Henry Mollicone

Henry Mollicone

henrymollicone@mac.com

Website: http://henrymollicone.com/

   Saratoga, CA

As a resident of San Jose California, Mr. Mollicone has worked actively as a free-lance conductor of opera, symphonic, and new music ,while holding various university teaching posts. Music composed during this period include the operas HOTEL EDEN (premiered at Opera San Jose, and later produced in New York and Baltimore), and COYOTE TALES (premiering at Lyric Opera of Kansas City with a subsequent production atOverlin Conservatory), several orchestral works, songs, cantatas, and chamber works, and the music for the Studs Terkel musical LEGACY (with composer Jeff Langley), and lyrics by Ronnie Gilbert (The Weavers).  His one-act operas have received several productions during this period, often with the composer as music director/conductor.. He has also been a Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellow from l997, and has been on various panels and onsight visits for The National Endowment for the Arts. Mr. Mollicone and librettist William Luce completed a new opera, GABRIEL’S DAUGHTER, commissioned by the Central City Opera, premiered in July, 2003. Mr. Mollicone composed BEATITUDE MASS (mass for the homeless), with Latin texts and additional English texts by William Luce, based upon interviews with homeless people in California, for the San Jose Symphonic Choir. More recent commissioned works include three large choral pieces: MISA DE LOS INMIGRANTES (mass for the immigrants) for the S.J. Symphonic Choir, A SONG FOR OUR PLANET (celebrating the earth) for Seattle First Baptist Church and Plymouth Church in Seattle, and ALL GOD’S CHILDREN for Vancouver Singers USA.  New piano works include LA CENERENTOLA: FANTASY FOR PIANO, FIVE BAGATELLES, and MISTERIA. The opera CHILDREN OF THE SUN was commissioned by Notre Dame de Namur University (piano and voices) and the University of Texas San Marcos (small orchestra versiion).  In addition, for the San Jose Chamber Orchestra and Quartet San Francisco,  Mr. Mollicone composed FANTASIA NOSTALGICA, and most recently for a benefit concert, a new song cycle, SUENOS DE ESPERANZA, which consists of four songs with texts based upon true stories of four Mexican immigrants and their experiences in crossing the border to California.  A feature documentary film was released by NEWPORT CLASSIC LTD in 2013: THE FACE ON THE BARROOM FLOOR: THE POEM, THE PLACE, THE OPERA, largely based upon the 26 minute opera which played each summer in Central City, Co. for 33 consecutive seasons.

MORE ABOUT THE ARTIST

What did the Fellowship or Laureate mean to you at the time you received it?

The fellowship meant a lot to me, as it afforded me time to work on some new compositions.

What do you do now? Has your art evolved or changed?

I am still spending the bulk of my work time composing music. Since receiving the award in 2008 I?ve composed two operas, a number of choral works including three major commissions ?All God?s Children,? Misa de los Inmigrantes,? and ?A Song for our Planet;? orchestral pieces; and works for solo instrument or voice. To sample some of my music, go to my website: http://henrymollicone.com/musiclist/

What is one piece of advice you would give to an emerging artist?

Follow your own inner voice.

Briefly, how would you describe the state of the arts locally, as well as national and beyond?

In difficult times