Houghton Music Professor Commissioned to Represent Female Voices and Pandemic Transitions

In the Fall of 2021, Assistant Professor of Composition and Theory; Theory & Composition Area Coordinator at Houghton University, Carrie Magin, was commissioned by Mezzo Soprano artist, Kara Dugan, for a project titled “In a New York Minute.”

In this project, five female composers were commissioned to set texts created by NYC poets. The project resulted in a collection of five one-minute pieces that aim to promote female voices while endeavoring to represent our collective experience of transitioning out of pandemic life.

This project was funded by the 2021 Artist Propulsion Lab and WQXR New York Public Radio, and the piece was premiered by Kara Dugan and Peter Dugan in WQXR’s The Greene Space in NYC in December of 2021.

When reflecting on her collaboration, Carrie noted,

Kara Dugan is one of the most remarkable vocalists I’ve ever worked with, and it was such an honor to have her premiere my piece through this NYC-based project.

Carrie’s recording of her one-minute piece, “Softly Broken”, can be found on WQXR’s website by following this link.