Co-commissioners: Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (lead), Aspen Music Festival and School, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Detroit Symphony Orchestra , and Kansas City Symphony

Description of commissioned piece, Both:

“Duality”: Mathematics- a symmetry within a mathematical system such that a theorem remains valid if certain objects, relations, or operations are interchanged, as the interchange of points and lines in a plane, in projective geometry.

Both is inspired by the many dualities I have and carry in my life, the ones I see, and the ones I hope to someday achieve. As someone who often lives between both coasts, is attracted to both men and women, is a contributor in both classical music and D.I.Y. post-rock, is both black and white, experiences both extreme mental highs and extreme mental lows, is both a composer and performer, is both a student and a teacher, is both, is both, is both… This piece is meant to reflect the fact that you and I both are not either/or.  We both can be and possess so many seemingly opposing qualities at the same time that do not diminish any aspect of who we are, but add to its cumulative.”

Bio:

Shelley Washington is a composer, performer, collaborator, and educator who writes music that draws elements from jazz, rock, American folk and other musical spaces. She also performs as a saxophonist and vocalist, and doubles on flute, piccolo, and clarinet. She is a founding member of the composer collective Kinds of Kings. Her music explores emotions and intentions, and it uses intricate rhythms with grooves, melody, and harmony. It sometimes confronts social injustices. Washington has a B.A. in music and an M.A. in education from Truman State University, a Master of Music in composition from NYU, and is currently working on a PhD in composition at Princeton.