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MUSIC Compositions and Recordings

Ceramic Personali-Tease

The origins of the name "Ceramic Personali-Tease" is multi-faceted. "Ceramic" is a play on the sound of my name and it also reflects one of the things I enjoy doing; molding clay. "Personali-Tease" plays with personality. There is an incredible array of different personalities around the world. This is my way of learning about my personality and about others. Creating music is one way that helps me to understand and process what I'm learning. Because of this you can hear different styles throughout. Sometimes there is a fusion of different styles. You can hear a range of sounds coming from my voice, clarinet, piano, Nord grand, synthesizers, various drums, baritone ukulele, alto sax, xylophone, and more! 

I love creating for and with other people!

Contact me and we can talk about what you want to create.

Albums:

EnneaMuse: Suffering & Wholeness of the 9 Enneagram Types (2021)

Hide and Go Seek/Olly Olly Oxen Free - In Progress

Mantra Dance - In Progress

CHORAL

A Child's Lullaby

Flex Voicing. Round. Language: English. 2024. Duration: 2:09. Commissioned by Katie Haun Schuring.

Afternoon On a Hill

SA. Language: English. Poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay. In Progress

The Arrow and the Song

SSAA. Language: English. Poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. In Progress

Dear A 

SATB. Language: English. 2023. Duration: 2:38. Poem by Andrew Burton. 

 

The Dragon Inside

SSAA with body percussion. Language: English. In Progress.

​Everything and Everyone

SSAATTBB with violin & cello. Language: English. Also available with piano accompaniment. 2023. Duration: 3:06.

Feel the Rhythm

SATB. (Ceramic Personali-Tease created a different recording as part of an album in progress.) Language: English. Based on poem by Catherine Bell. In Progress.

Fısılda Bana Gece (Whisper to me, oh night)

SA. Language: Turkish. Based on Poem by Özgü Işık Hafızoğlu. In Progress.

Greenwood Rising

SATB with jazz band and solos (spoken & singing). Language: English. Cantata about the Tulsa Race Riot in 1921. In Progress. *Consortium Opportunity*

I Am Who I Am

SAB. Round. Language: English. In Progress

I Honor the Place in You

SSAATTBB. Language: English. 2022. Duration: 2:16. Text based on a translation of the Sanskrit word "Namaste".​

Laughing at the Devil

SATB with piano, solos (spoken & singing). Language: English. Oratorio about hidden diseases. In Progress. *Consortium Opportunity!*

Raise Your Flag

SATB with piano. Language: English. In Progress.

Soar

SATB with piano and Bb Clarinet. Language: English. In Progress

 

Stand in Confidence

Flex Voicing. Language: English. In Progress.
 

Stronger Together: Psalms of Unity

SATB. Language: English. Based on Jeff Foster's prayer for peace and select psalms. In Progress.

Tears of May

SSAATTBB with English Horn. Language: English. 2023. Duration: 6:09. Poem by Andrew Burton

This Moment

SATB or Treble Solo. Language: English. 2022. Duration: 2:12. 

Two Worlds Colliding

SA with piano. Language: English. Based on Nhien Vuong's poem "The Crossing". In Progress.

Unspoken Prayers of the Heart 

SAATB. Language: Any. 2023. Duration: 3:08. Dedicated to Living Table United Church of Christ in Minneapolis. 

We Sing for the Water

Flex Voicing. Language: English. In honor of Sara Thomsen, Sharon Day, and the Water Walkers from around the world. In Progress.

 

When Words Fail, Just Keep Breathing

SATB. Language: English. In response to what's been happening in the world since the election of 2025. In Progress

You Are Earth

SATB with spoken solo & piano. Language: English. 2023. Duration: 1:40. Based on the poem "What?" by A. Marcus

SMALL ENSEMBLE (1-5 MUSICIANS)

Autumn Twilight

Solo piano. 1996. Recorded for the first time in 2023. 

Cat in a Sunbeam

Solo Kanklés (Lithuanian folk stringed instrument) or harp. 2024. Meditation music for the kanklés commissioned by Emilija Karaliūtė.

Dance of the Reeds: Family Dynamics Collection

Viola and bass clarinet duo. 2024. Dedicated to my nephew and sister-in-love.

Dragonfly Enneagram Center Theme

Violin and Cello. 2023.

Generations: Family Dynamics Collection

For 2 B flat clarinets and bass clarinet. 2023. Dedicated to my nephew and in memory of my grandpa Don.

Generations: Tone Poem for Clarinet, Violin, and Cello

*This work was a winner in the 30x30x30 project competition undertaken by Soli Chamber Ensemble in 2024.*

Dedicated to my family and in memory of those who have passed.

Heart and Head: Family Dynamics Collection

Tenor saxophone, B flat clarinet, and flute. 2023. Dedicated to one of my nieces and my oldest brother.

Learning to Fly

Viola, Clarinet, Piano, and Body Percussion. 2023.

Lisa's Song: Family Dynamics Collection

Bassoon. 2023. In memory of my sister. 

Seasonal Snapshot: Summer

Piano, clarinet, cello, and claves. 2023.

Summer Breeze (YouTube)

Solo piano. 1996. Recorded for the first time in 2023.

Twists and Turns of the Universe

2 Voices (Soprano, Tenor), Piano, Clarinet, Cello, and Claves. 2023. Not available for purchase. Privately commissioned as a wedding gift.

Undoing of the Three

Solo Piano. 2024. Premiere by Fidan Aghayeva-Edler on August 31, 2024 during her 24-hour piano marathon

"Undoing of the Three" is inspired by an earlier composition for voice and piano about enneagram type 3. This fast-paced solo piano version is constantly in motion like the typical three. The right hand shows off its ability to leap and dance around and doesn't let mistakes stop them from moving forward. As the three keeps on doing and doing without pause, more mistakes are made until something "undoes" them and they crash; they are made to slow down. You'll hear those mistakes as occasional dissonance early on in the music. The dissonance increases before the "glissando crash" at the ending.

St. Elisabeth Kirche Berlin, Germany

https://www.elisabeth.berlin/de/kulturkalender/24-stunden-piano-marathon-mit-fidan-aghayeva-edler-und-mareike-hein?fbclid=IwY2xjawEozYZleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHUR9H2iBTUyHLcgge1P9icBMbfnEAs93pTl_JkFy4eExyjxOSAS90ntNoA_aem_WrYRfqQO1Z5Lj8qtM86MTA

Unspoken Prayers of the Heart 

String Quartet. 2023. Duration: 3:08. Dedicated to Living Table United Church of Christ in Minneapolis. 

LARGE ENSEMBLE (6+ MUSICIANS)

The Storm Chaser

Orchestra and Narrator. In progress.

Unfinished Symphony

Orchestra. In Progress

VOICE

What's in a Name?

Art Song. Treble voice with violin and cello. Duration: 7:30. Year Music Written: 2023. 2 Poems by Andrew Burton

EnneaMuse: Suffering and Wholeness

Art Song. 9-Song Cycle. Treble Voice and Piano. 2021.

This 9-song cycle goes through each of the nine enneagram points. The songs explore the suffering and the healing for each point. Songs include One: Perfectly Imperfect, Two: Connections, Three: Ninety Seconds, Four: Deep, Five: Step On Out, Six: Answers, Seven: Come on an Adventure, Eight: Teddy Bear in Combat Boots, Nine: Let There Be. The recordings have Mindy Eschedor on the piano, Andrea Leonard on vocals for songs Three, Seven, and Eight, and yours truly (Sarah McMahill) on One, Two, Four, Five, Six, and Nine. The recordings were originally used for an enneagram workshop that I co-led with Roland Legge in 2021. These songs had their Canadian premier April of 2022 in Kamloops, British Columbia. They were performed by contralto Theresa Takacs and pianist Dimiter Terziev.

Fısılda Bana Gece (Whisper to me, oh night)

Art Song. Contralto. Based on Poem by Özgü Işık Hafızoğlu. In Progress.

Works-In-Progress

1. The compositions that I did in middle and high school, I wrote by hand. I'm currently notating and re-working those compositions into music software. 

2. Multiple songs based on the poetry of award-winning Canadian poet, theater artist, and activist Andrew Burton. I met him at the 2023 Winnipeg Folk Festival. 

3. Multiple songs based on the poetry of friend and Turkish neuroscientist, Özgü Işık Hafızoğlu.

4. Multiple songs based on the poetry of friend and enneagram colleague, Rev. Nhien Vuong

5. Multiple songs based on the poetry of Canadian author and founder of The Awakened Company Catherine Bell

 
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