2014

All pieces written by Shannon Marie O'Neill, except "Pur Ti Miro," written by Claudio Monteverdi, arranged by Shannon Marie O'Neill.

Cello: Adrienne Boni
Oboe: Michelle Plunkett
Flute: Pamela Schutt

In composing music for the 2014 Illinois Shakespeare Festival, I was asked to write some music for our ensemble to play pre show. In writing this music, I wanted to write something that sounded of the world we were creating in our shows, but also different enough that audiences didn't get a preview of what they were about to hear once the show started. I knew my ensemble prior to writing this music, so I worked to write to their strengths.

In writing, I also decided to arrange one of my favorite pieces, "Pur Ti Miro" from Montiverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea. I had always wanted to work with the piece, and since I had a live music ensemble with whom I was working, I thought it would be a good time to arrange the piece.