No Ordinary Woman: Soprano Katherine Jolly Champions New Music and Womanhood in Art Song

When creating programs for concerts or recording projects, Associate Professor of Voice Katherine Jolly creates a blend of the familiar and the challenging. In addition to teaching, the soprano is dedicated to growing an audience for art song, an intimate, Western style of composition that places poetry and music on equal footing. “I’m trying to get back to a place where art song is a normal part of life, like it used to be, rather than this obtuse, fancy thing.” 

It’s with this ear for poetry that Jolly released her new album, No Ordinary Woman (Navona Records/PARMA Recordings), in January with pianist Emily Yap Chua. This album, her first since her 2019 debut Preach Sister, Preach, features three song cycles that are intimate reflections on different sorts of love and on womanhood. 

Two were commissioned and composed for Jolly: Nikki’s Love Songs, a song cycle with poetry by writer and civil rights activist Nikki Giovanni set to music by Dominic DiOrio, and Love in Times of War, which contains texts written and set by composer Carla Lucero. Rounding out the album is the 1997 song cycle No Ordinary Woman by former conservatory faculty member Gwyneth Walker, based on poems by the writer and teacher Lucille Clifton. This is the first label recording of this cycle.

“There's a lot of humor in the melodic treatments, and you can hear it in, for example, Giovanni’s ‘Good Omelet,’” Jolly says of the music on No Ordinary Woman. “You can also hear the humor in Walker’s ‘Homage to My Hair’  and in Lucero’s ‘Electric.’ If I'm going to present something that's a little more challenging for the audience, then there has to be at least one or two sets where people walk away singing something. My goal is to champion living composers and new works, so that we are welcoming current and future audiences to a space where we create beauty and light."

Jolly recorded the album over a joyful and intense three-day span in Oberlin’s Clonick Hall, with brief cat naps in between takes to stay sharp. Below, she discusses the album’s gestation and her passion for making art song accessible to all, reflecting current times and, in this case, women’s journeys. 

What sparked your interest in recording this album?

I grew up in a highly musical and writer-conscious household. Nikki Giovanni’s book Love Poems came out when I was a junior in college. At the time, I thought, “Someday I want to have these set to a cycle for me.” This is really a long-term career goal and passion project for me. I have relationships with everyone involved in this album. I’m so grateful.

Did you speak with Giovanni before she passed away in 2024?

Yes, I reached out to Professor Giovanni in 2020 to ask for her permission to set some of her poetry. I came home one day to a handwritten card from her in the mail. I’m going to frame it; I’ve been an ardent reader and fan of hers for so long. My parents followed her work, long before I was born.

Nikki graciously affirmed that she would be honored to have some of the poems from her book, Love Poems, set by one of my best friends, Dominic DiOrio, and that she'd be honored if I would sing them. 

Which poems did you choose?

This particular album is all about love. Nikki’s poetry celebrates different kinds of love—like aging love or playful love that's very sensual or even spicy. Dominic and I chose the poems that resonated with us. Everyone should have this book of poetry; there is something for everyone.

Let’s talk about the second set, No Ordinary Woman. How did you settle on Lucille Clifton’s poetry?

Soprano Kylie Kreucher ’23, a junior at the time, was accepted into the prestigious voice program at Music Academy of the West. So we were tasked with creating a program that had a meaningful theme. For Kylie, it was about female empowerment and unheard voices. So I looked for art songs across time periods that spoke to her and found Walker’s “Homage to My Hips.” It was perfect for the theme.

Then I began exploring the rest of the cycle and programmed it multiple times: on campus; with Cincinnati Song Initiative; and in guest recitals throughout the country. Women around my age or a little older waited post-recital to share about how this cycle, No Ordinary Woman, resonated with them. The final song in the set is really about aging gracefully. This cycle feels very much like how I want to see myself, and my students keep telling me, “Dr. J, I can just hear your laughter in these.”

And the third set, Love in Times of War?

Carla Lucero has shaken things up in the opera world; she is a force and an incredible composer. This cycle grew out of conversations between us. A lot of what she's written is based on my personality. There are snappy sections and references to cats at the piano, and it grew into an interesting concept to think about falling in love with somebody that you didn't intend to fall in love with. Vocally and musically, it is very challenging, so I look forward to bringing it to audiences and staging it. It was designed to be operatic in scope, and we've talked about orchestrating it and making it a one-woman, one-act orchestral show. 

What’s next for you?

I’m working on my next album already! I have had a really lovely operatic career; now, mostly I’m focused on recital and chamber works, singing with symphonies, and teaching. Not only am I still singing, I'm singing and creating. So many of my colleagues at Oberlin are doing the same, juggling performing, recording, creating, and teaching. What a gift for our students and our community. What a gift for us.