![\"Voices-from-Ocean-State](\"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/news\/sites\/16\/2026\/11\/Voices-from-Ocean-State-cover-1024x1004.png\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\u201cVoices from the Ocean State,\u201d composed by Eliane Aberdam<\/a>\u2014URI\u2019s professor of music composition and director of graduate studies\u2014and recorded at the University accompanied by the URI Symphony Orchestra, features five musical pieces spanning orchestral, chamber vocal and operatic writing about ancient myth and social justice. The album, which took two years to complete, is also the first ever released by the URI Symphony Orchestra\u2014under the direction of Luis Viquez<\/a>, the University\u2019s director of orchestral studies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis is a very special album because it is centered around what we do here in the Department of Music,\u201d Viquez said. \u201cWe have faculty soloists, a faculty composer and faculty conductor. For us here at URI, this is our kind of research we want to share with the community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Excitement was emanating from students throughout every rehearsal and recording session for the album, Viquez said. Along with those pursuing music majors, University students studying different disciplines, such as oceanography, who perform with the Symphony Orchestra now also get to include a recorded album\u2014soon to be heard on Spotify and Apple Music\u2014on their respective resumes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cImagine being a non-music major who gets to say they were part of an album production. This is something that really justifies the impact the music program is having all across the campus community here at URI,\u201d Viquez said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Rhode Island Sinfonietta, and the Sand and Sea Opera Ensemble, both featuring URI faculty and staff, also contributed to making \u201cVoices from the Ocean State,\u201d released by Mark Masters Records, based in New York. Ethan Hicks<\/a>, the University\u2019s senior information technologist, and Providence recording engineer Brad Kleyla oversaw the album\u2019s recording.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Along with showcasing her diverse writing styles, Aberdam hopes the album will convey the spirit of collaboration and appreciation for living women composers\u2014who are both rare and face a myriad of obstacles in producing their work. Making this album is a way to show the audience that women composers can overcome those challenges and bring their own unique sounds to life, she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s important to let the younger generation know how important feminism is to the world of music and what we can achieve,\u201d Aberdam said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Two pieces on \u201cVoices from the Ocean State\u201d center around social justice. One is a selected tableaux from Aberdam\u2019s opera \u201cFrontiers of Sand and Sea (Fronti\u00e8res de sable et de mer),\u201d which tells the story of a young mother forced to leave her village and family because of war, famine and violence. Vocals are sung by URI Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities\/Teacher in Voice Mark Conley<\/a> (tenor), Artist\/Teacher in Voice Devon Russo<\/a> and Boston-based soprano Logan Trotter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The album\u2019s opening track, \u201cIn Memoriam, Concerto for Violin,\u201d performed by Alexey Shabalin<\/a>, URI\u2019s artist\/teacher in violin and viola and a Russia native, honors Ukraine\u2019s fallen soldiers who were lost during the ongoing conflict with neighboring Russia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n