Projects
Original music and collaborative projects.
As a violinist, violist, & 5-string electric player, Melinda blends improvisation and community music with notated musics.
A few of the projects that have been documented are below.
Original music and collaborative projects.
As a violinist, violist, & 5-string electric player, Melinda blends improvisation and community music with notated musics.
A few of the projects that have been documented are below.
The first in a planned series of shows that explore new music by playing the same piece of music on different instruments. Composition by Melinda Rice, created in collaboration with Philadelphia Small Works Gallery and with violinist Carlos Santiago. This performance took place on March 23, 2024.
The limerick generating plant’s two nuclear reactors provide energy for nearly two million homes in the area. This is a project in which Melinda plays music live in Foy Park, Spring Mount, PA with the test sirens that sound every six months from the plant. This iteration is the second performance, and took place on December 4, 2023. The next iteration will be on June 3, 2024.
In the latest iteration of Melinda and Heather’s conversation between words and music, they worked with Laurel Hill Cemetery to create a piece for Philly Fringe Fest based loosely around the lives of some of the people buried in the cemetery. Other instances of this collaboration include sound accompaniments to Heather’s poetry in conversation with Heather’s sound erasures/collaborative pieces, Highlights and Blackouts.
Murmurations takes its tentative name from the flocking of starlings, the sharing of choices, and the constant movement between outside/inside. This is documentation of Melinda’s songs, words, and compositional thoughts. They use an expanding array of voice, strings, bells, keyboard, synthesizer, sequencers, pedals, and whatever else is around, and ask trusted friends for advice. First iteration is Right Beneath the Moon.