Caroline Mallonee (b. 1975) is a composer and performer based in New York State. Mallonee's music has been programmed at venues in New York including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Symphony Space, Merkin Hall, Bargemusic, Tenri Cultural Center, Town Hall, Roulette, Tonic and National Sawdust, as well as further afield at the Long Leaf Opera Festival (NC), Carlsbad Music Festival (CA), Bennington Chamber Music Conference (VT), Cambridge Music Festival (UK), Tokyo Opera City (Japan), Bowdoin Summer Music Festival (ME), on the New Music New Haven series (CT), the Corcoran Gallery (Washington, DC) and Jordan Hall (Boston, MA).
Mallonée has collaborated with ensembles including the Spektral Quartet, Firebird Ensemble, Present Music, the Wet Ink Ensemble, the Da Capo Chamber Players, Antares, PRISM Saxophone Quartet, ANA Trio, Ciompi Quartet, Orkest di Ereprijs, the Buffalo Chamber Players and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. Her music has been played by soloists including pianists Eric Huebner, Stephen Gosling, and John McDonald, as well as Haruka Fujii (percussion), Natasha Farny (cello), Miranda Cuckson (violin), Amy Glidden (violin), Feng Hew (cello), Janz Castelo (viola) and Kimberly Sparr (viola). The New York Philharmonic included her music on its CONTACT! new music series in 2015-2016.
Mallonée has been recognized through commissions and awards from the Fromm Foundation, Meet The Composer and ASCAP.
She is a professional singer in the Vocalis Chamber Singers and is the director of the Walden School Creative Musicians Retreat, a week-long festival for composers and improvisers held in New Hampshire each June. As a violinist, Mallonee was a founding member of pulsoptional (based in North Carolina) and Glissando (based in New York City).
She studied composition with Louis Andriessen at the Royal Conservatory of the Hague (Fulbright Fellowship, 2005), Scott Lindroth and Stephen Jaffe at Duke University (Ph.D. 2006), Joseph Schwantner and Evan Ziporyn at the Yale School of Music (M.M. 2000), and Bernard Rands and Mario Davidovsky at Harvard University (B.A. 1997).
A Teasdale Triptych is a set of three miniatures. Each aims to crystallize the meaning of Sara Teasdale’s exquisite words and trace the journey on which the poems take the reader. The piece was commissioned by the San Francisco Choral Artists. It is dedicated to the singers of the group, and to their director, Magen Solomon. […]
This poignant setting of a poem by Christina Rossetti is dedicated to the memory of Michael Friedman, a dear friend, songwriter, lyricist, and composer, who died too young. The opening two notes (C#-D), at first soft and pensive, lengthen to a three-note motive (C#-D-F#) that is woven into the texture of the six-minute piece, a […]
Hodie/Today on Earth was commissioned by Garrison Keillor and “A Prairie Home Companion” in 2012. Based on the 15th century antiphon Hodie Christus Natus Est, the piece is a joyful Christmas song. It was written for the DiGiallonardo Sisters and the All-Star Shoe Band, and received its premiere on ” A Prairie Home Companion” on […]
A 17th-century riddle poem, “I Saw a Peacock With a Fiery Tail” at first seems fantastical: A peacock with a fiery tail! I saw a comet drop down hail! Full of evocative text painting, this choral setting reveals the sense of the poem by dividing each line between the two choirs and then reordering the […]
Light Through Windows was written in 2016. Meant to evoke the wonder one feels when a darkened window reveals its glory, the a cappella choral piece draws a parallel between a stained-glass window and an illuminated manuscript. The piece was recently recorded by Vox16, conducted by Markdavin Obenza. TEXT Hushed, grey, a tall cathedral, washed […]
This inspirational piece for treble voices begins and ends with a canon. Originally written for a high school girl’s choir, it is appropriate for younger singers as well as professionals.
Like Softest Music takes its words from Romeo and Juliet: My soul calls upon my name. How silver-sweet sound lovers’ tongues by night, Like softest music to attending ears! The piece is canonic, and much of the piece is sung sotto voce, creating a soft and indistinct choral soundscape that envelops the audience.
A poignant set of modern-day madrigals is crafted from three exquisite poems by Christina Rossetti that pay homage to the moon. SSAA version also available »
A poignant set of modern-day madrigals is crafted from three exquisite poems by Christina Rossetti that pay homage to the moon. SATB version also available »
“Nature Motets” is a set of four pieces for a cappella choir. The texts celebrate nature in all its glory, and are by John Muir, John Ruskin, and Sarah Teasdale. Each movement can be performed as a stand-alone piece.
A lyrical carol for SATB choir, this Christmas piece imagines sunrise on the first Christmas morning. “O Gift of Glorious Sunrise” was premiered in Buffalo, NY in December 2015 by the Vocalis Chamber Choir (James Burritt conducting).
O Lux is at once reminiscent of Renaissance motets and at home in the contemporary canon. The lyrical and ultimately transcendent piece features a cascading theme that is layered canonically. The piece has been performed by both high school and professional choirs.
A new choral piece depicting the Christmas star shining as the three Magi make their way to Bethlehem. Words by the composer. Commissioned by the San Francisco Choral Artists, and premiered in 2023 with Magen Solomon conducting.
A sweet and evocative, lyrical piece for treble voices and piano, this delicate song is a setting of a list of paint colors by Martha Stewart. The piece is also available in versions for solo voice and piano (baritone or soprano). It can be performed with or without a video/slide presentation of the paint colors.
I. Curiosity (Why are…?) II. Desperation (How do I? How do you?) III. Contemplation (I Wonder Why) PROGRAM NOTE Search was commissioned by the Young People’s Chorus of New York City for the Radio Radiance program. The text was assembled by the composer from the suggestions Google makes when one types a question word into […]
“Snow Globe Upon a Sill” is a New Year’s piece. Using the childlike metaphor of a snow globe, the work is a tender and moving reflection on transition and the possibility of renewal that comes at the close of one year and the start of another. Perfect for a winter concert! Also available from Swirly […]
“Snow Globe Upon a Sill” is a New Year’s piece. Using the childlike metaphor of a snow globe, the work is a tender and moving reflection on transition and the possibility of renewal that comes at the close of one year and the start of another. Perfect for a winter concert! Also available from Swirly […]
The Vocális Chamber Choir commissioned Songs of Crystal for their 15th anniversary. The traditional gift for a fifteenth anniversary is crystal, so for this commission Mallonee linked four poems by Sara Teasdale and created a set that explores each of the four seasons.
Sonnet LV was commissioned by the San Francisco Choral Artists. It is dedicated to the singers of the group, and to their director, Magen Solomon. It is a sonnet addressing a lover, professing that they will live in the poem far longer than any monument or statue will exist on earth.
A short setting of Teasdale’s poem for eight voices. TEXT I saw a star slide down the sky,Blinding the north as it went by,Too burning and too quick to hold,Too lovely to be bought or sold,Good only to make wishes onAnd then forever to be gone—Sara Teasdale
A sweet Christmas carol about the kings, the wise men, the shepherds and the angels with words by Sara Teasdale. Premiered by Vocalis Chamber Choir in 2022.
When I Am Dead, My Dearest was conceived as a partner piece to Dido’s Lament from Henry Purcell’s opera, Dido and Aeneas. Purcell’s aria begins, “When I am laid in earth”; Rossetti’s poem begins, “When I am dead.” Purcell ends with “Remember me, but ah, forget my fate”; Rossetti’s poem ends, “Haply I may remember […]
A high-energy, post-mimalist piece written for the PRISM Saxophone Quartet, Hammering Away (at the Great Unknown) is a tour de force for four saxophones. It was commissioned by The Walden School in 2005. Hammering Away (at the Great Unknown) attacks one chord structure. Listen for canons, chains of suspensions, inversion, augmentation, and other fun compositional […]
Alaskan King is a crab canon. In the second half of the piece, each cellist plays the other cellist’s part from the first half backwards. Another way to say this is that the piece is a palindrome with the parts switched halfway through. Alaskan King was written for Natasha and Evelyn Farny. (Order contains two […]
