b. 1985 || Website || Twitter || SoundCloud || YouTube
Natalie Draper is a composer who explores the general world of sound. As articulated so beautifully on her website, she creates music towards process, harmony, and color. Each piece, while varied, displays her fascination with the avant-garde and minimalism. There is a sense of peaceful direction that is in no way hurried or incumbered in her music that I find particularly grounding and satisfying to the ear.
Bowl Song is a fixed media piece from 2011 that Natalie wrote to accompany artist Hana Kim's "One Hundred Bowls" Installation at Chroma Projects in Charlottesville, Virgina. The components in this piece truly display her creativity and imagination as she takes you through the different sounds that can be made (and manipulated) with bowls. Her love for the avant-garde and minimalism shine through impeccably in this piece and her progressions and "waves" are almost ethereal.
Bowl Song
Until There is Nothing Left is a solo piano piece commissioned and performed by Lior Willinger. It reflects on the results and devastations of our environmental decisions. Focusing primarily on the deforestation of the Amazon rain forest, this piece begs us to reconsider how we take care of our natural habitats. The first video is a compilation of enhanced photographs from NASA's Dr. Lauren Andrews showing the deforestation of a particular area in Brazil from 1984 to 2018. The second contains Lior Willinger performing the piece live. Her choice to use her talents to advocate for the earth is a brave decision, and one that not only defines her portfolio and compositional direction, but also calls us out to take action in protection of our planet.
Until There is Nothing Left - accompanied by images of a section of Brazil's landscape that contains serious deforestation from 1984-2018.
Until there is nothing left : live performance of Lior Willinger
Deflected Harmlessly into the Ceiling is a piece for solo flute that invites a sense of playfulness that is not present in the last two compositions. (Remember, the hope of most composers is to write something that needs to be said, with its own direction and flavor, regardless of the ways in which you have (or have not) previously written. This way we don't get "stuck" so much in our own so-called style, but continue to find something to say or worlds to create.) Her sense of creativity with the title is portrayed magnificently as she "punches" high ceiling notes. She creates her texture by concentrating the sheer number of notes that she writes. So then towards the end of the piece, you almost feel like the flute is running out of steam, perhaps, or walking away because there are fewer and fewer notes.
Deflected Harmlessly into the Ceiling
As I alluded to at the beginning, her music does indeed progress towards process, harmony, and color and while varied and often fun and carefree, it does not lack in depth or meaning. She has a seemingly endless supply of creativity while also speaking of what is important to her in her music. I look forward to following her and hearing whatever it is she chooses to "say" next.
Natalie Draper currently teaches at Syracuse University. To see news and new music from Natalie, follow her on Twitter and SoundCloud.
In case anyone needs it:
Disclaimer : I do not own any of the videos that you see in this blog post or my previous blog posts.
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