KATRINA BALLADS
ensemble 5 singers (SATTB), 11 instruments (flute, clarinet, trumpet, horn, violin, viola, cello, electric guitar, electric bass guitar, piano, drums/percussion)
duration 60 minutes
written 2006-2007, revised 2008
premiere May 28, 2007, Piccolo Spoleto Festival, Charleston SC; New Music Collective/Yes is a World, Ted Hearne, conductor
publisher Unsettlement Music
recording Katrina Ballads, New Amsterdam Records (2010)
additional performances
Katrina Ballads ensemble, Ted Hearne, conductor:
Fine Arts Building, Chicago, Illinois, January 2008
Greenwich Music House, New York, NY, March 2008
Trinity Lutheran Church, New Haven, CT, March 2008
(le) Poisson Rouge, New York, NY, August 2010
Hobby Center, Houston, TX, August 2010
New York City opera; Mark Mandarano, conductor, May 2009
De Ereprijs; Wim Boerman, conductor,
Gaudeamus Festival, Amsterdam, September 2009
Bienen Contemporary Ensemble; Alan Pierson, conductor,
NUNC2, Northwestern University, November 2015
San Francisco Conservatory New Music Ensemble; Alan Pierson, conductor,
San Francisco, November 2016
awards
winner, 2009 Gaudeamus Prize, Amsterdam
selection, VOX 2009 competition with New York City Opera
winner, 2009 ASCAP Morton Gould Award
selected reviews
6.2.07. The Charleston Post and Courier | "A Deeply Moving Tribute"
8.25.10. The New York Times | "A Flood of Songs Washing Over The City"
8.20.10 Capital New York | "When Political Music is Good: Ted Hearne's Katrina Ballads"
11.4.10 Time Out: Chicago | "Ted Hearne's Katrina Ballads"
excerpts
"Barbara Bush: 9.5.05" is from the album KATRINA BALLADS by Ted Hearne. The song is performed by singer Abby Fischer and the Katrina Ballads band. The text in "Barbara Bush 9.5.05" is taken from an interview on American Public Media's Marketplace after Barbara visited Hurricane Katrina evacuees in the Houston Astrodome.
from KATRINA BALLADS by Ted Hearne tedhearne.com performed live at (le) Poisson Rouge, New York City, 8/24/2010 text by George W. Bush, 9/2/2005 KATRINA BALLADS is an hour-long song cycle with music by Ted Hearne, performed by 5 singers and a band of 11 musicians.
"When we awoke, it was to that familiar phrase: New Orleans dodged a bullet" video by Bill Morrison, music by Ted Hearne featuring Nathan Koci on french horn from KATRINA BALLADS by Ted Hearne tedhearne.com KATRINA BALLADS is an hour-long song cycle, performed by 5 singers and a band of 11 musicians.
from KATRINA BALLADS by Ted Hearne tedhearne.com "Prologue: Keeping its head above water" film by Bill Morrison sung by Rene Marie performed live at (le) Poisson Rouge, New York City, 8/24/2010 text from an article in The Houston Chronicle by Eric Berger (12/1/01) KATRINA BALLADS is an hour-long song cycle with music by Ted Hearne, performed by 5 singers and a band of 11 musicians.
from KATRINA BALLADS by Ted Hearne tedhearne.com "Ashley Nelson" film by Bill Morrison sung by Rene Marie performed live at (le) Poisson Rouge, New York City, 8/24/2010 text from an interview with 18-year old Ashley Nelson, first broadcast on NPR's This American Life in September 2005 KATRINA BALLADS is an hour-long song cycle with music by Ted Hearne, performed by 5 singers and a band of 11 musicians.
from KATRINA BALLADS by Ted Hearne tedhearne.com "Kanye West: 9.2.05" sung by Isaiah Robinson film by Bill Morrison performed live at (le) Poisson Rouge, New York City, 8/24/2010 text spoken by Kanye West, live on NBC's Hurricane Katrina telethon (9/2/05) KATRINA BALLADS is an hour-long song cycle with music by Ted Hearne, performed by 5 singers and a band of 11 musicians.
WORKS
LARGE WORKS WITH VOICES
Farming (2023/2025, 60 min.)
24 voices, 6 instruments
over and over vorbei nicht vorbei (2024, 60 min.)
3 solo voices, youth choir, 12 instruments
Place (2018/2020, 80 min.)
6 voices, 18 instruments
In Your Mouth/Dorothea (2019)
voice and ensemble; voice and piano
Sound from the Bench (2014/2017, 40 min.)
mixed choir with 2 electric guitars and percussion
Coloring Book (2015, 30 min.)
vocal octet
The Source (2014, 65 min.)
7 instruments, 4 voices
Partition (2010, 20 min.)
mixed choir with full orchestra
Katrina Ballads (2007, 60 min.)
11 instruments, 5 voices
ORCHESTRA
Or Forevermore (2024, 30 min.)
large orchestra
In Thrall (2019, 15 min.)
wind ensemble with 2 solo percussionists
Brass Tacks (2018, 6 min.)
large orchestra
Miami in Movements (2017, 35 min.)
large orchestra with video
Dispatches (2015, 18 min.)
large orchestra
Respirator (2015, 13 min.)
chamber orchestra
Stem (2013, 25 min.)
large orchestra
Law of Mosaics (2012, 30 min.)
string orchestra
Erasure Scherzo (2012, 6 min.)
large orchestra
Word for Word (2011, 10 min.)
large orchestra
Shizz (2010/2017, 4 min.)
versions for large orchestra and chamber orchestra
Build a Room (2010, 20 min.)
concerto for trumpet and orchestra
Patriot (2007, 9 min.)
large orchestra
SOLO WORKS
Lobby Music (2021, 7 min.)
solo cello, with electronics
Inheritance (2021, 5 min.)
solo piano
Study Buddy (2021, 3 min.)
solo piano
The Luminous Road (2020, 2 min.)
solo piccolo
Distance Canon (2020, 4 min.)
solo violin
Another National Anthem (2019, 5 min.)
solo piano
DaVZ23BzMH0 (2016, 7 min.)
solo cello, with electronics
Tänze (with a sense of urgency) (2014, 3 min.)
solo piano
Parlor Diplomacy (2011, 20 min.)
solo piano
Nobody's (2010, 4 min.)
solo violin or viola
CHAMBER MUSIC
(2-5 instruments)
We Are Working Tirelessly For a Ceasefire (2025, 7-8 min.)
string quartet
Freefucked (2022)
voice and solo cello, with vocal processing and fixed electronics
Exposure (2017, 18 min.)
string quartet
The Answer to the Question That Wings Ask (2016, 11 min.)
string quartet and narrator
Furtive Movements (2013, 14 min.)
cello and percussion
Interlude for Fingers (2013, 4 min.)
two vibraphones
Candy (2011, 8 min.)
electric guitar quartet
Thaw (2009, 12 min.)
percussion quartet
Ghostspace (2009, 8 min.)
mixed quartet (accordion, electric guitar, piano, drums)
Vessels (2008, 10 min.)
trio (violin, viola, piano)
Crib Dweller (2007, 8 min.)
mixed quintet (bass clarinet, elec. guitar, trumpet, trombone, horn)
23 (2005, 8 min.)
mixed quintet (flute, horn, elec. guitar, piano, drums)
Warning Song (2006, 7 min.)
voice and cello, with electronics
One of Us, One of Them (2005, 8 min.)
piano and percussion
Forcefield (2004, 5 min.)
viola and vibraphone
MEDIUM TO LARGE ENSEMBLE MUSIC
(6-16 instruments)
To Be Whole Is To Be Part (2021, 7 min.)
14 musicians
Authority (2019, 30 min.)
12 musicians
Time is forever dividing itself toward innumerable futures [Speed is Pure] (2019, 40 min.)
for Pam Tanowitz Dance 4 horns, electric guitar, voice with live processing
One Like (2016, 7 min.)
14 musicians
For the Love of Charles Mingus (2016, 9 min.)
6 violins
Baby [an argument] (2016, 11 min.)
10 musicians
By-By Huey (2014, 10 min.)
sextet (fl, bcl, vln, vc, pno, perc)
"The Cage" Variations (2014, 20 min.)
6 instruments (fl, cl/bcl, vln, vc, pno, perc) with baritone solo
Crispy Gentlemen (2012, 15 min.)
7 instruments (fl/picc, cl/bcl, vln, vla, vc, pno, perc)
But I Voted for Shirley Chisholm (2012, 8 min.)
11 instruments+tape
Randos (2012, 8 min.)
7 instruments (L'Histoire septet)
Cutest Little Arbitrage (2011, 12 min.)
6 instruments (2 sax, trombone + rhythm section)
Is it Dirty (2010, 8 min.)
16 instruments with 2 singers
versions for 10 instruments and 6 instruments
Eyelid Margin (2009, 12 min.)
10 instruments (brass quintet + 5 double-reeds)
Snowball (2008, 6 min.)
8 instruments (bcl, tpt, tbn, vln, acc, egtr, pno, dr)
version for 7 instruments (bcl, bn, tpt, tbn, vln, db, perc)
Illuminating the Maze (2008/2016, 15 min.)
6 instruments (tpt, hn, tbn, egtr, pno, dr)
version for 11 instruments
Music from "Body Soldiers" (2008, 10 min.)
5 instruments + singer
Cordavi and Fig (2007, 8 min.)
13 instruments
Antiphon (2003, 8 min.)
9 instruments (3 cl, bcl, 3 tpt, tbn, pno)
CHORAL MUSIC
Elektra Choruses (2025)
In The Language of Truth (2022, 10 min.) SATB choir with string quartet
Texting With Your Dad in the Anthropocene (2019, 12 min.)
Animals (2018, 9 min.)
Fervor (2018, 3 min.)
What it might say (2016, 5 min.)
Coloring Book (2015, 30 min.)
Consent (2014, 7 min.)
Ripple (2012, 10 min.)
Privilege (2009, 14 min.)
Mass for St. Mary’s (2008, 10 min.)
Music for youth choir:
The Definition of Crisis (2020, 2-5 min.)
Room for Something (2011, 8 min.)
Away (2010, 6 min.)
Because (2006, 6 min.)
Murder on the Road in Alabama (2003, 6 min.)
SONG AND SOLO VOICE
Antihero Hero (2024, 8 min.)
voice and piano
Freefucked (2022, 17 min.)
voice and solo cello, with vocal processing and fixed electronics
Complainers (2021)
voice and piano (optional string trio)
Translation: Two Cigar Butts (2021, 5 min.)
two singers with electronics (optional piano or piano+bass)
In Your Mouth/Dorothea (2019, 65 min.)
versions for voice and ensemble; voice and piano
Everyone Keeps Me (2018)
Why Go In Cars (2018)
I Am Sick of Feeling (2018)
You Are Not Dead (2018)
Protection (2009 rev. 2017, 5-6 min.)
voice and piano (optional violin or cello)
Intimacy and Resistance (2010, 5 min.)
voice and piano
Charleston Songbook (2008, 20 min.)
voice and piano w/ lead sheets
I Remember (2007, 8 min.)
for three sopranos, or one soprano with electronics
I Carry Your Heart (2007, 5 min.)
voice and piano
Warning Song (2006, 7 min.)
voice and cello, with electronics
COLLABORATIVE WORKS
Elektra (w/ Daniel Fish) (2025)
Ligeia Mare (w/ Damon Davis) (2024-2025)
Or Forevermore (w/ Pam Tanowitz) (2024)
Taylor Mac’s A 24-Decade History of Popular Music [orchestral version] (2022)
Miami in Movements (2017)
The Answer to the Question That Wings Ask (2016)
Hand Eye (2015)
You're Causing Quite a Disturbance (2013)
R WE WHO R WE (2011-2017)
Histories (2012)