Batture Contemporary 2026 Concert #3

Anne Sexton wrote I Remember in 1958, later included in her 1962 collection All My Pretty Ones. It stands apart from much of her work. Though technically confessional, the poem lacks the sharper, more turbulent intensity that defines her later writing. Instead, it’s quieter and simpler, dwelling in the small, tender details of a summer shared by two people. I’ve returned to this poem many times over the years. Each reading reveals something new, and my relationship to it keeps shifting as I grow older. Musically, I wanted to reflect these many “readings” in four movements–each one its own interpretation, each one personal. Throughout the piece you’ll hear echoes of the poem’s imagery: “invisible beetles snoring,” the feeling of running barefoot through summer, the taste of gin, the closeness of sharing a room with a former lover. The music moves gradually from active remembrance toward a more passive, quiet contemplation.

Tucker Fuller (b. 1980) was born on a farm near Ellendale, North Dakota and has lived in New Orleans since 2010. As a child he studied violin and composition. Recent projects include a quartet of song cycles in collaboration with poet Megan Levad: Murder (2010), Love (2012), Labor (2014), Gilded (2019). For the Marigny Opera House and Marigny Opera Ballet: Salve Regina, for mezzo-soprano and chamber orchestra (Winner, 2014 Tribute to the Classical Arts Award for Best Performance of New Classical Music); Orfeo, Giselle Deslondes, Book of Saints (Winner, 2017 Tribute to the Classical Arts for Best Performance of New Classical Music), and A Midsummer Night’s Dream full-length ballet scores (2015, 2016, 2017, 2019). The Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra commissioned and premiered Louie the Buoy (2016), a piece for narrator and orchestra. His music has been played by the Albany Symphony, New Resonance Orchestra, Polymnia Quartet, Musaica, Da Capo Chamber Players, and the American Symphony, among others. He studied with composers Joan Tower, Christopher Theofanidis, Evan Chambers, Bright Sheng, and Michael Daugherty, and holds degrees from Bard College (B.A.), Peabody Conservatory (M.M.A.), and the University of Michigan (D.M.A).

This duet is a musical depiction of water. Water has numerous characteristics which I explore throughout this piece. Think of all the places water can be found. The flowing water of a river is continuous, The rushing water of river rapids, The Tranquil water of a pond, The Shimmering ripples of water on a Lake. I have chosen each of these images of water to help covey the transformations water can achieve. I have chosen to write this using the Flute and Clarinet is hopes to show the versatility and musical expressiveness of these two instruments. Like water the Flute and Clarinet can take on many characteristics which evolve their tone color, ranges and agility. Throughout this duet I explore many combinations of orchestration between the two instruments the goal for the performers is to express the music with a sense of eb and flow, a push and pull. Adding in extra rubato into the cadence points is highly encouraged. The tempo markings are not strict, however guidelines to keep the relationships of the different musical segments intact. There are moments when the Flute and clarinet are in contrast and other moments when they need to blend their sounds to fool the audience.

Dr. Jeremi W. Edwards is a composer, educator, and scholar whose work bridges contemporary composition, pedagogy, and interdisciplinary collaboration. A native of Lake Charles, Louisiana, he currently serves as Assistant Professor of Music Theory and Composition at McNeese State University, where he is also Coordinator of Music Theory. In this role, he teaches the full undergraduate theory sequence, orchestration, and composition, and founded the Music Theory Mentorship Program, an initiative designed to support student success through peer-led instruction and structured academic support. Dr. Edwards earned a Ph.D. in Music Composition with a secondary emphasis in Music Theory from Louisiana State University, a Master of Music in Theory and Composition from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, and a Bachelor of Music Education from McNeese State University. His research focuses on contemporary composition pedagogy and interdisciplinary performance, culminating in his doctoral dissertation exploring aleatoric composition and spatialized performance in collaboration with the LSU Museum of Art. As a composer, Dr. Edwards has received national and international recognition, His works span solo, chamber, choral, and large ensemble genres, often integrating technology and visual art. Recent commissions and premieres include works for chamber orchestra, wind ensemble, and interdisciplinary collaborations with visual artists and dance. Beyond the classroom, Dr. Edwards is Artistic Director of the Millennium Composers Initiative, where he leads national mentorship and commissioning projects. He is also an active board member for several arts organizations and contributes regularly to music education through publications, adjudication, and professional service.

When I was growing up we were in the Holocene. Now we seem to be in the Anthropocene. A set of variations that reflects my perplexed relationship to time and its passing.

Jeffrey Perry, composer and music theorist, holds degrees from Williams College, the California Institute of the Arts and Princeton University. His teachers have included Stephen Dankner, Mel Powell, Morton Subotnick, Paul Lansky, and Peter Westergaard. Perry has taught at Louisiana State University since 1994 where he is a Paula G. Manship Professor. He teaches seminars in linear analysis, experimental music, and music/text relations, teaches in LSU’s Honors College and Comparative Literature program, and co-leads a study abroad program in London and Edinburgh. Recent work includes a chapter on Beethoven and double variation in the Oxford Handbook of Musical Variation, and an interview with percussionist Jan Williams in Perspectives of New Music. His book on the music and life of composer Mel Powell (University of Illinois Press) is forthcoming, as is his oral history of the New York School (Oxford University Press).

Four Afro Cuban Poems is based on four poems taken from Nicolas Guillen’s Motivos de Son (1930.) The work was strongly influenced by his meeting that year with the African American poet Langston Hughes. Motivos de son mirrors the speech, music and highly rhythmic Afro Cuban language. Most of the poems are about the relationships between a man and a woman. Búcate Plata is sassy and with attitude. A woman tells her lover to go find some money, so she can eat because she’s down to rice and crackers. She knows things are not good, but if they don’t get better, she’s leaving. Her man has new shoes and a beautiful watch. No way! Tú No Sabe Inglé A woman teases and tells Victor Manuel to stop boasting about his English because he doesn’t even know how to say “yes”. An American woman is looking for him, but he must get away because his English is down to strike one, two, three. She warns him not to fall in love with her because he doesn’t speak English. Sigue Is a short poem where a man warns another to keep walking, not to stop and talk to a certain woman. She’s no good, no good. Mi Chiquita Mi Chiquita means my little woman. It’s joyful and looks at the Afro Cuban Culture from a 1930s-man point of view. My little woman is so wonderful I wouldn’t trade her for another one. She does the laundry, irons, sews and How she cooks!! When they invite her to dance or to dinner, she always comes to get me. She calls me Mi Santo (my saint)” I’ll never leave you, she says. Come and get me so we can pleasure each other”. Nicolás Guillén (10 July 1903 – 17 July 1989) was a Cuban poet, journalist, political activist, and writer. He is best remembered as the national poet of Cuba. Guillén is probably the best-known representative of the ‘poesía negra’ (‘black poetry’), which tried to create a synthesis between black and white cultural elements. It was not until the 1930s that Guillén’s poetry was acknowledged by many critics as the most influential of those Latin American poets who dealt with African themes and re-created African song and dance rhythms in literary form. He would express in literary terms a personal account of the struggles, dreams, and mannerisms of Afro-Cubans.

The award-winning Cuban composer and conductor Odaline de la Martinez pursues a demanding and successful career composing – particularly opera, conducting repertoire from Mozart symphonies to the latest contemporary music, and recording CDs. Martinez was the first woman to conduct a BBC Prom at the Royal Albert Hall in 1984 and has made several return visits since. Martinez has received numerous awards, a Marshall Scholarship from the British Government and a Guggenheim Fellowship. Imoinda, Part I of her Slavery Opera Trilogy was commissioned by the Caribbean Women Writers’ Alliance with funds. An Opera Grant from Opera America in 2015 allowed her to make the video Selected Scenes from Imoinda. The Crossing Part II her Slavery Opera Trilogy was commissioned by Tulane University and premiered in New Orleans in April 2013, while there as composer in residence, and received its UK Premiere in November 2014. In 2019 the complete opera Imoinda – a Story of Love and Slavery was premiered at the London Festival of American Music. Martinez received a Gold Badge from the Ivors Academy and Doctor Honoris Causa from the University of Surrey. In 2023 the Odaline de la Martinez Award was created by Tulane University. Four Afro Cuban Poems was recorded by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in 2021 and the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra in 2024. Cuban Dances commissioned by the Belgian ensemble Lilith, was recorded by them. Three Afro Cuban Poems for Choir from the ORA Singers, and Studies in Rhythm from Samantha Ege were premiered in 2025.

Songs for a Girl sets music to three poems from the 17th-century poet Robert Herrick (1591 – 1674). The first and third movements of the cycle feature two epitaphs which pay a somber homage to unknown young girls. The cycle’s central poem depicts the mysterious, striking effects of love as it enters the soul and inspires the lover to become of diffusive channel of love for the beloved.

Ryan Harrison is a composer of music, educator, and wildlife photographer. For over twenty years, he has composed a multitude of works for various chamber and orchestral ensembles. His artistic output, be it musical or through other media, seeks to communicate and evoke emotions, sentiments, and themes universal to the human condition: e.g., loss, triumph, dread, hope. He has collaborated with a variety of ensembles and performing artists, including Mivos Quartet, Lunar Ensemble, Imani Winds, the New Orleans Chamber Orchestra, Horszowski Trio, the Weekend of Chamber Music, Jeremy Huw Williams, Timothée Varon, Astralis Duo, and members of the Louisiana Philharmonic.

In addition to music, he has spent more than a decade photographing and documenting various bird species across Louisiana, North Carolina, and other southeastern regions of the U.S. Comprised of over one hundred species, his portfolio of bird photographs displays the striking beauty of our feathered neighbors and offers snapshots into their daily struggles for survival. In an increasingly digitized world full of screens, keypads and sedentary modes of living, the importance of engaging with naturalistic spaces is slowly eroding. He hopes to remind others of the captivating beauty that one may discover within a verdant forest, a muddy bayou, or while on a simple stroll in a park.

He holds a BA from the University of New Orleans, an MFA from Tulane University, and an MA and Ph.D. from Duke University.

with:
Byron Asher – woodwinds
Endurance Badejo – clarinets
Amelia Clingman – viola
Cory Diane – vocals
Sam Kohler – piano
Ji Weon Ryu – flutes

• Executive Director – Mendel Lee
• Executive Team – Kari Besharse (founder), Philip Schuessler (co-founder), Stephen Montalvo (Assistant Director)
• Artistic Directors
  • Batture Contemporary – Mendel Lee
  • Versipel Collective – Kari Besharse, Philip Schuessler
  • nF Residency Series – Maxwell Dulaney, Sixto Franco
• Production Director – Rick Snow
• Communications Director – Cari Sands
• Communications Specialists – Kevin Mah, Drew Farrar
• Board of Directors – Kari Besharse (president), Philip Schuessler (vice-president), Megan Ihnen (secretary), Jeff Albert, Rick Snow

Batture Contemporary was created and is run by Versipel New Music. The festival is supported in part by:

• a grant from the Louisiana Division of the Arts, Office of Cultural Development, Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, in cooperation with the Louisiana State Arts Council, as administered by Arts New Orleans. Funding has also been provided by the National Endowment of the Arts.
• a grant from the New Orleans Tourism and Cultural Fund

Batture Contemporary and Versipel New Music would like to give our heartfelt thanks to the following outside people who have offered their time and resources to make this festival possible: