Alexandra Smither, Soprano
Description: An impossible sum of sounds emanating from one instrument; the soft singing of harmonics atop a forgotten foundation; music as metaphor for the ocean, itself a metaphor for the dizzying array of electromagnetic waves that we can and cannot perceive: all this recorded in the thirteen-second reverberation of the Buffalo Bayou Cistern.
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What makes “classical” music? The cleanest delineation I can find is in the act of composition: the explicit writing-out of all the parts to be played. At its core, this act is a careful consideration of each element of one's creation, a winnowing-down of the unnecessary and inefficient in the pursuit of plain language. This quality instills within my technical practice a desire to transcend the idiosyncrasies inherent to the structure of the double bass. The closer I can get to a sound that is fundamentall
This viewpoint shapes my tastes as well. If our practice aims for clarity of expression, then we as interpreters must closely examine the sentiment we are tasked with conveying. Does it tangle with our lived experiences, or does it seek to ignore them, to provide an escape? The works of art I find most arresting are those which don’t shy away from reality, no matter what complications it may impose. It is through such confrontation that one may discover a truth both simple and earnest.
Alexandra Smither, Soprano