Mira J. Spektor (1928-2021)
Mira J. Spektor (1928-2021)
Born in Europe, a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College, she then studied at Mannes College of Music and Juilliard. In 1975 she founded The Aviva Players, a group that performs chamber music and songs by women composers of the 12th to 21st centuries. She has written songs and scores for theater, feature films, and PBS documentaries. Recent CDs: The Houswives' Cantata, Lady of the Castle, and Mira Chante/French Love Songs on Original Cast Records, and Lullabies and Love Songs on Airplay. The Road to November, a new collections of poems, is published by JWRC Press. Affiliations: BMI, Dramatist Guild, League of Professional Theater Women and NYWC. Some press quotes about Ms. Spektor's music: The New York Times: "an interesting composer" "The setting was attractive and tonal, and recalled some of the me graceful music in Bernstein's 'Trouble in Tahiti'" "A sprightly songfest" New Choices: "A mini miracle of a musical" The Jewish Week: "powerful, moving music"
Two Songs for Baritone
Year: 2019
Duration (in minutes): 3'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: solo voice(s) with piano
Description: "Indian Summer" - Poem by Mira J. Spektor "Sunday Psalm" - Poem by Phyllis McGuinley
Two Microbes from Mars
Year: 2002
Duration (in minutes): 15'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: musical theater
Description: Lyrics and book by Kate McLeod. A mini sci-fi children and grownup musical. Performed by The Actor's Institute for Golden Fleece, Ltd. Excerpts at Triad Theater NYC.
Two Songs on Poems by William Dickey
Year: 1999
Duration (in minutes): 3'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: solo voice(s) a cappella
Description: "Therefore" poem by William Dickey "The White Road of Summer" - William Dickey - Voice/Folk Piano
Two Songs on Poems by Lily Nussbaum
Year: 1998
Duration (in minutes): 3'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: solo voice(s) with piano
Description: piano "Paracheech Tea" and "Quiet" for - two art songs based on an 11 year old poet. Heard in NYC and South Hampton, Long Island
Two 7 Minute Operas for 2 Women and Piano
Year: 1997
Duration (in minutes): 7'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: opera
Description: Casino A seven minute opera for soprano, mezzo soprano, and piano on a poem by the composer - About a Mother and a Daughter - performed by Golden Fleece Chamber Opera and at Aviva Players Concerts. Ladies of Romance Seven minute opera - libretto by June Siegel - for soprano, mezzo soprano, and piano (mezzo part can be sung by baritone). A mini opera- buffo about some heroines and their heros in literature. Peformed by Golden Fleece and at Hewlett Library.
Song & Musical about a Mother and Daughter
Year: 1997
Duration (in minutes): 10'39
Difficulty: High (professional)
Category: musical theater, solo voice(s) with piano
Instruments: mezzo soprano
Give Me Time
Year: 1996
Duration (in minutes): 15'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: musical theater, solo voice(s) with piano
Instruments: baritone voice, mezzo soprano
Description: Lyrics: Jun Siegel, Mira J. Spektor, and Caroline Crippen about an older couple who meet on a park bench in Florida. Heard in NYC: Golden Fleece Ltd. and at UJA Music Programs, in Palm Beach, Florida, and toured Public Libraries in Long Island for LICA. "A mini-miracle of a musical" - New Choices
Mary Shelley
Year: 1993
Duration (in minutes): 30'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: opera
Description: Libretto by Collette Inez. 1993 - Golden Fleece Chamber Opera, Greenwich School of Music, Donnell Library. "The setting was attractive and tonal, and recalled some of the more graceful music in Bernstein's 'Trouble in Tahiti.' Particularly appealing was a duet between Mary and Percy Bythe Shelley" - Allan Kozinn in the New York Times. Full length version commissioned by Rockland Opera Company for June 21, 2003.
Indian Serenade
Year: 1993
Duration (in minutes): 3'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: solo voice(s) with piano
Description: Poem by Percy B. Shelley. Heard also in the chamber opera Mary Shelley
Sea-Song
Year: 1988
Duration (in minutes): 3'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: small chamber ensembles - 2 to 4 players, solo voice(s) with chamber ensemble
Instruments: any female voice, any medium voice, any string, any voice, guitar, mezzo soprano, piano
Wish I Had A Fish Tail
Year: 1988
Duration (in minutes): 3'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: small chamber ensembles - 2 to 4 players, solo voice(s) with chamber ensemble
Instruments: any female voice, any medium voice, any string, any voice, guitar, mezzo soprano, piano
Description: folk or pop v.
Little Filly Named Heart's Desire
Year: 1988
Duration (in minutes): Heart'39;s
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: solo voice(s) with piano
Description: lead sheet and cassette - pop song (rock); lyrics: June Siegel for film "High Stakes"
Saturday Girl
Year: 1988
Duration (in minutes): 3'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: solo voice(s) with piano
Description: lead sheet - pop song, lyrics: June Siegel for movie "High Stakes."
Take Me Home Tonight
Year: 1988
Duration (in minutes): 3'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: solo voice(s) with piano
Description: lead sheet and cassette - title song for film "High Stakes."
Provincetown Suite
Year: 1987
Duration (in minutes): 12'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: mixed instrument ensemble, small chamber ensembles - 2 to 4 players
Instruments: any string, any woodwind, cello, flute, oboe, piano, viola
Description: (concertina or vn can be used instead of flute) tonal and lyrical, this trio was adapted from music score for TV documentary, "Art in its Soul" (seen on WGBH-TV and at Whitney Museum, NYC).
Passion of Lizzie Borden
Year: 1985
Duration (in minutes): 15'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: larger chamber ensembles - more than 4 players, musical theater, opera, solo voice(s) with solo instruments
Instruments: any female voice, any high voice, any medium voice, any string, any voice, any woodwind, celesta, cello, flute, mezzo soprano, narrator/speaker, piano, soprano
Description: Libretto by Ruth Whitman. Short opera about the famous murder case. Premiered 1985 Marymount Manhattan College, then Off-Broadway Golden Fleece, NYC, West End Opera Co. at SUNY Buffalo NY, Lincoln Center Outdoor and videotaped by Pratt Institute for Cable TV. Listed in National Music Theater Network. "A 'very short opera' to evocative poetry by Ruth Whitman...(Ms. Spektor) an interesting composer...an impassioned duet for Lizzie and her sister" John Rockwell - The New York Times
Lady Of The Castle
Year: 1982
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: musical theater
Description: Lyrics based on play by Lea Goldberg about the true story of a young girl who was hidden in the basement of a ruined castle during the Holocaust. Premiered 1982 on NY Cable TV. Heard in NYC, in Pittsfield Mass, in Long Island: East Hampton, Woodmere and Comstock. Produced in German in Berlin, Germany and in London at Barbican Center St. Giles, Cripplegate Church, for the Festival of Austrian-Jewish Culture. On and Original Cast Records CD.
Magen Yerushalaim
Year: 1982
Duration (in minutes): 3'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: choral
Our Apartment
Year: 1980
Duration (in minutes): 3'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: larger chamber ensembles - more than 4 players, solo voice(s) with chamber ensemble
Instruments: any female voice, any voice, piano
Description: lyrics: June Siegel; from "The Housewives' Cantata" Original Cast Records.
Sex
Year: 1980
Duration (in minutes): 3'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: choral, larger chamber ensembles - more than 4 players, solo voice(s) with chamber ensemble
Instruments: any female voice, any male voice, any medium voice, any voice, baritone voice, piano
Description: lyrics: June Siegel; from "The Housewives' Cantata" Original Cast Records.
Candles Bright
Year: 1980
Duration (in minutes): 3'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: small chamber ensembles - 2 to 4 players, solo voice(s) with chamber ensemble, solo voice(s) with solo instruments
Instruments: any female voice, any medium voice, any string, any voice, guitar, mezzo soprano
Description: folk or pop v; lyrics: Louis I. Newman; Christmas and Hannukhah song.
Song Of The Bourgeosie Hippie
Year: 1980
Duration (in minutes): 3'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: small chamber ensembles - 2 to 4 players, solo voice(s) with chamber ensemble, solo voice(s) with solo instruments
Instruments: any female voice, any medium voice, any string, any voice, guitar, mezzo soprano, piano
Description: folk or pop v; lyrics: June Siegel; from "The Housewives' Cantata" Original Cast Records.
Riderless Horse
Year: 1980
Duration (in minutes): 3'39;30'34;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: small chamber ensembles - 2 to 4 players, solo voice(s) with chamber ensemble, solo voice(s) with solo instruments
Instruments: any female voice, any medium voice, any string, any voice, guitar, mezzo soprano
Description: lyrics: Louis I. Newman; commissioned/perf for Kennedy Memorial Service.
Sunday Psalm
Year: 1980
Duration (in minutes): 4'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: solo voice(s) with piano
Instruments: any string, any woodwind, baritone voice, oboe, violin
Description: poem: Phyllis McGuinley; performed at Madison Presbyterian Church, NYC, by Lawrence Chelsi.
Rooftops Of The Past
Year: 1980
Duration (in minutes): 3'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: solo voice(s) with piano
Description: lyrics: June Siegel; from "The Housewives' Cantata."
White House Resident
Year: 1980
Duration (in minutes): 3'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: solo voice(s) with piano
Description: lyrics: June Siegel; from "The Housewives' Cantata" Original Cast Records.
Ladies of Romance
Year: 1980
Duration (in minutes): 7'39;
Difficulty: High (professional)
Category: musical theater, opera, solo voice(s) with piano
Description: Opera Buffo about Heroines & their Heroes
Four Songs On Poems By Ruth Whitman
Year: 1975
Duration (in minutes): 12'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: small chamber ensembles - 2 to 4 players, solo voice(s) with chamber ensemble
Instruments: any female voice, any medium voice, any string, any voice, any woodwind, cello, flute, mezzo soprano, violin
Description: in NYC, Brooklyn College, Rutgers Univ, Sarah Lawrence College, Santa Fe, NM and Jerusalem, Israel.
H Is For Hanna
Year: 1975
Duration (in minutes): 3'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: small chamber ensembles - 2 to 4 players, solo voice(s) with chamber ensemble, solo voice(s) with solo instruments
Instruments: any female voice, any medium voice, any string, any voice, guitar, mezzo soprano
Description: folk or pop v; lyrics: Louis I. Newman; written for and performed at Temple Rodeph Shalom, NYC.
Legs
Year: 1975
Duration (in minutes): 3'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: solo voice(s) with piano
Description: pop song; lyrics: June Siegel; from "The Housewives' Cantata" Original Cast Records.
Housewives' Cantata
Year: 1975
Duration (in minutes): Housewives'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: solo voice(s) with piano
Description: 20 songs. Lyrics: June Siegel. Feminist musical - Original Cast Records CD and Cable TV. Heard in NYC, Long Island, St. Paul and Minneapolis. Produced Off- Broadway by Cheryl Crawford, After Dinner Opera Company for Women's History Month with Richard Woitach, Metropolitan Opera Conductor January 1997. Songs at 30th Anniversary Celebration of NOW. "A sprightly slong fest" - The New York Times. "A feminist musical...light and frothy on the outside with a stinging bite inside" - South Shore Record "The music ranges from rags to romantic" St. Paul Pioneer Press
Little Women
Year: 1974
Duration (in minutes): 3'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: solo voice(s) with piano
Instruments: baritone voice
Description: lyrics: June Siegel; from "The Housewives' Cantata" Original Cast Records.
New Song
Year: 1973
Duration (in minutes): 4'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: choral
Description: lyrics: June Siegel
Adultery Waltz
Year: 1973
Duration (in minutes): 3'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: small chamber ensembles - 2 to 4 players, solo voice(s) with chamber ensemble, solo voice(s) with piano
Instruments: baritone voice, piano, soprano
Description: lyrics: June Siegel; from "The Housewives' Cantata" Original Cast Records.
Dirty Dish Rag
Year: 1973
Duration (in minutes): 4'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: small chamber ensembles - 2 to 4 players, solo voice(s) with chamber ensemble
Instruments: any female voice, any voice
Description: lyrics: June Siegel; from "The Housewives' Cantata" Original Cast Records.
Early Morning Rain
Year: 1973
Duration (in minutes): 3'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: small chamber ensembles - 2 to 4 players, solo voice(s) with chamber ensemble
Instruments: any female voice, any male voice, any medium voice, any voice, baritone voice, mezzo soprano, piano
Description: lyrics: Charline Spektor; from "The Housewives' Cantata" Original Cast Records.
Ladies Of Lit.
Year: 1973
Duration (in minutes): 6'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: small chamber ensembles - 2 to 4 players, solo voice(s) with chamber ensemble
Instruments: any female voice, any male voice, any voice, piano
Description: lead sheet - lyrics: June Siegel; from "The Housewives' Cantata."
New Song
Year: 1973
Duration (in minutes): 3'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: choral, larger chamber ensembles - more than 4 players, solo voice(s) with chamber ensemble
Instruments: any female voice, any male voice, any medium voice, any voice, baritone voice, piano
Description: "The Housewives' Cantata" Original Cast Records.
Open Road
Year: 1973
Duration (in minutes): 3'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: small chamber ensembles - 2 to 4 players, solo voice(s) with chamber ensemble
Instruments: any voice, piano
Description: lyrics: June Siegel; from "The Housewives' Cantata" Original Cast Records.
What Is A Woman?
Year: 1973
Duration (in minutes): 3'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: small chamber ensembles - 2 to 4 players, solo voice(s) with chamber ensemble
Instruments: any female voice, any male voice, any medium voice, any voice, baritone voice, mezzo soprano, piano
Description: Housewives' Cantata" Original Cast Records.
Daughter's Lullaby
Year: 1973
Duration (in minutes): Daughter'39;s
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: solo voice(s) with piano
Description: lyrics: June Siegel; from "The Housewives' Cantata" Original Cast Records; also on "Mira Sings Lullabies", Westminster Records.
Guinevere Among The Grapefruit Peels
Year: 1973
Duration (in minutes): 4'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: solo voice(s) with piano
Description: arrangement from "The Housewives' Cantata" Original Cast Records.
Mr. Fixer
Year: 1973
Duration (in minutes): 2'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: solo voice(s) with piano
Description: high mezzo; lyrics: June Siegel; arrangement from "The Housewives' Cantata" Original Cast Records.
Suburban Rose
Year: 1973
Duration (in minutes): 3'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: solo voice(s) with piano
Description: lyrics: June Siegel; from "The Housewives' Cantata" Original Cast Records.
Je Suis Belle Cheri
Year: 1952
Duration (in minutes): 3'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: solo voice(s) with piano
Description: lead sheets, French pop song; recorded Westminster Records.
Love Is More Thicker Than Forget
Year: 1949
Duration (in minutes): 3'39;30'34;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: larger chamber ensembles - more than 4 players, solo voice(s) with chamber ensemble
Instruments: alto, any female voice, any high voice, any low voice, any medium voice, any string, any voice, mezzo soprano, piano, soprano, violin
Description: also be sung by 3 part women's ch) poem: e.e.cummings; written for and performed Sarah Lawrence Col Women's Chor, 1949; revised for 3 solo voices; performed Aviva Players, St. Peter's Ch, NYC, Cable TV, 1989.
Evenin' Air Blues
Year: 1949
Duration (in minutes): Evenin'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: solo voice(s) with piano
Description: folk or pop v, poem Langston Hughes; written for and performed by Sarah Lawrence Dance Dept.
Dreams That Have Ended
Duration (in minutes): 4'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: choral
Description: vv with fl, vc, pn from "Lady of the Castle."
Art In Its Soul
Duration (in minutes): 30'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: mixed instrument ensemble, mixed instrument trio, small chamber ensembles - 2 to 4 players
Instruments: any string, piano, viola
Description: music score for TV documentary seen at Whitney Museum and WGBH-TV, Boston.
M.C.P. Song
Duration (in minutes): 3'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: choral, larger chamber ensembles - more than 4 players, solo voice(s) with chamber ensemble
Instruments: any female voice, any male voice, any medium voice, any voice, baritone voice, piano
Description: lyrics: June Siegel; from "The Housewives' Cantata" Original Cast Records.
Someday Blues
Duration (in minutes): 3'39;30'34;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: small chamber ensembles - 2 to 4 players, solo voice(s) with chamber ensemble
Instruments: any female voice, any male voice, any medium voice, any voice, baritone voice, mezzo soprano, piano
Description: lyrics: June Siegel; from "The Housewives' Cantata" Original Cast Records.
Drei Neue Lieder
Duration (in minutes): 3'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: solo voice(s) with piano
Description: On three Goethe poems. In German in two keys: for high or medium Soprano and piano or harp. "Geheimnes," "So lasst mich scheinen," "Der Musensohn"
Three French Songs
Duration (in minutes): 3'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: solo voice(s) with piano
Description: "Emerveillement" - French text - Poem by Comtesse Anna de Noaille. Soprano or mezzo soprano and piano (2000) "La complainte de Rutebeuf" for Mezzo soprano and piano on a French poem by Rutebeuf - 13th Century French poet (2001) "Il neige dans mon coeur" - French lyrics by composer for Mezzo soprano and piano arranged by Josephine Baker's Band in 1954. Heard on Mira Chante - French love songs on Original Cast Records CD.
Touch Me
Duration (in minutes): 2'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: solo voice(s) with piano
Description: lead sheet, pop song; lyrics: June Siegel.
Two Bedtime Songs
Duration (in minutes): 3'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: solo voice(s) with piano
Description: "Winter Lullaby" and "Call Me" -Poems by Mira J. Spektor. Both songs also in "Summer and Winter Songs" for voice and harp on Original Cast Recod CD. WINter Lullaby recorded on Lullabys and Lovesongs on AirPlay Audio Publishing. Call Me recorded by Helene Williams on Helene Williams Sings Songs of Love on Capstone Records.
Daytime & Night Songs
Sarah Mesko mezzo-soprano
Brent Funderburk piano
Michael Laderman flute
Brian Sanders cello
Stephen Benson guitar
Release Date: October 11, 2019
Composers: Mira J. Spektor
Label: Navona Records, LLC
Label's Website: www.miraspektor.com
Product ID: NV6256
Buy URL: https://www.navonarecords.com/catalog/nv6256/
Buy URL 2: https://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=2292257
Summer and Winter Songs
Prolific composer Mira J. Spektor makes her Navona Records debut with SUMMER AND WINTER SONGS, a collection of works for voice that bring together family and friends, history and culture, and loss and love.
Composers: Mira J. Spektor
Label: Navona Records, LLC
Product ID: NV6236
Buy URL: https://www.amazon.com/Spektor-Summer-Winter-Maeve-Hoglund/dp/B07QXPPCKG
Buy URL 2: http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=2288683
Villa Diodati, A Chamber Opera
VILLA DIODATI composed by Mira J. Spektor with libretto by Colette Inez, features the poetry of notorious Romantic poets Byron, Shelley and Wordsworth. The plot revolves around the fateful events of Summer, 1816, when Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley penned "Frankenstein" while staying at the Villa Diodati in Geneva with her husband Percy Bysshe Shelley and Lord Byron.
Composers: Mira J. Spektor
Label: Albany Records
Product ID: TROY1584
Buy URL 2: https://www.amazon.com/Villa-Diodati-Chamber-Rachel-Arky/dp/B014PLUY0A
LADY OF THE CASTLE
Music & lyrics by Mira J.Spektor - A chamber opera for 4 voices & 3 instruments based on a play by Lea Goldberg, about a young girl hidden & found in a crumbling European castle in 1947, after the Holocaust... over 10 productions in New York, Berlin & London...CD of live performance at St Giles Cripplegate Church in the Barbican Center in London...Also on Cd SUMMER & WINTER SONGS - 6 songs with music & poems by Mira J. Spektor sung by Soprano Patricia Thomspson with harpist Susan Jolles...and MAGEN YERUSHALAIM - The Shield of Jerusalem - Duet for 2 solo voices Music & lyric by Mira J, Spektor sung by Patricia Thompson & Constance Beavon.
Composers: Mira J. Spektor.
Product ID: ORIGINAL CAST RECORDS (2001)
MIRA CHANTE
14 French "chansons" - pop, classic & folk songs, sung in French by
Mira Jozelle (Spektor), including songs by Trenet, Piaf, Kosma, Faure, & 2 songs:
"IL NEIGE DANS MON COEUR" and "JE SUIS BELLE , CHERI" with music & lyrics
by Mira J. Spektor...Recorded on LPs 1955 - 1975 by Westminster, Concert Hall and Guilde International du Disque...Re-mastered on CDs by Charles de Montebello... Produced in 2001 by Bruce Yeko for Original Cast Records.
Composers: Mira J. Spektor.
Product ID: ORIGINAL CAST RECORDS (2001)
HOUSEWIVES' CANTATA
Feminist musical for women & men - Music by Mira J. Spektor & Lyrics by June Siegel -- Written in 1973, the year Ms Magazine was born... Sung by Lawrence Chelsi, Maida Meyers Lowin, Mira J. Spektor, Sharon Talbot & guest artist Mary Gordon Murray - Orchestrations & conducted by Bob Goldstone...
"A sprightly songfest" - The New York Times
"The humor is fresh & pointed" - The Daily News
"The music ranges from rag to romantic" - South Shore Record
"Revue cause for delight...sharp, funny...spares no one" - St Paul Pioneer Press
Composers: Mira J. Spektor.
Product ID: ORIGINAL CAST RECORDS OC9363
Villa Diodati, Chamber Opera
Composer: Mira J. Spektor
Description: Opening Selections: Train Music; Villa on the Lake; Overture; A Cold Summer. A Banks Street Film Production.
Video URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3V3eTrCLhs
Ladies of Romance
Composer: Mira J. Spektor
Description: A short opera buffo, with music by Mira J. Spektor, and libretto by June Siegel. Performed by Hillary Schranze, soprano, Karen Jolicoeur, soprano, Brian Hunter, tenor, and Barbara Ames, piano.
Video URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=warOqUJd2-s
Two Songs for Baritone
Year: 2019
Duration (in minutes): 3'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: solo voice(s) with piano
Description: "Indian Summer" - Poem by Mira J. Spektor "Sunday Psalm" - Poem by Phyllis McGuinley
Two Microbes from Mars
Year: 2002
Duration (in minutes): 15'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: musical theater
Description: Lyrics and book by Kate McLeod. A mini sci-fi children and grownup musical. Performed by The Actor's Institute for Golden Fleece, Ltd. Excerpts at Triad Theater NYC.
Two Songs on Poems by William Dickey
Year: 1999
Duration (in minutes): 3'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: solo voice(s) a cappella
Description: "Therefore" poem by William Dickey "The White Road of Summer" - William Dickey - Voice/Folk Piano
Two Songs on Poems by Lily Nussbaum
Year: 1998
Duration (in minutes): 3'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: solo voice(s) with piano
Description: piano "Paracheech Tea" and "Quiet" for - two art songs based on an 11 year old poet. Heard in NYC and South Hampton, Long Island
Two 7 Minute Operas for 2 Women and Piano
Year: 1997
Duration (in minutes): 7'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: opera
Description: Casino A seven minute opera for soprano, mezzo soprano, and piano on a poem by the composer - About a Mother and a Daughter - performed by Golden Fleece Chamber Opera and at Aviva Players Concerts. Ladies of Romance Seven minute opera - libretto by June Siegel - for soprano, mezzo soprano, and piano (mezzo part can be sung by baritone). A mini opera- buffo about some heroines and their heros in literature. Peformed by Golden Fleece and at Hewlett Library.
Song & Musical about a Mother and Daughter
Year: 1997
Duration (in minutes): 10'39
Difficulty: High (professional)
Category: musical theater, solo voice(s) with piano
Instruments: mezzo soprano
Give Me Time
Year: 1996
Duration (in minutes): 15'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: musical theater, solo voice(s) with piano
Instruments: baritone voice, mezzo soprano
Description: Lyrics: Jun Siegel, Mira J. Spektor, and Caroline Crippen about an older couple who meet on a park bench in Florida. Heard in NYC: Golden Fleece Ltd. and at UJA Music Programs, in Palm Beach, Florida, and toured Public Libraries in Long Island for LICA. "A mini-miracle of a musical" - New Choices
Mary Shelley
Year: 1993
Duration (in minutes): 30'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: opera
Description: Libretto by Collette Inez. 1993 - Golden Fleece Chamber Opera, Greenwich School of Music, Donnell Library. "The setting was attractive and tonal, and recalled some of the more graceful music in Bernstein's 'Trouble in Tahiti.' Particularly appealing was a duet between Mary and Percy Bythe Shelley" - Allan Kozinn in the New York Times. Full length version commissioned by Rockland Opera Company for June 21, 2003.
Indian Serenade
Year: 1993
Duration (in minutes): 3'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: solo voice(s) with piano
Description: Poem by Percy B. Shelley. Heard also in the chamber opera Mary Shelley
Sea-Song
Year: 1988
Duration (in minutes): 3'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: small chamber ensembles - 2 to 4 players, solo voice(s) with chamber ensemble
Instruments: any female voice, any medium voice, any string, any voice, guitar, mezzo soprano, piano
Wish I Had A Fish Tail
Year: 1988
Duration (in minutes): 3'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: small chamber ensembles - 2 to 4 players, solo voice(s) with chamber ensemble
Instruments: any female voice, any medium voice, any string, any voice, guitar, mezzo soprano, piano
Description: folk or pop v.
Little Filly Named Heart's Desire
Year: 1988
Duration (in minutes): Heart'39;s
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: solo voice(s) with piano
Description: lead sheet and cassette - pop song (rock); lyrics: June Siegel for film "High Stakes"
Saturday Girl
Year: 1988
Duration (in minutes): 3'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: solo voice(s) with piano
Description: lead sheet - pop song, lyrics: June Siegel for movie "High Stakes."
Take Me Home Tonight
Year: 1988
Duration (in minutes): 3'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: solo voice(s) with piano
Description: lead sheet and cassette - title song for film "High Stakes."
Provincetown Suite
Year: 1987
Duration (in minutes): 12'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: mixed instrument ensemble, small chamber ensembles - 2 to 4 players
Instruments: any string, any woodwind, cello, flute, oboe, piano, viola
Description: (concertina or vn can be used instead of flute) tonal and lyrical, this trio was adapted from music score for TV documentary, "Art in its Soul" (seen on WGBH-TV and at Whitney Museum, NYC).
Passion of Lizzie Borden
Year: 1985
Duration (in minutes): 15'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: larger chamber ensembles - more than 4 players, musical theater, opera, solo voice(s) with solo instruments
Instruments: any female voice, any high voice, any medium voice, any string, any voice, any woodwind, celesta, cello, flute, mezzo soprano, narrator/speaker, piano, soprano
Description: Libretto by Ruth Whitman. Short opera about the famous murder case. Premiered 1985 Marymount Manhattan College, then Off-Broadway Golden Fleece, NYC, West End Opera Co. at SUNY Buffalo NY, Lincoln Center Outdoor and videotaped by Pratt Institute for Cable TV. Listed in National Music Theater Network. "A 'very short opera' to evocative poetry by Ruth Whitman...(Ms. Spektor) an interesting composer...an impassioned duet for Lizzie and her sister" John Rockwell - The New York Times
Lady Of The Castle
Year: 1982
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: musical theater
Description: Lyrics based on play by Lea Goldberg about the true story of a young girl who was hidden in the basement of a ruined castle during the Holocaust. Premiered 1982 on NY Cable TV. Heard in NYC, in Pittsfield Mass, in Long Island: East Hampton, Woodmere and Comstock. Produced in German in Berlin, Germany and in London at Barbican Center St. Giles, Cripplegate Church, for the Festival of Austrian-Jewish Culture. On and Original Cast Records CD.
Magen Yerushalaim
Year: 1982
Duration (in minutes): 3'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: choral
Our Apartment
Year: 1980
Duration (in minutes): 3'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: larger chamber ensembles - more than 4 players, solo voice(s) with chamber ensemble
Instruments: any female voice, any voice, piano
Description: lyrics: June Siegel; from "The Housewives' Cantata" Original Cast Records.
Sex
Year: 1980
Duration (in minutes): 3'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: choral, larger chamber ensembles - more than 4 players, solo voice(s) with chamber ensemble
Instruments: any female voice, any male voice, any medium voice, any voice, baritone voice, piano
Description: lyrics: June Siegel; from "The Housewives' Cantata" Original Cast Records.
Candles Bright
Year: 1980
Duration (in minutes): 3'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: small chamber ensembles - 2 to 4 players, solo voice(s) with chamber ensemble, solo voice(s) with solo instruments
Instruments: any female voice, any medium voice, any string, any voice, guitar, mezzo soprano
Description: folk or pop v; lyrics: Louis I. Newman; Christmas and Hannukhah song.
Song Of The Bourgeosie Hippie
Year: 1980
Duration (in minutes): 3'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: small chamber ensembles - 2 to 4 players, solo voice(s) with chamber ensemble, solo voice(s) with solo instruments
Instruments: any female voice, any medium voice, any string, any voice, guitar, mezzo soprano, piano
Description: folk or pop v; lyrics: June Siegel; from "The Housewives' Cantata" Original Cast Records.
Riderless Horse
Year: 1980
Duration (in minutes): 3'39;30'34;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: small chamber ensembles - 2 to 4 players, solo voice(s) with chamber ensemble, solo voice(s) with solo instruments
Instruments: any female voice, any medium voice, any string, any voice, guitar, mezzo soprano
Description: lyrics: Louis I. Newman; commissioned/perf for Kennedy Memorial Service.
Sunday Psalm
Year: 1980
Duration (in minutes): 4'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: solo voice(s) with piano
Instruments: any string, any woodwind, baritone voice, oboe, violin
Description: poem: Phyllis McGuinley; performed at Madison Presbyterian Church, NYC, by Lawrence Chelsi.
Rooftops Of The Past
Year: 1980
Duration (in minutes): 3'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: solo voice(s) with piano
Description: lyrics: June Siegel; from "The Housewives' Cantata."
White House Resident
Year: 1980
Duration (in minutes): 3'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: solo voice(s) with piano
Description: lyrics: June Siegel; from "The Housewives' Cantata" Original Cast Records.
Ladies of Romance
Year: 1980
Duration (in minutes): 7'39;
Difficulty: High (professional)
Category: musical theater, opera, solo voice(s) with piano
Description: Opera Buffo about Heroines & their Heroes
Four Songs On Poems By Ruth Whitman
Year: 1975
Duration (in minutes): 12'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: small chamber ensembles - 2 to 4 players, solo voice(s) with chamber ensemble
Instruments: any female voice, any medium voice, any string, any voice, any woodwind, cello, flute, mezzo soprano, violin
Description: in NYC, Brooklyn College, Rutgers Univ, Sarah Lawrence College, Santa Fe, NM and Jerusalem, Israel.
H Is For Hanna
Year: 1975
Duration (in minutes): 3'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: small chamber ensembles - 2 to 4 players, solo voice(s) with chamber ensemble, solo voice(s) with solo instruments
Instruments: any female voice, any medium voice, any string, any voice, guitar, mezzo soprano
Description: folk or pop v; lyrics: Louis I. Newman; written for and performed at Temple Rodeph Shalom, NYC.
Legs
Year: 1975
Duration (in minutes): 3'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: solo voice(s) with piano
Description: pop song; lyrics: June Siegel; from "The Housewives' Cantata" Original Cast Records.
Housewives' Cantata
Year: 1975
Duration (in minutes): Housewives'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: solo voice(s) with piano
Description: 20 songs. Lyrics: June Siegel. Feminist musical - Original Cast Records CD and Cable TV. Heard in NYC, Long Island, St. Paul and Minneapolis. Produced Off- Broadway by Cheryl Crawford, After Dinner Opera Company for Women's History Month with Richard Woitach, Metropolitan Opera Conductor January 1997. Songs at 30th Anniversary Celebration of NOW. "A sprightly slong fest" - The New York Times. "A feminist musical...light and frothy on the outside with a stinging bite inside" - South Shore Record "The music ranges from rags to romantic" St. Paul Pioneer Press
Little Women
Year: 1974
Duration (in minutes): 3'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: solo voice(s) with piano
Instruments: baritone voice
Description: lyrics: June Siegel; from "The Housewives' Cantata" Original Cast Records.
New Song
Year: 1973
Duration (in minutes): 4'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: choral
Description: lyrics: June Siegel
Adultery Waltz
Year: 1973
Duration (in minutes): 3'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: small chamber ensembles - 2 to 4 players, solo voice(s) with chamber ensemble, solo voice(s) with piano
Instruments: baritone voice, piano, soprano
Description: lyrics: June Siegel; from "The Housewives' Cantata" Original Cast Records.
Dirty Dish Rag
Year: 1973
Duration (in minutes): 4'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: small chamber ensembles - 2 to 4 players, solo voice(s) with chamber ensemble
Instruments: any female voice, any voice
Description: lyrics: June Siegel; from "The Housewives' Cantata" Original Cast Records.
Early Morning Rain
Year: 1973
Duration (in minutes): 3'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: small chamber ensembles - 2 to 4 players, solo voice(s) with chamber ensemble
Instruments: any female voice, any male voice, any medium voice, any voice, baritone voice, mezzo soprano, piano
Description: lyrics: Charline Spektor; from "The Housewives' Cantata" Original Cast Records.
Ladies Of Lit.
Year: 1973
Duration (in minutes): 6'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: small chamber ensembles - 2 to 4 players, solo voice(s) with chamber ensemble
Instruments: any female voice, any male voice, any voice, piano
Description: lead sheet - lyrics: June Siegel; from "The Housewives' Cantata."
New Song
Year: 1973
Duration (in minutes): 3'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: choral, larger chamber ensembles - more than 4 players, solo voice(s) with chamber ensemble
Instruments: any female voice, any male voice, any medium voice, any voice, baritone voice, piano
Description: "The Housewives' Cantata" Original Cast Records.
Open Road
Year: 1973
Duration (in minutes): 3'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: small chamber ensembles - 2 to 4 players, solo voice(s) with chamber ensemble
Instruments: any voice, piano
Description: lyrics: June Siegel; from "The Housewives' Cantata" Original Cast Records.
What Is A Woman?
Year: 1973
Duration (in minutes): 3'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: small chamber ensembles - 2 to 4 players, solo voice(s) with chamber ensemble
Instruments: any female voice, any male voice, any medium voice, any voice, baritone voice, mezzo soprano, piano
Description: Housewives' Cantata" Original Cast Records.
Daughter's Lullaby
Year: 1973
Duration (in minutes): Daughter'39;s
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: solo voice(s) with piano
Description: lyrics: June Siegel; from "The Housewives' Cantata" Original Cast Records; also on "Mira Sings Lullabies", Westminster Records.
Guinevere Among The Grapefruit Peels
Year: 1973
Duration (in minutes): 4'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: solo voice(s) with piano
Description: arrangement from "The Housewives' Cantata" Original Cast Records.
Mr. Fixer
Year: 1973
Duration (in minutes): 2'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: solo voice(s) with piano
Description: high mezzo; lyrics: June Siegel; arrangement from "The Housewives' Cantata" Original Cast Records.
Suburban Rose
Year: 1973
Duration (in minutes): 3'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: solo voice(s) with piano
Description: lyrics: June Siegel; from "The Housewives' Cantata" Original Cast Records.
Je Suis Belle Cheri
Year: 1952
Duration (in minutes): 3'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: solo voice(s) with piano
Description: lead sheets, French pop song; recorded Westminster Records.
Love Is More Thicker Than Forget
Year: 1949
Duration (in minutes): 3'39;30'34;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: larger chamber ensembles - more than 4 players, solo voice(s) with chamber ensemble
Instruments: alto, any female voice, any high voice, any low voice, any medium voice, any string, any voice, mezzo soprano, piano, soprano, violin
Description: also be sung by 3 part women's ch) poem: e.e.cummings; written for and performed Sarah Lawrence Col Women's Chor, 1949; revised for 3 solo voices; performed Aviva Players, St. Peter's Ch, NYC, Cable TV, 1989.
Evenin' Air Blues
Year: 1949
Duration (in minutes): Evenin'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: solo voice(s) with piano
Description: folk or pop v, poem Langston Hughes; written for and performed by Sarah Lawrence Dance Dept.
Dreams That Have Ended
Duration (in minutes): 4'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: choral
Description: vv with fl, vc, pn from "Lady of the Castle."
Art In Its Soul
Duration (in minutes): 30'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: mixed instrument ensemble, mixed instrument trio, small chamber ensembles - 2 to 4 players
Instruments: any string, piano, viola
Description: music score for TV documentary seen at Whitney Museum and WGBH-TV, Boston.
M.C.P. Song
Duration (in minutes): 3'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: choral, larger chamber ensembles - more than 4 players, solo voice(s) with chamber ensemble
Instruments: any female voice, any male voice, any medium voice, any voice, baritone voice, piano
Description: lyrics: June Siegel; from "The Housewives' Cantata" Original Cast Records.
Someday Blues
Duration (in minutes): 3'39;30'34;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: small chamber ensembles - 2 to 4 players, solo voice(s) with chamber ensemble
Instruments: any female voice, any male voice, any medium voice, any voice, baritone voice, mezzo soprano, piano
Description: lyrics: June Siegel; from "The Housewives' Cantata" Original Cast Records.
Drei Neue Lieder
Duration (in minutes): 3'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: solo voice(s) with piano
Description: On three Goethe poems. In German in two keys: for high or medium Soprano and piano or harp. "Geheimnes," "So lasst mich scheinen," "Der Musensohn"
Three French Songs
Duration (in minutes): 3'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: solo voice(s) with piano
Description: "Emerveillement" - French text - Poem by Comtesse Anna de Noaille. Soprano or mezzo soprano and piano (2000) "La complainte de Rutebeuf" for Mezzo soprano and piano on a French poem by Rutebeuf - 13th Century French poet (2001) "Il neige dans mon coeur" - French lyrics by composer for Mezzo soprano and piano arranged by Josephine Baker's Band in 1954. Heard on Mira Chante - French love songs on Original Cast Records CD.
Touch Me
Duration (in minutes): 2'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: solo voice(s) with piano
Description: lead sheet, pop song; lyrics: June Siegel.
Two Bedtime Songs
Duration (in minutes): 3'39;
Difficulty: Medium (college/community)
Category: solo voice(s) with piano
Description: "Winter Lullaby" and "Call Me" -Poems by Mira J. Spektor. Both songs also in "Summer and Winter Songs" for voice and harp on Original Cast Recod CD. WINter Lullaby recorded on Lullabys and Lovesongs on AirPlay Audio Publishing. Call Me recorded by Helene Williams on Helene Williams Sings Songs of Love on Capstone Records.
Daytime & Night Songs
Sarah Mesko mezzo-soprano
Brent Funderburk piano
Michael Laderman flute
Brian Sanders cello
Stephen Benson guitar
Release Date: October 11, 2019
Composers: Mira J. Spektor
Label: Navona Records, LLC
Label's Website: www.miraspektor.com
Product ID: NV6256
Buy URL 2: https://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=2292257
Summer and Winter Songs
Prolific composer Mira J. Spektor makes her Navona Records debut with SUMMER AND WINTER SONGS, a collection of works for voice that bring together family and friends, history and culture, and loss and love.
Composers: Mira J. Spektor
Label: Navona Records, LLC
Product ID: NV6236
Buy URL 2: http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=2288683
Villa Diodati, A Chamber Opera
VILLA DIODATI composed by Mira J. Spektor with libretto by Colette Inez, features the poetry of notorious Romantic poets Byron, Shelley and Wordsworth. The plot revolves around the fateful events of Summer, 1816, when Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley penned "Frankenstein" while staying at the Villa Diodati in Geneva with her husband Percy Bysshe Shelley and Lord Byron.
Composers: Mira J. Spektor
Label: Albany Records
Product ID: TROY1584
Buy URL 2: https://www.amazon.com/Villa-Diodati-Chamber-Rachel-Arky/dp/B014PLUY0A
LADY OF THE CASTLE
Music & lyrics by Mira J.Spektor - A chamber opera for 4 voices & 3 instruments based on a play by Lea Goldberg, about a young girl hidden & found in a crumbling European castle in 1947, after the Holocaust... over 10 productions in New York, Berlin & London...CD of live performance at St Giles Cripplegate Church in the Barbican Center in London...Also on Cd SUMMER & WINTER SONGS - 6 songs with music & poems by Mira J. Spektor sung by Soprano Patricia Thomspson with harpist Susan Jolles...and MAGEN YERUSHALAIM - The Shield of Jerusalem - Duet for 2 solo voices Music & lyric by Mira J, Spektor sung by Patricia Thompson & Constance Beavon.
Composers: Mira J. Spektor.
Product ID: ORIGINAL CAST RECORDS (2001)
MIRA CHANTE
14 French "chansons" - pop, classic & folk songs, sung in French by
Mira Jozelle (Spektor), including songs by Trenet, Piaf, Kosma, Faure, & 2 songs:
"IL NEIGE DANS MON COEUR" and "JE SUIS BELLE , CHERI" with music & lyrics
by Mira J. Spektor...Recorded on LPs 1955 - 1975 by Westminster, Concert Hall and Guilde International du Disque...Re-mastered on CDs by Charles de Montebello... Produced in 2001 by Bruce Yeko for Original Cast Records.
Composers: Mira J. Spektor.
Product ID: ORIGINAL CAST RECORDS (2001)
HOUSEWIVES' CANTATA
Feminist musical for women & men - Music by Mira J. Spektor & Lyrics by June Siegel -- Written in 1973, the year Ms Magazine was born... Sung by Lawrence Chelsi, Maida Meyers Lowin, Mira J. Spektor, Sharon Talbot & guest artist Mary Gordon Murray - Orchestrations & conducted by Bob Goldstone...
"A sprightly songfest" - The New York Times
"The humor is fresh & pointed" - The Daily News
"The music ranges from rag to romantic" - South Shore Record
"Revue cause for delight...sharp, funny...spares no one" - St Paul Pioneer Press
Composers: Mira J. Spektor.
Product ID: ORIGINAL CAST RECORDS OC9363
Villa Diodati, Chamber Opera
Composer: Mira J. Spektor
Description: Opening Selections: Train Music; Villa on the Lake; Overture; A Cold Summer. A Banks Street Film Production.
Video URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3V3eTrCLhs
Ladies of Romance
Composer: Mira J. Spektor
Description: A short opera buffo, with music by Mira J. Spektor, and libretto by June Siegel. Performed by Hillary Schranze, soprano, Karen Jolicoeur, soprano, Brian Hunter, tenor, and Barbara Ames, piano.
Video URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=warOqUJd2-s
