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Composing
About Our Music Compositions
Music compositions by Valarie Morris are multidimensional, evocative, playful, innovative, theatrical, and sometimes humorous! Her imagistic music delights and captivates audiences. See Settings, Environments, and Words of Select Compositions below.
"New Mexico is the perfect place for me to compose music. The ever-changing skyscapes with their amazing colors, the light on the mesas, and the shapes of the mountains. Everywhere I look gives me inspiration for my musical palette of sounds." Valarie Morris
Sometimes her works are purely instrumental, like The Key, her recent work for viola and percussion. Valarie Morris composes music for band, orchestra, smaller ensembles and solos, The Sacramento Philharmonic Orchestra performed Symphony of Light and Shadows, also selected by the Marin Symphony for a reading session.
Five-Winged Bird performed Full Moon, Scrumptious, and Goodbye Pork Pie Hat (arr) at Yoshi's Jazz Club. When Valarie subbed with the Junius Courtney Big Band, she also arranged Goodbye Pork Pie Hat (Charles Mingus's amazing tune) for the band to perform.
Other times she combines her music with words to create intriguing vocal compositions. instrumental and vocal works for dance, theatre, and other art forms where the music interacts with and helps create settings and context. The Minnesota Ballet selected tunes from her Animal Anthology series for some of their dance performances.
Photo by Clare Lighton
Settings, Environments, and Words of Select Compositions
Paris
The Azores
Amsterdam
Place Pigalle recounts the picturesque metro station and the street shops surrounding it. Words and music by Valarie Morris.
Resistance takes a wild and horrendous WWII ride. Chorus of 20 and 12-piece orchestra.
Words by M. Emily Einson and Valarie Morris. Music by Valarie Morris.
Amsterdam
The Azores
Amsterdam
The character in Bilderdijkstraat comes home late at night, stepping lightly, careful
not to make a sound.
"Amsterdam gently caresses my shoulders, Coyly kisses my neck, Whispers in my ear. Stairs creak and bones crack,
As I try not to wake you."
Words and music by Valarie Morris.
The Azores
The Azores
As Almost Anyone
With choreographer Joan Amaral and actor Kiké Adediji, Valarie Morris developed the music titled Before the Storm,
set on a cold and windy day.
Part of Ms. Amaral's larger work,
Amor Perfeito/When Joao Crossed Over, about family and the Azores.
Music by Valarie Morris.
As Almost Anyone
The 8-Minute Genetically Modified Opera
As Almost Anyone
Set at the seaside, As Almost Anyone welcomes the performer's imagination to create the environment.
A tape of waves and seagulls accompanied early performances. The music parallels the poem's dramatic interludes and moods.
Spoken words and music by Valarie Morris.
The 8-Minute Genetically Modified Opera
The 8-Minute Genetically Modified Opera
The 8-Minute Genetically Modified Opera
Riding the bus home from Los Alamos National Laboratory was the perfect place to write the libretto for The 8-Minute Genetically Modified Opera, the world's shortest opera. This tragic comedic story hinges on science fiction ... or perhaps not?
Libretto and music by Valarie Morris.
Easter Song
The 8-Minute Genetically Modified Opera
The 8-Minute Genetically Modified Opera
Mary Artemis Lathbury (1841-1913), poet laureate of Chautauqua, wrote the beautiful poem Easter Song. After much research, Valarie selected this poem to set to music for chorus and for string quartet.
Music by Valarie Morris.