APPLICATION PORTFOLIO
FOR COLUMBIA’S TEACHERS COLLEGE
HYBRID M.A. IN MUSIC & MUSIC EDUCATION PROGRAM

JANUARY 15, 2024

COMPOSITIONS

1. YOUNG GOODMAN BROWN (2021) -
OPERA FOR 3 SINGERS, PIANO, AND TAPE

Act 1 excerpt: Scene 4: Voices [with tape track] | Scene 5: But Where is Faith? (End of Act 1)
Live-performance recording from the Wandsworth Arts Fringe Festival in London on June 23, 2023.
“A mini-operatic adaptation based on Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story, Young Goodman Brown is the tale of a pious villager in Puritan New England who ventures deep into the woods one night, and discovers a sinister secret that will call into question everything he believes in.”

ROLES – The Perspective Collective:
FAITH – Erin Brittain, soprano
GOODY CLOYSE – Rachael Basescu, mezzo-soprano
YOUNG GOODMAN BROWN – Grant Mech, bass-baritone
THE DEVIL – Patrick Fink, piano

Sharing full-link to opera on YouTube only for reference:
Listen to the full opera on YouTube [00:00 Act I | 15:43 Act II]
(*Please do not listen to the whole opera in the preliminary portfolio review!)

2. “MY LOVE, I WOULD HAVE LET YOU LOVE HER!” (2021, rev. 2023) -
OPERA ARIA/SCENE FOR SOPRANO AND ORCHESTRA

“My Love, I would have let you love her!” is a drafted scene (aria for soprano and orchestra) for an imagined 3-act, through-composed original opera. I notated in Sibelius 7, used ‘Noteperformer’ sound library for the orchestral playback, and overlaid my singing using Logic ProX for both the soprano and single tenor line in the demo you will hear. The lyrics for the scene/aria are also my own. This scene, as well as the general arc of the opera’s story, is the result of an imaginative dream while sleeping.

Context from my drafted treatment of the opera:
This opera takes a glance through magical realism at the lengths to which one woman will go to find closure.
Setting - The evening of the TENOR and FIANCE’s engagement party at the TENOR’S modern NYC loft.

ACT 1
The show opens on [SOPRANO], a youthful woman, delightfully cooking dinner in a beautiful, upper-class kitchen. [TENOR - dramatic tenor] enters the room from inside the house and expresses confusion over her presence. He confronts her, and we learn that he is concerned that his fiance, and her entire bridal party will discover her there. We learn that she is his ex- girlfriend, and she admits her profound confusion and frustration over the end of the relationship (aria: “My Love, I would have let you love her!”). He tries to pacify her before ultimately kicking her out of the house forcefully, as he returns to his arriving guests and party. While he is greeting them, [SOPRANO] sweeps back in, in a caterer’s outfit, discarding a bloody glove on her way. She carries an assortment of food and begins passing out appetizers, exchanging pleasantries with [TENOR]’s in-laws, [MOTHER 1] and [MOTHER 2], and [FIANCE].

3. CHRISTMAS ODE (2023) -
FOR ORCHESTRA

An 8-minute symphonic poem tying together three difference scenes and sentiments. Notated using Sibelius 7, and the shared audio rendering uses Noteperformer sound library.

4. TREE OF THE SEVEN MOONS (2021) -
VIRTUAL REALITY COLLABORATION

A 2-minute electronic composition showcasing my interest in composing for VR media with spatialized audio. Composed in LogicProX with binaural panning. Best experienced with headphones. Collaboration with VR media artist and friend, Elizabeth Honer. Inspired by a multicolored LED “fairy spirit tree” that we mutually own and keep in our creative corners.

Music by Stephanie E. Leotsakos @stephanieleotsakos *Audio best experienced with headphones.
Art by Elizabeth Honer @grrlrighter *Created with tiltbrush, post processing and filming in unity.

INVENTIONS

TECHNOLOGY INVENTIONS

Examples of my love of inventing intuitive and inclusive practical tools and technologies (both hardware and software) for composition and play-based, interactive musical exploration.

1. The “PlayUrStaff”

A 1-minute demonstration of my first engineered prototype of my "PlayUrStaff" musical invention. It uses capacitive touch to turn the music staff into an interactive tool for immersive education and composition or can be used as a digital instrument with user agency. Parameters can be altered such as clef, key/mode, instrument/soundpatch, and two buttons offer chromatic agency.

The "PlayUrStaff" is a versatile new music technology hardware designed to turn the traditional music staff into an interactive digital instrument for compositional, educational, and performance use. Its flexible and magnetic mat has ridged folds, designed to differentiate between the "lines" and "spaces" of a music staff. The user places copper-plated magnets (notes) on the PlayUrStaff in any configuration of their own choosing. Via capacitive touch, the user interactively "touches" the copper-plated magnets to produce digital sound, with control over features such as: clef (range), key (all majors/natural-minors), and two buttons--one for a semitone up, and other for a semitone down, facilitating chromatic changes to chosen presets and using chromaticism in live-performance. The PlayUrStaff is designed to be intuitive to use, fun to play, and multifunctional.

The current prototype featured in the video demonstration serves as a proof of concept for basic functions intended in the PlayUrStaff design. This first iteration is made out of cardboard, magnetic tape, 1/4" copper tape, and sharpie marker and is 10"(L) x 8"(W) x 1/4"(H). It is currently connected to Apple's GarageBand, with sound playback from computer speakers. The sound patch being used in the demo is GarageBand's "Cheap Organ."

Further details on current prototype:

HARDWARE --
1) Raspberry Pi Pico (https://www.adafruit.com/product/5526)
2) Adafruit 12-Key Capacitive Touch Sensor (https://www.adafruit.com/product/1982)
3) Rotary Encoder (https://www.adafruit.com/product/377)

SOFTWARE --
Language: This project uses Circuit Python.
Notable libraries used in this project:
adafruit_mpr121 - for communication with the capacitive touch sensor
adafruit_midi - send MIDI events back to the computer
usbmidi - To appear as a MIDI device over a USB connection rotary io - to interpret the rotary dial position. Used to change the key signature.

The PlayUrStaff version 2 design extends the mat design to 12"(L) x 12"(W) x 1/4"(H) and extends the range of the PlayUrStaff by six notes by including, both above and below the 5-line staff, two spaces and one ledger line (indicated by a dotted staff-line). [Pictured separately]

Eventually the PlayUrStaff will be a standalone primary unit that plugs into a battery-operated main-base with a built-in speaker, on/off and setting buttons (clef/range and sound-patch choices), a dial for fluidly transitioning between any mode/key selection, and a USB-C charging cable/MIDI port for extended uses as a MIDI-instrument with a DAW. Mat extensions to the primary unit (secondary units) will be made available for extending the staff (and ribbon) horizontally, joined together by a joint.

Version 2.0 PlayUrStaff mat design. The version 2 design extends the mat design to 12"(L) x 12"(W) x 1/4"(H) and extends the range of the PlayUrStaff by six notes by including, both above and below the 5-line staff, two spaces and one ledger line (indicated by a dotted staff-line).

2. GNOTES™ TONNETZ WEB-APP

An online application I designed and created that turns my Gnotes™ Method tonnetz into a free and interactive web-based tool. It's still in development, but the basic features and functions are working, and my students have already gotten a lot of use out of it.

Tonnetz App
by Gnotes™ by Stephanie, LLC.

A free and interactive web-based app to explore a colored Tonnetz designed by Stephanie for use in her original Gnotes™ Method.
Inventor & Designer | Stephanie Leotsakos
Co-Developer | Spencer Shen

Note: The app is designed as a web-app and functions best on computer browsers. It has limited function on mobile phones.
1. Turn audio on.
2. Select a square note and place it into a bubble/circle in the Tonnetz.
3. Play a note (bubble), M3rd/m3rd/P5th interval (mid-line dot), or full triads (triangles)!

A picture of what the current interface looks like.

MUSICAL DESIGNS

GLIMPSING MY INTERDISCIPLINARY MUSICAL MIND

This collage portfolio showcases select musical designs I have hand-made between 2017 and 2023. It does not detail each picture, but intends to illustrate products of my creative mind investigating music theory, composition, and exploration with, colors, shapes, multidimentional geometries, related original origami/kirigami designs, musical inventions, toys, and games. It excludes the "PlayUrStaff", which is shared separately as video in the portfolio.