McLean, Priscilla (Anne née Taylor)

McLean, Priscilla (Anne née Taylor), American composer; b. Fitchburg, Mass., May 27, 1942. She studied at Fitchburg State Coll. (B.E.E., 1963) and the Univ. of Lowell (B.M.E., 1965) in Mass., and with Heiden and Beversdorf at Ind. Univ. (M.M., 1969). She was an assoc. lecturer at Ind. Univ.’s Kokomo campus (1971–73) and at St. Mary’s Coll. in Notre Dame, Ind. (1973–76); in 1975–76 she was composer-in-residence at the electronic music center at Ind. Univ.’s South Bend campus, and in 1985 served as visiting prof. of music at the Univ. of Hawaii in Manoa. In 1967 she married Barton McLean. From 1974 they toured as the McLean Mix electroacoustic music duo, performing in the U.S. and abroad. Besides appearing as a pianist, percussionist, synthesist, and as a performer on native and invented instruments, she is also a virtuoso soprano using extended vocal techniques. She received numerous NEA grants (1979–87) and MacDowell Colony fellowships (1979, 1981, 1984, 1986). Her compositions make innovative use of man-made or animal sounds with synthesized music.

Works

orch. :Holiday for Youth for Concert Band (1965); Variations and Mosaics on a Theme of Stravinsky (Indianapolis, April 24, 1975); A Magic Dwells for Orch. and Tape (1984); Voices of the Wild: 1 (Printemps) Rites (Albany, N.Y., Feb. 26, 1988). chamber: Ah-Syn! for Autoharp and Synthesizer (1976); Fire and Ice for Trombone and Piano (1977); Beneath the Horizon I for Tuba Quartet and Taped Whales (1978) and III for Tuba and Taped Whale Ensemble (1979); The Inner Universe, 8 tone poems for Piano and Tape (1981); Elan! A Dance to All Rising Things from the Earth for Instrumental Ensemble (1984); Desert Voices for Midi Violin, Digital Processors, and Stereo Tape (1998; Williamstown, Mass., July 1999). vocal:4 Songs in Season for Chorus (1963; rev. 1967); Rainer Maria Poems, 3 songs for Voice and Violin (1967; rev. 1974); Messages for 4 Soloists, Chorus, and Chamber Ensemble (1974); Fantasies for Adults and Other Children, 8 songs for Voice and Amplified Piano (1980); In Wilderness is the Preservation of the World for Soprano, Chorus, Percussion, Autoharp, and Stereo Tape (1985); In Celebration for Chorus, Percussion, and Stereo Tape (1987; Bennington, Vt., Feb. 1988); Wilderness for Soprano, Percussionist, and Tape (1989; Baltimore, April 8, 1990); Everything Awakening Alert and Joyful! for Narrator and Orch. (1991–92; Berkeley, Feb. 1, 1992); In the Beginning for Soprano, Digital Processors, Tape, and Video Projection (Akron, Ohio, March 1996); Jambori Rimba for Soprano, Woodwinds, Percussion, Tape, and Video (Sarawak, Malaysia, Nov. 1996; in collaboration with B. McLean). other:The Dance of Shiva for Tape and Multiple Slide Projections (1989–90); Rainforest Images, audio piece (Cincinnati, Feb. 24, 1993; in collaboration with B. McLean).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire