Composer Laura Karpman says her experience with film and TV helped on the 'Hidden World of Girls' project.
Laura Karpman’s resumé looks like the result of a life without downtime. The genre-bending lead composer for .htmlHidden World of Girls has won four Emmys for her sci-fi television scores and written music for video games, film, opera, string quartets and world premiere commissions. “I definitely do collaboration,” Karpman says. “All of these concert music pieces I’ve done lately so profoundly draw from my work as a film composer. Even the really technical stuff came directly from the TV work.”
Hidden World made new demands on the lead composer. “For a piece like this—unlike scoring for film—we couldn’t have music running the whole time, so I would spot the music, which means figure out when it was needed, and where, and then add it.”
What Hidden World audiences will experience, as Karpman describes it, will be two layers of pre-recorded sound: voices speaking and sound effects, which can be bits of music, pre-recorded sound and source music. “Then there are musical pieces I’m composing on top of that.” Fundamentally, she says, this project “takes radio and explodes it into a live setting.”
As with the stories themselves, the music evolved from the individuals. “The way we did Girls was to compose on samplers,” she continues. “We listened to the stories, then the directors and collaborators would make suggestions.”
One of Karpman’s pieces is in response to Debra Luster’s photographs in southern jails. “Her photos transcend and transform one’s opinion of the place and people. I used [folklorist and ethnomusicologist] Alan Lomax recordings to build on, and then there’s the actual stories as well.”
Karpman predicts, “It will be a serious listening experience.”
When asked what special skill she provides that has made her in such demand, Karpman pauses, then answers, “Probably drama. It’s something I feel I’ve honed after working so long on commercial projects. I know what is needed, when, and how long things should last.”
She believes there will be more opportunities for women to compose symphonic and operatic works “when there are more role models. That will help to inspire more women to think in these larger terms. It’s the same issue as in every field.”
Karpman’s own work—and composing history—will doubtless trigger more than a few emerging careers, hidden worlds of girls that will blossom on larger, public stages.
THE HIDDEN WORLD OF GIRLS: STORIES FOR ORCHESTRA World Premiere
Saturday, July 28, 8pm
Sunday, July 29, 1pm and 8pm
“Stories Behind The Stories” Forum Sunday, July 29, 3:30pm
Civic Auditorium
Tickets $32–50 at www.cabrillomusic.org
