Fundamental Ornamental

Composer-vocalists Nina Guo and Evelyn Saylor premiere their cycle “Fundamental Ornamental” investigating the vocal ornament. In a role reversal of ornament / main material, they isolate and manipulate specific ornaments, including trills, melismatic patterns, glissandi, and extended vocal techniques, and have collaboratively developed a musical language which culturally redefines the ornament as substance. They create surprising scenarios through re-contextualizing familiar gestures and through juxtaposition, raising questions about the production of meaning through musical idiom and context, about time and pitch perception, and about the possibilities and limitations of the vocal apparatus.