kirkevanb@gmail.com |
Kirk-Evan Billet is a Fulbright scholar grantee to Syria for 2008-2009. He earned a doctorate in composition as a student of Ludmila Ulehla at the Manhattan School of Music, where he received the commencement award for outstanding achievement in composition. He also holds degrees from the University of Miami and the Peabody Conservatory of Music. He has received awards or grants from Meet the Composer, ASCAP, and Annapolis Fine Arts Foundation. His compositions have been performed by a variety of artists and ensembles, including New Horizons Ensemble and Pharos Music Project. An experienced singer of early music, Billet led a Baltimore vocal ensemble dedicated to the performance of Medieval works alongside premieres. Billet also pursues interests beyond Western music, having traveled to Burkina Faso to study the kora and lately devoting considerable time to the nay (Arabic flute), the riqq (Arabic tambourine), and the world of Arabic music. He has served on the music faculties of Elizabethtown College and Lake Forest College. |
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COMPOSITIONS Kanat tasilu dumu`i (2007) for voices and instruments Katerine Street (2007) for trombone quartet La Bellevilloise (2005) for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, and piano Hopkins’ Ordinary (2005) for unaccompanied double chorus; texts by Gerard Manley Hopkins and from the Ordinary of the Mass Honest Blackberries (2005) for recorder quartet Duo Seraphim (2004) for unaccompanied 6-part chorus; liturgical text Toward Justice (2003) for unaccompanied mixed chorus; text by Theodore Parker Galileans (2003) for unaccompanied mixed chorus; Biblical text Viri Galilaei (1995/2003) for unaccompanied mixed chorus; liturgical text Iustus ut palma (2002) for unaccompanied mixed chorus; liturgical text Angelis suis (2001) for unaccompanied mixed chorus; liturgical text Sacerdotes tui (1999) for bass and bass clarinet; liturgical text Sick (1998) for soprano, flute, clarinet, violin, and viola; poem by Madeleine Mysko Audivi vocem de coelo (1997) for unaccompanied mixed chorus; liturgical text Locus Iste (1997) for unaccompanied mezzo-soprano and bass Suggestions or a basket. (1996) for tenor, baritone, 2 basses, and 2 pianos; text by the composer Fole Acoustumance (1996) for voice and drones; Medieval French text adapted by the composer Vinea mea electa (1996) for unaccompanied mixed chorus; liturgical text Aptatur (1995) for organ solo Le Lai des Oiseaux (1995) for unaccompanied soprano and bass; text by the composer Avignon (1994) for 3 bass voices; texts by the composer Symphony for Oboes (1992) for 2 oboes, 2 English horns, and shawm nine birds, nine souls (1988) for soprano, mezzo-soprano, 2 flutes, piano, and percussion; poems by E. E. Cummings Honest Branches (1988) for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, 2 violins, viola, cello, and contrabass Two Songs from No Thanks (1986) for high soprano and piano; poems by E. E. Cummings Dinnaby (1985) for flute solo i thank You God for most this amazing (1984) for mixed chorus and organ; poem by E. E. Cummings ARRANGEMENTS Ya ana ya ana Mozart/Rahbani (2003) for unaccompanied mixed chorus Give Me Jesus African-American spiritual song (2001) for unaccompanied mixed chorus A la ru Mexican Christmas carol (2001) for mixed chorus and piano Bright Star Medieval pilgrim song (2001) for mixed chorus and organ O Deathe, rock me asleepe attr. Anne Boleyn (2000) for women's chorus and piano How Far Is It to Bethlehem? traditional (1998) for unaccompanied women's chorus Stephano Sancto, exemplo se' lucente 14th-century lauda (1997) |
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Compositions | |||
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Duo Seraphim |
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| Duo Seraphim.mp3 - complete | |||
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This setting of the antiphon Duo seraphim makes use of proportions of time derived from the numbers prominently featured in the text (two, three, one). Some sections are further divided into subsections also expressing these proportions. The number two is additionally represented in harmonic and gestural dualities. After a heraldic intonation sung by two cantors, the six-voice (SSATBB) chorus acts frequently as two four-voice antiphonal groups, but also appears in three pairs of voices at times. The work is dedicated to the memory of soprano Helynn Garner (1959-2001). It was premiered by the Pharos Vocal Ensemble under the direction of James Bassi. | |||
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La Bellevilloise: Part I, no. 1 Amandiers |
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| La Bellevilloise: Part I, no. 1 Amandiers.mp3 - excerpt | |||
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La Bellevilloise is a 27-minute work in two parts for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, and piano. Its many sections in differing instrumentations are inspired by and address various aspects of the 20th arrondissement of Paris. The opening section of the work, "Amandiers," is scored for flute, cello, and piano. The existing rue des Amandiers is the continuation of a street which formerly bore this name, running as it did through an area known as Amandiers. The present street defines a neighborhood which has seen much change since the beginning of the 20th century, including the loss of many modest older dwellings. As recently as the 1990s, the rue des Amandiers was home to the Théâtre des Amandiers, a venue frequently presenting modern dance and other performing arts events. The trio “Amandiers” is gestural and plays rhythmically with a constant triple meter. | |||
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Honest Blackberries |
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| Honest Blackberries.mp3 - complete | |||
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The title Honest Blackberries refers to the source of the musical material of the piece, first presented in the alto recorder. In the 13th-century motet On parole de batre/A Paris/FRESE NOUVELE from the music manuscript known as the Montpellier Codex (Montpellier, Faculté de Médecine, H. 196), the repetitive tenor FRESE NOUVELE carries a text apparently derived from Parisian street vendors’ calls: “Fraises nouvelles! Mûres franches!” or “Fresh strawberries! Honest blackberries!” This melody provides the basis for a series of fanciful episodes, each seemingly bent on going astray. Variously, metric displacement, canonic play, fragmentation, inversion, and retrograde techniques take the melody through eight wayward but tender episodes. The work is dedicated to Baltimore composer Paul R. Schlitz, Jr. | |||
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for any ruffian of the sky (from Nine Birds, Nine Souls) |
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| for any ruffian of the sky (from Nine Birds, Nine Souls).mp3 - excerpt | |||
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This song is the fourth of eleven in my continuous cycle Nine Birds, Nine Souls, which sets bird poems by E. E. Cummings. In "for any ruffian of the sky," the kingbird is featured and the full ensemble of soprano, mezzo-soprano, two flutes, percussion, and piano is employed. Christine Sperry and Mary Nessinger sing. | |||
©2005 by Kirk-Evan Billet
All Rights Reserved
Kirk-Evan Billet is a member of Society of Composers, Inc. SCI is dedicated to the promotion of composition, performance, understanding and dissemination of new and contemporary music.