Behind the Curtain with Nanette McGuinness - Part 2

For Good Measure, by Ensemble for These Times (E4TT)
Episode 101: Behind the Curtain with Nanette McGuinness (part 2)

Looking for a way to listen to diverse creators and to support equity in the arts? Tune in weekly to For Good Measure!

In this week’s episode, we continue our conversation with For Good Measure’s host/producer and E4TT co-founder Nanette McGuinness, in our “Behind the Curtain” mini-series. If you enjoyed today’s conversation and want to know more about Nanette McGuinness, check her out here: https://www.e4tt.org/nanette_mcguinness.html.

This podcast is made possible in part by a grant from the California Arts Council and generous donors, like you. Want to support For Good Measure and E4TT? Make a tax-deductible donation or sign up for our newsletter, and subscribe to the podcast!

Intro music: “Trifolium” by Gabriela Ortiz, performed by E4TT (Ilana Blumberg, violin; Abigail Monroe, cello; Margaret Halbig, piano), as part of “Below the Surface: Music by Women Composers,” January 29, 2022
Outro music: “Lake Turkana” by Marcus Norris, performed by E4TT (Margaret Halbig, piano), as part of “Alchemy,” October 15, 2021

Transcription courtesy of Otter.ai.

Co-Producer, Host, and E4TT co-founder: Nanette McGuinness
Co-Producer and Audio Engineer: Stephanie M. Neumann
Podcast Cover Art: Brennan Stokes
With assistance from Hannah Chen, Sam Mason, Renata Volchinskaya

Transcript

Stephanie M. Neumann  00:00
[INTRO MUSIC] Welcome to For Good Measure, an interview series celebrating diverse composers and other creative artists, sponsored by a grant from the California Arts Council. I'm Stephanie M. Neumann, co-producer and audio engineer of For Good Measure, filling in as host for this episode. We continue today interviewing artistic executive director of Ensemble for These Times, and For Good Measure host and producer, Nanette McGuinness [INTRO MUSIC ENDS]. You have sung repertoire from 17th century music to newly composed pieces, what type of music do you like to sing?

Nanette McGuinness  00:45
So, I like it all. And my favorite tends to be whatever I'm currently working on, I have to admit. In terms of giving you a slightly more useful and granular answer, because that's kind of fatuous in certain ways, even though it's true, the music I sing needs to fit my voice and feel good when I sing, and I want to feel comfortable when I'm singing it. The text, ideally, is something I feel good singing, although sometimes in opera you sing things that don't necessarily quite fit that. But ideally, the music needs to engage my mind and my musicality in some way. Otherwise, it's kind of, it's boring and especially now, you know, I just don't feel as interested in digging in. But there's so much good music out there. Some of it known, some of it not known, and there's, there's an excitement in doing something that everybody else has done and, and you're getting to do it, you know. And there's also, intellectually especially, a real thrill in doing things that are rare, bringing things to people that haven't been done umptee million times, discovering gems that shouldn't have been lost in the dustbin of history, or modern things that should be brought out and heard. And in that context, it's really exciting working with living composers, because you can talk to them, and you can ask them what they meant. And, you know, you need to ask them to adjust things if they're writing for you. So all the aspects of what I've done in my career are things that I've liked and enjoyed, and enjoyed immensely while I was doing them.

Stephanie M. Neumann  02:35
What makes it so interesting working with the living composers, and do you have any tips for writing for singers?

Nanette McGuinness  02:44
Yeah, that's actually a great two part question. So the first part is, when you're working with living composers, you're creating new art that nobody else has created. And that's really cool. Right then and there. In addition, though, collaborating is a lot of fun. You know, a lot of, when you perform, you're on stage, you're working maybe with other musicians, but there is a loneliness to working as a musician, because there are those hours that you spend with your instrument, which isn't lonely, because we love our music, and we love our instrument, but it's, maybe a better word is solitary. So it's a solitary thing. The collaborative aspect of working with a composer is really fun. So tossing ideas together about what the piece might be. And I should point out that Stephanie, you wrote a wonderful piece for us, as an, we collaborated with you, but coming up with themes, texts, instrumentation, all that. And then, and then you go away, and the composer comes back with something, you had no idea, other than, you know their compositional voice, and it's this marvelous thing that they've created. So that, that is a wonderful thing, and you're moving the art forward and you're supporting living, breathing, composers, poets, musicians, in in doing this. Tips for working with singers. First, the voice is very different from any other instrument. We are working with text and we want that text to be understood. So when you work with a singer, make sure you know that voice well, what their strengths are, what their weaknesses are. Most singers who work with modern music nowadays, will have a sheet with their range, their, the tessitura where they sound good, strengths, things they like, they don't like, you know if they if they have it in there, honor it. They won't be happy if you get an idea of how the music is going to sound that's great, that completely transgresses that. They will get the score and they'll go, is that for me? No. And I have had that happen. And sometimes we can adjust the score, and then it's great. Listen to that singer, and listen to more recent stuff, because voices change over time. In addition, it would be worth taking some voice lessons to know how the voice works. If you're a student, work with a professor, or a composer, who is known as writing for voice, because it's a very specific skill set, and it's quite different from writing for instruments. It comes closer to a wind instrument than a sing, than a string or piano percussion, because you have stamina issues you need to be aware of and the breath. That, those would be my tips.

Stephanie M. Neumann  05:59
Yeah, and I agree. I mean, I think that just along those lines, like, for me personally, taking the methods courses back in college and like playing instruments, I mean, since I was always already a vocalist doing, I kind of knew that world. And then, you know, just learning the different instruments, brass, strings, it, I mean, it really helps my compositional world.

Nanette McGuinness  06:27
Right, right.

Stephanie M. Neumann  06:28
That makes total sense.

Nanette McGuinness  06:31
Yeah, yeah. And I honestly, I would say, singers, all the instruments kind of relate to each other in different ways that you can connect, you know, you can kind of move a daisy chain along. Voice is pretty different.

Stephanie M. Neumann  06:47
Yeah, do you have different mindsets, or techniques you use, depending on the type of musical piece you are performing?

Nanette McGuinness  06:55
Umm not really. In the end, it's, it's music on the page. And it's my voice. So I have to put it into the instrument that I've got. If you're doing something that's from a long time ago, doing your historical research is important, finding out what the performance practice is. If you're the first one to do it, obviously, you can't listen to recordings, you can't see what the performance practice is, you're going to develop that for yourself. So in that sense, there is a difference there because then you're communicating with the composer, instead of kind of casting around to see what has been done. But in the end, I have to put it into my voice and make it my own.

Stephanie M. Neumann  07:43
{OUTRO MUSIC] Thank you for listening to For Good Measure, and a special thank you to our guest, Nanette McGuinness, for joining us today. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to our podcast by clicking on the subscribe button, and support us by sharing it with your friends, posting it on social media, and leaving us a rating and a review. To learn more about E4TT, our concert season online and in the Bay Area, or to make a tax deductible donation, please visit us at www.e4tt.org. This podcast is made possible in part by a grant from the California Arts Council and generous donors, like you. For Good Measure is produced by Nanette McGuinness and Ensemble for These Times and designed by Brennan Stokes, with co-producer and audio engineer Stephanie M. Neumann. Remember to keep supporting equity in the arts, and tune in next week "for good measure" [OUTRO MUSIC ENDS].