• Commissioned by Five Boroughs Music Festival for the Five Borough Songbook, rapid transit was premiered on 6 October 2011 by Martha Guth, soprano, and Blythe Gaissert, mezzo, at Galapagos Art Space, Brooklyn, New York.

• Instrumentation: two treble voices

• Duration: 4'

• Text: NYC subway lines and service announcements, adapted by the composer

PROGRAM NOTE

The moment I realized I had mastered my morning commute was the moment I felt like a real New Yorker. rapid transit musicalizes the language of the subway, weaving together vocalisms with the gestures and rhythms I associate with making my way through our glorious city on a good day. Commissioned by Five Boroughs Music Festival for the Five Borough Songbook, rapid transit was premiered on 6 October 2011 by Martha Guth, soprano, and Blythe Gaissert, mezzo, at Galapagos Art Space, Brooklyn, New York. —GL

TEXT

NYC

MTA

123

ACE

456

BDFM

7

G

JZ

L

NQR

S

SIR

Signal problems at Newkirk Ave. Station. Expect delays in 2 and 5 service at this time. 

M trains run via the F in both directions.

G train Smith-9th Streets Station is closed.

MTA service changes:

Downtown N trains run express.

Signal problems at Canal.

Downtown Q trains run local.

Staten Island Railway passengers must use the last car of the train.

NYC

MTA