Suzanne Parry THREE TYPES OF LIGHT (2021 Award)
for soprano and clarinets
Performed and recorded on 27th May 2021 at the Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh
performed by Katherine Broderick and Jean Johnson
To obtain a copy of any of the commissioned recordings, please contact the Trust at info@michaelcuddigantrust.com
In the words of Suzanne Parry, composer
These three songs are responses to the words of Christina de Luca and the paintings of Victoria Crowe. Each piece describes a particular quality of light, the resultant effects on the landscape, and one's relationship to it. I felt these perfect pairings on image and text needed only the lightest of touch to illuminate them, therefore my approach has been instinctive, organic and rather undone. The songs were written in bursts of energy during the late winter of Scottish lockdown. With so little daylight, and so little freedom, these pictures became wondrous windows; a way to be 'elsewhere', explore and breathe a little deeper. The language is lyrical and simple, built of the familiar modes and tonalities that fell under my fingertips. The clarinet casts its many colours, weaving a supportive thread upon which the singer hangs her melodies.
Suzanne Parry’s practice is research-led, composing in a way that allows her to explore history, folk culture, literature and environmental stimuli. Her interests now expanded beyond the concert platform, exploring the intersections where music adjoins other artforms. She has Bachelors and Masters degrees from the Royal Welsh College of Music, and a PhD from Edinburgh University, where she now tutors. She is humbled by the many prizes, awards and scholarships which have enabled her to continue on her creative journey, and has enjoyed creative partnerships with a breadth of the Scottish arts scene. In recent years and clients have included Hebrides Ensemble, Artisan Trio, Recitals for Wrigglers, Dunblane Cathedral, The Stove, Art Walks Porty, Voces Inauditae, Scottish Chamber Orchestra and NYCOS. She enjoys partnering with organisations that enrich the wider cultural landscape of Scotland and aim to challenge preconceptions, blur boundaries and widen participation. She lives in the conservation village of Torphichen with her two young children and husband, artist Ewan John, with whom she frequently collaborates. Suzanne is also retraining to be a Registered Psychiatric Nurse, and hopes to integrate arts practice into palliative dementia care in institutional settings.
“Katherine Broderick presented a thrilling Leonore, seeming to revel in the role’s cruellest vocal challenges”
Katherine Broderick soprano, is currently in the ensemble at the Badisches Staatstheater. She wins praise for her expressive range and versatility across repertoire that spans intimate lieder recitals to orchestral songs and leading Wagner roles. In 2007, she won the Kathleen Ferrier Award, and the Gold Medal at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama where she studied before attending the National Opera Studio. She is in great demand at international opera houses, concert halls and recital stages, as well as enjoying a busy recording schedule.
Her opera roles include Brunnhilde - Siegfried; Ortlinde, Helmwige and Woglinde - Die Walküre; Donna Anna - Don Giovanni; Adriana Lecouvreur (title role); Vitelia - Clemenza di Tito; Tatyana - Eugene Onegin; Giorgetta - Il Tabarro; Gräfin - Capriccio; Marschallin - Der Rosenkavallier; Lady Billows - Albert Herring; Miss Jessel - The Turn of the Screw and Mrs Coyle - Owen Wingrave. Roles in concert include Elsa (Lohengrin), Alceste and Ariadne, with companies such as English National Opera, Welsh National Opera, Opera North and Opéra National de Montpellier, Leipzig Opera and The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.
In recital, Katherine collaborates with pianists including Malcolm Martineau, Graham Johnson, Julius Drake, Simon Lepper, Eugene Asti, Joseph Middleton and James Bailleau at venues such as Wigmore Hall and St John's Smith Square and Oxford Lieder Festival. She broadcasts regularly on BBC Radio 3 and appears frequently with The Myrthen Ensemble.