| Spearheaded by New York City-based composers
James Blachly, Martha Sullivan, and Patrick Castillo, The Pharos Music
Project is an emergent collective of composers and performers dedicated to the
presentation of new vocal and chamber music. Pharos is founded on the belief
that the elements of skillful vocal writing are essential to the immediacy of
new music. While not exclusively devoted to the performance of vocal works, The
Pharos Music Project distinguishes itself from other contemporary
composer-performer collectives by this aesthetic. Each Pharos co-founder is an active and accomplished vocalist
in his or her own right; given their intimate knowledge of vocal music, strong
writing for voice comprises a major element of these composers' otherwise
diverse compositional idioms.
The Pharos Music Project takes its name from the Egyptian
island on which the Lighthouse of Alexandria, one of the Seven Wonders of the
Ancient World, once stood. At the time of its construction (c. 290 BC), the
Lighthouse of Alexandria stood as the tallest building in the world and guided
seafarers for many miles offshore. For the composers of The Pharos Music
Project, this ancient icon evokes the timeless tradition of vocal music, which
continues to illuminate and guide the musical art of the turn of the 21st
century.
www.pharosmusicproject.org
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