Telling Stories Through Music: Barrett Kalellis on The Hill of Vision and the Art of Vocal Composition
- WOMCO
- 2 days ago
- 6 min read
Composer Barrett Kalellis of Pinckney, Michigan, USA, has received the Grand Prize at the World Artistry Music Award 2025 Season 3 for his composition The Hill of Vision for bass-baritone and chamber orchestra. The winning performance featured John Henkel, bass-baritone, with the University of Michigan Contemporary Chamber Ensemble conducted by Carl St. Clair. The season ran from 10 June to 20 September 2025, with the results announced in October 2025.
Following this recognition, we spoke with Barrett Kalellis to learn more about his award-winning composition The Hill of Vision. In the interview below, he reflects on the origins of the work, the literary inspiration behind it, and the artistic ideas that shaped its musical language. He also shares insights into his creative process, his collaboration with the performers, and his broader perspective on composition in today’s musical landscape.
Could you please introduce your award-winning composition The Hill of Vision? When and under what circumstances was it composed? Could you share the inspiration behind the composition and the message you hope to convey through it?
Barrett Kalellis:
"The Hill of Vision was written in the winter of 1985 specifically for bass-baritone John Henkel, a long-time and well-known Ann Arbor performer friend of mine from student days at the University of Michigan. After Carl St. Clair, the director of the U-M Contemporary Directions Ensemble committed to programming the work, I prepared the score and parts for performance. The concert was set for April 13, which also was my birthday that year. My idea for the work and titular concept came from the discovery of the poetry of Irish poet James Stephens, a contemporary of William Butler Yeats. The poems that I selected for the piece came from Stephens’ collection 'The Hill of Vision'. I obviously borrowed the title and chose six of his poems that I thought lent themselves to a dramatic musical setting. The speaker of the poems—the singer, in this case—had a definite personality that I tried to depict musically with his unique, almost philosophical utterances."
What was your creative process like while composing The Hill of Vision? How did you approach the structure and dynamics of the piece?
Barrett Kalellis:
"My music for voice stems from my belief that songs should tell a story to the audience. The music should reflect in some manner the meaning of the song, just as music written for films should amplify and mirror what action is taking place on the screen. If the voice is simply used as another instrument, or for color purposes, then it fails to tell the story of the text and is just another sound among the mix of instruments. The texts that I chose for The Hill of Vision each have a different character and meaning and demand unique color choices from the various instruments. The first song is about a possibly inebriated fellow in a pub that thinks he is having a conversation with God. The second song has a fellow who thinks he is hearing birds and is comparing his singing to them—obviously bird-like sounds are in order. The third song is commentary on a windstorm, which is depicted in the powerful orchestral accompaniment. The fifth song, about a tipsy guy in a bar, bitterly complaining that a woman he approached refused to buy him a drink, thus earning his invectives, calling her a slut. I thought mixing some jazz elements into this song would be appropriate, so I have opened and closed it with an alto sax solo and a sax-trombone duet in the middle. (FYI, when composer Ned Rorem heard this piece, he objected to my using American jazz rather than Irish pub music!) The final song is 'Sarasvati', which in Hindu mythology is the goddess of speech, music and learning. Here the singer muses about the troubles of the world and how music can help to shelter souls and overcome them. The music at the ending is ethereal-sounding, with harp and piano in high registers, crotales tapping, and upper strings in high harmonics."
We listened to your composition in a recorded performance conducted by Carl St. Clair and performed by the University of Michigan Contemporary Chamber Ensemble, with John Henkel as the bass-baritone soloist. Could you share how you collaborated with the musicians who performed your award-winning work The Hill of Vision? Where was it recorded, and were there any memorable moments from the recording process?
Barrett Kalellis:
"I attended several rehearsals of the music prior to the performance, to make suggestions about tempi, dynamics and such. I also met privately with Mr. Henkel to coach him with the vocal part. The recording was made from the live performance on April 13, 1985, held in Rackham Auditorium on the University of Michigan main campus. The entire concert was a tribute to composer George Cacioppo, who passed away earlier in the year. Since I had shown some early sketches of the work to Cacioppo, Carl St. Clair felt that it would appropriate to premiere the piece on this concert."
Read the full Ann Arbor News article:
Could you talk to us about yourself, your journey in music, and your future goals? Could you also share your perspective on what defines a great composer in today’s digital age, and what you consider to be the most significant artistic or professional challenges facing composer today and in the coming years?
Barrett Kalellis:
"My 'journey in music' began in earnest when I decided to develop my talents by finding my own musical voice and by founding several professional groups, in Grand Rapids and in Detroit, dedicated to performing new music. Since I didn’t want to teach theory in college, which I had done as a graduate student, I decided to take the Charles Ives route and earn a living as a commercial writer and public relations executive. Like Ives, my composing was done in my spare time at home. I also had the luxury of having my compositions performed and recorded by professionals within my own ensembles. As a member of the New York Composers Circle, I have the opportunity to network with fellow professional composers and share insights and criticism with them, along with the benefit of having my compositions given a New York premiere during their annual concert series. 'Great' composers, in my judgment, are ones that have passed Samuel Johnson’s criteria outlined in his famous 'Preface to Shakespeare': 'What mankind have long possessed they have often examined and compared, and if they persist to value the possession, it is because frequent comparisons have confirmed opinion in its favor.' That is, the only great composers are those that have passed both the test of time and continued approbation. Therefore, composers living today can be regarded as 'good' only if they are well-received by audiences and have demonstrated technical excellence, innovation, creative skill and emotional depth. If they meet these criteria, they still have challenges to meet, including getting performed frequently, building awareness among concert-going audiences as well as professional performers, teachers and students of various instruments. This is missionary work and getting published would be a major step in achieving this goal."
Would you like to share your experience participating in our competition and anyone you'd like to thank?
Barrett Kalellis:
"Participating in the World Artistry Music Award Competition is helpful in gaining recognition for composers that have written significant works. I have learned much by participating in the programs of the New York Composers Circle, who have been very supportive in advancing my composing efforts. Their advice and shared experience have proven invaluable."
Biography
BARRETT KALELLIS first learned piano as a student of Evelyn White and was the accompanist of the Audubon (NJ) High School Concert Choir in 1961-62. Along with a degree in English Literature, he received his graduate training in composition, piano and orchestra/opera conducting at the University of Michigan, Princeton University, Indiana University and the Vienna Hochschule für Musik in Vienna, Austria. He studied composition with Ross Lee Finney, Leslie Bassett, George Cacioppo, George Balch Wilson and John Eaton and was the founder and music director of the Grand Rapids Chamber Choir, the Grand Rapids Musica Nova Ensemble and the Detroit Contemporary Chamber Ensemble from 1982-87. His works for orchestra, chamber ensembles and voice have received numerous awards. In October 2025, he won the Grand Prize in the Original Composition category by the international World Artistry Music Awards competition for The Hill of Vision for Bass Baritone and Chamber Orchestra.