Las Dolly Sisters is a newly composed piece by Gabriela Ortiz. The work outlines themes that represent two Hungarian sisters who were actresses, dancers, and singers from the early 20th- century Vaudeville theater. The music presents the lively, energetic motion of the theatrical circuit through passing melodic lines, running sixteenth notes, and flashy syncopation. Duo Ferula joined this consortium and is proud to have presented one of the first performances of this piece.

"The practice of hocketing is defined by splitting a melody across multiple parts, in often very surprising ways. While the form dates back as far as the middle ages, it is also found in music from all over the world. Each piece explores a variety of conditions under which one might involuntarily fuse sequences of notes into melodic patterns, despite differing sound sources. In the entire series of seven hockets there are never more than two notes occurring at one time, although there may often be the perception that there are many more. In the field of music cognition this is also referred to as Pseudopolyphony, or melodic fission. This concept was brought to my attention through Albert Bregman’s writing and work on Auditory Scene Analysis. Early versions of these compositions were originally commissioned by Tauba Auerbach for a performance and installation at the Kitchen NYC in 2016. Alternative scores were created to highlight the perceptual patterns in the pieces, in an edition of two accordian style books." -Meara O'Reilly

"(un?)Fairly Ambiguous is a duo and my first consortium, celebrating the many collaborators and friends old and new I’ve been able to make music with over the years. When Blake and Kelli first pitched the idea of doing a consortium together, I couldn’t have been more excited about the opportunity. This project represents a culmination of my career and connections thus far, coming at the end of my master’s degree with consortium members spanning all the way back to my very first premieres back at Oklahoma State. While the music came quickly, I found it rather difficult to describe how it came to be. This eventually resulted in the title, as I had purposefully made much of the music ambiguous in one way or another. From the outset, the mood of the work is purposefully murky, with both instruments starting low and soft on drones before bouncing around quick arpeggios in and out of time and then abruptly stopping. As the piece goes on, these rapid chromatic shifts are paired with equally rapid rhythmic/metric changes, ascending/descending 4ths, and brief moments of tonal clarity to put the whole work off-kilter, but never in complete disarray. The way that the material is constantly trying to mislead the listener gives a sense of subverted expectations, and thus the “(un?)Fair” descriptor seemed appropriate to describe the way the musicians seemed to be playing a game with the listener skewed in their own favor. This work is dedicated to Blake and Kelli, without whom this project would have never been possible. I’m very grateful for their support, as well as that of all consortium members and friends old and new." -Matthew Howell