COMPOSER SABRINA PENA YOUNG | MUSIC TECHNOLOGY | FILM | CLASSICAL | OPERA

This past academic year has been a busy one, with my first semester teaching Music Synthesis and Music Theory at Murray State University in Murray, Kentucky. Recent projects include a commission from Millikin State University to compose an original oratorio for their sixty member women's chorus group, video, tape, electronic piano, and percussion. The Women's Chorus is directed by Michael Engelhardt. The oratorio is an audio visual comparison between the creation and the miracle of procreation (from conception to birth). Presented in several movements, the oratorio borrows text from Genesis, Psalms, and Revelation in the languages of English, Spanish, and Swahili. Musically, the work delves into a hybrid of traditional African rhythms and electronic synthesis. The 3D animation, created with Poser, Bryce, and Final Cut, combines familiar imagery of fetal development with the seven days of creation. The oratorio finishes with a massive chorus of joy. WKMS, the local public radio ...

The American Music Society has awarded Sabrina Pena Young a music grant for the premier performance of World Order #5 at Kansas State University this November, under the direction of Kurt Gartner. Progress on the commissioned work, World Order #5, has been a otherworldly audio experience. The electronic tape part, heavily inspired by the robotic truisms of Hal from 2001 Space Odyssey, creates a sound texture of an imminent apocalypse. World Order #5 is written for percussion sextet, video, and electronic tape. The instrumentation includes vibes, marimba I and II, and three percussionists. The score and tape will be available through the American Music Society after November's performance. The video for World Order #5 will be a combination of 3D and 2D animation techniques, and is the first time that Young will be using 3D animation for a live performance. Sabrina Young just released her debut electroacoustic album, Origins. Cinematic soundscapes, pulsating rhythms, and enigmatic vo...