Monologue for Solo Vocalizing Cellist
Music: “Monologue for Solo Vocalizing Cellist”* by Katie Jenkins
Musician: Juliet Wolff (vocalizing cellist)
Composer’s Notes: I thoroughly enjoy working very closely with my performers. Juliet Wolff, the premier cellist for this project, was highly involved in my working process from the beginning. She has a gift for singing and so after she introduced me to the work of Peteris Vasks and his “Gramata Cellam,” I decided to write a piece that blended together the sonorities of both the cello and the human voice. The vocal part takes on a similar role to a vocalise. There are no lyrics but instead, syllables that create both blending and contrasting effects with the resonance with the instrument itself. Juliet’s performance is both beautiful and haunting. The music requires the cellist to perform challenging passages that include keeping a very straight tone, angelic vocal above angular, fast moving instrumental accompaniment. The piece hovers between moments of hollow, solidarity that suddenly break into expressive, celestial passages.
Interested in playing Monologue? You can purchase the score here.
About the Composer: Katie Jenkins is a multi award-winning Welsh composer/producer now based in New York City. Jenkins engages in projects that encompass many forms of music making from the concert hall, to multimedia environments, to dance and film. She thrives off collaboration and enjoys including musicians closely in her creative process.
Jenkins has won Grand Prizes in major composition competitions including the International Women’s Brass Festival WCFT Competition in 2020, the New York Federation of Music Clubs Israel Prize, 2021and 8th International Piano Competition Smederevo 2020.
Jenkins’ music has been performed across Europe and the US, including performances at National Sawdust where she held a fellowship, The Juilliard School, The Curtis Institute of Music, BBC Hoddinott Hall and music festivals in Bulgaria and The Academy of Music, Serbia. Jenkins was a 2021, Artist in Residence with the Dordor Gallery, Brooklyn. Her work featured in Vogue Italia, March 2021 Edition.
As a mix engineer, Jenkins’ latest project included working on a global initiative run by The Female Quotient in collaboration with composer and multi-instrumentalist Shelbie Rassler, creating music for the world’s largest virtual dinner party of 150,000 women!
Jenkins currently holds the Henry Mancini Fellowship at The Juilliard School. She was student of the late Christopher Rouse and is currently studying with Pulitzer Prize winning composer Melinda Wagner. Jenkins is a Teaching Fellow at the Juilliard School where she coaches composition for media and music production.
*“Monologue” was the Grand Prize winner of Art Beyond the Ink’s 2021 EXPO: New Works Competition.