Performance score available for purchase. Please direct inquiries to Nell Shaw Cohen at nell@nellshawcohen.com.
Program Note
Two friends stroll in a suburb, identifying birds together.
“Rare Bird” is a selection from Sauntering Songs: a concert-length cantata on the theme of walking, commissioned by Skylark Vocal Ensemble. The lyrical works of author, poet, and wildlife biologist J. Drew Lanham were the animating inspiration behind this duet, including my use of the title phrase; alongside essays by Carolyn Finney and Evelyn C. White, among others, about their experiences of being Black outdoors.
This duet is dedicated to walkers for whom being outdoors alone isn’t always safe.
Performance score available for purchase. Please direct inquiries to Nell Shaw Cohen at nell@nellshawcohen.com.
Program Note
Painting by Nell Shaw Cohen
Having spent decades as a wife and mother, a woman redefines herself by thru-hiking a long distance trail alone.
“Just Because” is a selection from Sauntering Songs: a concert-length cantata on the theme of walking, commissioned by Skylark Vocal Ensemble. The life of Emma Gatewood, who in 1955 became the first solo female thru-hiker of the Appalachian Trail at the age of 67, (very) loosely inspired my lyrics.
This song is dedicated to those who venture down new paths late in life.
Performance score available for purchase. Please direct inquiries to Nell Shaw Cohen at nell@nellshawcohen.com.
Program Note
Painting by Nell Shaw Cohen
A young woman walks in a lush garden growing within high walls. Confined at home, she awaits a future that has been planned for her.
“First Footsteps” is a selection from Sauntering Songs: a concert-length cantata on the theme of walking, commissioned by Skylark Vocal Ensemble.
My lyrics for this song were sparked in part by Rebecca Solnit’s writing in Wanderlust: A History of Walking on the ways in which women have historically been confined to domestic environments, and how past literary depictions of women walking take place in private gardens rather than public spaces.
This song is dedicated to women and girls who walk beyond the boundaries they are given.
Performance score available for purchase. Please direct inquiries to Nell Shaw Cohen at nell@nellshawcohen.com.
Program Note
Painting by Nell Shaw Cohen
A disabled hiker and their service dog, named Stickeen, are out on a mountain trail.
“Best Friend” is a selection from Sauntering Songs: a concert-length cantata on the theme of walking, commissioned by Skylark Vocal Ensemble.
My lyrics were informed by the work of writers and advocates in the disability community, notably Coast Guard veteran Tenley Lozano’s essay “Submerged” (Crab Orchard Review) and interview “Hiking with a Service Dog”, Cascade Hiker podcast; Syren Nagakyrie’s work with DisabledHikers.com; and Bill Irwin’s hiking memoir Blind Courage.
This song is dedicated to walkers who are tough in ways others don’t always understand.
A love letter to wanderlust, Sauntering Songs weaves together art songs, choral music, and literature into an expansive cantata on the theme of walking.
Influences from rock, folk, and musical theater shine in a lyrical and evocative score by composer/librettist Nell Shaw Cohen, marrying the voices of three-time GRAMMY®-nominee Skylark with an instrumental quartet comprised of guitarist James Moore and musicians from Juventas New Music Ensemble.
From Walt Whitman to the present day, Sauntering Songs celebrates diverse characters who search for freedom and fulfillment through subversive journeys on foot.
Perusal Score
Perusal score available on request. Performance score available for purchase. Please direct inquiries to Nell Shaw Cohen at nell@nellshawcohen.com.
Selections available for standalone performance (click titles for details and perusal scores):
BEST FRIEND – Tenor, acoustic steel-string guitar, and cello. 3 ½ mins.
RARE BIRD – Tenor, baritone, electric guitar, and piano. 4 ½ mins.
Credits
Music & Libretto by Nell Shaw Cohen With texts by John Clare, Megan Cohen, Mashuq Mushtaq Deen, John Francis, John Muir, Nan Shepherd, Walt Whitman, and Virginia Woolf
Dramaturg: Megan Cohen (Website)
Sensitivity Consultant for song “Best Friend”: Laura Elliott (Twitter)
Sensitivity Consultant for song “Rare Bird”: Dr. Kassandra Ford (Website)
Skylark Vocal EnsembleJuventas New Music EnsembleJames Moore, Guitar
Performance History
Skylark Vocal Ensemble (Matthew Guard, Artistic Director), Juventas New Music Ensemble, and James Moore, guitar; Falmouth Academy, Falmouth, MA, 4/20/23.
Skylark Vocal Ensemble (Matthew Guard, Artistic Director), Juventas New Music Ensemble, and James Moore, guitar; Church of the Redeemer, Chestnut Hill, MA, 4/21/23
Skylark Vocal Ensemble (Matthew Guard, Artistic Director), Juventas New Music Ensemble, and James Moore, guitar; St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Newburyport, MA, 4/22/23.
Opera in one act for 2 sopranos, mezzo-soprano, baritone, and bass-baritone, with electric and acoustic guitars, bass guitar, drum set, 2 violins, viola, cello, and double bass. 71 mins.
Libretto by Megan Cohen. Commissioned by Houston Grand Opera for HGOco’s “Song of Houston” initiative. Recipient of OPERA America Commissioning Grant for Female Composers.
In Turn and Burn, small-town barrel racing champion Shayla Taylor and ambitious executive Jamie Hernandez aim for a big win at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. When an accident threatens Shayla’s career-defining race, the women discover each other’s strength in adversity. Set in a colorful world of bucking broncs and carnival rides, composer Nell Shaw Cohen and librettist Megan Cohen’s original story informed by interviews with rodeo athletes offers a feminist perspective on contemporary rodeo culture.
Performance History
Workshop at Houston Grand Opera, Houston, TX, Geoffrey Loff, Conductor; 12/09/19.
World Premiere production originally scheduled for February 2021, postponed (due to COVID-19) to 2023 .
