Jason Cady

Reviews

Aqua Net & Funyuns is reviewed in The New Yorker magazine, January 18, 2021, Opera News, May 2021, San Francisco Classical Voice, December 22, 2020, Seen and Heard International, December 7, 2020, Classical Singer Magazine, April/March 2021, and Berkshire Fine Arts, December 9, 2020.

Online Premier

Chelsea Hollow (soprano) and Taylor Chan (piano) premiere I Could Not Allow This to Stand, February 11, 2021, 11:00 am EST at Human Rights, Art and Protest: Voice and Expression in U.S. Minority Communities in the Time of Pandemic, a webinar hosted by the United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner (OHCHR). Update: the event was recorded and is available on Youtube. The song is also on Youtube.

New Podcast Opera

Aqua Net & Funyuns features five different—but connected—operas by different composers and librettists, including:

Another One Bites, music and story by Jason Cady
Arkana Aquarium, music by Michi Wiancko, story by Annie-Sage Whitehurst
Beauty Shot, music by Tariq Al-Sabir story by Daniel Shepard
Ships That Pass, music by Aaron Siegel, story by Cara Ehlenfeldt
The Understudy, music by Kamala Sankaram, story by Jason Cady and Cara Ehlenfeldt

Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and wherever you listen to podcasts.

Livestream Concert

Chelsea Hollow (soprano) and Taylor Chan (piano) premiere, I Could Not Allow This to Stand, a song setting of a speech by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Saturday, December 12, 2020, with the performers at the Berkeley Hillside and the audience watching live on Facebook and Youtube in a concert on the theme of Cycles of Resistance. Update: this event has been postponed due to new Covid-19 restrictions in California.

Conference Paper

Opera director, Jim Osman, presents his paper, “Neo-Opera, 21st Century Post-Veristic Opera as Cyberpunk Provocation,” which features Jason Cady’s video opera I Screwed Up the Future, at the CyRN Cyberpunk Music Conference, December 4, 2020.

Performance

The JCC Trio (Dan Joseph, hammer dulcimer; Jason Cady, modular synth; Tom Chiu, violin) perform an outdoors socially distanced concert at The Old Stone House (5th Ave & 3rd St. Park Slope, Brooklyn) October 7, 2020, 6:00PM.

New Album

The JCC Trio (Dan Joseph, hammer dulcimer; Tom Chiu, violin; Jason Cady, modular synth) Live at Outpost Artists Resource 02/20/20.

New Video

Soprano Britt Hewitt, and Director Allison Moritz made a video of an Aria from Everything for Dawn, episode 1.

Radio Broadcast

The last performance of The JCC Trio (Dan Joseph, hammer dulcimer; Jason Cady, modular synth; Tom Chiu, violin) before the pandemic was recorded and broadcast by WFMU on David Weinstein’s Ridgewood Radio, April 8, 2020.

Performance

Everything for Dawn, a new 10-episode serial opera has two preview performances, March 4 & 5, 2020, 7:00 PM at The Flea Theater, New York, NY. The first three episodes—with music by Jason Cady, Pauline Kim, and Phil Kline; and librettos by Jason Cady, Jerome A. Parker, and Lauren D’Errico—will be presented in concert only performance.

Performance

The J/C/C Trio (Dan Joseph, hammer dulcimer; Jason Cady, modular synth; Tom Chiu, violin) perform at Outpost Artist Resources (1665 Norman St. Queens, NY) in the Fire Over Heaven Series curated by Che Chen, February 20, 2020. Sue Garner and Talice Lee open.

Best of 2019

Chunky in Heat is named “favorite opera of 2019” by Chris Ruel in Opera Wire, December 21, 2019.

Article

Jason Cady wrote an article on “New Opera in New York” for Bachtrack, October 15, 2019

Performances

Jason Cady performs modular synthesizer with Dan Joseph (hammered dulcimer) and Tom Chiu (violin) for three monthly shows at Sunday Soundscapes at Troost, Brooklyn NY, September 2, October 20, and November 17, 2019, at 8:00 PM.

Article

Buick City, 1:00 AM is discussed in this article on Serial Opera by Nicholas Lord in Opera America, Summer, 2019.

Performance

How to Rescue, a new opera by Emily Manzo with a libretto by Jason Cady will be performed at Roulette, Brooklyn, New York, on October 23, 2019, in a production directed by Shannon Sindelar, featuring soprano Kamala Sankaram, and video by Christine Edwards.

Reviews

Chunky in Heat is reviewed in The Observer, Opera News, Arts Journal, Concerto Net, Seen and Heard International, Berkshire Fine Arts, and San Francisco Classical Voice. It was previewed in The New Yorker, mentioned in Vanity Fair, and Joyce Carol Oates tweeted her reaction to Chunky in Heat:

Performance

Jason Cady performs synthesizer with Dan Joseph (hammered dulcimer) and Tom Chiu (violin) at Sunday Soundscapes at Troost, Brooklyn NY, June 16, 2019, 8:00 PM.

Article

Crafting new American idioms: young American composers Jason Cady, Paul Pinto and Scott Wollschleger by Kurt Gottschalk on Bachtrack, May 17, 2019

Performance

Chunky in Heat, a new opera, with music by Jason Cady, Paula Matthusen, Erin Rogers, Aaron Siegel, Shelley Washington, and Mathew Welch, a libretto by A.M. Homes, and direction by Alison Moritz will be performed by Contemproaneous under the direction of David Bloom on May 31, June 1, and June 2, 2019 at The Flea Theater in New York City.

Radio Show

Radia—a network of 31 radio stations and affiliates in 19 countries—devoted show 731, April 1, 2019, to the music of Jason Cady featuring The Sounds of San Donato: Radio Symphony Orchestra, and excerpts from Candy Corn and The Captives. The episode was produced by Radio Papesse.

Performance

The Sounds of San Donato: Radio Symphony Orchestra, a work for flute, cello, guitar, drum-set, and multi-channel audio transmitted live to 42 radios premieres February 22, 2019 at Piazza San Donato, spazio XL, Florence Italy, at 18:00, produced by Radio Papesse.

Reviews

Candy Corn is reviewed in The Wire, January, 2019, and I Care If You Listen, November 20, 2018, National Sawdust Log, and Theater Scene, December 7, 2018.

Performance

Jason Cady performs keyboards with Dan Joseph and Tom Chiu at Sunday Soundscapes at Troost, Brooklyn NY, January 20, 2019, 8:00 PM.

Interviews

Jason Cady is interviewed by I Care If You Listen, December 19, 2018, and by Hoc Tok.

Radio Show

WGXC 90.7-FM’s Saturday Night Special will play Candy Corn and Buick City, 1:00 AM in its entirety, December 15, 2018.

Reviews

Buick City, 1:00 AM is reviewed in The Financial Times, November 30, 1018; The Bello Collective Newsletter, November 14, 2018; Schmopera, October 24, 2018, My City, December 23, 2018, and On The Town Magazine, January/February, 2019.

Radio Interview

Jason Cady is a guest on Carl Schoonover’s “Cereal Music” on WKCR 89.9 FM on November 20, 2018 from 10:00-12:00 PM.

Performance

Jason Cady performs keyboards with Dan Joseph and Tom Chiu at Sunday Soundscapes at Troost, Brooklyn NY, November 18, 2018, 8:00 PM.

Podcast Opera Premiere

Buick City, 1:00 AM, a 4-episode serial opera, premieres November 6, 2018 on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever you listen to podcasts. It’s a mystery about a woman traveling back in time to 1984 to prevent the murder of her father, an auto-worker in Flint, Michigan.

Performance

Candy Corn premieres in “Modularias” a performance of music for voice and modular synthesizer at The Flea Theater, New York City, November 2-3, 2018, alongside works by Kamala Sankaram, Joan La Barabara, and Andrew Raffo Dewar. See previews in The New Yorker, Opera Wire, The Wire Magazine, and Schmopera.

Interview

Jason Cady is interviewed with Aaron Siegel and Matthew Welch by Schmopera, October 22, 2017.

Book

"An Overview of Earle Brown's Techniques and Media" by Jason Cady is a featured chapter in Beyond Notation: The Music of Earle Brown, edited by Rebecca Kim, published by University of Michigan Press.

Performance

An excerpt from The Voices in My Head will be performed at Dillon + Lee Gallery, New York City, September 9, 2017.

Reviews

Reviews of The Voices in My Head in The Theater Times , New York Classical Review, I Care if You Listen, and Seen and Heard International.

Performance

The Voices in My Head premiers in “Flash Operas” at Symphony Space, New York City, May 5 & 6, 2017, along works by Miguel Frasconi, Cristina Lord, Matthew Welch, Aaron Siegel and Nicole Murphy in a fully stage production directed by Rob Reese with set design by Casey Alexander Smith and costumes by Fay Leshner.

Review

Opera News reviewed I Need Space:

"I Need Space by Jason Cady was a delightfully weird fifteen-minute science fiction opera. The year is 2016, as imagined by science fiction writers in the 60s, and humans have just recently colonized Mars. Janet and Ray, in skin-tight silver body suits, have fled the Cyborg invasion of earth to start a new life on Mars. But there’s a problem. Janet is in love with Lance, Ray’s robot, played by the composer. The score is addictive and oddly dramatic. Katie Eastburn and Tomas Cruz as Janet and Ray gave hilarious, dry and detached performances that made this futuristic, retro story of love and rejection endearingly poignant." —Steven Jude Tietjen, Opera News, March 2017

Performance

Jason Cady will play pedal steel in a performance of Terry Riley's In C at (Le) Poisson Rouge February 27, 2017 with Greg Fox, Eli Spindel, Jeanann Dara, Pauline Kim Harris, Conrad Harris, Justin Kantor, David Handler, Laura Ortman, Dana Lyn, MV Carbon, Ha Yang Kim, David Grubbs, Elliott Sharp, Zach Layton, James Ilgenfritz, Evan Rapport, Sam Kulik, Peter Gordon, Ben Neil, Peter Kotik, Josh Rubin, Peter Hess, Peter Zummo, Daisy Press, Nick Hallett, Katie Eastburn, Arooj Aftab, Gabrielle Herbst, Emily Manzo, Matt Mottel, Bradford Reed, Mia Theodoratus, and Michael Century. All proceeds will benefit The New York Immigration Coalition.

Compilation

An excerpt from The Captives is featured on Notes from Sub Underground: A Compilation of Music, Sound, and Aural Ephemera in Protest of Inauguration Day. 100% of the proceeds go to the ACLU.

Performance

A newly revised version of I Need Space premiers at Merkin Concert Hall, New York City, 7:30pm, December 15, 2016 alongside works by Roddy Bottum, Lainie Fefferman, Matthew Welch, and Nick Hallett.

Article

Jason Cady and Experiments in Opera are featured in The New Yorker magazine's Talk of the Town.

Performance

Nostalgia Kills You will be performed at The Stone, New York City, July 28, 2016, alongside works by Jessica Pavone, Sasha Zamler-Carhart, Matthew Welch and Aaron Siegel, featuring Tomas Cruz, Erin Flannery, Brian Chase, Shawn Lovato, Emily Manzo and the Ghostlight Chorus conducted by David Bloom.

Performance

Jason Cady performs in Shimmer, a new composition for 16 cymbals by Brian Chase (of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs) June 21, 2016 at 3:30 in Madison Square Park, New York City. This event is part of Make Music New York.

Reviews

WQXR's Operavore reviewed I Screwed Up the Future.

Anthony Tommasini reviewed I Screwed Up the Future in The New York Times.

The New York Observer reviewed I Screwed Up the Future

Round Table Discussion

Jason Cady is featured in a round table discussion on propaganda in music in issue 15 of Sound American with Nate Wooley, Ian Nagasoki, Aaron Siegel, Matthew Welch, and Katherine Young.

Movie Premiere

I Screwed Up the Future, a new opera for video by Jason Cady and Malik Isasis, staring Katie Eastburn, Sasha Zamler-Carhart, and Tomas Cruz, premieres at Anthology Film Archives May 6 and 7, 2016, along with video operas by Emily Manzo, Dorian Wallace, Aaron Siegel and Anna Mikhailova.

Performance

Jason Cady will play pedal steel in a performance of Terry Riley's In C at (Le) Poisson Rouge February 3, 2016 with Ben Neill, David Grubbs, Alex Mincek, Petr Kotik, Eli Spindel, Joshua Rubin, Jonathan Kane, Ben Vida, Daisy Press, Laura Ortman, Evan Rapport, Christopher McIntyre, Matt Mottel, Jeanann Dara, Jessica Pavone, Megan Schubert, Josh Modney, Peter Gordon, Jen Baker, Peri Mauer, Peter Hess, Justin Kantor, Zach Layton, Jen Baker, Nick Hallett, Joe Drew, and Bradford Reed. 

Interview

Jason Cady is interviewed with Aaron Siegel and Matthew Welch by George Grella on The Brooklyn Rail's podcast Rail Tracks. The interview begins at 43:45. 

Performance

 The Free Sound Ahn-somble premieres Not In The Mood, a new work for 16 piece big band at The Actors Temple Theater in New York City on November 10, 2015. 

Reviews

Theater Scene and Parterre reviewed Cut Up with Catcher in The Rye.

Performance

A new work will be premiered by the Anagram Ensemble at The Stone in New York City, October 16, 2015 alongside works by Natacha Diels, Anne Guthrie, James Ilgenfritz, Travis Just, Lukas Ligeti, Charlie Looker, Elliott Sharp, Aaron Siegel, JG Thirlwell, and Katie Young.

Review

Pitchfork reviews The Captives.

Performance

The Captives, a new narrative song cycle will be performed at Roulette in New York City, April 2, 2015 alongside works by Gelsey Bell, Aaron Siegel and Roddy Bottom.

Reviews

Sisyphus is reviewed in New York Classical Review, Stage Buddy, and The New Criterion.

Performance

Sisyphus, a new opera composed in collaboration with Aaron Siegel and Matthew Welch will be performed at Abrons Art Center in New York City, February 13, 14, 20, and 21, 2015 in a fully staged production directed by Ethan Heard.

Performance

How to Form Non-Sequiturs a new piece for 16-piece big band premieres Saturday, February 7, 2015 at The Cell Theater in Manhattan, performed by Dorian Wallace's Free Sound Ahn-somble.

Review

Happiness is the Problem is reviewed in The Squid's Ear.

Performance

Dead Inside a new video short made with Christine Edwards premieres at Abrons Art Center on May 3-4, 2014 at 8:00 pm.

Radio Premiere

I Need Space premieres on Q2 on March 21, 2014 at 8:00 pm EST, and will be available for streaming indefinitely on their website. It will be broadcast on Saturday, April 12, 2014 8:00 pm on WGXC.

Play List

Experiments in Opera curated a play list for Q2 the online new music branch of WQXR. It broadcasts at 3:00 pm EST on March 12, 2014, and will be available for streaming indefinitely on their website.

Article

The Wall Street Journal writes about I Need Space. 

Performance

I Need Space, a radio opera, premieres February 28 and March 1, 2014 at Abrons Arts Center in New York City alongside works by John King, Jonathan Mitchell, Paul Pinto, Aaron Siegel and Matthew Welch. 

Performance

Jason Cady performs In C with Joan La Barbara, Elliot Sharp, So Percussion, Emily Manzo, Jessica Pavone, Aaron Seigel, et al at Issue Project Room 8:00 PM, December 5, 2014.

Article

Huffington Post talks about Experiments in Opera.

Review

Nostalgia Kills You is reviewed in The New York Times.

Interview

Jason Cady is interviewed with Aaron Siegel and Matthew Welch on The 5049 Podcast with Jeremiah Cymerman.

Performance

Nostalgia Kills You, a one act opera for baritone, soprano and chorus premieres November 2, 2013 at Abrons Arts Center in New York City along with works by John Zorn, Jessica Pavone, and Matthew Welch.

Installation

Love & Noise in Buick City, is part of the Empire Drive-In Installation at the New York Hall of Science from October 4-20, 2013. 

Review

Happiness is the Problem is reviewed in I Care If You Listen.

Performance

Jason Cady will perform The Mother and other works at The Old Stone House in Brooklyn, NY as part of Dan Joseph's Musical Ecologies series on May 16, 2013 at 8:00 pm.

Review

New Music Box reviewed the premier of The Mother at Issue Project Room on February 9, 2013.

Radio Music

The Flame Alphabet, a radio documentary about the novel of that title by Ben Marcus with music composed by Jason Cady and production by Ann Heppermann aired nationally March 8-9, 2013 on IPR's Studio 360.

Performance

The Mother, a new opera short by Jason Cady will be premiered at Issue Project Room, at their temporary location at The Actors Fund Arts Center, 160 Schermerhorn St. Brooklyn, NY on February 9, 2013. It will be performed by Hotel Elefant with Erin Flannery and Lisa Komara. It is part of Experiments in Opera's "New Shorts" program, which also includes premiers by Robert Ashley, Joe Diebes, Ruby Fulton, Gabrrielle Herbst, Mary Kouyoumdjian, Aaron Siegel, Justin Tierney, Leaha Maria Villarreal, and Matthew Welch.

Lecture

Jason Cady will present a paper he wrote on Earle Brown at Beyond Notation: An Earle Brown Symposium, at Northeastern University in Boston, MA on January 19, 2013.

CD Release

Happiness is the Problem has been released on Lockstep Records as a CD and digital download. It can be purchased from Amazon, itunes, CD Baby, and directly from Lockstep.

Performance

Jason Cady performs two new works with Erin Flannery and Amelia Watkins (sopranos), Lisa Komara (mezzo-soprano) and Tim Dahl (bass guitar) at Spectrum on December 2, 2012 from 5:00-7:00 pm, as part of a benefit for Experiments in Opera and in celebration of the release of Happiness is the Problem on CD from Lockstep records. Other performers include Matt Welch, Aaron Siegel, members of Hotel Elefant, and John Zorn.

Radio Music

Imaginary Friends Forever, a radio documentary by Jessica Benko with music composed by Jason Cady and production by Ann Heppermann aired nationally November 24-25, 2012 on IPR's Studio 360.

Review

Review of the Experiments in Opera Spring Series at Roulette featuring Jason Cady's opera, Happiness is the Problem, on WQXR's Operavore May 14, 2012.

Articles

Article about Experiments in Opera featuring Jason Cady, in the Huffington Post May 9, 2012.

Article about Experiments in Opera featuring Jason Cady, in Feast of Music May 9, 2012.

Article about Experiments in Opera featuring Jason Cady, in Classical TV May 8, 2012.

Interviews

Interview with Jason Cady, Matt Welch, Aaron Siegel, Lynn Levy and Dave Ruder in I Care If You Listen May 3, 2012.

Interview with Jason Cady and Aaron Siegel in the Roulette Blog May 8, 2012.

Jason Cady and Aaron Siegel appeared as guests on the Indie Opera Podcast on April 27, 2012.

Performances

Happiness is the Problem is being performed at Roulette in Brooklyn, New York on May 10, 2012 at 8:00 pm, along with Aaron Siegel's Brother Brother, and a work by Cough Button a.k.a. Aliza Simons, Dave Ruder, and Lynn Levy.

TRANSIT is performing Three Quintets at the Alaska Native Heritage Center in Anchorage, Alaska on March 3, 2012.

Interviews

Jason Cady will be a guest on WPIR's The Rodent Hour on February 21, 2012 from 8:00-9:00 pm EST.

Chorus of Refuge is featured on How Sound: The Backstory to Great Radio Storytelling including an interview with Jason Cady and Ann Heppermann.

Jason Cady will be a guest on East Village Radio's Andrew Andrew Sound Sound Friday, January 13 from 10:15 - 10:45 am EST.

Press

Steve Smith in Time Out NY describes Happiness is the Problem as "bubbly and brainy..."

Performance

The first act of Happiness is the Problem will be performed at le Poisson Rouge on January 16, 2012 at 7:30 PM as part of the Experiments in Opera festival. Excerpts from these other operas will also be performed: Sextour: l'origine des especes by Georges Aperghis; Borges and the Other by Matt Welch; and Brother Brother by Aaron Siegel.

Interview

Jason Cady interviews composer Matt Welch for Antilogy Magazine.

Book

Chorus of Refuge is featured in this new book, Transmission Arts: Artists & Airwaves, by Galen Josef-Hunter with Penny Duff and Maria Papadomanolaki. Available from Amazon.

Performance

Transit performs Three Quintets at 8:00 PM, Saturday, May 28, 2011 at Tenri Cultural Institute in New York City.

Press

Jason Cady is featured on NPR's "The Mix: 100 composers under 40."

Article on Jason Cady in the April 2011 issue of Java Magazine.

Review of Chorus of Refuge installation at ArtSpaceWest on the campus of Arizona State University West in The State Press.

Exhibit

Chorus of Refuge will be installed at ArtSpaceWest on the campus of Arizona State University West from February 22 to March 4, 2011. The opening is February 22 at 6:30 PM.

CD Release

TRANSIT recorded Three Quintets which is now available on CD in a small edition with hand painted covers. The CD also includes music by Daniel Wohl and Sean Friar. You can purchase a copy directly from TRANSIT here.

Performances

Erin Flannery, soprano; Emily Manzo, piano; Al Cerulo, vibraphone; and Jason Cady, synthesizer perform Odi Et Amo, plus a preview of some new compositions on December 8, 2010 at University of the Streets in New York City as part of a series curated by Sam Kulik.

Matt Bauder (clarinet), Jason Cady (keyboard), Isabel Castelvi, (violin), Natacha Diels (flute), Luke Dubois (visuals), Cornelius Dufalo (violin), Shannon Fields (glockenspiel), Lesley Flanigan (voice), Erin Flannery (voice), Miguel Frasconi (synthesizer), Jon Gibson (saxophone), Peter Gordon (saxophone), Gisburg (voice), David Grubbs (guitar), Nick Hallett (voice), Tom Hamilton (synthesizer), Jonathan Kane (drums), Ha-Yang Kim (cello), Sam Kulik (trombone), Zach Layton (bass), Emily Manzo (piano), Jacqueline Martelle (flute/piccolo), Shahin Motia (guitar), Matt Mottel (organ), Dafna Naphtali (voice), Ben Neil (trumpet), Andrea Parkins (electric accordion), Jessica Pavone (viola), Kathleen Supove (piano), Ray Sweeten (oscillographics), Hans Tammen (guitar), Alexander Waterman (cello), Nathan Wooley (trumpet), Peter Zummo (trombone) perform Terry Riley's In C on November 16, 2010 at 7:00 PM at Le Poisson Rouge in New York City for a benefit concert for the "Darmstadt Classics of the Avant Garde" Essential Repertoire festival.

Transit performs Three Quintets on June 19, 2010 at 7:00 PM at Tenri Cultural Institute in New York City for a benefit concert for the American Cancer Society in memory of Simeona Bergen.

Transit premieres Three Quintets on March 20, 2010 at Tenri Cultural Institute in New York City.

Jason Cady performs in John Cage's Four (3) with the Lyon Opera Ballet at The Joyce Theater in New York City from March 9 through March 14, 2010.

Press

Chorus of Refuge is featured in the first issue of The [UN]OBSERVED, a Radio Magaizine.