MELIA WATRAS & MADELINE WARNER: STRING THEORY I
for one or more performers (2020)
String Theory I (2020), graphic score: concept by Melia Watras, composition by Melia Watras and Madeline Warner, photography by Michelle Smith-Lewis
Graphic Score: concept by Melia Watras, composition by Melia Watras and Madeline Warner, photography by Michelle Smith-Lewis
World Premiere: Carrie Henneman Shaw, voice; Michael Jinsoo Lim, violin; May 4, 2023, Seattle, WA
Duration: varies with each performance
Program Notes:
In November 2019, I began a piece titled String Theory with the idea of making musical notation from materials that originally produced sound — specifically used violin, viola and cello strings. One can almost feel the reverberation of a string, even when it is not on an instrument.
At the end of March 2020, I had the joyful opportunity to bring violist Madeline Warner on board with me to continue this research. As we worked, we both marveled at the technology used to create these important parts of a string players life. Our efforts together resulted in the creation of String Theory I and String Theory II.
Photographer Michelle Smith-Lewis’s impeccable eye completed our collaboration.
Many thanks to our friends that donated their old violin/viola/cello strings: (in alphabetical order) Betty Agent, Jennifer Caine Provine, Eugene Chin, Emilie Choi, Edmund Hsu, Sol Im, Michael Jinsoo Lim and Sæunn Thorsteinsdóttir.
—Melia Watras
Vocalist Carrie Henneman Shaw and violinist Michael Jinsoo Lim perform the world premiere of Melia Watras/Madeline Warner’s String Theory I for one or more performers (2020). Recorded live at Katharyn Alvord Gerlich Theater, University of Washington, Seattle, WA on May 4, 2023. Photos of graphic score by Michelle Smith-Lewis. Audio and video by Gary Louie and Meany Stage Technicians.