A consortium commissioning project for an Opera (not opera) for two mezzo-sopranos and piano setting Gertrude Stein’s Ladies’ Voices

I love setting Gertrude Stein’s texts to music. It’s incredibly fun for me, because the way she writes allows me to use her words like raw materials, which is how I work anyway, and yet her original intent is still able to come through. It’s like composer playtime.

“Ladies’ Voices” from Geography and Plays is (relatively) recently out of copyright and it’s had my attention for a few years because it’s just full of opportunities to play around with singers and allow them to have fun on stage, even in unstaged recital settings. Speaking with two mezzo-sopranos I’ve known for a long time, the idea of creating this consortium commission immediately struck us as the right approach.

I am going to write this piece to be fun for the singers, and comfortable for the pianist. My own style has changed over the years, and for this particular piece, the focus will be on making sure everyone is having a good time, because in that way so will the listeners. That doesn’t mean I will be dumbing anything down, but it’s not going to be so hard that everyone is busy counting and nobody is having fun.

The consortium allows a bunch of mezzos to get together and have a piece that is just for them. They get to shine in the spotlight with their fellow mezzo colleagues. We have not yet come up with the collective noun for a group of mezzos, but we’ll get there eventually. The entry price is purposefully low because I want to write this piece so much, and because I freaking love writing for voices.

It will be a nice toe dip in the water for singers who haven’t had the opportunity to commission a work, and in the end we’re going to do something really incredibly, ridiculously, fun. Honestly I think we could all use that right now. Fill out the form on this page to get in touch, or just email me directly at jason@jasonbarabba.com and we’ll have a nice informal chat. I’m so excited to get started.

Read the complete text of The play here!

Interested? Intrigued? Fill out this form or email me directly at jason@jasonbarabba.com.

  • Several performers share the cost of this new piece. Each gets exclusive rights to perform it for a set period of two years after delivery, for a fraction of the usual cost of a new work. Shares are US$500 (or 450€).

  • An "Opera (not opera)." Stein wrote Ladies' Voices as a play, and the music treats her text as an abstract libretto, following her own section headings. Solo lines emerge from the texture of two voices, repetitions accumulate tension or dissolve into silence. It behaves like a small-scale opera without being one. Staging is entirely optional: perform it as a concert work, semi-staged, or fully staged, whatever suits you.

  • Written for two mezzo-sopranos, with no unusual tessitura demands. If any passage sits awkwardly for a commissioner, ossia alternatives will be provided.

  • Either works. Two mezzos can commission together and split the fee, or a single mezzo can commission alone and bring in a second singer to perform with them. The fee is the same in both cases; it is a commission, not a per-singer charge. All singers who pay into the commission fee are listed in the score.

  • What a member gets: exclusive access to the score, and access to early drafts to provide feedback. Their name or names in the score. Premieres are played from a final draft score. After the final revisions and edits, every member of the consortium receives a professionally engraved PDF along with printed and bound copies for performance.

  • Payment can be made in the United States or in Europe. In the US, US dollar commissions run through a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. In the EU, commissions can be paid in euros via wire transfer through Synchromie Muziek in the Netherlands. Consortium members outside of the EU or United States can choose which path they prefer, or other alternatives can be worked out.

  • Consortium members will be asked to help contact other potential commissioners, and may be asked to take part in a social media campaign to get the word out.

  • The piece is written for two mezzos and piano. If you'd like a version for other forces, whether a small ensemble or something larger, I'm happy to arrange one for a reasonable additional fee, by discussion.

  • The expected completion date is March 1, 2027. Scores go out to all members on completion.

  • The world premiere of Ladies’ Voices will be performed by the initiators of this consortium project, Anna Larsen and Alodiah Lunar in Northern California. All regional premieres that occur afterwards will not be managed by the consortium unless by special arrangement.

  • We are seeking to fill ten slots to fully fund the commission, including professional engraving, printing, binding, and shipping. More commissioners beyond that are always welcome.

Some of my other vocal works, in case you don’t know me