1991; II, 1991; III, 1992)
- Avanzando (1993)
- Complaints (1993)
- Walking Again (1993)
- Parallel Windows – Unframed (1995)
- Viola (2000)
Solo piano
- Inside Out (1987)
- a page upon which … (1989)
- and so it is … (1990)
- Resoundings (4 hands, 1990)
- Walking Again (1992)
- Angels in the Snow (1993)
- When it Rains, Llueve (1995)