Mark Abel talks about the music on his new Home Is A Harbor recording with Fanfare Magazine’s Carla Maria Verdino-Süllwold:
Not only does California-based composer Mark Abel’s first opera deal with a journey of discovery, but his own unique path as a composer sets him apart as a highly individual voice in contemporary music. The 67-year-old Abel, who has written several acclaimed song cycles, as well as a just-released three-act opera, Home Is a Harbor, on the Delos label, began his career as a rock musician in the 1970s and early 80s before serving as the foreign news editor for the San Francisco Chronicle while honing his classical composition skills. In recent years, the completely self-taught composer has produced a number of noteworthy recorded works, among them The Dream Gallery, Journey Long, Journey Far, and Terrain of the Heart, in addition to his debut opera and newest song cycle, The Palm Trees Are Restless, settings of poems by Kate Gale. In a candid conversation with Fanfare, Abel discusses his development as a musician, his shaping influences, his musical tastes and goals.…
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