| Numinous The Music of Joseph C. Phillips Jr. |
22: 2021
Numinous at 25
22. 2021
#numinous25
#numinousmusic25
In early 2020 I was in discussions with the @harlemstage to perform @thegreyland in 2021. But with the on-going pandemic, Numinous did not perform there, or anywhere (and the discussions with Harlem Stage fell through with a change of leadership), although the album was still getting positive reviews. At the beginning of 2021 I was still on sabbatical in Colorado and had begun composing “The Undisappeared” for The Crossing @thecrossingchoir. Commissioned for their Carols after a Plague project, the piece—with words by me—was about living in brownstone Brooklyn during the beginning months of the pandemic in 2020, where we unexpectedly found community with our neighbors who didn’t leave for their second homes in the Hamptons or Connecticut or upstate NY, but rather stayed put, where we all faced the unknowns together. I finished the piece in the spring, just before we left Colorado once we got vaccinated. We had to modify the original sabbatical plans to live in Argentina in the spring (since the country was still locked down to visitors), to live in Oaxaca, Mexico, which was still open to visitors. For me, it was a first time to Mexico and a first time living out of the country. It was an amazing experience and I got to slowly start practicing the Spanish I began learning in the months before. It was in Oaxaca that I started composing So Far Behind Now Because of Then, the first opera in the 1619 cycle.
In August, as my sabbatical was ending, I flew back to the US to attend the recording sessions for Carols after a Plague. And autumn brought the family back to our lives in Brooklyn, including my return to PS 321 after my sabbatical. In December our family traveled down to Philadelphia, for one of the premiere performances of “The Undisappeared,” which was a magical experience as life was beginning to open up ever so slightly. But, by then, we would all be changed…
#josephcphillipsjr #numinous #numinousmusic @numinousmusic #thegreyland #thegreylandopera #theundisappeared #thecrossingchoir #mixedmusic #newmusic #newopera #opera #monoopera #mixedmusic #sofarbehindnowbecauseofthen #1619opera #1619operacycle
#numinous25
#numinousmusic25
In early 2020 I was in discussions with the @harlemstage to perform @thegreyland in 2021. But with the on-going pandemic, Numinous did not perform there, or anywhere (and the discussions with Harlem Stage fell through with a change of leadership), although the album was still getting positive reviews. At the beginning of 2021 I was still on sabbatical in Colorado and had begun composing “The Undisappeared” for The Crossing @thecrossingchoir. Commissioned for their Carols after a Plague project, the piece—with words by me—was about living in brownstone Brooklyn during the beginning months of the pandemic in 2020, where we unexpectedly found community with our neighbors who didn’t leave for their second homes in the Hamptons or Connecticut or upstate NY, but rather stayed put, where we all faced the unknowns together. I finished the piece in the spring, just before we left Colorado once we got vaccinated. We had to modify the original sabbatical plans to live in Argentina in the spring (since the country was still locked down to visitors), to live in Oaxaca, Mexico, which was still open to visitors. For me, it was a first time to Mexico and a first time living out of the country. It was an amazing experience and I got to slowly start practicing the Spanish I began learning in the months before. It was in Oaxaca that I started composing So Far Behind Now Because of Then, the first opera in the 1619 cycle.
In August, as my sabbatical was ending, I flew back to the US to attend the recording sessions for Carols after a Plague. And autumn brought the family back to our lives in Brooklyn, including my return to PS 321 after my sabbatical. In December our family traveled down to Philadelphia, for one of the premiere performances of “The Undisappeared,” which was a magical experience as life was beginning to open up ever so slightly. But, by then, we would all be changed…
#josephcphillipsjr #numinous #numinousmusic @numinousmusic #thegreyland #thegreylandopera #theundisappeared #thecrossingchoir #mixedmusic #newmusic #newopera #opera #monoopera #mixedmusic #sofarbehindnowbecauseofthen #1619opera #1619operacycle
Thanks and credit to all the original photos on this website to: David Andrako, Concrete Temple Theatre, Marcy Begian, Mark Elzey, Ed Lefkowicz, Donald Martinez, Kimberly McCollum, Geoff Ogle, Joseph C. Phillips Jr., Daniel Wolf-courtesy of Roulette, Andrew Robertson, Viscena Photography, Jennifer Kang, Carolyn Wolf, Mark Elzey, Karen Wise, Numinosito. The Numinous Changing Same album design artwork by DM Stith. The Numinous The Grey Land album design and artwork by Brock Lefferts. Contact for photo credit and information on specific images.