Kitty Brazelton (born 1951 in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston ...

) is a New York-based American composer, bandleader, improviser, singer/songwriter, and instrumentalist. She has released albums and fronted bands across varied genres, including contemporary classical,

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...

, pop, art rock,

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

, and

avant-garde jazz Avant-garde jazz (also known as avant-jazz and experimental jazz) is a style of music and improvisation that combines avant-garde art music and composition with jazz. It originated in the early 1950s and developed through to the late 1960s. Ori ...

. She was awarded the 2012 Carl von Ossietsky Composition Prize for ''Storm'', a choral setting of

Psalm 104 Psalm 104 is the 104th psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "Bless the LORD, O my soul. O LORD my God, thou art very great". In Latin, it is known as "Benedic anima mea Domino". In the slightly different ...

featuring Brazelton's own

retranslation Retranslation refers to the action of "translating a work that has previously been translated into the same language" or to the text itself that was retranslated. Retranslation of classic literature and religious texts is common. Retranslation may ...

''.'' Her

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

''Art of Memory'' was awarded the 2015 Grant for Female Composers from

Opera America __NOTOC__ Opera America, styled OPERA America, is a New York-based service organization promoting the creation, presentation, and enjoyment of opera in the United States. Almost all professional opera companies and some semi-professional companies i ...

Biography

Personal life

Brazelton was born on October 5, 1951 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Her father was pediatrician and author T. Berry Brazelton. Brazelton attended Swarthmore College and received a doctorate in music from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in 1994. She was formerly married to jazz critic and president of the

Jazz Journalists Association The Jazz Journalists Association (JJA) is an international organization of all types of media professionals who document, promulgate, or appreciate jazz. As of 2016, it has approximately 250 members, including professional journalists, students, ind ...

Howard Mandel and currently teaches composition at

Bennington College Bennington College is a private liberal arts college in Bennington, Vermont. Founded in 1932 as a women's college, it became co-educational in 1969. It claims to be the first college to include visual and performing arts as an equal partner in ...

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

1970s — ''Musica Orbis''

Brazelton fronted underground psychedelic rock band Musica Orbis in the 1970s. The band played multiple national tours across the United States and released one album, ''To the Listeners,'' in 1977, before disbanding in 1979.

1980s — ''Hide the Babies'' and CBGBs

In the 1980s she moved to New York City and played in clubs as lead singer and songwriter of the power pop band ''Hide the Babies.'' This led to a residency at NYC concert venue CBGBs, during which Brazelton curated numerous concerts of bands and ensembles of diverse genres from the downtown NYC avant-garde scene as part of her "Real Music Series," featuring regular performances on multiple stages on Sundays at CB's Gallery.

1990s — ''Dadadah'', ''What is it Like to Be a Bat?,'' and ''Hildegurls''

Brazelton founded nine-piece avant-garde ensemble Dadadah in 1990. Dadadah has released two albums, ''Rise Up!'' in 1996 and ''Love Not Love, Lust Not Lust'' in 1998.

David Fricke David Fricke is an American music journalist who serves as the senior editor at ''Rolling Stone'' magazine, where he writes predominantly about rock music. One of the best known names in rock journalism, his career has spanned over 40 years. I ...

wrote in a review of Dadadah in

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

that the band possessed "impressive nerve ... a pop-operatic pow ... orchestrated like

Kate Bush Catherine Bush (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer and dancer. In 1978, at the age of 19, she topped the UK Singles Chart for four weeks with her debut single " Wuthering Heights", becoming the first female ...

kickin’ it with the

Mingus Big Band The Mingus Big Band is a 14-piece ensemble, based in New York City, that specializes in the compositions of Charles Mingus. It was managed by his widow, Sue Mingus, along with the Mingus Orchestra and Mingus Dynasty. In addition to its weekly Monda ...

." In 1991, she founded and toured with the American chamber music ensemble ''Bog Life,'' with musicians John Uehlein, Libby Van Cleve, Elizabeth Panzer, Chris Nappi, Jay Elfenbein, and Ed Broms. DADADAH full band at the World Trade Center

DADADAH full band at the World Trade Center

Brazelton co-founded electronic/punk trio ''What is it Like to Be a Bat?'' in 1995 with sound artist/composer Dafna Naphtali. In 2001,

Harvestworks Harvestworks is a not-for-profit arts organization located in New York City. It was founded in 1977 by artists supporting the creation and presentation of art works achieved through the use of new technologies. The Harvestworks TEAM Lab (Technology ...

, with funding from NYSCA, commissioned ''Bat'' to write a 30 minute piece, which became ''5 Dreams; Marriage'', a set of

operatic Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libret ...

arias In music, an aria (Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompani ...

based on Naphtali's wedding vows. The band released a self-titled album in 2003 on the NYC

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

Tzadik Records Tzadik Records is a record label in New York City that specializes in avant-garde and experimental music. The label was established by composer and saxophonist John Zorn in 1995. He is the executive producer of all Tzadik releases. Tzadik is a n ...

, to critical acclaim. ''Bat'' was described by composer John Zorn as "twisted, powerful chamber rock blending a raucous punk aesthetic with vocal harmonies...complex, visionary". Brazelton collaborated with composers

Eve Beglarian Eve Beglarian (born Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S., July 22, 1958) is a contemporary American composer, performer and audio producer of Armenian descent. Her music is often characterized as postminimalist.Woodard, Josef"A Bird’s Eye, a Wonderer’s ...

Lisa Bielawa Lisa Carol Bielawa (born September 30, 1968) is a composer and vocalist. She is a 2009 Rome Prize winner in Musical Composition and spent a year composing as a Fellow at the American Academy in Rome. Early life and education Bielawa was born in ...

, and Elaine Kaplinsky in 1996 as the band ''Hildegurls'', performing electro-acoustic reinterpretations of medieval composer Hildegard von Bingen, most notably at the

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 milli ...

Festival '98. The band later released an album, ''Electric Ordo Virtutum'', in 2009, on

Innova Recordings Innova Recordings is the independent record label of the non-profit American Composers Forum based in St. Paul, Minnesota. It was founded in 1982 to document the winners of the McKnight Fellowship offered by its parent organization, the Minnesot ...

. ''Sleeping Out of Doors'', Brazelton's concerto for piano and orchestra, was commissioned and premiered in 1998 by

Kristjan Järvi Kristjan Järvi (, alternate (U.S.) spelling: Kristian Järvi) (born 13 June 1972, Tallinn) is an Estonian American conductor, composer and producer born in Estonia, younger son of the conductor Neeme Järvi and brother of conductor Paavo Järv ...

and the Absolute Ensemble, and received a grant from the American Music Center and the Margaret Jory CAP.

2000s — ''Chamber Music for the Inner Ear'', and ''Ecclesiastes''

In 2002, Brazelton's album ''Chamber Music for the Inner Ear,'' a collection of 10 chamber pieces with performances from the California E.A.R. Unit and the Manhattan Brass Quintet, was released on CRI Emergency, and re-released in 2007 on

New World Records New World Records is a record label that was established in 1975 through a Rockefeller Foundation grant to celebrate America's bicentennial (1976) by producing a 100-LP anthology, with American music from many genres.Frank Oteri wrote of her: "Brazelton, like many of these new composers, is a composer-performer, and equally at home writing a string quartet or playing in a punk rock band." ''Ecclesiastes: A Modern Oratorio'', an album of twelve choral works setting text from the Book of Ecclesiastes, was released in 2010 on Innova, with funding from NYFA. Brazelton used her own translation of the

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

text.

2010s — ''Animal Tales'' and ''Fierce Grace''

Brazelton's opera ''Animal Tales'', with libretto by

George Plimpton George Ames Plimpton (March 18, 1927 – September 25, 2003) was an American writer. He is widely known for his sports writing and for helping to found ''The Paris Review'', as well as his patrician demeanor and accent. He was also known for " ...

, was awarded the 2016 Grant for Female Composers from Opera America. In 2017, ''Fierce Grace,'' a

song cycle A song cycle (german: Liederkreis or Liederzyklus) is a group, or cycle (music), cycle, of individually complete Art song, songs designed to be performed in a sequence as a unit.Susan Youens, ''Grove online'' The songs are either for solo voice ...

commissioned by Opera America and co-composed by Brazelton,

Laura Kaminsky Laura Kaminsky (born September 28, 1956) is an American composer, producer of musical and multi-disciplinary cultural events, and educator. She was born in New York City, graduated from the High School of Music and Art, and studied with Joseph ...

Ellen Reid Ellen Lorraine Reid (born 14 July 1966) is a Canadian musician. She provides backing vocals, piano, keyboards and accordion for the Canadian rock band Crash Test Dummies. Early life and education Reid was born and grew up in Selkirk, Manito ...

, and

Laura Karpman Laura Anne Karpman (born March 1, 1959) is an American composer, whose work has included music for film, television, video games, theater, and the concert hall. She has won five Emmy Awards for her work. Karpman was trained at The Juilliard Scho ...

, with libretto by filmmaker Kimberly Reid based on the life of

Jeannette Rankin Jeannette Pickering Rankin (June 11, 1880 – May 18, 1973) was an American politician and women's rights advocate who became the first woman to hold federal office in the United States in 1917. She was elected to the U.S. House of Representa ...

, premiered at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

2020s — ''Planes of Your Location'', ''The Art of Memory'', and ''The World is Not Ending—We've Been Here Before''

During the 2020 pandemic lockdown Brazelton began work on ''The World is Not Ending—We've Been Here Before'', a remote collaborative project involving over 40 singers and instrumentalists. Brazelton is currently working on a new opera, ''The Art of Memory'', based on the life of St. Augustine. ''The Art of Memory'' was awarded a NYSCA Grant for production in 2020. She is also recording a studio album, ''The Planes of Your Location'', with LA-based ensemble Isaura String Quartet.

Partial Discography

*Musica Orbis (1977). ''To the Listeners''. Longdivity LD1. *Dadadah (1996). ''Rise Up!''. Accurate Distortion 1003. *Dadadah (1999). ''Love Not Love, Lust Not Lust''. Buzz 76005. *Kitty Brazelton (2002). ''Chamber Music for the Inner Ear''. CRI Emergency 889. *Kitty Brazelton and Dafna Naphtali (2003). ''What Is It Like to Be a Bat?''. Tzadik 7707. *Hildegurls (2009). ''Electric Ordo Virtutum''. Innova Recordings 712. *Kitty Brazelton and the Time Remaining Band (2010). ''ecclesiastes: a modern oratorio''. Innova Recordings 727.

List of Dadadah Personnel

Members

* Elizabeth Panzer, Park Stickney – harp * Kathleen Supové — keyboard * Chris Tso, Hui Cox,

Knox Chandler Knox Chandler is an American musician known primarily as a guitarist, though he also plays cello, keyboards and other instruments. He has worked extensively as a session musician. In the early to mid-1970s, Chandler attended the Hammonasset Scho ...

– electric guitar * Mary Wooten, Dawn Buckholz, Martha Colby – cello * Eunice Holland, Ed Broms, Jeff Song, Roland S. Wilson, Mat Fieldes – electric bass * James Pugliese, Todd Turkisher – drums * Chris Washburne – trombone *

Tom Varner Tom Varner (born June 17, 1957 in Morristown, New Jersey, United States) is an American jazz horn (French horn) player and composer. Varner grew up in Millburn, New Jersey, and studied piano in his youth with Capitola Dickerson of Summit, Ne ...

, Mark Taylor – french horn * Danny Weiss, Philip Johnston, Michael Attias – alto saxophone * Dan Grabois – french horn * Bob Stewart – tuba, euphonium * Butch Morris – conductor

References

External links

Kitty Brazelton official site
* Kitty Brazelton on AllMusicGuidebr>Animal Tales Official SiteFireworks Official SiteCat: The Opera-Musical Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brazelton, Kitty American women composers 21st-century American composers Swarthmore College alumni Columbia University alumni Musicians from Cambridge, Massachusetts 1951 births Living people American women in electronic music 21st-century American women musicians 21st-century women composers