Jessica Graae

Jessica Graae

Jessica Graae

Today on the Music Room, we talked to Jessica Graae, a folk singer and songwriter whose latest album, Sea Dream, was released November 2015, and who performed its song “Sea’s Siren” on December 5, 2015, at the World Café in Philadelphia, PA. Operating from Philadelphia along the Eastern coast from Maryland to New York City, she has won 6 2013 WSTW Hometown Hero Homey Awards nominations, the 2013 Philadelphia Folk Factory contest, and placed as a finalist in the 2012 and 2014 Delmarva Folk Hero contests.

Her guitar music juxtaposes the dark, haunting, and even psychedelic with the lyrical and wistful, with similarities to the work of Jill Andrews, Sarah McLachlan, and Sufjan Stevens. Her singing voice, described as “angelic,” also bears resemblance to that of Joni Mitchell.

After all, Jessica Graae has an extensive singing career in classical music ranging from opera to musical theater and sacred music, and has offered vocal lessons for over 20 years to singers of all levels and styles, including actors. She is a member of the NATS (National Association for Teachers of Singing), and also performed the song “Wait by the Water” for the 2013 independent film “Yes, Your Tide is Cold and Dark, Sir“.

Jessica Graae and Mandorichard

Jessica Graae and Mandorichard

For a chance to hear her music, click on the link below for her radio performance here at WVUD, and for a live performance, she will be performing on Saturday 12/19 at 7pm at the Bus Stop Music Café, Pitman NJ, and Sunday 12/20 at 7pm at Andrea Clearfield Salon, Philadelphia, PA.

The Interview

Coming soon!

The Music

Artist / Song / Source and Notes
Jessica Graae / Sea Siren / Live performance at WVUD, 12/15/15
Jessica Graae / Tomb in the Sea / Live performance at WVUD, 12/15/15
Jessica Graae / Wait by the Water / Live performance at WVUD, 12/15/15

The Crucible

UDOTThis week, we bring you a special edition of The Music Room: Mandorichard visits the Amy E DuPont music building for a sneak peak at the UD Opera Theatre’s production of Robert Ward’s “The Crucible.”

Based on Arthur Miller’s influential play, Ward’s “The Crucible” is a Pulitzer Prize winning opera, and one of the most-performed operas by an American composer. The opera and the play tell a story about witch hunts, both literal and metaphorical—though the plot is a partially fictionalized version of the Salem witch trials, it also serves as a clever allegory for McCarthyism. Miller himself was tried by the House Committee for Un-American Activities in 1956, and was subsequently inspired by the irrationality of the anti-communist “Red Scare.”

Fittingly, Ward’s interpretation of “The Crucible” is “anxious from the very downbeat,” says opera director Blake Smith. In a departure from his regular, instrumental writing, Ward wrote an opera whose “angular vocals” are simultaneously disquieting and breathtaking, according to Smith.

In addition to featuring some truly beautiful music, this episode offers multiple interviews with “Crucible” cast members, all students or graduates of the University’s Department of Music.

If the podcast leaves you wanting more (and we know it will), the UD Opera Theater’s production of “The Crucible” happens Friday, Nov. 13 at 8:00 p.m., and Sunday, Nov. 15 at 3:00 p.m. You can find more information at udoperatheatre.com.

Follow the link below to hear the singing, the student orchestra conducted by James Allen Anderson, and  the commentary, all recorded during a rehearsal on Friday, Nov. 6, 2015.

The Interview

The Crucible: Preview of UD Opera Theatre production
Host: Mandorichard; recorded Nov. 6, 2015; aired Nov. 10, 2015.
Thanks to Director D. Blake Smith and to Paul Patinka, Frantasia Rouse, Olivia Markey, Shoshana Lieberman (interview segment below), Jaysen Rosario, Ravon Middlebrooks, Travis Lucas, Kate Roosa, Kaitlyn Tierney, Cara Ferro, Ethan Udovich, Rachel Lipson, and the entire cast of The Crucible
31:03
29.8 MB

Extra insights


We were not able to include all the interviews in the WVUD radio program. Below are five extra interview segments that contain interesting insights into 20th Century opera, the UD Opera Theatre production of “The Crucible,” and the Music Department’s vocal music program.

Joel Krosnick: Juilliard ‘Cellist

Joel KrosnickOn tonight’s episode of The Music Room, we aired an interview with Joel Krosnick, chair of the ‘Cello department at The Juilliard School and ‘cellist with the Juilliard String Quartet.

The Juilliard String Quartet will be playing at the University of Delaware on Saturday, Nov. 7, 2015.

We had a wonderful time talking with Mr. Krosnick about how the Juilliard conducts master classes, how the members balance teaching and performance–melding the two, how they interact on stage, and how they draw the meaning out of the music for each other and their audience. He also talked about the preparation they do for a new work, like Richard Wernick’s 9th quartet, and for ones the Juilliard have all played before.

Mr. Krosnick waxed enthusiastic about the Quartet’s latest release, a performance of Schubert’s Death and the Maiden Quartet (Touchpress)–that includes digital video, commentary, a digital score, the original folk song that inspired Schubert, the ability to highlight any one of the players–a fantastic exploration into a brilliant quartet’s interpretation of a well-loved masterwork.

The interview made it clear that all the members of the Juilliard String Quartet build strong relationships with each other, in part based on the time they spend rehearsing, but also based on the respect they have for each other and for how each other react to the music they play.

If you missed hearing this interview on WVUD, make sure you follow the link below to listen to the podcast. As one listener remarked, “That interview made me want to go out and learn to play the ‘cello!”

The Interview

Joel Krosnick, Juilliard String Quartet.
Host: Mandorichard. Recorded Oct. 10, 2015. Aired Monday Nov. 2 on WVUD’s Art Sounds and Tuesday Nov. 3, 2015, on WVUD’s The Music Room.
31:26
29.4 MB

The Music

Artist Composer Selection Album Label Year
Juilliard String Quartet Claude Debussy String Quartet in G minor, Opus 10; 2nd movement: Assez vif et bien rythmé Debussy, Ravel, Dutilleux: String Quartets Sony 1993
Juilliard String Quartet Franz Schubert String Quartet in D Minor, D. 810, “Death and the Maiden”; 3rd movement: Scherzo Allegro molto Death and the Maiden Touchpress 2015