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Emerging composer Elliott James-Ginn Encarnación is a graduate of the Manhattan School of Music and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where he studied composition with J. Mark Stambaugh and the late Conrad Susa, respectively. In 2010, he completed his undergraduate studies at the Manhattan School of Music with the première of unnamable ardors for soprano and orchestra, and his first complete opera, Lilith. The dramatic cycle, Cantos Revolucionarios, was succeeded at SFCM with the première of El otro Mesías, an oratorio in memory of same. His a cappella choral motet, We Sat Down and Wept recently won first prize at the Conservatory's biannual choral competition. Encarnación crowned his tenure at SFCM with the workshop première of Troilus and Achilles, a chamber opera with dancers. In 2017, Elliott was named composer-in-residence for the International Orange Chorale, during which he composed The Mariner and Dream Triptych. In 2018, CappellaSF commissioned a new work, The Last Laugh which received its premiere under the direction of grammy-winning conductor, Ragnar Bohlin. As a lifelong church musician, Elliott has constructed a large repertoire of choral anthems, hymn arrangements, and other sacred works befitting a variety of settings. Review these here.
REPERTOIRE
Large Ensemble unnamable ardors, op. 1 Soprano and Orchestra text by Walt Whitman (Song of Myself) Opera & Oratorio El Otro Mesías, op. 3 Double Chamber Chorus, Soloists, Cuban Son Band, Portative Organ and Chamber Orchestra text in Spanish and Latin by the composer with quotations from Che Guevara and Fidel Castro Troilus and Achilles, op. 5 Two acts, libretto in English by the composer Apollo, baritone Aphrodite, soprano Athena, mezzo-soprano Hera, contralto Troilus & Achilles, male dancers (silent) Flute, Horn, Harp, 2 Percussion & Strings, Recitative performed on the piano by the conductor Chamber and Choral Belief (2016) Operetta for soprano in three characters, harp and flute text by Miriam Bird Greenberg Dream Triptych (2017) SATB Chorus (divided) a cappella in three movements texts by Robert Herrick and Langston Hughs Cantos Revolucionarios, op. 2 Cycle for baritone, flute (piccolo/alto), percussion (hand drums/marimba), 2 guitars & double bass in six movements texts in Spanish by Pablo Milanes, Silvio Rodríguez, Victor Jara, & Luis Pastor The Last Laugh (2018) SATB Chorus (divided) text by WIlfred Owen The Mariner (2016) SATB Chorus (divided) text by Samuel Taylor Coleridge Somnium Uxorem Pilati, op. 4b SSAATTBB Chorus a cappella with soloists texts in English by Emily Brontë, Lord G.G. Byron, Octavio Paz, John Keats; in Latin from Psalm 137, Thomas of Celano, Gospel of John, and the Missa pro Defunctis une ariette oubliée (2016) Female voice with flute and harp text in French by Paul Verlaine on top of the tree... (2019) SATB a cappella text in English (trans.) by Miguel Serrano |
The Last Laugh
SATB a cappella with divisi It is unfortunate that we must return to "the Pity of War," as Owen himself put it, but it remains as salient a theme now as it was for the poet during the Great War, as well as for Benjamin Britten during the setting of his War Requiem, whose influence can be heard in my composition. The text is replete with striking imagery and biting, almost cruel irony. While the poet is righteous and angry, my music is intended to underpin the sorrow and hopelessness of the scene. These complementary emotional states are, I believe, equally required for the task of curbing our entrenchment in this business of death. O Magnum Mystérium
SATB a cappella, with minimal divisi Written for Christmas 2014 for The Cathedral Cantorum of Christ the Light in Oakland, CA, this relatively simple setting of the popular Matins text is designed to be accessible to amateur choruses. We Sat Down and Wept, op. 4a
SATB a cappella, with some divisi This work was the grand prize winner of SFCM's bi-annual Choral Competition in 2012. The english text is by Byron and its latin underlay Psalm 137, to which Byron makes allusion in his poem. In 2014, the piece was expanded and incorporated into a large multi-movement work entitled Somnium Uxorem Pilati (Pilate's Wife's Dream). unnamable ardors, op. 1
Soprano with orchestra Written especially for soprano Devon Guthrie, this work served as thesis for Elliott's undergraduate degree. The text is from Walt Whitman's Song of Myself. |