Molly Pease, vocalist-composer and David Bergstedt, pianist, "Approaches and Departures"

Molly Pease, vocalist-piano and David Bergstedt, piano
Approaches and Departures,Concert Sept. 19th 8PM Meng Concert Hall
https://issuu.com/csuf_cota/docs/molly_pease_and_david_bergstedt
25th Annual CSUF New Music Series: The Space Between
Presents Molly Pease, Vocalist-Composer, with David Bergstedt, pianist
“Approaches and Departures”
September 19th. CSUF MENG Concert Hall, 8PM
The 25th Annual CSUF New Music Series presents LA Audience Choice, Grammy Award winning vocaiist Molly Pease, with extraordinary CSUF alumni, and staff pianist David Bergstedt in a concert of “Approaches and Departures” featuring premiere of In America: Modjeska! by faculty composer Pamela Madsen, plus works by Opera America Award winning composer/performer Molly Pease, with works by Rzewski, Madsen, Oliveros with CSUF New Music Ensemble.
https://www.mollypeasemusic.com/

Approaches and Departures,Concert Sept. 19th 8PM Meng Concert Hall
https://issuu.com/csuf_cota/docs/molly_pease_and_david_bergstedt

Pamela Madsen: Longing (Tesknota) Song Cycle from In America: Modjeska (world premiere)
Molly Pease, mezzo-soprano, David Bergstedt, piano
I. Lost Father
II. Hymn to the Earth
III. A Tree Ascended There
IV. Arden
V. Parallel Disasters-Loss and Gain

Intermission

Fredric Rzewski: “Which Side Are You On?” from North American Ballads 10 minutes
David Bergstedt, piano

Pamela Madsen: Proof and Disproof (an opera for one alone) . . . Movement V -VII.
Molly Pease, Mezzo-soprano, and David Bergstedt, piano

Molly Pease-From I to We,
Molly Pease, voice, David Bergstedt, piano

Molly Pease: "Recovery Family",
A Capella voice, Molly Pease

Pamela Madsen: Neried’s Lyre—the Singing of the Waves
Molly Pease, voice, David Bergstedt, piano and CSUF New Music Ensemble .

Pauline Oliveros: from Four Meditations-Approaches and Departures .
Molly Pease, voice, David Bergstedt, piano and spatialized CSUF New Music Ensemble

BIOS:

Molly Pease is a GRAMMY-winning LA-based vocal artist and composer whose singing has been described as “sonically mesmerizing” (LA Weekly) and her genre-defying compositions described as “achingly gorgeous” (New Classic LA). Known for her singular interpretations of music in a range of styles, Molly brings expressiveness and theatricality to every performance. She is well-versed in folk, jazz, classical, opera, experimental, contemporary, and improvisational music. Passionate about interdisciplinary collaboration, she merges music, movement, and visuals in her work; performing in and composing for operas, albums, and concerts. Molly uses improvisation and extended vocal techniques to achieve an ethereal sound described by Emerging Indie Bands as “not of this world,” and draws listeners in with memorable melodies and textural harmonic soundscapes. She is inspired by nature and speaks honestly about mental health in her music. Molly is currently working with librettist Divya Maus on a new opera exploring myths and truths about women called HYSTERIA, for which she was awarded Opera America’s 2025 Discovery Grant for Women Composers. It builds upon Molly’s work that centered around women and the supernatural during her residency with Barcelona-based Cel del Nord in November 2020. As a performer, Molly has worked with numerous companies and ensembles, in addition to her solo work. Recent performances include Songs and Dances of Imaginary Lands (Sue) and Cynossema: A Dirge from the Dog’s Tomb (Kassandra) with Overtone Industries, The Marvelous Puppet Show with theatre dybbuk, Outcast at the Gate (Ismene) with Impulse New Music Festival, Conference of the Birds (Soloist) with the Resonance Collective, and Sweet Land (Soloist) with The Industry. A specialist in new music vocal performance, she has also performed on the world premiere of Sidney Hopson’s Through the Looking Glass with Wild Up, Reich’s Music for 18 Musicians with the TAPS LA Music Festival, and Stockhausen’s Stimmung with HEX. Molly is a member and assistant director of the experimental vocal sextet HEX, and regularly performs with LA Master Chorale, LA Choral Lab, and Tonality. She has performed with Björk, Tune-Yards, Sigur Rós, and Kronos Quartet. Film and TV credits include vocals on The Legend of Ochi (2025), Down Low (2024), Shoes Off (2023), Hulu’s Castle Rock (2019), and CBS’s Strange Angel (2019). Molly completed her MFA in Jazz Studies at California Institute of the Arts in 2017, and received her BFA at The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York.


David Bergstedt is a versatile Southern California pianist who is currently on staff in the vocal area of Cal State Fullerton’s School of Music. In that role, he accompanies and coaches in the choral and opera programs. He has performed with the orchestra and combined choirs in the Requiems of Mozart and Brahms as well as the premiere of Pamela Madsen’s Oratorio for the Earth. He has worked as a collaborative pianist and organist around the region for many years, and he has had past positions at Villa Park High School and the Village Community Presbyterian Church in Rancho Santa Fe. New music has always been a significant interest of David’s, and he was the inaugural pianist for the Orange County new music ensemble Choral Arts Initiative and has premiered student compositions at CSUF and ASU. He completed his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in piano performance at CSUF, studying with Eduardo Delgado and Ning An and performing in jazz and new music ensembles. He is currently pursuing his Doctor of Musical Arts degree with Dr. Baruch Meir at Arizona State University and has participated in piano and chamber music festivals in Italy, Germany, and Hungary.

Pamela Madsen, Composer
Pamela Madsen is a composer, performer, theorist, librettist and curator of new music. From massive immersive concert-length projects, solo works, chamber music to multi-media opera collaborations her work focuses on issues of social change, exploration of image, music, text and the environment. With a Ph.D. in Music Composition from UCSD, studies with Brian Ferneyhough, Mellon Foundation Doctoral Research Award in theory at Yale University, Post- Doctoral research in Music Technology at IRCAM, Paris, and Deep Listening Certificate with Pauline Oliveros, her creative projects and research focuses on the evolution of compositional thought, improvisation, electronic music, and women in music. Her works have been commissioned and premiered world-wide by such artists as Los Angeles Percussion Quartet, Brightwork newmusic, flutists Claire Chase, Jane Rigler, Anne LaBerge, Lisa Moore, JACK, Ethel, Lyris, Formalist and Arditti string quartets with multi-media collaborations with artists Quintan Ana Wikswo, Camille Seaman, Jimena Sarno and Judy Chicago. Major concert-length projects include her Opera America and National Endowment for the Arts Funded Opera: Why Women Went West, National Endowment for the Arts and New Music USA supported Oratorio for the Earth. Selected as Huntington Library Mellon Research Fellow, Alpert Award Panelist, Creative Capital artist “on the radar”, American Scandinavian Foundation, artist residency fellowships at MacDowell Colony, UCross, Wyoming, Women’s International Studies Center, New Mexico, Wurlitzer Foundation Award, she is a frequent guest artist at festivals and universities worldwide. She is Director of Cal State Fullerton New Music Series where she is Professor of Music Composition. www.pamelamadsenmusic.com

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