Robert Voisey


Robert Voisey is a composer and producer of electroacoustic and chamber music. He founded Vox Novus in 2000 to promote the music of contemporary composers and in 2001 created The American Composer Timeline, the first in-depth listing of American composers, spanning from 1690 to the present, to appear on the Internet. A producer of new music and multi-media concerts and events, Voisey is best known for producing the 60x60 project, which he started in 2003 in order to promote contemporary composers and their music. He also founded and directs the Composer's Voice Concert Series as well as the chamber music project Fifteen Minutes of Fame as well as vice president of programs for the Living Music Foundation.

Composer

Robert Voisey's compositions fall under a few definitive genres: neo-romantic, ambient, mash-up, text-sound, and dramatic/operatic. His neo-romantic works tend to be chamber works for acoustic instruments while the other styles are electronic incorporating electronic playback of some form. Involved in various types of multimedia, Robert Voisey collaborates with video, dance, poetry, stage performers and others. He has written for film and theatrical stage performances.
Voisey's compositions have been performed 12th Annual CompCord Festival: Ali Baba & the 40 Thieves Electronic Music Event,A*Devantgarde festival, ComposerFest, Birmingham New Music Festival 2024
Electronic Music Midwest festival, the International Electroacoustic Festival at Brooklyn College, ÉuCuE xxvii festival, Digital Art Weeks, the Spark Festival, and the ThreeTwo festival, as well as the TRANSreveLATION concert, the National University of Music in Bucharest The Brick Elephant, Fine and Dandy, the August Art concert, the Composer's Voice Concert Series, and the 60x60 project.
His work routinely receives airplay on WKCR's Arts & Answers and Art Wave radio programs as well as Max Shea's Martian Gardens on WMUA. Robert Voisey was featured on RadioAscoli program Classica-E in Italy presented by radio host Daria Baiocch.

Neo-romantic and chamber works

Voisey's piano solo work "persistence of melancholy" was presented at Weil Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall by pianist Matthew McCright. This work was also included on the album "Endurance" which features the same artist and program presented in that hall.
Rob Voisey’s romantic art songs "Dos Palabras". The text of the art songs are based on the work of Argentinean poet Alfonsina Storni. It is a duet commissioned by Agueda Pages and has been premiered by her in New York City, Bremen, Germany and Valencia, Spain. This song cycle has had several performances in New York City at Jan Hus Church at the Composer’s Voice Concert series; the Argentinean Consulate, and at Christ & St Stevens Church for the XL performance. "Dos Palabras" has also been performed in Barcelona, Spain.
"Poppetjie" a 10-minute opera of Voisey's was premiered at Carnegie Hall and presented by the Remarkable Theater Brigade’s Opera Shorts. "Poppetjie" is a story about a little girl who projects her notions of marriage and relationships onto her doll and teddy bear. Poppetjie is an Afrikaans word meaning "little doll."
Versatile in short form and miniatures Robert Voisey's chamber orchestra work "sic second chance" was a six-second work selected by Vine Orchestra for recording with 51 other six second miniatures.
He has also written the work "Music is Poetry in Motion" for high voice and instrument accompaniment. He is both the composer and the author for the text of this short song cycle which contains: "blank pages," "flowing streams," "poetry gone," and "heavy clouds." This work has received performances around the world including New York City, German and Bucharest.
Voisey's short work for flute solo "Before Corcovado," was selected for Fifteen Minutes of Fame and performed by . She premiered it in Buenos Aires and New York City. In New York City, a reviewer explained, "avidly conveys feelings of anticipation experienced by pious travelers willing to ascend great heights by way of rail, road, and foot to pay their respects to the mammoth Christ the Redeemer statue."
His work "run rabbit run" was set to dance by the organization Vision of Sound, a collaborative project between composers and choreographers.

Mashup/Sampling

Voisey's work 50-second miniature Oregon, was selected for Jon Nelson's 50/50 project. The "50/50" CD release by Recombinations/mnartists 2010 with 49 other DJ’s composers, and sound artists. Inspired by this project Voisey continued this post-modern style creating other 50 second miniature he calls States. New York, another miniature, is part of the 60x60 International Mix and received debuts at London.’s Stratford Circus as well as in St Louis and Japan. The works North Dakota, ''Oregon, Texas, West Virginia, Hawaii, Virginia, Maryland, and Illinois all debuted in New York City on the Vox Novus "Club" concerts.
His work Shades of Forte described as a "...imaginatively offbeat work..." "...was woven from bursts of recorded music and sounds, striking out alone or overlapping, contrasting." This composition was selected for Electronic Music Midwest as well as the Composer's Voice Concert Series and Fine and Dandy.
"I Want My Bottle" was commissioned for and performed at the EM-NY Festival, Electroacoustic Speakeasy and Burlesque Show and performed by Darlinda Just Darlinda.
Several of Rob Voisey's 60-second miniatures featuring samples and are examples of mash-ups were selected for 60x60 mixes including: Sullen, Electric Trains, Executive Decision, and We Are All 60x60.
TainTed T is a sample work dedicated to Noah Creshevsky and written for a performance at Klavierhaus in New York City honoring Creshevsky's 60th birthday.
In 2005, Robert Voisey's work Bounce'' won best electroacoustic composition in Komposer Kombat. The work is based on samples provided by Kalvos & Damian New Music Bazaar which hosted the competition.

Ambient

Robert Voisey creates many electronic works in the ambient or dark ambient music genres. He creates these works primarily by layering and manipulating audio samples. The first of his works; to exemplify this techniques are starfields and Hourglass: base, traverse, and land. The Hourglass movement base was published on the Brooklyn College Electroacoustic CD. His work Lust was the first ambient piece of his to be performed with live voice in conjunction to electronic playback. Later in October 2010, Robert Voisey's piece, Flute Lust, would premier at Electronic Music Midwest at Lewis University in Romeoville, Illinois, performed by flutist Rebecca Ashe.
The ambient work ripples in sand would be selected for the 60x60 International Mix of that project and later published on the 60x60 by Capstone Records.
Lament and Sorrow was commissioned by Serban Nichifor and dedicated to Nichifor's departed wife Liana Alexandra and premiered on her memorial concert in Bucharest, Romania and performed at the Romanian Athenaeum as well as a performance at the George Enescu Festival. The work was also included on a special memorial concert in New York City sponsored in part by the Romanian Cultural Institute.
Rob Voisey has performed his ambient works himself 2nd Annual Composers Play Composers Marathon presented by COMPOSERS CONCORDANCE and his work melting was performed at Composers Concordance Festival 2 Marathon @ Drom. "Voisey's Melting was a sudden change of pace, a very well done performance of a moving piece delivered with care, making an instant connection with the audience." - Kevin Williams.
He also performs his ambient works regularly on Composer's Voice Concert Series by Vox Novus.

Constellations

Being a singer who is trained in using extended vocal techniques, Robert uses samples of his voice to create ambient works. He records his voice using polyphonic throat-singing and layers the recorded vocal tracks to create sonic ambient landscapes. One of these music projects is called Constellations where he creates one-minute ambient works where each miniature is named after one of the 88 constellations used in modern astronomy. Robert Voisey then layers and sequences one or more of the ambient constellations forming a sonic "mobile" to create a larger acoustic work. Each mix of sonic constellations is named after the venue or project for which it was commissioned. The Constellations TRANSreveLATION Mix was the first constellations mix created for the TRANSreveLATION concert in New York City. This was followed by Constellations: EMM MIX, written for the Electronic Music Midwest Festival, Composer's Voice Mix, No Extra Notes Mix, Das Punk and Krooner Mix, Constellations 2CC Mix, and Constellations: Romeoville Mix.
The Constellations project is specifically designed for the one-minute miniatures to be performed singularly, sequenced one after another as a string of works or in a layer "mobile" fashion to create a new mix.

Robert Voisey’s suite of six movements, Constellations, was for fixed media and dancers. Each miniature—a genre in which Voisey excels as he is the creator of 60x60, a concert series devoted to music lasting sixty seconds—was vocally based. I caught spinets of raga and Middle Eastern influence with the embellishments. Though in six movements with an ever-so-slight pause in between each, the sounds remained similar throughout. At first I was nonplussed, but by the end was won over by the steadfastness and singularity of purpose and idea. The choreography was clever; white clad dancers used various light sources to manipulate the darkness of the stage and hall according to each constellation’s implied persona. – Eclectic electronics By Lee Hartman KCMetropolis.org Tue, Oct 4, 2011

Ursa Minor and Sagittarius are constellations selected for 60x60 mixes.