Opera Today has published a fantastic new piece looking at Gráinne Mulvey’s Great Women work for voice and electronics, recorded by soprano Elizabeth Hilliard. The article looks at the women whose words are heard as part of the piece, and breaks down the new recording:

Elizabeth Hilliard’s performance is a veritable tour de force of vocal sound, experimentation and expression.  In conversation, the Irish soprano explained to me that, as a soprano, she has been working with Gráinne Mulvey (who is a member of Aosdána and Professor of Composition at Trinity University Dublin Conservatoire of Music) for over a decade now.  Her initial musical training did not, however, begin in the field of vocal studies.  When an injury prevented her continuing her studies in piano and violin, Elizabeth switched to the voice, supported by a very active vocal department at the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin.  She worked to improve her German and French language skills, to develop her vocal and operatic technique, but her curiosity about contemporary music was strong.  “I always wanted to explore contemporary repertoire as a pianist,” Elizabeth explains, “but I wasn’t good enough.  There is just so much information to absorb and process; but, with singing there was an immediate and instinctive path into the music.”    

–Claire Seymour, Opera Today

Don’t miss the full article on OperaToday.com