ISO Amor (In Search of Love) explores the new modes of communication and language that have emerged as people search for love and sex on the internet. "guaranteedlove.com" opens the work with a setting of the HTML source code behind an online dating website. In "a te palese, a tutt' altri coverto," I examine the parallels between the Petrarchan ideal, unattainable "beloved" and the faceless "other" on the opposite end of an IM conversation made possible by a "match" on guaranteedlove.com. As the IM conversation unfolds, it is gradually revealed that neither participant is who s/he claims to be. "SPAM!" uncovers the seductive yet sinister world of e-mail spam and pop-up porn where every click holds the promise of fulfilling a person's darkest desires.
This work was premiered by the Eastman Composers Sinfonietta under the baton of Jonathan Girard in spring 2010 with sopranos, Jamie Jordan and Jennifer Bellor, and tenor, Scott Perkins. ISO Amor was a finalist for the ASCAP Rudolf Nissim Prize and won an honorable mention for the 2011 ASCAP Morton Gould awards. "Spam" won 2nd Prize in the 2009 Apeldoorn YCM Competition sponsored by Gaudeamus Muziekweek in the Netherlands.
Click on one of the selections below to listen!
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I. guaranteedlove.com
II. a te palese, a tutt'altri coverto
III. SPAM!