Insider Interview with Variant 6
On May 20, the vocal ensemble Variant 6 releases New Suns (Open G). The Philadelphia-based group’s debut full-length album celebrates a widely diverse range of styles and sounds of 21st century vocal music, with works by Joanne Metcalf, Jeremy Gill, Bruno Bettinelli, Benjamin C.S. Boyle, and Gabriel Jackson. We spoke Variant 6’s Elisa Sutherland, mezzo-soprano, about the album, choosing repertoire, collaborating with composers, and so much more.
How did you all meet, and at what point did you know you wanted to pursue a path forward as the ensemble Variant 6?
I met James Reese at Northwestern University - I was in my fifth year of a double degree program, voice and poetry, and he was a freshman voice major. I met the rest of the members of Variant 6 when I started singing with The Crossing in 2014. It was only a year and a half later, in the fall of 2015, that the six of us decided to form a one-on-a-part vocal ensemble. At that time, we had no idea what this ensemble would become; our only goal was to program and plan for one concert, and as soon as it was over, start planning for the next.
Vocal ensembles of your size seem to either be specialists in contemporary music, or early music – and you seem to have your feet squarely in both worlds. Why is this? What is the throughline between the two periods and chamber-sized vocal ensembles?
Our love of both early and contemporary music stems from the wide range of specialization that each of our singers has. James Reese and Jessica Beebe both have degrees in early music, and Rebecca Myers is becoming very well known across the country as a Bach interpreter. I have always loved complicated contemporary music, and I frequently perform solo chamber contemporary music, as well as with my other vocal sextet, Ekmeles, which specializes in microtonal tuning. We all bring our own interests and skill sets, and because we are all encouraged to put forward ideas, Variant 6’s programming reflects this.
What qualities do you look for in a composer when searching for potential collaborators to commission?
I personally look for someone who is going to be interested in learning how our ensemble sings together. We have a unique voicing - we have two high sopranos, and two very high tenors, as well as an alto and a bass who are comfortable in their higher registers. We love singing music that allows us to use the meat of our voices – much of the music on New Suns features our bright, ringing singing.
What do you hope listeners take away from the album?
I’m excited for listeners to hear the complexity and beauty of one-on-a-part a cappella singing. I’m also interested to hear people’s reactions about the recording style; we purposely chose a closer, intimate sound, as opposed to a roomy, super reverberant aura. Our recording engineer used close mics to record us, and at any point during the recording you can pick out all six of our individual voices. You feel very exposed, but I also think listeners will feel like they get to know us individually over the course of the album!
Variant 6 in Philadelphia Inquirer: "No conductor. Few tuning forks. A sound all their own."
No conductor. Few tuning forks. A sound all their own. Philly’s Variant 6 choir is breaking out.
By David Patrick Stearns
Variant 6, Philadelphia’s emerging, enterprising chamber choir, is best defined by what it doesn’t do — or have. No leader. No conductor saying what to sing. Or how to sing it. Or where: Traditional concert halls aren’t among their favorite things.
None of the six members in this ensemble of busy Philadelphia freelance singers has perfect pitch. Tuning forks are seldom used. Yet chords are so perfectly tuned that their blends almost sound electronic on the group’s first full-length album New Suns, which is being released in conjunction with its concert 8 p.m. May 21 at University Lutheran Church and shows what, amid so many “nots”, Variant 6 does do.
Read the full article here.
Variant 6: "New Suns"
Variant 6, vocal sextet, releases New Suns on Open G Records on May 20
Debut full-length album features commissions by Joanne Metcalf, Jeremy Gill, and Benjamin C.S. Boyle, plus works by Gabriel Jackson and Bruno Bettinelli
Philadelphia-based group celebrates 21st century a cappella vocal music
On May 20, 2022 the Philadelphia-based vocal sextet Variant 6 releases their debut full-length album New Suns on Open G Records. The album celebrates a widely diverse range of styles and sounds of 21st century vocal music, with works by Joanne Metcalf, Jeremy Gill, Bruno Bettinelli, Benjamin C.S. Boyle, and Gabriel Jackson.
In celebration of the album’s release, Variant 6 performs on Chris Grymes’ Open G Series at National Sawdust in New York City on May 20; and in their hometown of Philadelphia at University Lutheran Church on May 21.
The virtuosic artists of Variant 6 perform with award-winning ensembles around the country, including The Crossing, Room Full of Teeth, Ekmeles, Seraphic Fire and others. On the release of their debut full-length album, they write “The music we offer here celebrates the virtuosic potential of voices singing together. It represents a collection of some of our favorite repertoire from our first half-decade as an ensemble.”
Highlights include works commissioned by the group from Joanne Metcalf and Jeremy Gill. Metcalf’s The Sea’s Wash in the Hollow of the Heart (written in 2020) looks to the past with overt influences from medieval music, while feeling wholly contemporary. The work is set to a poem by Denise Levertov that inspired the album’s title: “Let in new suns that beat and echo in the mind like sounds.”
Gill’s Six Pensées de Pascal (2017) is made up of a symmetrical pitch construction (two scales moving in opposite directions and meeting in the middle). Finding common ground between the poet Blaise Pascal’s Pensées that defend Christianity through a collection of logical 'proofs’, and the composer’s own Atheism, Gill says “Essentially, I allowed myself complete freedom of thought and invention within a highly—and, it must be acknowledged, arbitrarily—restricted world.”
To celebrate the album's release, the sextet performs all of the repertoire on New Suns live in concert in New York City and in their hometown of Philadelphia:
May 20, 7:30 pm in Brooklyn: Chris Grymes’ Open G Series at National Sawdust. Tickets are $25 and available at NationalSawdust.org.
May 21, 8 pm in Philadelphia: University Lutheran Church. Tickets are $25 ($15 students) and available here.
New Suns
Variant 6, vocal sextet
Jessica Beebe & Rebecca Myers, sopranos; Elisa Sutherland, mezzo-soprano; Steven Bradshaw & James Reese, tenors; Daniel Schwartz, bass-baritone
Open G Records
UPC: 195269 164461
Release date: May 20, 2022
Track List
Benjamin C.S. Boyle - Supplice (2019)* -
[1] Tous ce qui ce chauffaient (2:42)
[2] Et que le feu me brûle! (3:48)
[3] Couchons-nous, mon vieux, il est tard (4:42)
[4] Gabriel Jackson - Zero Point Reflection (2014) (11:57)
Bruno Bettinelli - Excerpts from Madrigali a cinque voci miste (1993)
[5] Libere e lievi (2:04)
[6] Sia calmo il mio respiro (3:45)
[7] Quando tutto all’intorno (3:15)
Jeremy Gill - Six Pensées de Pascal (2017)* -
[8] L’éloquence continue (2:43)
[9] Il faut se tenir en silence (2:31)
[10] Les hommes sont si nécessairement fous (0:54)
[11] Le silence éternel (2:46)
[12] La puissance des mouches (2:51)
[13] L’an de grâce (2:50)
[14] Gabriel Jackson - Spring (2005) - (5:07)
[15] Joanne Metcalf - The Sea’s Wash in the Hollow of the Heart (2020)* - (4:15)
*composed or arranged for Variant 6
Variant 6 Biography
Variant 6 is a virtuosic vocal sextet that explores and advances the art of chamber music in the twenty-first century. The ensemble’s work includes radically reimagining concert experiences, commissioning substantial new works, collaborating closely with other ensembles, and educating a new generation of singers.
All of Variant 6’s virtuosic artists regularly sing with the Grammy-award winning choir, The Crossing, and have performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Opera Philadelphia, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Roomful of Teeth, Bang on a Can and more.
May 20: Variant 6 at National Sawdust
May 20: Variant 6
vocal sextet presented by Chris Grymes’ Open G Series at National Sawdust performing music from their debut album New Suns
A celebration of 21st century vocal music by Joanne Metcalf, Jeremy Gill, Bruno Bettinelli, Benjamin C.S. Boyle and Gabriel Jackson
"luminous....perfectly calibrated and adventurous" - Broad Street Review
On May 20, 2022 at 7:30 pm the vocal sextet Variant 6 performs their debut full-length album New Suns (Open G Records) with a concert on the day of the album's release at National Sawdust presented by Chris Grymes’ Open G Series. The ensemble performs the same program again in their hometown of Philadelphia on May 21.
Variant 6’s virtuosic artists regularly sing with the Grammy-award winning ensemble The Crossing, and have performed with Roomful of Teeth, Philadelphia Orchestra, Opera Philadelphia, Los Angeles Philharmonic and other internationally recognized ensembles.
Variant 6 performs Six Pensées de Pascal by Jeremy Gill at National Sawdust (2019)
The program represents a widely diverse range of styles and sounds of 21st century vocal music, with works by Benjamin C.S. Boyle, Bruno Bettinelli, Jeremy Gill, Gabriel Jackson, and Joanne Metcalf. Variant 6's recordings of these works are collected on their new album, New Suns (Open-G Records), which is also released on May 20.
“The music we offer here celebrates the virtuosic potential of voices singing together," wrote the members of Variant 6. "It represents a collection of some of our favorite repertoire from our first half-decade as an ensemble.”
Highlights include works commissioned by the group by Jeremy Gill and Joanne Metcalf. Jeremy Gill’s Six Pensées de Pascal (2017) finds common ground between the poet Blaise Pascal’s Pensées that defend Christianity through a collection of logical 'proofs’, and the composer’s own Atheism. “Essentially, I allowed myself complete freedom of thought and invention within a highly—and, it must be acknowledged, arbitrarily—restricted world," said Gill. Metcalf’s The Sea’s Wash in the Hollow of the Heart (2020) looks to the past with overt influences from medieval music, while feeling wholly contemporary. The work is set to a poem by Denise Levertov.
Tickets for Variant 6 at National Sawdust on May 20 at 7:30 pm (doors at 6:30 pm) are $25 for general admission and are available at nationalsawdust.org or (646) 779-8455. National Sawdust is located at 80 North 6th Street in Brooklyn.
CALENDAR LISTING
Chris Grymes' Open G Series at National Sawdust:
Variant 6 performing their debut album New Suns
May 20, 2022 at 7:30 pm (doors at 6:30)
National Sawdust
80 North 6th St
Brooklyn, NY
Program
Benjamin C.S. Boyle: Supplice (2019)*
Gabriel Jackson: Zero Point Reflection (2014)
Bruno Bettinelli: Excerpts from Madrigali a cinque voci miste (1993)
Jeremy Gill: Six Pensées de Pascal (2017)*
Gabriel Jackson: Spring (2005)
Joanne Metcalf: The Sea’s Wash in the Hollow of the Heart (2020)*
*composed or arranged for Variant 6
Variant 6
Jessica Beebe, soprano; Rebecca Myers, soprano; Elisa Sutherland, mezzo-soprano; Steven Bradshaw, tenor; James Reese, tenor; Daniel Schwartz, bass-baritone
Tickets are $25 for general admission, and are available at nationalsawdust.org or (646) 779-8455
National Sawdust's Covid protocols are at this link.
Variant 6 Biography
Variant 6 is a virtuosic vocal sextet that explores and advances the art of chamber music in the twenty-first century. The ensemble’s work includes radically reimagining concert experiences, commissioning substantial new works, collaborating closely with other ensembles, and educating a new generation of singers.
All of Variant 6’s virtuosic artists regularly sing with the Grammy-award winning choir, The Crossing, and have performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Opera Philadelphia, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Roomful of Teeth, Bang on a Can and more.
Chris Grymes' Open G Series
April 28 | Nia Imani Franklin
May 20 | Variant 6
June 11 | Music in The Constellation: An In-Person Immersive Audio Experience
Chris Grymes founded Open G Records with a philosophy to produce music that is rooted in the classical tradition, but delivered in a way that will resonate with current and future generations of music fans. Having released a half dozen recordings, Open G has expanded to include a concert series hosted at National Sawdust in Brooklyn.
About National Sawdust
National Sawdust believes that artistic expression empowers us all to create a more joyful and just world. They curate and produce music and artistic works rooted in curiosity, experimentation, innovation, and inclusivity. They present their work by engaging communities of artists and audiences at their state-of-the-art Williamsburg home and on their digital stage.