BIOGRAPHY
Mary Ellen Childs is a composer interested in all the senses: she is known for works that speak not only to the ears, but to the eyes, and even the nose. She writes for a variety of ensembles, including vocal ensembles, solo accordion, string quartets, and chamber groups of every ilk. She created numerous “visual percussion” pieces—pieces that embody the concept of music in motion—for her percussion ensemble CRASH. These include Click, a fast-paced, game-like work that The Village Voice deemed “a newly born classic.” Mary Ellen researches her projects thoroughly. To write a piece about Lake Superior, she rented a cabin on the shoreline, watching the moods of the water. For an opera about women aviators, she spent an adventurous week flying a small plane, hang gliding, and more. To prepare for music that incorporates scent, she met with a master perfumer in France, and studied perfumery at the Institute for Art and Olfaction in Los Angeles and in Grasse. She is a United States Artist Fellow and received grants and commissions from Opera America, Kronos Quartet, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, The Kitchen, Walker Art Center, Other Minds, MAP, and Creative Capital. She has been awarded residencies at Bellagio, Bogliasco, Yaddo, Djerassi, Ucross, Emily Harvey (Venice) and the Arctic Circle in Svalbard.
PROJECT
During her time in Fes, Mary Ellen will research the rich smell culture of Morocco as background for works that pair music and scents. She will deepen her ongoing smell research by seeking out first-hand experiences of the aromas of the area, from aromatic spices to flowers, tanneries, herbs, teas, markets, tagines. While in residence, she will create musical work that will become part of a series of sound/scent installations that she will create—immersive environments designed to engage the senses of hearing and smelling. Both music and olfaction can evoke powerful emotions, vivid memories, and visceral responses, and can influence how we inhabit our bodies and our history. Her overarching aim is to foster a nuanced experience of how our senses of smell and sound interact, as well as to foster an understanding of how smell affects history, imagination, memory, and perception.
