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"I have been doing this for years, composing art songs using poetry for lyrics," said Redhage, "and this year I decided to start a workshop partnering with libraries in different towns."
In addition to Washington, Redhage will perform her program (a different song with different poetry) at two other small towns, one in Massachusetts, the other in Vermont. At each of the locations, Redhage has found a local poet to work with.
She hadn't been planning to offer the program in Washington until her mom, Nell Redhage, the director at Washington Public Library, learned of her plans and insisted she come here as well.
Redhage said with this program she specifically reached out to libraries because she knows they look for this type of programming and, because of the poetry connection, it's a natural fit.
In planning her program for Washington, Redhage had been referred to Brady Smith's poetry by several people.
"My mom had been talking to me about her for a year," said Redhage. "She thought I would really respond to her poetry."
Redhage said the performance in Washington will run about an hour and include eight songs. She also will speak about the composing process and her inspiration.
Performing Since Childhood
Redhage, 30, grew up immersed in music. Her mother previously worked as a music teacher giving piano lessons and directing a choir. Redhage begged her mom to let her start taking piano lessons at age 4.
"I was learning to read music at the same time I was learning to read words," said Redhage.
At age 10, she started taking cello lessons. By that point the family lived in Kirkwood and the public school system there offered a before-school music program twice a week. Redhage "excelled fast" and her parents decided to get her some private lessons.
Redhage was a member of the Quest Youth Symphony for two years before her family moved to North Carolina.
By age 15, Redhage was passionate about music, but wasn't sure if she was good enough to make a career out of it. Then one Christmas her family came to Washington to visit her grandparents, Ben and Dotte Geisert, and other relatives.
The Redhages also stopped in to visit longtime family friends Dick and Rosemary Hirschl, whose two children are both professional musicians. Their son, Richard, who is a cellist with the Chicago Symphony, was home for the holiday and when he heard Redhage play he was impressed by her talent and urged her to pursue a career in music.
"From that point on, music was my focus," said Redhage, noting she played in a string quartet and was the principal cellist for her North Carolina high school honors orchestra.
Redhage studied cello performance and music composition at the University of California-Berkeley with Jorge Liderman, John Thow and Edwin Dugger. After earning her bachelor's degree, Redhage spent two years working as a freelance musician in San Francisco before moving to New York City to study cello performance at the Manhattan School of Music. She earned her master's degree in 2005.
Freelance Lifestyle
Today Redhage lives in Brooklyn, N.Y., with her husband, Alan Ferber, a jazz musician. She earns her living through her music, choosing to work as a freelancer rather than with a professional orchestra.
"There are a couple of different paths a cellist can take," said Redhage. "You can play full time with a professional orchestra . . . or you can cobble together a living as a chamber musician, giving small performances, doing recording sessions, teaching."
She knew early on that being a full-time orchestra member was not for her.
"It wasn't the lifestyle I wanted," she said. "Basically the conductor makes all the musical decisions . . . and that's just not my personality."
As a freelancer, Redhage relies on her reputation and word-of-mouth advertising to find work. She doesn't advertise or audition, mainly because she doesn't have to.
"I think I auditioned twice in six years," she remarked, noting only in New York City or L.A. would she be able to work this way.
Redhage said she stays plenty busy working freelance. She often has to turn down jobs because she can't fit them in. Her resume includes work in films, commercials, concerts and CDs - her own as well as other musicians.
She isn't limited to working in the classical music genre, but also has worked with rock, jazz and pop music.
"It's fun," she remarked. "It gives me a lot of creative stimulation.
Redhage's has her own performing ensemble called Fire in July, of which she is the director. Featuring her original indie art songs, the group consists of at least one instrument from each of the four instrument families: voice, cello, clarinet/bass clarinet, trombone, piano, vibraphone, and drums.
Redhage is joined by talented chamber musicians and improvisers Ken Thomson, clarinet, Alan Ferber, trombone, Dan Tepfer, piano, Tim Collins, vibraphone, and Fred Kennedy, drums/percussion, all of whom are composers and bandleaders in their own right.
"The group melds the sensitivity, detail and precision of chamber music with the drive, intensity, and energy of pop, rock, and jazz improvisation - thus requiring very special multi-skilled personnel."
Fire in July will release its first album next month on the Scarlet Tree Records label. The album, also titled "Fire in July," will feature 14 of Redhage's original compositions.
Cellist to the Stars
The list of musicians Redhage has performed with is impressive. No matter what your musical taste, there is sure to be someone on the list you recognize.
"A couple of years ago, I played with Neil Diamond," said Redhage. "I've also worked with Jay-Z, Beyonce, Enya, Meatloaf, Clay Aiken . . . it's all over the board."
Redhage has performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Radio City Music Hall, Merkin Hall, the Brooklyn Academy of Music opera house, the Whitney Museum of Art, and Mass MoCA, and has performed recitals at numerous music festivals and universities across the nation including Princeton, Yale, UC Berkeley, the University of Richmond, and Old First Concerts in San Francisco.
As a cellist, she has worked with composers Pierre Boulez, Martin Bresnick, John Corigliano, George Crumb, Richard Danielpour, Michael Gordon, David Lang, Steve Reich, Todd Reynolds, Terry Riley, Lois V. Vierk, Julia Wolfe, and Evan Ziporyn.
Additional notable collaborations include performances with members of the Tokyo String Quartet, the Bang on a Can All-Stars, the Flux Quartet, the Sirius Quartet, Sequiter, Tactus Contemporary Ensemble, and band, Sufjan Stevens, the Roots, Duncan Sheik and Guster.
Redhage's TV credits include appearances on ABC's "The View," the CBS "Early Show," NBC's "The Today Show," "the Rockefeller Christmas Spectacular" and "Conan O'Brien." Her own compositions, as well as works from her CD, have been aired on several NPR stations, including WFMU and WNYC's "Evening Music."
Redhage's compositions have been performed by the New Music Collective in Charleston, S.C., and across the country in such venues as the University of California Berkeley, Northwestern University, Meredith College (Raleigh, N.C.), the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, Tenri Cultural Institute, Old First Concert Series (San Francisco), Dangerous Curve Gallery in Los Angeles, the Berkshire Fringe Festival, Composer's Voice Concert Series (Manhattan) and Serial Underground (Manhattan).
Redhage said right now is a good time to be a cellist. The cello sound - "low, mellow, lyrical" - is something all music genres are wanting to use.
Giving Back
Redhage is the founder and director of the Ditmas Park Concert Series, a community music series in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn. Sponsored by the Brooklyn Arts Council, the N.Y. State Council of the Arts, the N.Y.C. Deptartment of Cultural Affairs and numerous local businesses, the DPCS connects the world-class musicians living in the Flatbush neighborhood with students and residents of the community. With five concert and workshop events each spring, the DPCS features band leaders who live within walking distance from the neighborhood venues, and whose music spans a wide variety of genres.
To read more about Redhage's background and her activities, people can visit her Web site, www.jodyredhage.com. You can hear some of her music there and also find out more about the "Fire in July" CD. She will have a few advanced promotional copies of the CD available at her performance here next week for anyone who is interested.
