Resonance Commissions | Ringdown (Extended Editions)

Video of this performance coming later this year!

Commission information

Composer: Caroline Shaw & Danni Lee
Text: Caroline Shaw & Danni Lee
Conductor: Katherine FitzGibbon
Duration: 10’00”
Instrumentation: Ringdown duo + treble voices
Performances:

CHOIR GRRRL (February 8, 2025) - world premiere

Commission story

Ringdown

The concert title, CHOIR GRRRL, came as a direct inspiration from the riot grrrl movement—an underground feminist punk movement that began during the early 1990s in the Pacific Northwest. The riot grrrl movement allowed women their own space to create music and make political statements about the issues they were facing in the punk rock community and in society.

Our program, Choir GRRRL, sought to celebrate women across a wide array of identities and experiences, and give voice to the stories they want to tell. We were proud to both pay homage to this unique tradition in the PNW music scene, as well as be part of its evolution to be a more inclusive space for artists of all backgrounds.

For this program, we were honored to commission newly-expanded versions of three original works by the artists of Ringdown: Caroline Shaw and Danni Lee Parpan.

About the Works

Composer Caroline Shaw

Resonance Ensemble is no stranger to Pulitzer-Prize winning artist Caroline Shaw, but the program marked our first collaboration with her new “cinematic electro-pop duo,” founded with multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter Danni Lee Parpan: Ringdown. Together as Ringdown, they forge a new realm that unlocks ways to write, sing, and perform that they can only access with each other, encouraging each to loosen their grip on the music they have created before and fully revel in the intricate pop music they have both always loved. Despite their recent appearance on the scene, they have already performed across the U.S. and abroad at Big Ears, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Public Records, SXSW, Thuringia Bach Festival, and more.

As part of the program, Ringdown specially-arranged several of their songs to include treble voice choir—expanding their already lush harmonic language into the voices of twelve additional singers. The three new arrangements included: Reckoning (their debut track), My Turn, and The Mess. In addition to the live concert, the duo also appeared alongside Resonance on All Classical to preview some of these exciting new arrangements!

program note by Resonance Ensemble