Compose Like a Girl

In this episode, Jocelyn talks with Georgia Stitt about her career in musical theater, the multifaceted Maestra project, navigating the need for community and isolation in creativity, and what it means to be in the very small club where your husband is also a composer. 
Companion playlists: Youtube, Spotify
 
Episode Transcript
 
Learn more: https://linktr.ee/ComposeLikeaGirl 
Support us: Buy Me a Coffee 
Order Here I Am: Choral Music of Jocelyn Hagen from True Concord Voices and Orchestra 
 
 
Relevant Links:
 
Snow Child based on the novel by Eowyn Ivey
Bell Tower 
Stop from the album A Quiet Revolution 
The Danger Year 
Let This Darkness Be a Bell Tower
 
Maestra 
Maestra Directory
Maestra Mentorship run by Meg Zervoulis Bate and Sonya Hayden
 
Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt 
NYU Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program
Summer Stock Stage (SSS) 
Princeton University
 
John Morris Russell
Eric Whitacre 
Mary Mitchell Campbell 
Cincinnati Pops Orchestra
Time’s Up Plus One initiative
The Artist’s Way 
 
Violet by Jeanine Tesori 
The Last Five Years (movie version)
tick, tick... BOOM! directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda (movie version)
Sweet Charity with Sutton Foster, directed by Lee Silverman 

In this episode, Jocelyn talks with Cynthia Lee Wong about how she incorporates visuals and animations into her music as a way to invite audiences in. 
 
Companion playlists: Youtube, Spotify
 
Support us: Buy Me a Coffee 
Follow us: @composelikeagirl on Instagram and Facebook
Learn more: Compose Like a Girl
 
Episode Transcript
Performers on "Moon" from Six Gupta Songs:
Ashley Stone, mezzo-sopranoChristina Wright-Ivanova, piano
Relevant Links:
 
Cynthia’s Website
Cynthia’s Youtube
Carnival Fever
In the Blink of An Eye composed for ROCO Chamber Orchestra 
Fates and Furies
Piano Quartet inspired by Edgar Allan Poe's story “Ligeia”
Six Gupta Songs
 
Juilliard Journal 
League of Composers/ISCM
Milton Babbitt
David Del Tredici
Samuel Adler 
New England Conservatory Preparatory Division 
 
Python coding
Blender (3D animation program)
Apple Motion 
Stable Diffusion (AI image generator)
 
Jocelyn’s The Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci and filmmaker Isaac Gale 

In this episode, Jocelyn talks with Nathalie Joachim about different musical modalities as vehicles for creative expression, being present and resisting the pressures of capitalist-demanded output, and unlearning perfectionism. 
Companion playlists: Youtube, SpotifyEpisode Transcript
 
Follow us: @composelikeagirl on Instagram and Facebook
Learn more: Compose Like a Girl
 
Relevant Links:
 
Nathalie Joachim
Flutronix
Fanm d'Ayiti, Album
Ki moun ou ye, Album
Erin Patrice O’Brien, photographer 
Malin Lindaeus Vintage Store in Brooklyn, NY
Blood Sister from She is Called: Dear Stranger, Brooklyn Youth Chorus

In this episode, Jocelyn talks with Alex Shapiro about writing from your gut and your heart, the compositional process behind her pieces Spark and Tight Squeeze, and how to prevent the gerbils in your mind from taking over your creative process. 
 
Companion playlists: Youtube, Spotify
 
Follow us: @composelikeagirl on Instagram and Facebook
Learn more: Compose Like a Girl
 
Transcript PDF
 
Relevant Links:
 
Tight Squeeze commissioned through Composers and Schools in Concert consortium 
Spark written in honor of Dale Mara Bershad
Lights Out
Paper Cut
Bioplasm 
Proximity to Europe Theory, Pages 18-19
San Juan Islands
American Composers Forum 
Libby Larsen
Mary Ellen Childs 
Alex’s Photography and Her Studio
Ursula Mamlok
Arnold Schoenberg
Anton Webern  
Serialism, Twelve-Tone
Columbia College Chicago Music Department 
Cocktails With Creatives: Episode 1
Cocktails With Creatives: Episode 2 

In this episode, Jocelyn talks with Gabriela Lena Frank about the multitudes of her music, which spans intimate explorations of love and loss to the multi-generational effects of colonialism. They also discuss responsibly engaging with trauma, mentoring the next generation of composers, and writing music for a universe where there’s no oppression. 
 
Companion playlists: Youtube, Spotify
 
Follow us: @composelikeagirl on Instagram and Facebook
Learn more: Compose Like a Girl
 
Transcript
 
Relevant Links:
 
Gabriela Lena Frank’s website
Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music and their Eco-Citizenship program
A Psalm of Disquiet, written for the Fry Street Quartet
Conquest Requiem, premiered by The Houston Symphony 
El último sueño de Frida y Diego (The Last Dream of Frida and Diego), libretto by Nilo Cruz, premiered by the San Diego Opera
LA Opera Digital Shorts: The Five Moons of Lorca by Gabriela Lena Frank and Nilo Cruz 
La Llorona: Tone Poem for Viola and Orchestra
Meyer Sound 
Anna and the Tropics by Nilo Cruz 
Frida by Robert Rodriguez
Dead Man Walking by Jake Hegge 

Shara Nova joins Jocelyn to talk about her many and multi-faceted musical endeavors. They discuss music's role in love, loss, family, and why everyone should try to make a joyful musical noise together.  
 
Episode transcript
 
Companion playlists: Youtube, Spotify
 
Follow us: @composelikeagirl on Instagram and Facebook
Learn more: Compose Like a Girl
 
Relevant Links:
 
AwRY
My Brightest Diamond
Bring Me the Workhorse - Golden Star
This is My Hand
All Things Will Unwind
Titration 
“III. Resolve” from Carols After a Plague - The Crossing
Death Speaks by David Lang
 
Earl Harvin - drummer 
Chris Bruce - bass
Eighth Blackbird
Philip Glass 
Nina Simone
Nico Muhly
Owen Palette
Brooklyn Youth Chorus
yMusic
Zac Rae
Bryce Dessner 
Aaron Dessner
Laurie Anderson 
 
Homeland, Joe's Pub Vanguard Artist & Residency 
Crossing Brooklyn Ferry at BAM
Texas Conspirare 2022-2023 Hear Me Out Program 
MusiCares Article: Client Spotlight: How Shara Nova Amplified Her Career By Keeping A "Wild Belief" In Herself & Other Women
 
ProTools
Sibelius

Mari Esabel Valverde joins Jocelyn to talk language, unlearning shame, gender, and pathways to excellence for the under-resourced. 
 
Companion playlists: YouTube, Spotify
 
Episode Transcript 
 
Follow us: @composelikeagirl on Instagram and Facebook
Learn more: Compose Like a Girl
 
Relevant Links:
 
Before Spring
To digte af Tove Ditlevsen | Performed by Matthew Valverde, tenor
Darest, O Soul | Performed by Cantus
Earth, Mother | Performed by the University of Michigan Men’s Glee Club
Moonlight Quartet | Performed by Her Ensemble 
Border Lines | Text by Yesenia Montilla | Composed for and Performed by Adams State University Chamber Choir
 
St. Olaf College
European American Music Alliance 
Amir Rabiyah, poet 
International Orange Chorale of San Francisco
 
Influences and inspiration: 
Claude Debussy
King David, Part III: “The Death of David” by Arthur Honegger
Les Six
Wilhelm Stenhammar
Jean Sibelius
Wilhelm Peterson-Berger
Edvard Grieg
Siete Canciones Populares Españolas, V. Nana by Manuel de Falla
 
Resources on Gender Identity:
Video by Chase Ross: “Trans 101: Ep 1 - What is Transgender?” 
Graphic by the Trans Student Education Resource: The Gender Unicorn 
Graphic by Sam Killerman: The Genderbread Person 

Season 2 of Compose Like a Girl will launch later this week!
 
Follow us: @composelikeagirl on Instagram and Facebook
Learn more: Compose Like a Girl

Emily Drum joins Jocelyn for a conversation on today’s bonus episode! 
 
Emily (she/her) is a singer, arranger, composer, vocal producer, songwriter, and educator living in Phoenix, AZ. During her time at the University of Arizona, she became the driving force behind the award-winning a cappella group Amplified, serving as director, arranger, and producer. In addition to leading the group to historic success in the Varsity Vocals ICCA competition, she received four ‘Outstanding Arrangement’ awards for her work. Today, Emily is in high demand as a professional vocal arranger and composer. She is commissioned by high school groups, top-ranked collegiate a cappella groups, and semi-professional choirs all over the country, and her self-published arrangements have been sung all over the world, in over 15 countries spread across 5 continents. In addition to arranging and composing, Emily is also a vocal coach, producer, and member of the award-winning treble vocal quartet, Red Letter Daze. Over time, her contributions to countless vocal projects have landed her 27 Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards (CARA) nominations and awards. She is excited to continue making strides in the world of vocal music and is grateful to be featured in Graphite Publishing.
 
Support us: Subscribe on Patreon
Follow us: @composelikeagirl on Instagram and Facebook
Learn more: Compose Like a Girl
 
Transcript PDF
 
Relevant Links:
 
Emily Drum 
Womankind, available through Graphite Publishing
Star Light, Star Bright, available through Graphite Publishing
GALA Choruses
Phoenix Women’s Chorus 
International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella
Red Letter Daze
Boston A Cappella Festival 
DAW
 

Sherry Blevins joins Jocelyn for a conversation on today’s bonus episode! 
 
Sherry is an award-winning composer/lyricist, conductor/clinician, and an award-winning music educator. Her first piece was published in 2018. Since then, more than 17 of her pieces have been published, and she is now with four publishing houses including Hinshaw, Fred Bock, BriLee, and JH Music. Since then, she has enjoyed composing for and with a variety of singers and ensembles across North America. Sherry has a bachelor’s degree in music education from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and a master’s degree in music education from Appalachian State University. Her hope is that whether through composing or teaching, that the music she shares will bring hope, life, and light to others. 
 
Support us: Subscribe on Patreon
Follow us: @composelikeagirl on Instagram and Facebook
Learn more: Compose Like a Girl
 
Transcript PDF
 
Relevant Links:
 
Sherry Blevins
When I Become An Old Woman, available through Graphite Publishing
Looking for Light, available through Graphite Publishing 
If I Call To You, My Love, available through Graphite Publishing 
Jenny Joseph’s poem “When I Become an Old Woman”
Dr. Iris S. Levine, Vox Femina