E s t e l í G o m e z , s o p r a n o
s i n g i n g . . .
https://www.lawrence.edu/articles/how-practice-course-brings-expertise-across-campus
“Teaching at LU, Performing on World Stages: Gomez is Living Her Best Musical Life”
http://21cm.org/magazine/sounding-board/2019/03/07/my-word-for-home/
https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1057&context=music_facpub
http://www.orartswatch.org/singer-esteli-gomez-improvising-a-career-in-contemporary-classical-music/
http://performingartsmontereybay.com/esteli-gomez/
"The superb duo of guitarist Colin Davin and soprano Estelí Gomez
presented a remarkable program titled “Nomads by Nature” on the evening of June 10 [2018].
...Gomez sang with vivid emotion and a clear, focused tone while Davin was attuned to her every nuance.
… The evening’s first world premiere, Richard Beaudoin’s alluring Three Moraga Songs,
is set to text by Xicana poet and essayist Cherríe Moraga. Beaudoin’s writing grabs your attention from the beginning.
...Throughout the piece, Gomez filled the hall with sound and produced some captivating whispers.
…The second world premiere, Becca Stevens’ Three Songs set to poetry by Jane Tyson Clement,
is a fascinating co-mingling of Art Song, folksong, and David Crosby.
Here Gomez ... easily moved between these styles."
"In particular, Estelí Gomez, a soprano with a floating, angelic voice and a powerful presence, sang breathtakingly lovely solos."
http://www.icareifyoulisten.com/2012/03/roomful-of-teeth-and-glasser-at-merkin-hall
"...the obvious stars are found at the extremes: high soprano Estelí Gomez, with her effortless, spun-silk timbre..."
http://lucidculture.wordpress.com/2012/10/07/roomfu
"In the aria 'Quia respexit humilitatem,' the soprano Estelí Gomez brought a deeply expressive, wonderfully clear, and rich, centered voice to the words in which Mary praises God for exalting someone as humble as herself."
"Estelí Gomez and violinist, Jörg-Michael Schwarz made the complex ornamentation and melismatic flourishes of 'Laudamus te'
appear easy — Gomez with her clear and agile voice, Schwarz with his quick finger work and rhythmic precision."
http://kcmetropolis.org/issue/may-23-2012/article/bach-in-b-minor
"Operatic master Jean-Baptise Lully's own setting of Dixit Dominus is a lighter, more obviously Gallic version. The bright, incisive articulation and rhythmic fastidiousness of the female trio [Jolle Greenleaf, Estelí Gomez, and Virginia Warnken] was outstanding, with soprano Estelí Gomez particularly distinguished in ease of declamation and ornamentation. ... O Misterium ineffabile was a duo in the mould of Baroque opera. Gomez's purity of tone and direct, communicative manner was potent and the strong contrast of timbres with [baritone Daniel] Moore proved striking."
"We were delighted to award the first prize of five thousand euro to the American soprano Estelí Gomez. She gave a number of immaculate performances. Purcell’s 'O lead me to some peaceful gloom' was like a crystal stream of sound, while Rameau’s 'Du pouvoir de l’Amour / Jeux et ris qui suivez mes traces' was simply, and I hesitate to use the description because it has become almost a cliché, ravishingly beautiful. In this recit/aria she used Baroque gesture, a form of hand movement that historically would have been used in contemporary perfromance of this time, in such a natural way that it just looked right. Personally, I was hugely impressed by her technique, particularly her support which was almost invisible to my eye."
Full interview can be found at:
http://michaelmcglynn.wordpress.com/tag/canticum-gaudium
"I also had the pleasure to work with Estelí Gomez, winner of the Canticum Gaudium competition the day before. Estelí sang Hildegard of Bingen while I pointed out to the choirs what she was doing, and, rather more importantly, not doing as she sang. Still hands, correct body position, natural movement – all of these things had contributed to her victory the day before, and she was obviously radiating so much joy when she sang for us that I know many of the children in particular gained much from her
natural contribution to the session."
http://michaelmcglynn.wordpress.com/tag/esteli-gomez
"Saul’s daughters, Michal and Merab, were portrayed by Sherezade Panthaki and Estelí Gomez. Both were perfectly cast. Panthaki’s stage presence and voice had listeners relishing every embellishment and line. Gomez had the flashier of the two roles, playing the spiteful daughter. As such, she was called upon for the rapid scales and flourishes and other coloratura Baroque techniques, which her nimble voice handled ably. Though a high soprano, her Air 'Capricious man, in humour lost' called for extensive use of her surprisingly rich lower register. Both embued these demanding parts with artistry that belied their young years."
http://kcmetropolis.org/issue/june-8-2011/article/an-oratorio-of-biblical-proportions
"Other highlights included John Lenti’s captivating baroque guitar solo Cumbes, from Spanish composer Santiago de Murcia’s Codice Saldivar; Estelí Gomez’s penetrating soprano on the lamentation Ay, mi amado Pastor; a lighthearted female quintet on de Salazar’s madrigal Tarara, qui yo soy Anton; and the comically argumentative Fuera, fuera! by Brazilian composer Roque Jacinto de Cavarria."
"Rinde Eckert's Cesca's View showcased the haunting vocal swoops and dives of Estelí Gomez's yodeling solo,
a highlight of the evening."
http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/06-22-2010_roomful-of-teeth.htm
"'Cesca’s View' by Rinde Eckert was a wonderfully haunting yodeling solo sung by Estelí Gomez,
accompanied by the other three women in plaintive harmonies."
http://blog.timesunion.com/localarts/roomful-of-teeth-at-mass-moca-on-june-18-2010/2129
"Rinde Eckert's colorful "Cesca's View" had soprano Estelí Gomez yodeling like a vocal acrobat, all of the range, weaving in and out of the style with fast changes, secure and pitch-accurate, while the other singers sang in close harmony or smooth tone waves underneath."
http://seattletimes.com/html/thearts/2021860275_roomfulofteethxml.html
"Last but not least is Conspirare's 'Agnus Dei', which has quickly become my favorite account of the spellbinding choral version of Barber's Adagio for Strings. Listen to the way the solo soprano voice floats in out of her section, crescendos through the lower note, then decrescendos upward as she plucks the high C-flat out of the air. If you love the Allegri Miserere, give this a try! The entire anthology is one of those ventures where everything went perfectly, including Harmonia Mundi's inclusion of a classy and informative booklet. This will anchor the Barber section of your record collection for years to come."
The American Record Guide, Jan-Feb 2013
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Praise for Roomful of Teeth's Second Album, Render
Order here:
The Thoroughfare - Hidden Gems: Roomful of Teeth’s “Render” (May 20, 2015)
“juggernauts of new vocal music with fearless pieces that are both beautiful
and groovy as hell.”
Exclaim! - Roomful of Teeth Render (May 2015)
"...as close to heaven as the living will ever know."
Textura - Roomful of Teeth: Render (April 28, 2015)
"Render presents a veritable embarrassment of vocal riches that more than
lives up to the promise of the group's stellar debut.”
Soundfly - 5 New Albums I’ve Been Digging This Month (May 2015)
"Roomful of Teeth is a vocal octet who embrace their classical training, wearing it on their sleeves, as they vigorously rip the sleeves off their suit jackets running through the forest."
That Music Magazine - Roomful of Teeth, Render (April 28, 2015)
"You know that cool bit at the beginning of an acapella performance of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” when the voices do all the instruments for the intro?
That’s this entire album.”
Second Inversion - ALBUM REVIEW: “Render” by Roomful of Teeth (April 27, 2015)
"The ensemble’s voices ebb and flow in soft waves, gracefully gliding in and out of
near-silence to create a serene and mystical sound world.”
NPR Classical, Deceptive Cadence - Roomful Of Teeth: A Vocal Group That's
'A Band, Not A Choir’ (April 25, 2015)
"For me, it's the idea of seeing distinct particles slowly come together and create an image — that's what video rendering is," [Shaw] says. "And I think our next journey through this second album, and beyond, is to see how our distinct voices come together and keep creating new music."
cleveland.com - Roomful of Teeth offers the world in mesmerizing performance at Cleveland Museum of Art (3/23/2015)
"Unbounded, it seems, by style or culture, the vocal ensemble basically had the whole world in its hands...freely using techniques from every corner of the planet."
NPR's Tiny Desk Concert (Tom Huizenga) (11/10/2014)
"gleefully dismantling the traditional definition of ensemble singing right before our ears”
The Nation - A More Perfect Pitch (April 28, 2015)
"Roomful of Teeth is making some of the most rigorously venturesome and thrillingly inventive music being made by any ensemble, vocal or instrumental, today.”
The Boston Musical Intelligencer - Cheeky Teeth at Stave Sessions (3/20/2015)
"They are not a vocal ensemble, generic and interchangeable, ... [t]hey are a band.”
Boston Globe - Roomful of Teeth shares unorthodox vocal wonders (3/19/2015)
"Experimentation may be this group’s calling card, but its essence is pure joy."
Praise for Roomful of Teeth's Debut Album (October 2012)
Order here:
NPR: Public Radio's Top Songs of 2012
"75 minute masterpiece" tinymixtapes
"a tour de force of vocal mischief-making" eMusic
"it will send an unnameable thrill down your spine." Pitchfork
"Sensational" John Corigliano, composer
"exhilarating listening" Textura
✩✩✩✩✩ eMusic
"a cappella like you’ve never heard before" Utne Reader
"the group re-writes the vocal rulebook" Textura
"the nervy throwdown feel of an aesthetic dare" Pitchfork
"Glee on acid" Harmonyguy
"Sets the Bar Unfairly High" WQXR
"fiercely beautiful and bravely, utterly exposed" NPR
"opulent and enthralling,
incessant and forceful.
It has the potential to seize
and to completely overwhelm
with its richness in influence and resolve"
tinymixtapes
"It's hard to imagine a more exciting vocal group than Roomful of Teeth" Lucid Culture
"sexy ethnomusicology sharing the stage with the indie-pop" Coldfront
The Awl's 100 Great (not Best!) Albums of 2012
"a free-wheeling, madcap spirit" Pitchfork
"utterly captivating, a mesmerizing insight into vocal chord capacity" tinymixtapes
"This is an ensemble that can do anything." WQXR
"hypnotic...chilling" Needledrop
"a seemingly endless palette of vocal techniques" eMusic
"a thoroughly 21st-century re-imagining of a cappella vocal music" NPR
"a really adventurous, unique, bold and just fun album" Needledrop
"luminous" eMusic
"a thrilling new twist on one of the oldest forms of musical expression" foamhands
"entrancing" Needledrop
"they happily exploit every 'extended technique' their voice teachers ever warned them against" WQXR
"They could sound equally at home in Renaissance motets, on American Idol
or on an ethnomusicological field recording from Northern Asia" WQXR
"adventurously expands what it means to make music in this genre" Needledrop
"a series of almost cruelly difficult, often absolutely gorgeous works by
contemporary composers that bring out every octave worth
of these singers’ talent" Lucid Culture
"a disarmingly bold re-imagining of singing's possibilities" Textura
"produced and recorded extremely well" Needledrop
"a truly subversive piece of anti-pop" eMusic
"certain to ignite a lasting glow in experimental a cappella music that shows absolutely no sign of burning out." tinymixtapes
"Let's be clear: Roomful of Teeth... are the future of vocal music"
WQXR
