‘Be KūNū: An Exploration of Ancient Mandingo Strings’ by Olivier Tarpaga

For Dafra Kura band, Princeton University’s African Music Ensemble, and the Princeton University Orchestra 

Beth was asked by Burkinabé composer and choreographer, Olivier Tarpaga to help transcribe and realize his music for symphonic orchestra and his band, Dafra Kura, made up of himself as well as musicians from Burkina Faso and Mali. Beth worked closely with Tarpaga in the months leading up to the premiere to transcribe four movements totaling half an hour of music. Here is the piece described in Olivier’s words: “The ‘Be Kūnū’ project was made possible by Princeton University’s Humanities Council and the Council Awards 2023-24 Grants for Innovation and Collaboration. This project aims to introduce the community to rich artistic and cultural material from the African continent via collaborations, new artistic creations, and performances. The Magic Grant supported the creation of 'Be Kúnū: A Contemporary Exploration of Ancient Mandingo Strings,' a suite of new music developed and performed through a collaboration between the Princeton University Orchestra, the African Music Ensemble, and musicians specializing in ancient African string instruments and the balafon. 'Be Kúnū' is best translated as 'the present past.' Beth is continuing her partnership with Tarpaga on his new material with the goal of his music reaching orchestras and audiences across the globe.

Sondre Lerche’s 20th Anniversary Celebration of ‘Two Way Monologue’ for String Quartet.

For the album’s 20th anniversary year, Sondre called on Beth to arrange seven of the tracks from their full band version to a score for his voice plus string quartet. The process involved the two working closely on the tone of each arrangement in Oslo over the summer of 2024 and culminated in an electric performance at New York City’s Le Poisson Rouge as well as later performances in Chicago and LA. On her sound, Big Takeover Mag said “sharp new arrangements for all but the title track, evoking Debussy impressionism and Bernard Herrmann tension throughout” and Sondre’s music had a “splendid sonic palette”. 

Regina Spektor’s ‘Regina Spektor on Broadway’

As part of her career spanning relationship with Regina Spektor, Beth was asked to MD for her 5-night run at the Lunt Fontanne Theater in June 2019. In addition to creating string charts for the entire show, Beth helped Spektor flesh out a new, epic composition called ‘Spacetime Fairytale’ which featured the string quartet (see clip below). Leading up to this celebration of her music, Spektor also made an appearance on Late Night With Seth Meyers where she hired Beth to arrange her ‘Loveology’ for string trio for the occasion (video currently unavailable).

Regina Spektor - Spacetime Fairytale live on Broadway 2019-06-21:

Honk the Film

Beth has teamed up with actor and screenwriter, Vivia Font and editor and visual effects specialist, Brian Young to score original music for this film short. Honk is the manifestation of an old joyful friendship into existence during a time of upheaval in the current moment of a life.

Emma Sandall’s and New Light Theater Project’s ‘This Wrestling Place’

Sandall will be joined onstage in the workshop performances by Claudia Campbell and Michael Aguirre, with projection design by Yana Biryukova, costume design by An-lin Dauber, and additional choreography by Ashlee Wasmund. Music direction will be by Beth Meyers.

(Ben Folds, Sarah Norris, and Emma Sandall Team up for Stage Adaptation of Sheila Heti’s Motherhood, 2021)

This Wrestling Place is a new play with original music and movement by Emma Sandall and Sarah Norris, inspired by Sheila Heti’s Motherhood, an introspective, witty, and intimate book on the most difficult choice a woman can make: whether or not to have a child. Asking what is gained and what is lost when a woman becomes a mother, This Wrestling Place treats the most consequential decision of mid-adulthood with candor and humor. In her late thirties, when her friends are asking when they will become mothers, the protagonist considers whether she will do so at all. 

(This Wrestling Place, n.d.)

Chromeo ‘Momma’s Boy’ and ‘Night By Night’

In 2008, Beth was approached by Dave Macklovitch of the band, Chromeo to create a strings plus timpani arrangement of ‘Momma’s Boy’ for their appearance on Late Night With Conan O’Brien. She and Dave worked closely to sculpt a dramatic version for television. Chromeo continued to work with Beth, hiring her to MD for their appearance at Canada’s Juno Awards a few years later as well as create another arrangement of ‘Night By Night’ for their spot on The Late Show With David Letterman in 2010. 

Sarah Kirkland Snider’s ‘Unremembered’

Beth had the privilege of contracting and MD’ing the 2013 recording project for Sarah Kirkland Snider’s ‘Unremembered’ under the baton of Edwin Outwater at Water Music Studios and featuring vocals from Shara (Nova) Worden, Padma Newsome and DM Stith. The New Amsterdam Records release was reviewed by the Washington Post: “The macabre atmosphere is Snider's brand of New England gothic that would make Edgar Allan Poe proud. It is also a study in the beguiling power of memory.” On the recording, WaPo says: “Snider’s score, both terrifying and tender, gets a penetrating performance by conductor Edwin Outwater and a hand-picked orchestra, including members of ACME, Alarm Will Sound and So Percussion.”

Rebecca Comerford’s ‘Nightingale & the Tower’

In 2019, Beth’s writing, arranging, and orchestrating culminated in a 2-night run of the full-length multi-generational electronic chamber opera, ‘Nightingale & The Tower’ at Ojai’s Libbey Bowl. During the writing process, she worked closely with co-composers including Comerford, Jason Treuting, and Mikael Jorgensen. The project has since evolved and will be realized as an animated movie.