Margaret E. Collins - Margaret E. Collins, Composer

Meg is a composer of chamber and choral works whose music explores the integration of ethnic instruments into ensembles with western orchestral instruments. In February 2021 she earned a PhD in Music Composition from Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland. Her dissertation, “Melting the Boundaries: The integration of ethnic instruments into western art music,” presents a broad scope of research in several different musical genres and includes eight original compositions which incorporate seven different ethnic instruments: the Native American flute, the xiao, the uilleann pipes, the Persian tar, the Persian santoor, and the high D and low D tin whistles. Meg seeks to achieve a reciprocity in the ensembles, with differing genres influencing each other in a cross-cultural exchange.

Meg has returned to her native New York, and is currently teaching World Music History and Western European Music History at Fairfield University and teaches Women in Music as well as Aural Skills at Adelphi University. She is also the Director of the World Music Ensemble at Adelphi.

Click on the blue fonts in the text below to connect to audio and video links to Meg's work.

NEWS AND UPCOMING EVENTS

Visit Meg's YouTube Channel! There you'll find videos of recent performances, as well as informational videos about traditional flutes.

On April 21, 2024, Meg participated in a special Earth Day service at the Round Hill Community Church in Greenwich, CT. She performed on four different flutes. The theme of the service was birdsong. Meg accompanied the chorus on the western concert flute, under the direction of Leslie Smith. performed a piece by R. Carlos Nakai on Native American flute, a Chinese folk song on the xiao, and - on high D tin whistle, she performed a piece composed especially for the occasion, which incorporates a lot of bird calls. "Backyard Songs," for solo high D tin whistle, is also performed in recent YouTube video. To view it, click on the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxTQ_2p6TOc

On Saturday May 11, 2024, an encore performed of Cybele (flute and piano) as well Lonesome Flute: Fantasy on a Native American theme (solo flute) will be performed by members of The Ever Trio at a concert presented by the Long Island Composers Alliance. The concert is at 3:00 at South Nassau Unitarian Universalist Church in Freeport, NY.

At a concert of vocal music presented by Long Island Composers Alliance on November 19, 2023, Ask Me No More and Domestic Work, 1937 were performed by soprano, Darlene Bennett, and pianist Kelly Horsted. Videos of these wonderful performance can be seen on Meg's YouTube Channel, by clicking on the song titles above.

On December 13, 2023, Meg and her students presented a concert of music from around the world as director of the World Music Ensemble at Adelphi University.

Two Meg's works for flute and piano, Cybele and For me and Allen, were performed by members of The Ever Trio at a concert presented by the Long Island Composers Alliance on December 16, 2023, at the East Meadow, NY Library.

At the Society for Musicology Ireland Conference in Maynooth, Ireland, held on January 12-13, 2023, Meg presented a lecture/performance on Native American flute and flute music, featuring her compositions Soft-spoken Power and Wooing Song.

RECENT WORKS

Backyard Songs is a two and a half minute work for solo high D tin whistle.
Wooing Song is a four minute work for Native American flute and voice. It was recorded on December 27, 2023, and presented as part of a lecture presentation Meg gave at the Society Musicology Ireland Conference in Maynooth, Ireland, on January 12-13, 2023.
Yvette's Meditation is an eight minute work for low D tin whistle and piano. It was by premiered by Meg and accompanist Craig Ketter on June 3, 2023 at the South Huntington, NY Library.
The Peaceful Wanderer is an eight minute work for Native American flute, piano, and percussion. A video of the premiere of this work can be seen on Meg's YouTube Channel.
One for Sorrow, Two for Joy is for solo bass clarinet.
Bird Suite is a suite for xiao, string quartet, and two percussion players. The xiao explores a full range of expression through the five movements through various means of articulation, range of register, and special technique. The third movement, Loons on the Lake, is for solo xiao, and can be found on Meg's Soundcloud page, and by clicking on the AUDIO SAMPLES tab above.
Glissade is a six and a half minute work for high D tin whistle, slide whistle, alto flute, bass clarinet, and snare drum.
Zephyr is written for xiao (a Chinese bamboo flute), cello, and suspended cymbal. The airy timbre of the xiao is complemented by breath-like sounds in the cello and cymbal parts. While the word ‘zephyr’ means a gentle, westerly breeze, an Irish traditional tune, ‘An Ghaoth Aneas’ (The Wind from the South) is loosely woven into the fabric of the piece. The piece was premiered on May 22, 2019 in the Nation Concert Hall in Dublin, Ireland by Meg on xiao, Richard O’Donnell on cymbal, and Martin Johnson on cello. A link to the recording of the premiere can be found on Meg's Soundcloud page , and by clicking on the AUDIO SAMPLES tab above.
Hope is a six and a half minute work for Native American flute, soprano, mezzo-soprano, western flute, clarinet, and percussion. Setting the poem “Hope is the thing with feathers” by Emily Dickinson, it features opposing rhythms between the percussion and the rest of the ensemble. It was premiered at Trinity College Dublin on May 31, 2018. Performers were: Meg Collins, Native American flute; Elizabeth Hilliard, soprano; Sylvia O’Brien, mezzo-soprano; William Dowdall, flute; Paul Roe, clarinet; and Richard O’Donnell, percussion. A link to the recording of the premiere can be found on Meg's Soundcloud page , and by clicking on the AUDIO SAMPLES tab above.
Soft-spoken Power is a four and a half minute work for Native American flute solo. It explores the capabilities of the instrument with non-idiomatic chromaticism and angular melodic gestures. A link to the recording of the premiere can be found on Meg's Soundcloud page, and by clicking on the AUDIO SAMPLEStab above.
Moving Toward Home is a six minute work for uilleann pipes, clarinet, bassoon, and cello.
Under a Cobalt Sky, just under nine minutes long, is a work for two Persian instruments, the tar and the santoor, and violin and clarinet.
Clouds Shadows is a seven and a half minute work composed for five different flutes: high D tin whistle, Native American flute, xiao, silver flute, and low D whistle. It explores the timbral changes of harmonies as chord tones are swapped between the flutes. The fact that the flutes are not all tuned to equal temperament allows for fluctuations in pitch, expanding the harmonic world beyond that of 12 equidistant notes. A link to the recording of the premiere can be found on Meg's Soundcloud page, and by clicking on the AUDIO SAMPLES tab above.

RECENT LECTURE/PRESENTATIONS

At the Society of Musicologists Ireland Annual Plenary Conference 12-13 January 2024, Meg gave a presentation entitled “Context and contempoary Composition for the Native American flute.” She performed a solo for Nature American flute, "Soft-spoken Power," and premiered "Wooing Song," for Native American flute and voice. The conference was held at Maynooth University.
On February 7, 2022, Meg appeared in a podcast, “Practice as Research: In conversation.” She was interviewed by Dr Nicole Brown, Director of Social Research & Practice and Education Ltd. and Associate Professor in Education at the UCL Institute of Education, London. Click here for the link to the interview.
On September 9, 2021, Meg presented a paper entitled, “Contemporary Composition for Xiao” at the International Shakuhachi Festival, held in Prague, The Czech Republic. The paper is published in Živá hudba 2021/Living Music 2021.
On February 8 2021, Meg presented a lecture as part of School of Creative Arts Research Forum (SCARF) at Trinity College. She discussed three considerations when writing for ensembles with ethnic musical instruments, and performed both representative and original works on the Native American flute and the xiao, a Chinese bamboo flute. Normally presented in the Trinity Long Room Hub, the lecture series was moved online.
At the Society of Musicologists Ireland Annual Plenary Conference 28-30 June 2019, Meg gave a presentation entitled “Addressing the Integration of Folk Instruments into Western Ensembles.” The conference was held at Maynooth University.

On 20 March 2019 Meg presented a lecture/recital at the DCU Symposium Contemporary Approaches to Music Composition and Sonic Arts: Practice as Research on all Hallows Campus.

PRIVATE INSTRUCTION
Meg offers lessons in flute, theory and composition, and piano. She has taught privately for more than twenty-five years and derives a particular joy from teaching 'late beginners'.
Email Meg now to schedule a free consultation to discuss your musical goals.