Upcoming
1619
I am honored to be one of the 2020 grantees for the Brooklyn Arts Fund for my next opera, 1619. The Brooklyn Arts Council grant will allow me to begin work on the opera this spring! This fall, as part of the Numinous 20th anniversary/ The Grey Land CD release performance, we will premiere a few of the arias from 1619. Initially inspired by both the 2014 article “The Case for Reparations” by Ta-Nehisi Coates and by the 2019 New York Times series The 1619 Project, the opera will draw from a number of historical sources. The 1619 opera will be an overarching non-traditional narrative that hopes to recenter the American story “we tell ourselves about who we are” and wished we were, with the actual truths found in the lives of our ancestors which still resonates with us today.
The 1619 opera is sponsored, in part, by the Greater New York Arts Development Fund of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, administered by Brooklyn Arts Council (BAC). 📸: by me!
The 1619 opera is sponsored, in part, by the Greater New York Arts Development Fund of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, administered by Brooklyn Arts Council (BAC). 📸: by me!
Fall 2020
Numinous recording of my monoopera "The Grey Land"
2020 is the year of our fourth Numinous recording The Grey Land. Following the success of the premiere at Roulette in the Fall of 2018, I've been planning on going into the studio to document the mono-opera, which "explores universal themes of humanity and identity through the intractable triumvirate of race, class, and power in American society." We were finally in the studio this winter. Look for the album to come out on CD/digital/vinyl in the Fall of 2020, again on New Amsterdam Records, like our third release Changing Same; also this fall stay tuned for details on the 20th anniversary/The Grey Land release performance!
2020 is the year of our fourth Numinous recording The Grey Land. Following the success of the premiere at Roulette in the Fall of 2018, I've been planning on going into the studio to document the mono-opera, which "explores universal themes of humanity and identity through the intractable triumvirate of race, class, and power in American society." We were finally in the studio this winter. Look for the album to come out on CD/digital/vinyl in the Fall of 2020, again on New Amsterdam Records, like our third release Changing Same; also this fall stay tuned for details on the 20th anniversary/The Grey Land release performance!
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Scenes from Numinous recording sessions of The Grey Land @ Oktaven Studios, Mount Vernon, New York, Winter 2020
Photo credit: Joseph C Phillips Jr. (1, 2, 5); Donald Martinez (3); Juila Ross (4)
Photo credit: Joseph C Phillips Jr. (1, 2, 5); Donald Martinez (3); Juila Ross (4)
2020
The year 2020 is the 20th anniversary of Numinous
Numinous began in October 2000, with my first rehearsal, and took some years to develop into its present instrumentation. But the idea of having some kind of large ensemble that would play music that wasn't easily classifiable, was a concept developing in my mind almost four years before that first rehearsal. It really has been a long and winding road full of wonderful successes and some disappointments; but whether the experiences were positive or less than stellar, it all was full of much music I'm happy and proud to have created, performed with wonderful musicians and friends! And while there's still much to come with Numinous in future years, throughout this year I thought it would be fun to look back on twenty years of making music with Numinous. You can follow along on Instagram and Twitter (can follow me below and/or use #numinous20), and I might even throw in a few blog posts for old-time sake!
Numinous began in October 2000, with my first rehearsal, and took some years to develop into its present instrumentation. But the idea of having some kind of large ensemble that would play music that wasn't easily classifiable, was a concept developing in my mind almost four years before that first rehearsal. It really has been a long and winding road full of wonderful successes and some disappointments; but whether the experiences were positive or less than stellar, it all was full of much music I'm happy and proud to have created, performed with wonderful musicians and friends! And while there's still much to come with Numinous in future years, throughout this year I thought it would be fun to look back on twenty years of making music with Numinous. You can follow along on Instagram and Twitter (can follow me below and/or use #numinous20), and I might even throw in a few blog posts for old-time sake!
photo collage by Joseph Phillips, from photos by Donald Martinez, David Andrako, Ed Lefkowicz, our three previous Numinous recordings (Changing Same, 2015; The Music of Joseph C Phillips Jr, 2003; Vipassna, 2009); Takehiro Ueyama, Vicsena Photography, Donald Martinez)
Past
Friday February 14, 2020
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Highlights from the premiere performance at The Clarice on February 14, 2020
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Scene from Act 1 Freedom of Speech "A Quiet Revolution"
Four Freedoms
Music and libretto by Joseph C. Phillips Jr.
Performed by Maryland Opera Studio Friday February 14, 2020 @ The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, College Park, MD
Sarah Stembel, soprano (Commissioner 1)
Colin Doyle, tenor (Commissioner 2)
Four Freedoms
Music and libretto by Joseph C. Phillips Jr.
Performed by Maryland Opera Studio Friday February 14, 2020 @ The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, College Park, MD
Sarah Stembel, soprano (Commissioner 1)
Colin Doyle, tenor (Commissioner 2)
Premiere of my new opera Four Freedoms
In President Roosevelt's State of the Union speech from 1941 he outlined "Four Freedoms" that everyone should experience and live, "everywhere in the world": Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Worship, Freedom from Want, Freedom from Fear. Those ideals still resonated almost 80 years later as I wrote the words and story for my opera Four Freedoms, which I based on four contemporary topics (voter disenfranchisement, worship and discrimination, immigration, and climate change) that all tie together to illuminate how far away as a country, and a world, we are from living up to those ideals.
Four Freedoms
an opera
Music & libretto by Joseph C Phillips Jr
Commissioned by & performed by
The Maryland Opera Studio
(SOPRANOS: Sarah Stembel, Erin Ridge, Nora Griffin, Oznur Tuluoglu, Amanda Densmoor, Abigail Beerwat; MEZZO SOPRANOS Gal Kohev, Katherine Kincaid; TENOR: Colin Doyle; BARITONE/BASS: Christian Simmons, Collin Power)
Craig Kier, Director, Maryland Opera Studio
Amanda Consol, Director of Acting
Justina Lee, Principal Coach
Ashley Pollard, Studio Manager
Friday February 14, 2020
The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center
University of Maryland School of Music
FREE, but click here to register for the performance
In President Roosevelt's State of the Union speech from 1941 he outlined "Four Freedoms" that everyone should experience and live, "everywhere in the world": Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Worship, Freedom from Want, Freedom from Fear. Those ideals still resonated almost 80 years later as I wrote the words and story for my opera Four Freedoms, which I based on four contemporary topics (voter disenfranchisement, worship and discrimination, immigration, and climate change) that all tie together to illuminate how far away as a country, and a world, we are from living up to those ideals.
Four Freedoms
an opera
Music & libretto by Joseph C Phillips Jr
Commissioned by & performed by
The Maryland Opera Studio
(SOPRANOS: Sarah Stembel, Erin Ridge, Nora Griffin, Oznur Tuluoglu, Amanda Densmoor, Abigail Beerwat; MEZZO SOPRANOS Gal Kohev, Katherine Kincaid; TENOR: Colin Doyle; BARITONE/BASS: Christian Simmons, Collin Power)
Craig Kier, Director, Maryland Opera Studio
Amanda Consol, Director of Acting
Justina Lee, Principal Coach
Ashley Pollard, Studio Manager
Friday February 14, 2020
The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center
University of Maryland School of Music
FREE, but click here to register for the performance
October 16, 2018
Concert, semi-staged premiere of monoopera
The Grey Land
Roulette
Brooklyn, NY
8:00 PM
Tickets $18 online; $25 at the door
Click here to Purchase
The Grey Land
Roulette
Brooklyn, NY
8:00 PM
Tickets $18 online; $25 at the door
Click here to Purchase
Photo by Jenny Wohrle
“… he made all the world…a vast grey land where neither night nor day was, peopled by strange men and women whom he could not understand, but with those lives he longed to mingle once before he went.” —Richard Wright, Native Son
"No moral code or ethical principle, no piece of scripture or holy teaching,
can be summoned to defend what we have allowed our country to become."
—Matthew Desmond, Evicted
“… he made all the world…a vast grey land where neither night nor day was, peopled by strange men and women whom he could not understand, but with those lives he longed to mingle once before he went.” —Richard Wright, Native Son
"No moral code or ethical principle, no piece of scripture or holy teaching,
can be summoned to defend what we have allowed our country to become."
—Matthew Desmond, Evicted
The Grey Land is a monoopera, which through the lens of one Black mother's experiences navigating American society with her son, explores universal themes of humanity and identity through the intractable triumvirate of race, class, and power. The Grey Land ruminates and comments more specifically on the larger longstanding systemic societal, economic, and cultural issues the recent spate of police shootings and protests have brought to the wider public consciousness. The Grey Land is made possible by a grant from the American Composers Forum with funds provided by the Jerome Foundation and, in addition, is also supported by New Music USA. The composition will be recorded and released on New Amsterdam Records in Fall 2020.
Music/concept: Joseph C Phillips Jr
28-member Orchestral Ensemble: Numinous
Conductor: Joseph C Phillips Jr
Words: Joseph C Phillips Jr, Isaac Butler, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Frederick Douglass, Sonia Sotomayor, Mothers of the Movement, Carolyn Bryant Donham
Soprano soloist: Rebecca L. Hargrove
Narrator: Kenneth Browning
Dancer: Jay Bouey
Cello solo (recorded): Mariel Roberts
Video/Film: Malik Isasis, Xuan Zhang, and Ryan Booth
Choreography: Edisa Weeks
Electronics: Michael Hammond
(L) Rebecca Hargrove (Mother); (Top R) Kenneth Browning (Narrator/Son); (Middle R) Scene from film by Malik Isasis for The Grey Land; (Bottom R) Jay Bouey
May 19, 2018
New Music Gathering panel
New Amsterdam Records @ 10 years Oral History Panel
Boston Conservatory at Berklee
Boston, MA
New Amsterdam Records @ 10 years Oral History Panel
Boston Conservatory at Berklee
Boston, MA
May 22, 2017
Premiere of "Climb" for the Fieldston School 7th grade Band
Fieldston School
3901 Fieldston Road
Bronx, NY
7:30 pm
Fieldston School
3901 Fieldston Road
Bronx, NY
7:30 pm
March 7, 2018
Discussing The Grey Land with the American Composers Forum
December 2016
October 29, 2016
Pianist Lara Downes premieres "Never Has Been Yet"
Jackson Hall Stage
Mondavi Center
Davis, California
https://www.mondaviarts.org/event/2016-17/lara-downes-piano
Jackson Hall Stage
Mondavi Center
Davis, California
https://www.mondaviarts.org/event/2016-17/lara-downes-piano
Lara premiering "Never Has Been Yet" at Mondavi Center
October 29, 2016
© 2016 Numen Music/BMI All Rights Reserved
October 29, 2016
© 2016 Numen Music/BMI All Rights Reserved
June 30-July 2, 2016
Performance of To Begin The World Over Again
Collaboration with Edisa Weeks and Delirious Dance
Gibney Dance Center
890 Broadway
NYC
Collaboration with Edisa Weeks and Delirious Dance
Gibney Dance Center
890 Broadway
NYC
February 2016
My forthcoming composition The Grey Land — a new music drama that explores themes of acceptance and identity through the intractable issues of race, class, and power in American society — was awarded a NewMusicUSA grant. Premiere will be Fall 2017. https://www.newmusicusa.org/projects/the-grey-land/
December 2015
Changing Same discussed in Diary of a Mad Composer
December 9th, 2015
— George Grella, The Brooklyn Rail
December 9th, 2015
— George Grella, The Brooklyn Rail
Changing Same
Top 30 Favorite Classical/Art Music albums 2015
— George M. Wallace, A Fool in the Forest
Top 30 Favorite Classical/Art Music albums 2015
— George M. Wallace, A Fool in the Forest
November 27-December 13, 2015
The Bellagio Foundation Has Been Known To Make Me Cry
Concrete Temple Theatre Company production
HERE
145 6th Avenue
New York, NY 10013
Concrete Temple Theatre Company production
HERE
145 6th Avenue
New York, NY 10013
November 2015
Changing Same is on David Adler's November 2015 Top 10
October 2015
Changing Same featured in Rhapsody's Classical Diversity: Today's Voices in Composition October playlist
October 16, 2015
Sorce/Lodge Duo
premiering "Scission",
for Guitar and Piano
Greenwich House Music School
46 Barrow Street
NYC
8:00 PM
with Iktus Combo,
featuring music by Christopher Cerrone, Charles Ives,
Elliot Cooper Cole, and Louis Andriessen
premiering "Scission",
for Guitar and Piano
Greenwich House Music School
46 Barrow Street
NYC
8:00 PM
with Iktus Combo,
featuring music by Christopher Cerrone, Charles Ives,
Elliot Cooper Cole, and Louis Andriessen
September 2015
September 21, 2015
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New Amsterdam Presents
Numinous & Will Mason Ensemble Joint CD release performance (Le) Poisson Rouge 158 Bleecker Street New York, NY 10012 Doors open at 6:00 pm 7:00 pm Numinous 8:15 pm Will Mason Ensemble Tickets at: http://lepoissonrouge.com/lpr_events/numinous-and-the-will-mason-ensemble-september-21st-2015/ www.newamrecords.com www.newampresents.org |
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September 11, 2015
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NextNow Fest
Gildenhorn Recital Hall University of Maryland-College Park 8:30 PM FREE Premiere of NextNow commission, Shibboleths Performed by Invoke String Quartet |
August 28, 2015
August 25, 2015
August 23, 2015
Interview with Rachel Martin for NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday. First aired August 23rd.
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July 2015
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Podcast Interview with George Grella from The Brooklyn Rail
https://soundcloud.com/rail-tracks/bk-rail-tracks-2015-078 (interview is at the beginning) |
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June 23, 2015
First track from Changing Same, "19", featured on Bandcamp Weekly podcast show:
https://bandcamp.com/?g=rock&show=132
https://bandcamp.com/?g=rock&show=132
