  ABOUT// Mary Edwards is a composer and sound designer whose projects range from compositions described as "...evocative of epic cinematic scores combined with the poetic and lyrical intimacy..." (Time Out Magazine) and "...opulent, yet earthy sounds..." (Popshifter), to immersive environmental and architectural sound installations praised as "…evocative and engaging..." (Bedford Standard-Times). Themes of temporality, impermanence, nostalgia, 1960s/70s-era film soundtracks, Mid-Century Modernism and the natural world are interspersed throughout her work. Her discography includes the forthcoming Natural Anthem, Endeavour: A Space Trilogy for the NASA Expedition of Dr. Mae C. Jemison, The Space Between: A Sound Trilogy and Everyday Until Tomorrow, an homage to JFK Airport and the opulence of early air travel. “...not only has Mary Edwards built a resonant dialogue among disciplines, she has amassed a body of work bound together by common themes, of the nature and philosophy of space, of the place of home and the power of nostalgia and, of the effects of all of these things on both the fixed and fluid aspects of identity and experience.” —Daniel Alexander Jones “…Mary Edwards is sensitive to aesthetic spaces. There is a sense of a grand nostalgia, a wonderment of Modernist sensibility and individualism within her compositional subjects...Mary results in finding and creating spaces between that are intimate, romantic and idyllic." —Laiwan TOUR + APPEARANCES// NEWS//  SOUND INSTALLATION/EXHIBITION The Wa(l)king Pattern The Sweet Curve Remembrance Memorial Monument January 23 through February 20, 2020 Opening Reception: January 23, 2020, 6:00pm Grimshaw-Gudewicz Gallery Mary Edwards will have two sound installations as part of the exhibition, Remembrance | Memorial | Monument, at the Grimshaw-Gudewicz Art Gallery (MA), on January 23-February 20, 2020. Each takes a poetic approach to both the natural and built environments, marking progression in an ecological and social context. They comprise a movement-based score exploring the rhythms, tones and spatial inflections of the course of Holland Road in Register, Georgia, in perpetuity to her mother, Jewel Edwards, and her resolute 4am daily walk that would take her part of the way to school as she navigated the natural world—and the Jim Crow laws—in the 1930s segregated American South; and an immersive, sonic depiction of the transformation of Eero Saaranen’s Futurist TWA Terminal 5 at JFK Airport, from an active point of departures and arrivals, reflecting the ‘60s post-Jet Age optimism and integration, to the present-day landmark that serves as an actual destination.  When The Ocean Meets the Sky | Sound Installation As part of the REFUGE exhibition (January 12 through February 4, 2019) at Beatnik Gallery/Joshua Tree Cultural Preservation Center (CA, US), Mary Edwards' spatial sound work, “When the Ocean Meets the Sky,” pays tribute to the astronauts and aquanauts from the 1960s to present, who've prepared for deep space explorations by venturing to the bottom of the sea. This installation invites the listener to engage in the reverie of the sonorous habitats of sea and space where immersive sonics range from expansive to infinitesimal. 
The Mentor That Matters | Essay Mary Edwards' essay on Pulitzer Prize-winning composer John Luther Adams is included in the groundbreaking anthology, The Mentor that Matters: Inspiration from Transformational Teachers, Role Models and Heroes. Read essay here.
 The Space Between: A Sound Trilogy has been described in its nasence by art critic Kat Lissard as “...an intriguing and important project which hopes to subversively acknowledge the role of humans in the way architecture functions (or doesn’t) in our culture. Mary Edwards hopes to take space back for all of us, not through seizure of property or the redefinition of place, but through the use of melody and phrasing and multi-aural overlay.” It reflects the conflict of desire and uncertainty that seems to simultaneously haunt intimate—if sometimes interim—spaces, each drawing on the relationship we have with temporality, where the anticipation of travel or movement often overshadows the destination. The ambience signifies the essence and impermanence of nature and architecture, evoking both absence and presence through sound. Mary Edwards practices what Juhani Pallasmaa calls "Sensuous Minimalism," where a certain neutrality, restraint and silence are an inherent quality of the discipline: "The significance (of architecture) is not in its material form, but in its capacity to reveal deeper layers of existence". Available on Bandcamp. ARCHIVE //  No Man Must Speak But in Whispers Sound Installation Jan 24—Apr 27, 2014 / The Provincetown Museum May 29—Jun 28, 2014 / Grimshaw-Gudewicz Gallery Mary Edwards' Ambient sound installation inspired by the tale of Moby Dick from the perspective of The Whale installed Spring through Summer, 2014.  per/severance Sound Installation Grimshaw-Gudewicz Art Gallery Fall River, Massachussetts September 5—October 17, 2013 The 2013-14 Season at The Grimshaw-Gudewicz Art Gallery in Fall River , MA opened with an exhibition featuring the debut of Mary Edwards' new work, per/severance, a 14-minute, two-channel ambient sound installation about the Quequechan River, evocative of many things, the memories that the water still carries, and the conversation it would have if someone were there to listen. Read More: Mary Edwards' per/severance at The Grimshaw-Gudewicz Gallery. Review: Sound Installation Brings Quequechan River Indoors (The Fall River Herald News, Oct 2013) Review: BCC Exhibition is Both Evocative, Soothing (The Bedford Standard-Times, 5 October 2013)  The Ever-Enchanting Mary Edwards Interview 2015 Felicity Fenton interviews Mary, who plays with space, and the sounds in and in between those spaces.  A Tribute to Joe Raposo Recording Mary Edwards commemorates the late Joe Raposo with her cover of "Everybody Sleeps." Raposo was the prolific composer of nearly every classic '70s and '80s Sesame Street and Electric Company song along with a host of other memorable television themes like Three's Company, film soundtracks, station I.D.s and Sinatra tunes. This tribute album (including The Autumn Defense, Orwell and A Girl Called Eddy) is produced by Jonathan Donaldson and is scheduled for future release. Read more at For Children and Adults Alike: A Tribute to Joe Raposo and Joe Raposo Tribute. The Women at the Well: Palimpsest Theatrical Score Apr 3 - 5, 2014 / The Belknap Mill, Lanconia, NH Jun 17, 2014 / The Little Church Theater, Holdrness, NH Original theatrical score written by Mary Edwards for the stage adaptation of Grace Bauer's The Women at the Well, directed by Sharon Rae Paquette, set design by Liz Buckley. For The Time Being Broadcast Scordatura: Composer Talk 2013 On 91.7 KTRU's Contemporary, Avante Garde, Electroacoustic, Acousmatic, radio show, Scordatura: Composer Talk, hosts Hsin-Jung Tsai and Chris Becker play and discuss a variety of 20th and 21st century works. It’s a casual, informal, yet serious evening of music and talk. The May 31 program featured Hasu Patel’s Sitar Concerto, and music for mixed media installations, including works by New York-based composer Mary Edwards (For the Time Being and "In the Warm Space"), Nico Muhly and David Sylvian (Approaching Silence). Composer Talk streams live on the web at www.ktru.org 5 to 7 PM CT. Tune in and find out why talking about music is like dancing about architecture. Conversation at 2 West 13 Street at The Shelia Johnson Design Center/Parsons NY January 2014 Conversation at 2 West 13th Street is an extension of a sound showcase hosted by the research group Sound@Newschool. As one of the participants invited to engage sonically with a specific image from the building, Mary Edwards created a response to a cantilevered room. It will be installed as a component of the exhibition at the Sheila Johnson Design Center opening in January 2014. Mary Edwards Joins 40-Piece Percussion Ensemble to Perform Pulizer Prize-Winning Composer John Luther Adams' Inuksuit Concert Asheville, NC 2014 Conductor Andy Bliss of the acclaimed nief-norf ensemble directed Pulitzer Prize-Winning composer John Luther Adams’ Inuksuit — for 40 percussionists. The outdoor concert was spread across the UNC Asheville Quad and surrounding Asheville woodland campus on Oct 3, 2014.
 Penumbra The Sweet Curve per/severance Epilogue for a Quinn Martin Production Exhibition/Sound Installation Gallery 114 Portland, OR 2014 The Sweet Curve—part of a sound trilogy where each composition reflects the conflict of desire and uncertainty that seems to simultaneously haunt intimate (if sometimes interim) spaces, each drawing on the relationship we have with temporality, where the anticipation of travel or movement often overshadows the destinantion — signifies the essence and impermanence of nature and architecture, evoking both absence and presence through sound. Mary Edwards practices what Juhani Pallasmaa calls "Sensuous Minimalism," where a certain neutrality, restraint and silence are an inherent quality of the discipline: "The significance of architecture is not in its material form, but in its capacity to reveal deeper layers of existence." The Sweet Curve—in addition to her sound compositions, per/severance and Epilogue for a Quinn Martin Production —will be installed as part of the Penumbra exhibition at Gallery 114 in Portland, Oregon, January 2 through February 5 2014.  Taproot Exhibition/Sound Installation Gallery 114 Portland, OR 2013 I Could Live Forever (In a Day Like Today)—part of a sound trilogy where each composition reflects the conflict of desire and uncertainty that seems to simultaneously haunt intimate (if sometimes interim) spaces, each drawing on the relationship we have with temporality, where the anticipation of travel or movement often overshadows the destinantion — signifies the essence and impermanence of nature and architecture, evoking both absence and presence through sound. Mary Edwards practices what Juhani Pallasmaa calls "Sensuous Minimalism," where a certain neutrality, restraint and silence are an inherent quality of the discipline: "The significance of architecture is not in its material form, but in its capacity to reveal deeper layers of existence." I Could Live Forever (In a Day Like Today)—in addition to her sound compositions, Altamont and The Juice of Stone —will be installed as part of the Taproot exhibition at Gallery 114 in Portland, Oregon, January 2 through February 1 2013. |
||
|
© 2019 MARY EDWARDS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
|
