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Katharine O'Connell

Biography: Katharine O'Connell

Katharine O'Connell studied composition at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University (B.M.) before earning a Doctorate in Music Composition at the University of Kentucky. Her work has been recorded by Trio Ariana's on the Eroica label and her orchestral work, Turner Seascapes, was read and recorded by the Women's Philharmonic in San Francisco, as part of their national search for new composers. Her works include commissions by the New Haven Oratorio Chorale, the Prism Chamber Music Society, and the Black Note Ensemble at the University of Houston. International activities include attendance at the Ennis Opera workshop in Ireland, where her opera excerpt from Waiting for Godot was performed, and a performance at the London Congress of the International Alliance for Women in Music.

She has recently been named the Ohio Music Teachers' Association Composer of year for 2009. She lives in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, with her husband, Jeff Karem, a professor of American Literature at Cleveland State University, and their son, Ronan.

Awards and Recognitions

Ohio Music Teachers' Association Composer of the Year, 2009

Catalog of Works by Katharine O'Connell

Chamber Ensemble

Streams - 2009 (Duration: 2:30)
- Premiered in 2009 by Chicago, Illinois.
- for flute choir
Unfoldings - 2008 (Duration: 10:20)
- Premiered in 2009 by Cleveland, Ohio.
- for alto saxophone, violin and piano; premiered by the Cleveland Duo with James Umble
Elegy - 2007 (Duration: 5:00)
- Premiered in 2007 by Cleveland, Ohio.
- for clarinet and piano; a resetting of "Letter," a song for soprano and piano
Wave - 2005 (Duration: 3:00)
- Premiered in 2005 by Cleveland, Ohio.
- for two flutes
Wing, arranged - 2005 (Duration: 4:40)
- Premiered in 2005 by Youngstown, Ohio; Bowling Green, Ohio; Cleveland, Ohio.
- for two saxophones
Chorale - 2005 (Duration: 5:30)
- Premiered in 2005 by Cleveland, Ohio.
- for 4 part cello ensemble
Shapenote Quartet - 2004 (Duration: 4:00)
- Premiered in 2004 by Cleveland, Ohio.
- for string quartet, based on hymns from the Sacred Harp
Wing - 2003 (Duration: 4:40)
- Premiered in 2003 by Aki Festival, Cleveland, Ohio; Ann Arbor, Michigan.
- for two violins
Spirituals - 1999 (Duration: 12:30)
- Premiered in 1999 by Houston, Texas; Sandusky, Ohio, Cleveland, Ohio .
- flute, marimba/vibraphone, cello; additional arrangements for flute and piano, and flute and string trio
Sextet - 1998 (Duration: 20:00)
- Premiered in 2000 by Prism Wind Quintet, Chicago, Illinois.
- wind quintet and piano
Fantasia, Toccata and Chaconne - 1998 (Duration: 7:40)
- Premiered in 1998 by Houston, Texas; Cleveland, Ohio .
- for marimba and vibraphone
Trio - 1998 (Duration: 7:30)
- Premiered by New Haven, Connecticut.
- for clarinet, violin and piano
Two Dances - 1996 (Duration: 8:00)
- Premiered in 1996 by Pisquatica Chamber Players .
- oboe, bassoon, violin, viola and harpsichord; Citation of merit, National Association of Composers, USA; First Prize, Kodaly Institute Competition for Young Composers
Forest Child - 1995 (Duration: 8:00)
- Premiered in 1995 by Houston, Texas; Chicago, Illinois.
- for oboe and piano; a children's ballet based on the book by Marni McGee
Elegy for Violin and Piano - 1995 (Duration: 6:30)
- Premiered in 1994 by Houston, Texas.
- for violin and piano
Litany - 1992 (Duration: 4:00)
- Premiered in 1992 by Houston, Texas.
- for cello and marimba

Chorus

What News - 2003 (Duration: 4:00)
- Premiered in 2003 by Cleveland, Ohio.
- for a cappella SATB choir; text from John Milton, Mildemay Fane
Lament - 2000 (Duration: 3:)
- Premiered in 2001 by New Haven, Connecticut.
- for SATB choir with cello accompaniment; text adapted from Psalm 42
Song of Joy - 1998 (Duration: 2:00)
- Premiered in 1998 by New Haven, Connecticut.
- for children's chorus
Walks of Dreams - 1996 (Duration: 4:30)
- Premiered in 1996 by Houston, Texas.
- for a cappella SATB chorus; text by Walt Whitman

Dramatic Works

Waiting for Godot - 2000 (Duration: 10:20)
- Premiered in 2000 by Ennis, Ireland.
- an opera scene for baritone, mezzo-soprano, and piano; based on the play by Samuel Beckett
The Play of Daniel - 2000 (Duration: 30:00)
- scored for soprano, tenor, baritone, chorus, flute, guitar and percussion; a liturgical drama based on a 12^th century French manuscript
The Red Machines - 1999 (Duration: 12:30)
- Premiered in 2000 by New York, New York.
- solo piano; a dance piece adapted from a novel by F.D. Reeve
Incidental music for "Hamlet" - 1998 (Duration: 5:40)
- Premiered in 1998 by New Haven, Connecticut.
- voice, guitar, violin and flute; text by William Shakespeare
The Quiet Farmer - 1992 (Duration: 8:00)
- Premiered in 1992 by Houston, Texas; Chicago, Illinois.
- for wind quintet and narrator; text from the children's book by Marni McGee

Orchestral

Let Something Remain - 2002 (Duration: 30:00)
- Premiered in 2003 by Sandusky, Ohio.
- a ballet for chamber orchestra; based on a novel by F.D. Reeve
Turner Seascapes - 2000 (Duration: 17:00)
- Premiered in 2001 by Women's Philharmonic, San Francisco, California.
- three pieces for full orchestra inspired by paintings by J.W. Turner
Three American Dances - 1997 (Duration: 15:00)
- Premiered in 1997 by Lexington Chamber Orchestra; Derriere Guard Festrival Orchestra, Chicago, Illinois.
- for chamber orchestra

Solo Instrument

War Elegy - 2009 (Duration: 7:45)
- Premiered in 2009 by Cleveland, Ohio.
- for solo cello; premiered by the Cleveland Chamber Collective; written to accompany a war scultpture by artist Irina Koukhanova
Margaret’s Spring: Processional - 2008 (Duration: 2:00)
- Premiered in 2008 by New York, New York.
- for solo piano

Solo Keyboard

Juxtapositions - 2007 (Duration: 4:30)
- Premiered in 2008 by Cleveland, Ohio.
- for solo piano
Bach Mosaic - 2007 (Duration: 3:00)
- Premiered in 2009 by Cleveland, Ohio.
- for solo piano
Palindrome - 2003 (Duration: 6:00)
- Premiered in 2003 by Cleveland, Ohio.
- for solo piano; written with composer Sarah Bedrossian, each writing alternate movements reflecting on the other composer's previous movement
Kaleidoscope - 1997 (Duration: 7:30)
- Premiered in 1997 by Exeter, New Hampshire.
- for viola and harpsichord

Solo Vocal

Lamentation - 2009 (Duration: 13:30)
- Premiered in 2009 by 2009 commission, OMTA Composer of the Year.
- for bass/baritone and cello, based on texts from Psalms and the Book of Job, depicting a prisoner in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
Les Regrets - 2008 (Duration: 4:30)
- Premiered in 2008 by Santa Barbara, California.
- for soprano and cello; text by Joachim du Bellay
Epithalamion - 2003 (Duration: 2:00)
- Premiered in 2003 by Wilmington, Vermont.
- for soprano and harp; text adapted from Edmund Spencer
There will come soft rains - 2002 (Duration: 3:00)
- Premiered in 2002 by Cleveland, Ohio.
- for soprano and piano, text by Sara Teasdale
Letter - 1999 (Duration: 3:00)
- Premiered in 1999 by Los Angeles, California.
- soprano and piano; text by F.D. Reeve
Vermont Sonnets - 1999 (Duration: 7:40)
- Premiered in 1999 by London, England; New Haven, Connecticut.
- two songs for soprano and piano; text by F.D. Reeve
Act - 1999 (Duration: 3:00)
- Premiered in 2000 by Richmond, Kentucky.
- for soprano and piano; text by Liana Sakeliou
Three Songs from "As You Like It" - 1997 (Duration: 5:00)
- Premiered in 1997 by Yale College, New Haven, Connecticut.
- for voice and guitar
Three Songs - 1993 (Duration: 7:00)
- Premiered in 1994 by KUSC radio, Los Angeles.
- for soprano and piano; text by e.e. cummings; subject of a lecture recital at University of Southern California

Vocal Ensemble

The Beautiful Changes and A Song - 2008 (Duration: 12:30)
- Premiered in 2008 by Cleveland, Ohio.
- for soprano, flute, harp, vibraphone and cello; text by Richard Wilbur
A Child's Almanac - 2003 (Duration: 8:00)
- Premiered in 2003 by Cleveland, Ohio.
- a dramatic work for soprano, cello and unpitched percussion; text by Leonard Trawick
I am Short - 1998 (Duration: 3:40)
- tenor, viola and piano; text by F.D. Reeve
Voices - 1998 (Duration: 9:00)
- Premiered in 2000 by recirded by Trio Ariana; Panaramicos; performed in , New Hampshire; New Haven, Connecticut; Cleveland Ohio.
- for soprano, viola and piano; text by F.D. Reeve; Honorable Mention, National Association of Composers, USA
Echoes - 1997 (Duration: 7:00)
- Premiered in 200 by Black Note Ensemble, Houston, Texas.
- soprano, flute, vibraphone and cello; text by Hart Crane
Requiem - 1994 (Duration: 7:)0)
- Premiered in 1994 by Houston, Texas.
- for soprano, trumpet and piano; text from Ecclesiasticus
The Panther - 1992 (Duration: 3:00)
- Premiered in 1992 by Houston, Texas.
- for tenor and marimba; text by R.M. Rilke, translated by Edward Snow
Two Sea Songs - 1992 (Duration: 6:00)
- Premiered in 1992 by Houston, Texas.
- for soprano, flute, viola and piano; text by Anne Stevenson