Selected Works
with audio and program notes

Chamber Music / Vocal Music / Large Ensemble / Chronological List

I Like to Play with Him Watch a video of a live performance Commissioned and presented by WordSong, a new concert format in which one text is presented in multiple, newly composed settings and is the focus of directed conversation among composers, performers, and audience.

WordSong Kristen Watson, Soprano Linda Osborn-Blaschke, Piano

Composed January 2011
Premiered May 24, 2011 at the St. Botolph Club in Boston, MA

I Dream'd in a Dream I. I Dream'd in a Dream - listen to mp3 II. Think of the Soul III. Among the Multitude - listen to mp3 (Total duration: 11 mins) A setting of selections from Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman for SATB vocal ensemble or choir. Read the texts, and visit my blog for more information about this piece and Whitman's poetry.

The New England Conservatory New Music Vocal Chamber Ensemble

Composed February 2011
Premiered April 6, 2011 at New England Conservatory in Boston, MA

(Nell with the NEC New Music Vocal Chamber Ensemble)

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Revealed in Stone (arrangement for chamber ensemble) I. Once Hidden and Enclosed - listen to mp3 II. The Years I Cannot Know - listen to mp3 III. I Become the Model - listen to mp3 IV. Hidden in You - listen to mp3 V. A Thousand Years After We Are Gone - listen to mp3 (Total duration: 12 mins) A song cycle setting of poems by Michelangelo. This is an arrangement for tenor with 11-piece chamber ensemble. The original piano version was performed last year (mp3s here). Both performances featured tenor Mxolisi Duda. Visit the Beyond the Notes multimedia guide to Revealed in Stone to learn more about the poetry, art and music.

Anita Chandavarkar, Flute and alto flute Siri Bloom, Oboe and English horn Jay Hutchinson, Clarinet in Bb and bass clarinet Derek Lewis, Horn Joelle Simone Wagner, Bassoon George Nickson, Percussion Wayne Shen, Violin Samantha Bennett, Violin Samuel Gold, Viola Ginevra Ventre, Cello Andrew Hilcote, Double bass Mxolisi Duda, Tenor Aram Demirjian, Conductor

Arrangement composed May-November 2009;
piano version composed January 2009
Premiered December 1, 2009 at New England Conservatory in Boston, MA

(Nell with conductor Aram Demirjian)

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To Create One's Own World - listen to mp3 (Duration: ca. 5 1/2 mins) A song based on selected quotations from painter Georgia O'Keeffe. Visit the Beyond the Notes multimedia guide to To Create One's Own World to learn more about the poetry, art and music.

Rachel Holmes, Soprano Stephanie Cambra, Flute Takehiko Mochizuki, Marimba

Composed April 2009
Premiered April 21, 2009 at New England Conservatory in Boston, MA

(L-R: Nell with the ensemble)

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Revealed in Stone I. Once Hidden and Enclosed - listen to mp3 II. The Years I Cannot Know - listen to mp3 III. I Become the Model - listen to mp3 IV. Hidden in You - listen to mp3 V. A Thousand Years After We Are Gone - listen to mp3 (Total duration: ca. 11 mins) A song cycle setting of poems by Michelangelo. Visit the Beyond the Notes multimedia guide to Revealed in Stone to learn more about the poetry, art and music.

Mxolisi Duda, Tenor Patricia Au, Piano

Composed January 2009
Premiered March 31, 2009 at New England Conservatory in Boston, MA

(L-R: Mxolisi Duda, Nell, Patricia Au)

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Songs for baritone I. As the Sky Does in Water - listen to mp3 II. Laws for Creations - listen to mp3 (Total duration: ca. 7 mins) Art songs settings of Rumi and Walt Whitman. Read the program note.

Chad Flynn, Baritone Patricia Au, Piano

Composed November-December 2008
Premiered February 2nd, 2009 at New England Conservatory in Boston, MA

(L-R: Patricia Au, Nell, Chad Flynn)

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Forming Desires - listen to mp3 (Duration: ca. 8 mins) An art song setting of philosophical poetry by Muhammad Iqbal. Read the program note. Winner of the 2009 Ellen Taaffe Zwilich Prize from the International Alliance for Women in Music.

Oriana Dunlop, Contralto Alexandra Frana, Clarinet in Bb Lauren Hunt, French horn David Meyer, Cello

Composed July-September 2008
Premiered October 28th, 2008 at New England Conservatory in Boston, MA

(L-R: Alexandra Frana, Nell, David Meyer, Lauren Hunt, Oriana Dunlop)

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Memory I. Senses - listen to mp3 II. Recollection - listen to mp3 III. Inward Action - listen to mp3 IV. This Power of Memory - listen to mp3 or... all in one mp3 (Duration: 12:30) This is a setting of an excerpt from St. Augustine's "Confessions" about memory and sense (in an English translation by Henry Chadwick). Read complete text (in new window). I wrote an essay about the process of composing this piece. You can read it at my journal.

Kris Gould, Soprano Lawrence Lipnik, Alto John Olund, Tenor Kurt-Owen Richards, Bass (Members of Lionheart, Pomerium, Parthenia, et al.)

Composed June-August 2007
Recorded September 2007 at John Kilgore Sound & Recording in New York, NY
Engineered by Patrick Ford, Mixed by John Kilgore
Special thanks to Kim D. Sherman

Nell and her performers peruse the score.
(L-R: John Olund, Kurt-Owen Richards, Nell (seated), Lawrence Lipnik, Kris Gould)

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Chamber Music / Vocal Music / Large Ensemble / Chronological List

© 2011 Nell Shaw Cohen
Please do not redistribute any of this content.
Send questions and comments to nell@nellshawcohen.com