Whitney Elizabeth George

Whitney Elizabeth George

BIOGRAPHY
COMPOSITIONS
CDs
VIDEOS
NEWS POST

Whitney George began focusing on interdisciplinary collaboration while pursuing an undergraduate degree at California Institute of the Arts. Her undergraduate thesis, incorporating theater, animation, dance, and music, was a full-length opera titled 'Alphabephobia' in 2007. Continuing to develop her interest in collaborative arts, George studied at the Brooklyn College Conservatory of Music with Jason Eckardt and Tania Leon, graduating with a Masters in Music Composition in 2010. During her time at Brooklyn College, she was named composer-in-residence with both the Conservatory Orchestra and the conTEMPO new music ensemble where she continued to collaborate with other artists on semi-staged and dramatic works.
George’s music, performance art, and installations have had both international and domestic premieres, primarily in England and the east and west coasts of the US. Her works have been performed and premiered by the NY-based Mivos String Quartet, Cygnus Ensemble, Transit Ensemble, Fulcrum Point String Quartet, CME, The Curiosity Cabinet, and Vigil Ensemble. Her masters thesis and operatic work, 'The Yellow Wallpaper', was awarded the Lehman Engel Award. George was also named as a John Duffy Composers Institute Fellow for two years running in 2010 and 2011 for her staged works 'The Yellow Wallpaper' and 'And Thus the Whirligig of Time Brings in His Revenges'. George was given the Robert Starer award for her orchestral work 'The Anatomy of the Curiosity Cabinet' in 2011.
George is the artistic director and conductor of 'The Curiosity Cabinet', a chamber orchestra whose members were culled from a network of close collaborators from the diverse New York new music scene. Created in 2009, the ensemble performs regularly in NY and east coast. The ensemble has participated in the inaugural CUNY New Music Festival and was recently invited as the ensemble-in-residence at the Hartford Women Composers Festival in 2012. George also conducts the Contemporary Music Ensemble (CME) at CUNY Graduate Center as well as Ursula Oppens's conTEMPO ensemble at Brooklyn College Conservatory. In November 2011, George conducted the premiere performance of Fred Ho's opera 'The Sweet Science Suite: a Scientific Soul Honoring of Mohammed Ali' at the Guggenheim Museum, New York and in February 2013 guest conducted Sugar Vendil’s ensemble 'The Noveau Classical Project' at Symphony to kickoff the month-long ComposersNOW celebration.
George is continuing her studies as a PhD candidate at the CUNY Graduate Center, where she studied with David Del Tredici, David Olan, Bruce Saylor, and Tania Leon. In addition to her composing and conducting, George teaches at the Brooklyn College Conservatory and works at the Hitchcock Institute of American Studies.

Masochist's Tango

Year: 2012

Duration (in minutes): 7:15

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: solo string instrument

Instruments: violin

Description: 'The Masochist’s Tango' is broken into three movements. Eschewing the standard fast--slow--fast structure, the opening movement is a lugubrious quasi-improvisational journey, an exploration of color and line. Double stops and tremolo contribute a deathly pallor to the work, unfolding in layers of pulsating bow work, as though the dance cannot seem to commence. The second movement arrives attacca, containing the eponymous dance, a col legno celebration of tango rhythms and affections. The third section, to be played “with great lust and wanton desire,” is an apotheosis of the two preceding movements, marrying the mood of the first movement with the sultry rhythms of the second, whilst exploring the uppermost register of the instrument.

'Illusion' from 'The Crimson Hand'

Composer: Whitney George

Description: 'Illusion' from 'The Crimson Hand' is the overture to the staged production of the same title for chamber orchestra and fixed media. Performed by 'The Curiosity Cabinet'

Video URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72akFWTLfdA

Raijin

Composer: Whitney George

Description: Raijin performed by Joe Tucker December 5, 2014, Scholes Street Studio, Brooklyn NY.

Video URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-K2cu3v_NwE

Spare Bedroom

Composer: Whitney George

Description: Spare Bedroom (Frans Zwartjes- 1970) Score by Whitney E. George, with Melissa Danas, Horn Soloist.

Video URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgP1vZTWAgA

BIOGRAPHY
Whitney George began focusing on interdisciplinary collaboration while pursuing an undergraduate degree at California Institute of the Arts. Her undergraduate thesis, incorporating theater, animation, dance, and music, was a full-length opera titled 'Alphabephobia' in 2007. Continuing to develop her interest in collaborative arts, George studied at the Brooklyn College Conservatory of Music with Jason Eckardt and Tania Leon, graduating with a Masters in Music Composition in 2010. During her time at Brooklyn College, she was named composer-in-residence with both the Conservatory Orchestra and the conTEMPO new music ensemble where she continued to collaborate with other artists on semi-staged and dramatic works.
George’s music, performance art, and installations have had both international and domestic premieres, primarily in England and the east and west coasts of the US. Her works have been performed and premiered by the NY-based Mivos String Quartet, Cygnus Ensemble, Transit Ensemble, Fulcrum Point String Quartet, CME, The Curiosity Cabinet, and Vigil Ensemble. Her masters thesis and operatic work, 'The Yellow Wallpaper', was awarded the Lehman Engel Award. George was also named as a John Duffy Composers Institute Fellow for two years running in 2010 and 2011 for her staged works 'The Yellow Wallpaper' and 'And Thus the Whirligig of Time Brings in His Revenges'. George was given the Robert Starer award for her orchestral work 'The Anatomy of the Curiosity Cabinet' in 2011.
George is the artistic director and conductor of 'The Curiosity Cabinet', a chamber orchestra whose members were culled from a network of close collaborators from the diverse New York new music scene. Created in 2009, the ensemble performs regularly in NY and east coast. The ensemble has participated in the inaugural CUNY New Music Festival and was recently invited as the ensemble-in-residence at the Hartford Women Composers Festival in 2012. George also conducts the Contemporary Music Ensemble (CME) at CUNY Graduate Center as well as Ursula Oppens's conTEMPO ensemble at Brooklyn College Conservatory. In November 2011, George conducted the premiere performance of Fred Ho's opera 'The Sweet Science Suite: a Scientific Soul Honoring of Mohammed Ali' at the Guggenheim Museum, New York and in February 2013 guest conducted Sugar Vendil’s ensemble 'The Noveau Classical Project' at Symphony to kickoff the month-long ComposersNOW celebration.
George is continuing her studies as a PhD candidate at the CUNY Graduate Center, where she studied with David Del Tredici, David Olan, Bruce Saylor, and Tania Leon. In addition to her composing and conducting, George teaches at the Brooklyn College Conservatory and works at the Hitchcock Institute of American Studies.
COMPOSITIONS

Masochist's Tango

Year: 2012

Duration (in minutes): 7:15

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: solo string instrument

Instruments: violin

Description: 'The Masochist’s Tango' is broken into three movements. Eschewing the standard fast--slow--fast structure, the opening movement is a lugubrious quasi-improvisational journey, an exploration of color and line. Double stops and tremolo contribute a deathly pallor to the work, unfolding in layers of pulsating bow work, as though the dance cannot seem to commence. The second movement arrives attacca, containing the eponymous dance, a col legno celebration of tango rhythms and affections. The third section, to be played “with great lust and wanton desire,” is an apotheosis of the two preceding movements, marrying the mood of the first movement with the sultry rhythms of the second, whilst exploring the uppermost register of the instrument.

CDs
VIDEOS

'Illusion' from 'The Crimson Hand'

Composer: Whitney George

Description: 'Illusion' from 'The Crimson Hand' is the overture to the staged production of the same title for chamber orchestra and fixed media. Performed by 'The Curiosity Cabinet'

Video URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72akFWTLfdA

Raijin

Composer: Whitney George

Description: Raijin performed by Joe Tucker December 5, 2014, Scholes Street Studio, Brooklyn NY.

Video URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-K2cu3v_NwE

Spare Bedroom

Composer: Whitney George

Description: Spare Bedroom (Frans Zwartjes- 1970) Score by Whitney E. George, with Melissa Danas, Horn Soloist.

Video URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgP1vZTWAgA

NEWS POST