Jul 24

Jul 24 CLARA OSOWSKI | Interview

Ahead of the 10th Annual Source Song Festival (August 7-11, 2023), Sparks & Wiry Cries asked Artistic Director Clara Osowski our burning questions regarding this fantastic week-long art song festival in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

S&WC: Source Song Festival is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year! Congratulations! How has your work with Source morphed and evolved in the decade since the festival began? What accounts for those changes?

CO: From the very start, Source has featured two programs: MNDuo and MNSong. MNDuo is made up of voice and piano duos, and MNSong comprises composers of art song. In Source’s earliest years, our focus was also on being a presenter of programs, but most recently, Source's community has invested in art song education, providing more opportunities for masterclasses and individual agency in our artistry. We are committed to the whole individual, and we want to cultivate song while honoring the authenticity and individuality of each participant’s imagination.

S&WC: Source Song Festival is based in Minnesota. How has your geographical positioning influenced your work at the festival? How is this different from work you have done elsewhere?

CO: Minnesota has long been a welcoming place to artists. We have foundational support from organizations that began here long ago, like The Schubert Club and the American Composers Forum — and through countless creative initiatives and organizations, the Minnesota Legislature has funded many organizations and artists by passing the Legacy Amendment. A small percentage of sales tax supports the arts alongside clean water and air initiatives. This reminds us that the arts are vital for the very survival of humans, and we have an obligation to protect our Earth and our culture.

S&WC: I’m very intrigued by the MNSong initiative that you have at Source Song Festival. What about the content/composition process makes something "MNSong"?

CO: Perennially, the majority of the composers who participate in this program come from outside of Minnesota, so it’s our goal to welcome them to our community through their collaboration with local artists. Their art song score is not only an application for admission into the program but is a feature for an evening concert. It’s one more collaboration to enter into our legacy of the song tradition here while studying with Minnesota-based composers David Evan Thomas and Libby Larsen, both of whom studied with Minnesota’s song patriarch, composer Dominick Argento.

S&WC: You are asking the composer participants to work with the art song canon in some way, either by translating, responding, or challenging this historical work. What is important to you about the engagement with the art song canon? What does it mean to be reinventing and reconfiguring the canon in this way?

CO: To paraphrase something Van Gogh once wrote in a letter, it’s important to have a model for your inspiration without worrying about exactly how it emerges; rather, also study that model to craft your own efforts. Defining limits doesn't necessarily mandate that we stay within those limits, but boundaries can generate a lot of reaction and responsibility to explore and ask more questions. As a community, we have been great about asking Is this art song? but we haven’t consistently explored What was art song? We can be inspired by both.

S&WC: Besides your work with Source Song Festival, what else in the world of art song is getting you excited these days?

CO: I’m extremely excited about the younger generation of singers and pianists who are commissioning composers. Millennials get labeled with a lot of qualifiers, but it’s true we’re the ones who most value experiences over stuff, and I believe we’re starting to see a new importance on celebrating all types of arts, while giving appropriate value to its creation. We’re investing in present creativity, and it’s very encouraging to see all the participation.

S&WC: What’s your advice for young singers and pianists getting started today?

CO: I’d urge them to take the time to recognize, verbalize, and exercise their values. Create a mission statement for yourself as an artist, as a colleague, and as a friend. You will have to make daily professional and personal decisions, and you can reduce worry, anxiety, and regret if you consistently align your decisions with your values. Perform according to your values, and ask others about theirs.

July 24, 2023

Sparks and Wiry Cries

Named in reference to a poem by Paul Goodman, Sparks & Wiry Cries began in 2009 as a podcast and online magazine with a vision to contextualize art song in the sharing of recordings, interviews, and articles by prominent artists and scholars. In 2012, the Casement Fund, Ltd. encouraged co-founders Martha Guth and Erika Switzer to expand their vision and curate an art song recital series based in New York City. In 2015, Sparks received its 501(c)(3) nonprofit status and grew to include the songSLAM competition and a commissioning program. Today, through our international songSLAMs. sparksLIVE events and Art Song Magazine, we are actively engaging in current conversations through insightful publishing, programming, and commissioning.