“My work exists at the edges—in a landscape of shadow and light, darkly luminous, and ever-transforming…”
A dear friend once called me a Beauty-Bringer…
I hope to make the world a more beautiful place, one song at a time…
I’m a singer-composer, recording artist, director, writer, and filmmaker.
I invent and perform solo and collaborative dramatic new music works. My projects blossom in many forms: live performance, audio projects, video works, site specific installations, visual art works, lyrics, and writings.
My music sounds like a blend of futuristic art song, avant-spoken word, and chamber electronica—you will hear the rise and fall of my many layered voices, and the swirling guitars and electronic sound worlds created by me and my collaborators. I draw inspiration from mythology and fairytale of the Western canon, sacred literature, and from the cycle of the seasons.
My music inhabits a dreamworld where poetry comes alive in the movement of language through the voice and body. From a delicate spider-silk tone thread to a shimmering and cascading wail—I use all of my vocal skills to discover something new and uncharted.
I make my home in Houston, Texas and I’ve come to love the dystopian beauty of Houston’s spiraling super highways, the cathedral-like concrete pilings of the underpasses, the wildflower-lined bayous, and the ever-expanding glass and steel of the metropolis. I’ve been fortunate to plane-hop quite a lot: I’ve been from Beijing to Brunei and Bangkok to Berlin, and am most in love with the energies of ancient archeological sites, cathedrals, ruined abbeys, forest, ocean, and mountains…
My recent projects include a performance residency with my ensemble Misha Penton Collective for Sculpture Month Houston 2023; the release of her 3-music video EP, Blessings of the Moon, and the music video Last Cicada, funded in part by the Houston Arts Alliance and the Mayor’s Office for Cultural Affairs; a 13-part Micro Opera project including my (micro)Requiem inspired by Mozart’s unfinished Requiem in D minor; Visible Darkness, a new postopera music video; Threshold, a site specific experimental ensemble performance inspired by the ancient Greek Eleusinian Mysteries created for the cavernous and iconic Silos at Sawyer Yards in Houston, as well as the release of the Threshold music video; Anecdote of the Spirit, a contemplative work created the Rothko Chapel in Houston; The Medusa Project, a multi-version monodrama for voice and media comprised of films, writings, and installations including Medusa Emergent: a film and sound work created for the 35' high MediaWall at Bath Spa University, UK; This is our universe a new monodrama based on the work of Virginia Woolf; Siren on the Sabine, a dramatic music-dance piece inspired by Homer's Odyssey which premiered at The Menil Collection; and the fall 2021 release of a new set of Micro Operas, Creation Stories, related to the phases of the moon and inspired by sacred cosmogony texts.
I made my directorial debut with Houston Grand Opera directing A Rose, a new web opera in HGO's series Star Cross'd as well as singing a principal role in the music workshop for a new opera in development with the company. I’ve also been delighted to be a guest artist at The Juilliard School, Concordia University Montreal, Regina University Canada, University of Houston Honors College, Sam Houston State University, Texas, A&M College Station, and Lone Star College Montgomery, Texas.
Upcoming projects: the music video Earthshine in celebration of the winter solstice 2023 with a performance and release party in partnership with Sawyer Yards Houston, and a forthcoming EP inspired by a 19th century fairytale book.
My work has appeared at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Dallas Museum of Art, Menil Collection Houston, Rothko Chapel, University of Houston Center for Creative Work, DiverseWorks Arts Space Houston, Bath Spa University, UK, SPARKFEST Digital UK and Classical:NEXT, EU. Organizations and ensembles I’ve sung with include Houston Grand Opera, Liminal Space Contemporary Music Ensemble, Foundation for Modern Music, and Quartus Chamber Players.
My voice mentors include renowned opera pedagogue, Lois Alba; and Kathleen Kaun, and Katherine Ciesinski, Rice University voice faculty emeritus and Eastman School of Music voice faculty, respectively; and experimental voice educator, Richard Armstrong, faculty emeritus, New York University Experimental Theatre Wing at the Tisch School of the Arts— each inspiring teachers who encouraged my unconventional artistic journey, and I currently coach with composer and touch guitarist, Trey Gunn. I hold a BA in Music from Skidmore College; an MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts from Goddard College; and a PhD focussed on voice & composition from Bath Spa University, UK. My doctoral thesis, ‘Vocality as / in Composition: solo and collaborative creation of new postopera works’ was completed under the supervision of composer James Saunders (Bath Spa University) and performance studies scholar and vocal pedagogue Pamela Karantonis (Goldsmiths University of London). I’m currently a Visiting Research Fellow at Bath Spa University, School of Music & Performing Arts.
Visit my wonders on Vimeo!