Ann McNamee
Ann McNamee performing with her band Ann Atomic at Lilith Fair, Comcast Center, Great Woods, Mansfield, MA on July 30, 2010.
Ann McNamee performing with her band Ann Atomic at Lilith Fair, Comcast Center, Great Woods, Mansfield, MA on July 30, 2010.
Background information
Birth nameAnn Kosakowski
Born (1953-05-21) May 21, 1953 (age 70)
Southbridge, Massachusetts, United States
GenresIndie rock, indie pop, alternative rock
Occupation(s)Singer-songwriter, professor emerita (swarthmore college)
Instrument(s)Voice, piano, keyboards, hand percussion, bass
Websiteannmcnamee.com
Scientific career
ThesisKarol Szymanowski's mazurkas: cyclic structure and harmonic language (1980)
Doctoral advisorAllen Forte

Ann Kosakowski McNamee (Southbridge, Massachusetts, May 21, 1953) is a music theorist, singer-songwriter and musical theater composer/lyricist based in San Francisco, California and a retired Professor Emerita of music at Swarthmore College[1] notable for her contribution to music theory; her song writing; and her musical performances with the bands the Flying Other Brothers and Moonalice[2] known for their cutting edge technology,[3] particularly in the area of social media,[4] as well as their performances at festivals such as Hardly Strictly Bluegrass,[5] Nateva,[6] Summer Camp Music Festival,[7] Oregon Country Fair,[8] Gathering of the Vibes;[9] and with her band Ann Atomic during the 2010 revival of Lilith Fair.[10] She composed the majority of the songs on the Moonalice album that was part of T Bone Burnett’s nomination for Producer of the Year at the 2009 Grammys.[11]

Contribution to music theory

She is the author of highly cited academic work in music theory, specifically on bitonality, mode and interval in the music of Karol Szymanowski,[12] the role of the piano introduction in Franz Schubert's Lieder,[13] and the octave expansion and sonata form of Grażyna Bacewicz's Second Piano Sonata.[14]

She has been cited by Allen Forte, co-winner of the 1997 Wallace Berry Distinguished Book Award of the Society for Music Theory for her significant contribution to his 1995 book, "The American Popular Ballad of the Golden Era, 1924–1950: A Study in Musical Design.".[15] Dave Headlam, winner of the 1997 Deems Taylor award in the Symphonic Books category of the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP), cited her for her contribution on interval cycles in Karol Szymanowski's works, in his 1996 book "The Music of Alban Berg".[16] Kristine H. Burns in her 2002 book, "Women and Music in America Since 1900: An Encyclopedia [Two Volumes]" cited her for her work on the music of Franz Schubert and Karol Szymanowski.[17] She has also been cited in reviews of music in the 2004 edition of "New Historical Anthology of Music by Women" edited by James R. Briscoe.[18]

Contribution to music's digital revolution

McNamee is the co-writer of the Moonalice song "It's 4:20 Somewhere".[19] The lyrics of the song were referenced in the 2011 book, "The Fall of the House of Forbes: The Inside Story of the Collapse of a Media Empire" by Stewart Pinkerton.[20] In August 2012 the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced that the digital logs for "It's 4:20 Somewhere" had been acquired for its library and archives, describing the Moonalice logs as helping to "...tell the story of music's digital revolution; specifically the rise of direct-from-artist (DFA) distribution. Moonalice is the first band without a label to achieve one million downloads of a song from its own servers, direct-from-artist. "It's 4:20 Somewhere" has been downloaded over 4.6 million times".[21][22]

Contribution to musical theater

Having retired from performing with Moonalice in October 2012 to pursue a career in musical theater,[23] she co-wrote a musical, Love Bytes, together with Roger Love.[24] Six of the songs from Love Bytes were performed during a public performance in October 2012.[25] She is collaborating on a second musical, Other World, with Hunter Bell, Jeff Bowen and Wētā Workshop (Wellington, NZ), initially developing the project as part of the Johnny Mercer Writers Colony at Goodspeed Musicals in 2014.[26] Other World was selected as the inaugural project at the 2016 Spring Space in Saratoga Springs, New York,[27] and held its First Preview at Bucks County Playhouse on March 14, 2020.[28] A preview of Other World was streamed as a part of the New York Theatre Barn's New Works Series on June 23, 2021.[29] Other World began its world-premiere engagement February 24, 2022 at Delaware Theatre Company co-starring Bonnie Milligan, with performances through March 20, 2022.[30] The production won best New Play or Musical at the Broadway World awards for Delaware 2022.[31] Invitation-only staged readings to Other World were held on Thursday, March 16 and Friday, March 17, 2023 at Open Jar Studios in New York City.[32] It was announced at the New York Comic Con in November 2023 that Other World has also been released as a comic book series.[33]

Personal

She has a B.A. in Music from Wellesley (1975) and a PhD in Music Theory from Yale University (1980).[34] She has been married to the venture capitalist Roger McNamee since 1983 and, with her husband, is a co-founder of the Haight Street Art Center, which will be run as a co-op for artists, and will include a fine art print shop as well as exhibition space.[35]

Along with Jack Markell, former Governor of Delaware, created “Charlottesville,” a song celebrating the life of Heather Heyer, and “The Silence of the Good,” featuring Dr. Clarence B. Jones, which includes the lyric, “As history has taught us, the Reverend understood, the bad get their power from the silence of the good.” This song is inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s The Letter from Birmingham Jail, where the civil rights leader was detained after a rally in 1963.[36]

Discography

References

  1. ^ Swarthmore College Catalog. "Faculty and Other Instructional Staff". Retrieved January 7, 2013.
  2. ^ McNamee, Roger (August 22, 2009). "Give It Away". What The Co-Founder Of Elevation Learned From The Jam Scene. Retrieved January 7, 2013.
  3. ^ Juregesen, John. "The Tech Investor Is with the Band". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved January 7, 2013.
  4. ^ Raymundo, Oscar. "Moonalice Singer Delivers Yale Lecture on Social Media for Bands". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on May 16, 2012. Retrieved January 7, 2013.
  5. ^ SFGate (September 27, 2012). "Hardly Strictly Bluegrass fest's lineup". Arrow Stage. Retrieved January 7, 2013.
  6. ^ McLennan, Scott (July 6, 2010). "Nateva plants musical roots in Maine". Boston Globe. Retrieved January 7, 2013.
  7. ^ Hatch, Danielle. "Claypool on board as Summer Camp moves forward". Journal Star. Retrieved January 7, 2013.
  8. ^ Heuston, Laurie. "From the big top". Cast of Clowns' lineup shapes an ace jam band. Retrieved January 7, 2013.
  9. ^ Horyczun, Mike (September 2, 2009). "Sound Surfing". TheHour Online. Retrieved January 7, 2013.
  10. ^ Kaufman, Gil. "Lilith Fair To Feature Mary J. Blige, Colbie Caillat, Jill Scott, More". Erykah Badu, Chairlift, Corinne Bailey Rae, Ke$ha and Metric also onboard. MTV. Retrieved January 7, 2013.
  11. ^ "52nd Annual GRAMMY Awards nomination list". New York Post. December 3, 2009. Retrieved August 7, 2022.
  12. ^ McNamee, Ann (1985). "Bitonality, Mode and Interval in the Music of Karol Szymanowski". Journal of Music Theory. 29 (1): 61–84. doi:10.2307/843371. JSTOR 843371.
  13. ^ McNamee, Ann (1985). "The Role of the Piano Introduction in Schubert's Lieder". Journal of Music Theory. 4 (1/2): 95–106. doi:10.2307/854237. JSTOR 854237.
  14. ^ McNamee, Ann. "Grazyna Bacewicz's Second Piano Sonata (1953): Octave Expansion and Sonata Form". Volume 0, Number 4 September 1993. Music Theory Online. Retrieved January 7, 2013.
  15. ^ Forte, Alan (1995). The American Popular Ballad of the Golden Area: 1924–1950. Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691043999. Retrieved January 7, 2013.
  16. ^ Headlam, David John (January 1996). The Music of Alban Berg. Yale University Press. ISBN 0300064004. Retrieved January 7, 2013.
  17. ^ Burns, Kristine Helen (2002). Women and music in America since 1900: an encyclopedia, Volume 2. Greenwood Press. ISBN 9781573563093. Retrieved January 7, 2013.
  18. ^ Briscoe, James R. "New Historical Anthology of Music by Women" (PDF). New Historical Anthology of Music by Women (review). Indiana University Press. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 27, 2013. Retrieved January 7, 2013.
  19. ^ Moonalice. "It's 4:20 Somewhere". Moonalice.com.
  20. ^ Pinkerton, Stewart (2011). The Fall of the House of Forbes: The Inside Story of the Collapse of a Media Empire. Macmillan. p. 213. ISBN 9780312658595. Retrieved January 7, 2013.
  21. ^ Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. "Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Announces Acquisition of Digital Logs of Moonalice's "It's 4:20 Somewhere" for Library and Archives". Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Retrieved January 7, 2013.
  22. ^ Tuck School of Business. "The Long, Strange—and Profoundly Prescient—Trip of Roger McNamee". Retrieved November 3, 2015. ((cite web)): |last= has generic name (help)
  23. ^ Moonalice. "Onward. A Celebration Of Ann McNamee". Retrieved December 27, 2013.
  24. ^ New Musical News. "The surprise hit musical is back". Academy For New Musical Theater. Retrieved December 27, 2013.
  25. ^ Moonalice. "Onward. A Celebration Of Ann McNamee". Retrieved December 27, 2013.
  26. ^ BroadwayWorld.com. "Tony & Grammy Winners Among Participants for Goodspeed's Johnny Mercer Writers Colony".
  27. ^ "Carla Stickler". Carla Stickler. Retrieved September 15, 2016.
  28. ^ "Television: Taking solace through the screen and binge watching new, old programs".
  29. ^ "New York Theatre Barn's New Works Series LIVE / 6.23.21". YouTube.
  30. ^ "Other World, From [title of show] Creators, Begins February 24 With Jamen Nanthakumar and Bonnie Milligan".
  31. ^ "Winners Announced For The 2022 BroadwayWorld Delaware Awards". BroadwayWorld. Retrieved January 25, 2023.
  32. ^ Rabinowitz, Chloe. "Hunter Bell, Jeff Bowen & Ann McNamee's OTHER WORLD To Have Staged Reading This Week". Broadway World. Retrieved March 27, 2023.
  33. ^ Culwell-Block, Logan. "Enter to Win Autographed Other World Comic Books". Playbill. Playbill. Retrieved December 28, 2023.
  34. ^ Swarthmore College Catalog. "Faculty an Other Instructional Staff". Retrieved December 26, 2013.
  35. ^ Siber, Kate. "The Long, Strange—and Profoundly Prescient—Trip of Roger McNamee". Tuck at Dartmouth Newsroom. Tuck School of Business. Retrieved February 1, 2015.
  36. ^ Institute For Social Justice & Nonviolence (October 8, 2020). ""The Silence of the Good"". University of San Francisco. University of San Francisco. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  37. ^ McNamee, Ann. "Discography". annmcnamee.com. Retrieved January 7, 2013.
  38. ^ McNamee, Ann. "Discography". annmcnamee.com. Retrieved January 7, 2013.
  39. ^ McNamee, Ann. "Discography". annmcnamee.com. Retrieved January 7, 2013.
  40. ^ McNamee, Ann. "Discography". annmcnamee.com. Retrieved January 7, 2013.
  41. ^ McNamee, Ann. "Discography". annmcnamee.com. Retrieved January 7, 2013.
  42. ^ McNamee, Ann. "Discography". annmcnamee.com. Retrieved January 7, 2013.
  43. ^ McNamee, Ann. "Discography". annmcnamee.com. Retrieved January 7, 2013.
  44. ^ McNamee, Ann. "Discography". annmcnamee.com. Retrieved January 7, 2013.
  45. ^ McNamee, Ann. "Discography". annmcnamee.com. Retrieved January 7, 2013.
  46. ^ McNamee, Ann. "Discography". annmcnamee.com. Retrieved January 7, 2013.

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