Meet Elizabeth Kennedy Bayer

Today we’d like to introduce you to Elizabeth Kennedy Bayer.

Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I grew up in a musical family but wasn’t introduced to living composers of any sort until halfway through my undergraduate degree. You know poetry is a living tradition, dance, theatre, visual art- but new music was in its own realm. I think that, like dance, it is much more of an ephemeral experience than other arts. Even though I grew up playing instruments and singing, etc. I always count the start of my journey when I decided to take a composition course as an elective during undergrad. It changed my life, how I think about music and my feelings toward music as a powerful emotional tool. Granted, I don’t think music has to be about emotions, but for me, it provided this huge landscape for me to explore and express things I didn’t have the ability to express. Looking into new music, new sounds, and new philosophies has opened up my life in ways I never expected.

Please tell us about your art.
I write new music- which is a funny term because it’s about 50 years old at this point. I write music that pushes the boundaries of what we typically consider music in the way of sound and notation. Why do I do this? Because I think exploring new sounds is a way of exploring the increasingly complicated world that we live in; because I think its beautiful.

I also organize concerts under my nonprofit Oh My Ears (OME), and at a recent concert a petite, older woman turned around and looked at me after hearing a very non-tonal and intricate quartet and said: “That was just… real, ya know?” When composers explore the sounds, emotions, and themes in their lives, whatever type of life they live or where they are from, I think it helps the listener understand humanity a little more. I’m not saying you have to like everything, because that’s just not realistic. But I think what I do and the art world I’m in strives to bring people together, especially if that means exploring the boundaries of what we know how to do on instruments and technology.

Do you have any advice for other artists? Any lessons you wished you learned earlier?
Do not try to do everything on your own. Ask your friends for help- even if its just to get an outside opinion on something. It is much harder to delegate later when you are used to managing everything.

Nothing will be smooth. Nothing will be perfect. Learn to be flexible and try to have open conversations when things go differently than you expected.

How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
When I came out of grad school in 2010, there were essentially no opportunities for emerging composers in Phoenix. There was no place to cut your teeth. After a few years and a few internships at music festivals, I decided to start my own. That effort has grown into Oh My Ears, which presents a four-day new music festival (coming up Jan 31-Feb 3, 2019) and several shows and events during the year. The festival is a place where many local ensembles present world premieres of works they’ve commissioned and that includes my own. During our 2019 Festival, you can hear my new piece written for the Vientos Dulces Clarinet Quartet “I bet Tobin knows”, a new work for flute and electronics “This is how I feel” commissioned by Meerenai Shim, another new work for flute and electronics “End of the World Running Club” commissioned by Robin Meiksins for her 52 Weeks of Flute Project, and also a new work for chamber orchestra titled “When its morbid beautiful”. After that, my new work for string quartet and two high voices will premiere at the spring concert of the Arizona Women’s Coalition. For this piece, I used text by poet Tara Ison which depicts driving across Oklahoma during tornado season. This work will be performed by the Herberger Quartet, which is the graduate string quartet at ASU.

Besides commissions from local musicians and others around the country, I do have a Patreon with an interesting twist on commissioning- it involves subscription based commissions that are delivered over the course of a year. Its been a lot of fun so far.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.elizabethkennedybayer.com/
• Email: ekbayer@gmail.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/notemaker3000
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ekbayer/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/notemaker3000
• Other: https://www.patreon.com/notemaker3000

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