Annika Socolofsky is a composer and avant folk vocalist who explores corners and colors of the voice frequently deemed to be 'untrained' and not 'classical.' Described as “unbearably moving” (Gramophone), “grotesquely gorgeous” (Chicago Tribune), her music erupts from the embodied power of the human voice and is communicated through mediums from orchestral and operatic works to unapologetically joyous Dolly Parton covers. Her music has been performed by artists such as the Rochester Philharmonic, Albany Symphony, Knoxville Symphony, Eighth Blackbird, Third Coast Percussion, Sō Percussion, Beth Morrison Projects, and sean-nós singer Iarla Ó Lionáird, and has been recognized with the 2021 Gaudeamus Award, the 2019 Cortona Prize, grants from Harvard University’s Fromm Foundation and the Barlow Endowment. Her research focuses on vocal physiology in in the music of Dolly Parton to create a pedagogical approach to composition that is inclusive of a wide range of vocal qualities and colors.
keywords
vocal music, extended techniques, country music, dolly parton, folk music, contemporary composition, women composers, contemporary performance, chamber music
Teaching
courses taught
MUSC 3041 - Instrumentation and Arranging
Primary Instructor
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Spring 2022 / Spring 2024
Learn to create professional arrangements for a diverse combination of instruments and/or voices. The course will work through instrumentation, score and part preparation, and issues of orchestration to prepare music student to create successful arrangements for a wide range of concert music settings. Final arranging projects will be geared towards individual interests.
MUSC 4001 - New Musical Styles and Practices
Primary Instructor
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Spring 2021 / Spring 2023
Explores a variety of music from the 20th and 21st centuries beginning with Stravinsky and moving through current trends. Involves a mix an analysis/exploration of this music with short composition assignments imitating the different styles. Offered spring of odd-numbered years.
MUSC 4041 - Orchestration
Primary Instructor
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Fall 2021
Studies advanced orchestration techniques through score analysis and student projects. Offered fall of odd-numbered years.
MUSC 4141 - Instrument Design Lab: Sound, Perception & Creativity
Primary Instructor
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Fall 2022 / Fall 2024
Explores fundamental physical concepts of sound and music in a hands-on laboratory environment. Surveys a number of topics such as tuning, temperament, harmony and timbre through the construction of PVC overtone flutes, an investigation in the timbral intention of Dolly Parton's vocal technique, physical modeling through the testing of 3D-printed vowel flutes, the construction of a "Long String Instrument," and more. The course culminates in each student inventing, designing, and demonstrating their own new instrument. Same as MUSC 5141.
MUSC 5141 - Instrument Design Lab: Sound, Perception & Creativity
Primary Instructor
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Fall 2022
Explore fundamental physical concepts of sound and music in a hands-on laboratory environment. Survey a number of topics through the construction of PVC overtone flutes, an investigation in the timbral intention of Dolly Parton's vocal technique, physical modeling through the testing of 3D-printed vowel flutes, the construction of a "Long String Instrument," and more. Specific topics include: tuning and temperament, harmony and timbre, and preparing the piano (digital and analog). Same as MUSC 4141.
PMUS 1526 - Composition
Primary Instructor
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Fall 2020 / Fall 2022 / Spring 2023 / Spring 2024
PMUS 2526 - Composition
Primary Instructor
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Fall 2021 / Spring 2022 / Fall 2023 / Spring 2024
