Beglarian, Eve

Beglarian, Eve, American composer, performer, and audio producer, daughter of Grant Beglarian; b. Ann Arbor, July 22, 1958. She studied music at Princeton Univ. (B.A., 1980) and composition at Columbia Univ. (M.A., 1983), and also had private training in conducting with Jacques Louis Monod in N.Y. (1981–84). She began her career as an “uptown” N.Y. composer, but her shift in the mid-1980s to postminimalist practices and the use of vernacular sources moved her more comfortably “downtown” by the early 1990s. With keyboard player Kathleen Supové she performs in the duo twisted tutu, which blends theater with technology. Among her awards are a Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center Residency (1995), the Ford Foundation’s Asian-Pacific Performance Exchange APPEX Fellowship (1996–97), and a Rockefeller MAP Grant (1998); from 1985 she has also received annual ASCAP Special Awards. Beglarian currently directs and produces audio books of such authors as Stephen King and Anne Rice for Random House and Simon & Schuster. In 2000 she commenced work on her first opera, The Man in the Black Suit, to a libretto by the composer and Grethe Barrett Holby after Stephen King.

Works

DRAMATIC: Opera: The Man in the Black Suit, after Stephen King (2001). music theater:Medea, 7 odes for Chorus (N.Y., Oct. 17, 1985); Maiden Songs: Sappho & Alkman for Voices, Barbitos, and Clarinet (N.Y., May 14, 1987); Lupie Montana’s Shooting Script (N.Y., Feb. 28, 1993); typOpera for Voices and Electronics, after Kurt Schwitters’s Ur Sonata (Phoenix, April 30, 1994); No. You Are Not Alone for Voices, Keyboard, Guitar, Bass, Drums, and Electronics (N.Y., May 23, 1994); Music for The Bacchae for Men’s Chorus and Chinese Instrumental Ensemble (Beijing, March 14, 1996); Hilde-gurls, or The Order of the Virtues for 4 Singers and Electronics (1996; rev. 1998; N.Y., July 22, 1998); Open Secrets for Architectural Space, Homemade Instruments, and Toy Piano (Troy, N.Y., Nov. 18, 1998); Animal Magnetism for Voices, Violin, Reeds, and Electronics (1997-2000; Minneapolis, April 7, 2000); Forgiveness for Voices, Pipa, Piri, Percussion, and Electronics (1998–2000; N.Y., March 9, 2000). Dance: Your Face Here for Alto Saxophone, Piano, Voices, and Tape (Durham, N.C., July 14, 1988); Gizmo for Sampled Voice and Electronics (N.Y., Dec. 7, 1989); Overstepping for Sampled Voices and Electronics (Washington, D.C., May 15, 1991); Under My Skin for Percussion and Sampled Sounds (N.Y., March 13, 1992); Dive Marker for Sampled Percussion and Electronics (N.Y., Oct. 8, 1992); Disappearance Act for Sampled Percussion and Electronics (N.Y., May 6, 1993); Father/Daughter Dance for Accordion and Electronics (Washington, D.C., March 20, 1998). ORCH.: Music for Orch. (1981–82); FlamingO for Chamber Orch. (N.Y., Dec. 8, 1995); The Continuous Life (2000). CHAMBER: Uncle Wiggly for Viola and Tape (1980; Denton, Tex., Nov. 6, 1981); Quartettsatz for String Quartet (1981; Trenton, N.J., Jan. 26, 1986); Five for Clarinet (1982; N.Y., June 23, 1983); Clarinet Quartet for 4 B-flat Clarinets (1983; N.Y., Feb. 4, 1985); Fresh Air for Saxophone Quartet and Tape (Yellow Springs, Vt., June 18, 1984); Michael’s Spoon for 2 Horns and Tape (1984; N.Y., April 7, 1989); A Big Enough Umbrella for Viola and Tape (1984; N.Y., Nov. 7, 1985); Spherical Music for 12 Marimbas (1985); Getting to Know the Weather for Baritone Saxophone (1986); Machaut in the Machine Age I for Piano and Percussion (1986; N.Y., May 13, 1987; rev. 1990; Los Angeles, Nov. 6, 1991) and II for Bass and MIDI Percussion (Los Angeles, March 22, 1993); Making Sense of It for Flute, Clarinet, Violin, Cello, Piano, Percussion, and Tape (1987; N.Y., March 7, 1988); Born Dancin’ for Electric Cello, Drum Machine, and Actor (Hartford, Ct., Nov. 17, 1989); Eloise for Electronic Cello and Sampled Cello Sounds (N.Y., Nov. 17, 1990); Preciosilla (Margaret’s Mix) for Flute and Tape (N.Y., Feb. 13, 1992); How I Like That Time for Violin, 2 Mbiras, and Electronic Tape (N.Y., March 30, 1995); Wolf Chaser for Violin, Amplified Bowed Cymbals, and Tape (N.Y., Aug. 10, 1995); Creating the World for Violin, Bassoon, Guitar, Electronic Keyboard, Percussion, and Drums (1996); Play Nice for Harp and Vibraphone or Toy Piano (N.Y., April 20, 1997); Elf Again for Indeterminate Ensemble (N.Y., March 16, 1998). KEYBOARD: Piano: Making Hay for 2 Pianos (Princeton, March 3, 1980); Miranda’s Kiss (1988; Washington, D.C., May 6, 1990); Boy Toy/Toy Boy for 2 Keyboards and Electronics (1997; N.Y., Jan. 22, 1998). Organ: Machaut in the Machine Age IV: Ay Mi! for Processed Electric Chord Organ (N.Y., June 22, 1995); Wonder Counselor for Pipe Organ and Electronics (1996). VOCAL: 3 Love Songs for Mezzo- soprano, Clarinet, Viola, and Piano (1981-82; N.Y., Oct. 24, 1982); Psalm for Chorus (N.Y., Dec. 17, 1983); Machaut A Go Go for Voice, Alto Saxophone, Horn, Trombone, Electric Guitar, Cello, Electric Bass, Harp, and Drums (N.Y., Dec. 8, 1991); Enough for Soprano, Piano, and Bass (N.Y., May 25, 1993); YOursonate for Voice, Percussion, and Tape (N.Y., Oct. 22, 1993); The Marriage of Heaven & Hell for Voice, Flute, Saxophone, Oboe, Bassoon, Viola, Contrabassoon, Piano, and Percussion (Philadelphia, March 25, 1994); Landscaping for Privacy for Spoken Voice and Keyboards (N.Y., Oct. 8, 1995); No Man’s Land for Voice, Amplified Hand Drum, and 2 Electronic Keyboards (N.Y., Jan. 18, 1995); My Feelings Now for Voice and Piano (1996); Non-Jew for 2 Spoken Voices (N.Y., May 31, 1998); Written on the Body for Voice, Keyboards, and Electronics (1999); Not Worth for Voice, 2 Bass Clarinets, Viola, Cello, and Bass (1999; N.Y., Feb. 3, 2000); Just a Little More for Voice, 2 Keyboards, and Tape (N.Y., March 26, 2000). ELECTRONIC: The Garden of Cyrus (1984-86; N.Y., March 2, 1987); Escape to the Stars (1986); Eloise Extensions for Electronic Cello and Sampled Cello Sounds (1991; N.Y., May 27, 1992); An Elk Revolt for Electronic Tape (1998).

—Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire