Ironically, one of the things that would distinguish a human being from a Bird of Paradise is the trademark of this vocal ensemble’s name: Roomful of Teeth harmonize, dissonate and again complete their vocal interplay in the span width of a single performance. Eight voices strong, the collective always has an ear for the most enchanting, estranging and exciting works to completely blow away their audience with only their vocal chords. For their performance at Birds of Paradise, Roomful of Teeth will perform core member Caroline Shaw’s Partita for 8 Voices and David Langs’ Little Match Girl Passion, based on the fairytale created by Hans Christian Andersen. Hauntingly beautiful, chillingly piercing your ear drums: Roomful of Teeth is here to chirp with lasting effect.
Listening Session w/ members of Roomful of Teeth
12. March 7.30-8.15pm TivoliVredenburg, Hertz
Neil Wallace, Artistic Director of the International Choral Biennale Haarlem, will talk to members of Roomful of Teeth about the playlists that the vocalists have compiled exclusively for Birds of Paradise. You better be prepared! All 10 playlists can be found under the button A roomful of playlists in the 3D Artist Room of Roomful of Teeth.
Listening Session w/ members of Roomful of Teeth
12. March 7.30-8.15pm
TivoliVredenburg, Hertz
Neil Wallace, Artistic Director of the International Choral Biennale Haarlem, will talk to members of Roomful of Teeth about the playlists that the vocalists have compiled exclusively for Birds of Paradise. All 10 playlists can be found under the button A roomful of playlists in the 3D Artist Room of Roomful of Teeth. Happy Listening!
“This series of clips was taken over two years at our annual 2 week residency at MASS MoCA (Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art). We use this time to work with composers and collaborators on new projects, record existing repertoire, and give works-in-progress performances. It’s also just a very special time for us to be with eachother, cook meals together, and talk about our dreams for the future.”
Cameron Beauchamp
3 video premieres
Scoop! Roomful of teeth shares three previously unreleased music videos exclusively for Birds of Paradise: Fall into me, Run away and Vesper Sparrow. Three real trademark ‘Roomful of teeth pieces’ by three leading American composers.
Fall into me meant the big breakthrough for Alev Lenz in 2016 when the song was featured in an episode of the Netflix series Black Mirror. Judd Greenstein wrote the lead vocal of Run away for Virginia Warnden, alto of Roomful of Teeth. Her voice sounds on a warm bed of background vocals, where Roomful of Teeth uses enchanting Mongolian overtone singing technique, as in Caroline Shaw’s Partita. In Missy Mazzoli’s Vesper Sparrow we hear the distant echoes of birdsong: as if it the piece commissioned by Birds of Paradise.
Judd Greenstein – Run away
“Run Away was written at Mass MoCA in the summer of 2009, during the first-ever assemblage of Roomful of Teeth. I came up for the second week of their 2-week residency, not knowing what the group was capable of doing — a forgivable sin since the group itself was just beginning to learn their own abilities and capacities. With me, I brought some sketches that I felt could be adapted to whatever sounds I heard the singers produce; these were études of sorts, studies in rhythm and harmony that left a lot of room for different sounds in different places. Once I heard what the group was able to do, I adapted some of these with their varied techniques in mind, creating fully-formed pieces that combined my sketches with the sounds of the ensemble.”
“Run Away is a simple song that I wrote to feature the voice of Virginia Warnken. She sings over a “pad” that the men lay down, a blend of vocal sounds that approximates Tuvan singing but is mellowed considerably. The other women join Virginia at the end of the song, carrying the story on into the future.”
Judd Greenstein
3 video premieres
Scoop! Roomful of teeth shares three previously unreleased music videos exclusively for Birds of Paradise: Fall into me, Run away and Vesper Sparrow. Three real trademark ‘Roomful of teeth pieces’ by three leading American composers.
Fall into me meant the big breakthrough for Alev Lenz in 2016 when the song was featured in an episode of the Netflix series Black Mirror. Judd Greenstein wrote the lead vocal of Run away for Virginia Warnden, alto of Roomful of Teeth. Her voice sounds on a warm bed of background vocals, where Roomful of Teeth uses enchanting Mongolian overtone singing technique, as in Caroline Shaw’s Partita. In Missy Mazzoli’s Vesper Sparrow we hear the distant echoes of birdsong: as if it was commissioned by Birds of Paradise.
Alev Lenz (arr. Dashon Burton) – Fall Into Me
“This is a song born out of resonance. It represents a deep longing to understand, explain, or grasp the unknown darkness in each of our souls, the deep pain that can live in a person. If it finds a way out, which way will it go?”
Alev Lenz
“I found this piece late one night in a customary glut of television, at the very end of Charlie Brooker’s dystopian science fiction TV anthology Black Mirror. Through the haze of a sleep-laden mind, I heard a voice, carrying the echoes of the past in a direct line through the timeline of the far future. I knew it would be perfect for Roomful of Teeth. We always wish to send the benumbed ears and minds of our audiences gracefully into the welcoming night.”
Dashon Burton (Roomful of Teeth)
During the lockdown, American viola player and new music curator for the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Nadia Sirota, made a series of ‘quarantine episodes’ of her popular podcast series Living Music. A series featuring artists from all over the world, performing and chatting from their homes, streamed via facebook.
Sirota made a Living Music episode with David Lang and Caroline Shaw especially for Birds of Paradise. Two American composers and both Pulitzer Prize winners, who are among the most important music pioneers of our time. They talk about Little Match Girl Passion (Lang) and Partita (Shaw), the two iconic works on the Roomful of Teeth program.
This Living Music, Birds of Paradise episode can be viewed in the week of February 28 under this button in the 3D Artist Room.
3 video premieres
Scoop! Roomful of teeth shares three previously unreleased music videos exclusively for Birds of Paradise: Fall into me, Run away and Vesper Sparrow. Three real trademark ‘Roomful of teeth pieces’ by three leading American composers.
Fall into me meant the big breakthrough for Alev Lenz in 2016 when the song was featured in an episode of the Netflix series Black Mirror. Judd Greenstein wrote the lead vocal of Run away for Virginia Warnden, alto of Roomful of Teeth. Her voice sounds on a warm bed of background vocals, where Roomful of Teeth uses enchanting Mongolian overtone singing technique, as in Caroline Shaw’s Partita. In Missy Mazzoli’s Vesper Sparrow we hear the distant echoes of birdsong: as if it was commissioned by Birds of Paradise.
Missy Mazzoli – Vesper Sparrow
“Vesper Sparrow was written for Roomful of Teeth at their 2012 residency at Mass MoCA. The text comes from Farnoosh Fathi’s poem Home State, from her recent book Great Guns. The piece is an eclectic amalgamation of imaginary birdsong and my own interpretation of Sardinian overtone singing. In this piece I tried to capture the exuberance and energy of these individual singers as well as a bit of the magic that is created when this group comes together.”
Missy Mazzoli
“This incredibly eclectic collection of playlists perfectly describes the many backgrounds from which we come and highlights the influences on each of us and the band at large. Our collective curiosity in all music keeps us constantly inspired and excited to try new sounds in our own music.”
Cameon Beauchamp (bass)