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The first time I ever saw one of my pieces choreographed was five years ago, when I saw Ann Marie De Angelo’s production of “Blackberry Winter” with Ballet Pacifica in Irvine California. I was stunned; it was as if someone had slipped into my mind while I was writing and stolen my emotions. It was literally the embodiment of music. Ann Marie and I decided that weekend that some day we’d create a full ballet together, from the bottom up. So the next time Paul Gambill of the NCO asked what I would like to write, I had my answer ready.
We were drawn to the story of the Bell Witch because it’s intriguing and mysterious, and uniquely American. I consider myself, first and foremost an American composer, and in the grand tradition set forth by composers like Beethoven, Bartok, Britten, and Copland, I love pulling from the folk idiom—the people’s music of the time. In this country, our music is as diverse as our people are- there’s jazz, blues, derivations of Scotch-Irish folk music, Americana, hiphop—the list is endless. Although my pallet is first and foremost a classical orchestra, my intent was to fuse classical with these other styles, using PD melodies when I could (folk tunes in the public domain), so that the music has an authenticity and integrity that accurately reflects it’s diverse roots. And because song is so much a part of the folk tradition, I called upon the talents of Americana songwriter J.C. Brown and the gorgeous voice of Kathy Chiavola to help me stay true to the real roots of this story—early 19th century rural Tennessee.
Traditionally in fairy tales, there is a stranger or outcast who, on the surface, represents that which we fear and revile- our shadow nature. But they are also the real grit and juice of life, the key to our deeper selves, and the vehicle for change. I see the witch as a wild and joyous life force, powerful, ripe in her sexuality, unafraid of anything because she is accepting of everything- even ugliness and death. Thus she possesses the key to true magic- the alchemy of spirit. And, like real life, the theme of grief and loss is unavoidable and interwoven throughout .
I’d like to give special thanks to the three Pauls (Gambill, Vasterling, and Kaine) for their vision, to my dear friend Chris (J.C.) Brown, who’s input, support, and influence on this project was inestimable, and of course to Ann Marie De Angelo, for brilliance, creativity, and incredible talent that I am humbled and honored to partner with. And to my precious daughter, Caitlin, who would be quick to remind me that I ended the previous sentence with a dangling participle.
Conni Ellisor
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