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Robert Paterson

Grammy Nominations

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Congratulations to Jake Heggie, Laura Kaminsky, Robert Paterson and Kevin Puts for their Grammy Nominations. The recording of Heggie’s Great Scott (libretto Terrence McNally) was nominated for two awards: Best Contemporary Classical Composition and Producer of the Year (Blanton Alspaugh). Paterson’s Three Way (libretto David Cote) was also nominated for Producer of the Year (Blanton Alspaugh). And the Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society’s Love Comes in at the Eye, (several Puts works) was nominated for Producer of the Year (Judith Sherman). Laura Kaminsky’s Undercurrents was also nominated for Producer of the Year (Judith Sherman).

You can see the full list of nominations here.

Robert Paterson receives A.I. Dupont Composer’s Award

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Robert Paterson joins a distinguished group of American composers that have received the prestigious A.I. Dupont Composer’s award.  Given for recognition of a composer who has made “a significant contribution to the field of contemporary music” by the Delaware Symphony, the orchestra will perform Paterson’s Dark Mountains on Sept. 28 and 30.

“I am humbled and honored to receive this award, which has been presented to a diverse and distinguished group of composers that ranges from Elliott Carter to John Adams to Andre Previn. Hearing this outstanding orchestra play my music will be a thrill and delight.” Read more about the award’s history here. You can listen to Dark Mountains here.

 

Three Way premieres to great success at Nashville Opera

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Nashville Opera gave the world premiere of Three Way by composer Robert Paterson, with a libretto by David Cote in January of 2017. Jointly produced with American Opera Projects, the New York premiere will be given in June of 2017 at BAM.

The piano/vocal score and aria excerpts are now available for purchase:

You can order the CD here.

From The Tennessean:

“An intriguing treatise on power, passion and human connection.”

“Highly accessible! Cote has an obvious gift for humor, yet there also are moments of genuine tenderness. Paterson’s music is mesmerizing, beautifully supporting the story.”

“Paterson’s music is rich and vibrant—and beautifully played by the Nashville Opera Orchestra, conducted by Dean Williamson. Cote’s libretto offers an unexpected blend of whimsy and wistfulness.”

From Schmopera:

“Rarely do we find a postmodern opera that builds in time for audiences to belly laugh, a postmodern opera that encapsulates the complexity and depth of evolving identity and sexuality, and a postmodern opera that is both elegant and accessible. In Nashville Opera’s production of Three Way, with music by Robert Paterson and libretto by David Cote, we find a postmodern opera with all of those things, simultaneously. This production levels the audience’s playing field in a sophisticated way: pairing common, yet updated, operatic tropes with relevant, topical humor and relatable music.”

BroadwayWorld.com has a feature about the composer, here.

Classical Voice America

Robert Paterson talks about research and the quest to create a new, original opera.

For additional information about the work, please click here.

Rob-David

Reviews

Tennessean review

Nashville Scene

Nashville Arts Magazine

East Nashvillian

Now Playing Nashville

Nashville NPR

Nashville Public Television

Nashville Lifestyles “Top Pick”

Paterson/Campbell’s THE WHOLE TRUTH

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The Whole Truth, a new one-act opera by composer Robert Paterson and librettist Mark Campbell, was premiered in January as part of the exciting wave of new operas that overwhelmed New York City. A sold-out success that garnered uniform praise, it was paired with Stewart Copeland’s one-act opera, The Cask of Amontillado.

The Whole Truth is a short comic opera for three singers—soprano, mezzo-soprano and baritone—that uses very limited production elements in its storytelling and has been written to be performed in intimate to medium-sized venues. In the opera, a young married woman named Megan (a role shared by the soprano and mezzo-soprano) carries on an affair with a fellow dentist and a dalliance with young carpenter that lead her to momentarily confront the web of lies she has created to other…and to herself. Using a single bed positioned vertically onstage and a couple of chairs, the settings include a psychiatrist’s office, Megan’s dental office, the bed of her lover, the dining table and the bed she shares with her husband, and another psychiatrist’s office. The Man (played by the baritone) employs six cardboard cutouts to help represent the roles he plays: Psychiatrist 1, The Lover, The Husband, The Carpenter and Psychiatrist 2.

Duration: 27′
Instrumentation: piano/vocal version—three singers (soprano, mezzo-soprano, baritone) and piano. Chamber version (10 instrumentalists): flute, oboe, bassoon, percussion, piano, 2 violins, viola, cello, bass.
Libretto by Mark Campbell • Based on the short story of the same name by Stephen McCauley
Commissioned by UrbanArias, Robert Wood, Executive and Artistic Director
Premiere of Chamber Version: American Modern Ensemble, Tyson Deaton, conductor, Walker Lewis, director, Dixon Place, New York, NY, January 16, 17, 18 and 19, 2016.
Premiere of Piano/Vocal Version: UrbanArias, Robert Wood, conductor, Atlas Performing Arts Center, Washington, DC, February 21, 27 and 28, 2015.

Watch the video here:

 

Paterson/Campbell The Whole Truth premieres at UrbanArias

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The Whole Truth is a short comic opera with music by Robert Paterson and a libretto by Mark Campbell (Bastianello & Lucrezia), based on a short story by author Stephen McCauley. A married women attempts to delude herself into thinking she can carry on two affairs at the same time.  The first with a fellow dentist and the new affair with a young carpenter who has come to work on her and her husband’s home.

“The Whole Truth is like Opera Espresso: short, concentrated, and energizing.”–DC Metro Theater Arts

Performances are at Atlas Performing Arts Center (in the heart of DC’s vibrant and eclectic H Street neighborhood) and produced by UrbanArias.

Starring Amedee Royer, Kate Jackman, Andrew McLaughlin and Jeffrey Gates

Accompanied by R. Timothy McReynolds (piano)

Directed by Courtney Kalbacker

Paterson’s The Book of Goddesses, Top 10 Favorite Pieces

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Classical New England, Boston

Who better than NPR to suggest some of the best classical recordings of the year? Classical New England has selected Robert Paterson’s The Book of Goddesses for their list. Here’s the complete list of their picks. You can see more here.
  • Avi Avital, Concerto in D minor, BWV 1052: (I) Allegro (Bach)
  • Handel and Haydn Society, Coronation Mass in C Major, K. 317: Gloria (Mozart)
  • Ensemble Caprice, Fugue, Op. 87 No. 7 / Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 in F Major, BWV 1046: (I) Allegro (Shostakovich/Bach)
  •  Do.gma Chamber Orchestra, Rounds for String Orchestra (Diamond)
  •  East Coast Chamber Orchestra, Serenade for Strings in C Major, Op. 48: (II) Waltz (Tchaikovsky)
  •  BBC Concert Orchestra, Sinfonietta in D Major: (III) Scherzino (Chadwick)
  •  Tai Murray, Sonata No. 2 for Solo Violin, Op. 27: (I) Obsession (Ysaÿe)
  •  Pieter Wispelwey, Suite No. 3 in C Major for Solo Cello, BWV 1009: (V) Bouree I & II; (VI) Gigue (Bach)
  • London Philharmonic Orchestra, Symphony No. 4 in F minor, Op. 36: (IV) Finale – Allegro con fuoco (Tchaikovsky)
  • Maya, The Book of Goddesses: (III) Aphrodite; (IV) Brigit; (IX) The Muses (Paterson)