Fay Victor and Myra Melford: October 3, 2019

After Riley Nicholson of the Center for New Music welcomes the audience, and Steve Dickison introduces Fay Victor and Myra Melford, the performance opens with Victor singing the poem “A Poet and His Song” by Paul Laurence Dunbar to Melford's composition "Be Melting Snow." Next they perform “Talk Talk,” a composition from Victor’s upcoming album Barn Songs (Northern Spy, 2019), written by Victor and Joachim van Dijk. The following piece includes lyrics from “Seashore” (from the Fay Victor Ensemble album, Absinthe & Vermouth, Greene Avenue Music, 2013). This piece and the next feature Melford playing the strings inside the open grand piano. They then perform from a “found text,” with Victor reciting her transcription from a 1971 interview with Muhammad Ali, done with Michael Parkinson for the BBC, with Melford improvising at piano. After performing Victor’s composition “Liquid Fire,” dedicated to her sister, they take questions from the audience. In a brief conversation, Victor talks about meeting pianist Burton Greene, who is in the audience, in Amsterdam, an upcoming performance by saxophonist Darius Jones at the Center for New Music, and, in response to a comment from saxophonist Bruce Ackley, also in the audience, she addresses her own musical background. Melford plays her composition “The Kitchen,” with Victor reciting her text “The Sign at the Door.” Then Melford plays an untitled composition, together with Victor’s text “Round Fingers.” The evening concludes with Victor singing another “found text," from “Zen Buddhism” by Alan Watts, with improvised accompaniment by Melford.