In his second lecture as 2025–2026 Guest Artist in the Department of Music and Visiting Scholar at Stanford's Bill Lane Center for the American West, composer Scott Ordway reflects on the creation and premiere of Evening Land, a song cycle developed during his yearlong residency at Stanford. Bringing together texts by writers closely associated with Northern California alongside his own original words, the work approaches California not as a fixed idea, but as a layered and evolving landscape shaped by memory, labor, ecology, and care.

The lecture explores both the artistic and pedagogical dimensions of the project. Ordway discusses his compositional approach to a cycle characterized by restraint, repetition, and sustained attention as well as the collaborative process through which Stanford student composers and vocalists developed their own works in dialogue with these themes. Emphasizing listening as a shared ethical practice, the residency invited participants to engage California's cultural and environmental realities through voice, text, and sound.

Combining musical excerpts with reflections on the compositional process, collaborative rehearsals, and upcoming public premiere, this talk offers a portrait of Evening Land as both a finished work and a collective act of artistic inquiry.

Don't miss the premiere of EVENING LAND on on Saturday, April 25th, at 7:30pm in Campbell Reictal Hall, Braun Music Center. The event is free and open to the public.

Admission Information

• Free admission