It takes a lot to send astonished ripples through an audience of AACM acolytes, but that’s exactly what the final commissionee, the Honourable Elizabeth A. Baker, did in her “Strange Loops.” Imagine, if you will, ping-pong balls rattling around a grand piano, while a supine trumpet player (Sam Trump) blows into the instrument’s belly and vocalist Dee Alexander sings into an upright bass’s F holes nearby. – Chicago Tribune
“…Baker’s unorthodox approach toward composition and performance shows her unique perception of the world.” – Jeff Brown, VAN Magazine
“A more than impressive debut…” – Textura
“New perspectives, perhaps, are Quadrivium’s best exports. The album isn’t a conventional listen by any means; the title is a nod at the idea of curricula involving the “mathematical arts” of arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music. But Quadrivium isn’t burdensome — or laborious, either. It’s an invitation to get focused, unplug from distractions, and take a lap around an extensive work of art. And hopefully learn a little bit about yourself when it’s all said and done.” – Ray Roa, Creative Loafing Tampa Bay
https://acmusic.org/relevant-tones-elizabeth-a-baker/
“As distinguished as the other composers she interpreted in this performance are, Baker’s own pieces were by far the most provocative. Work like this is a sterling testimonial to her artistry that proves she’s not just an expert in the toy piano field but a pioneer.” – The Orlando Weekly
Baker’s striking high/low piano contrasts follow a hypnotically circling, glacial pace in the thirteen-plus minutes of the album’s opening track, Sashay. Subtly and slowly, her icicle accents grow more spacious, with the occasional unexpectedly playful accent… Lots of flavors and lots of troubling relevance in an album which has a remarkably persistent awareness even as Baker messes with the listener’s imagination. – New York Music Daily
It is as contemporary as anything you will hear, and it is not afraid to combine deftly timbral and sound-color beauty in striking ways. The music is visceral. The words are frank yet poetic. – Gregory Edwards
“In Quadrivium, Elizabeth A. Baker does more than show the different ways that historical and modern influences can co-exist, she does so with purpose. She illuminates the ways that the changing digital world is changing us. She embraces the future cautiously while avoiding nostalgia for the past. She warns of the consequences of our rapidly changing world while leading us into the future anyway. She acknowledges the dangers that lie ahead but equips us with her own quadrivium of lessons in a variety of subjects & mediums.” – Erin Marie Hoerchler for The Sybaritic Singer
“…what hooks you and reels you in is her intensity and immense talent on the piano.” – The Weekly Challenger, Saint Petersburg, Florida
Elizabeth A. Baker on falling in love from the point of view of a neurotransmitter, making music from bicycle parts, and the legacy of Nina Simone. – Listening to Ladies (Episode 15)
“Elizabeth A. Baker, a self-described “New Renaissance Artist” from St. Petersburg, Fla., replaced her combat boots with ballet slippers and stretched on the floor of the Washington Street art center…”
Composers Circle – One Day, One Composer, One Discovery
5 Questions to Elizabeth A. Baker
“…a quite literally electric performance, a loud, stunning blend of synthetic and richly organic sounds that audience members could feel down into their bones!” – TEDxYouthTampaBay
Elizabeth A. Baker Makes Big Impression With Small Piano
Why is St. Pete composer Elizabeth A. Baker using a vibrator to make music?
“A terrifying [large] dynamic range.” – Anonymous
“Thanks to the efforts of sound maven Elizabeth A. Baker, who’s culmination of influences national and international has bestowed Florida with some quality avant-garde music programming…” – Creative Pinellas
Student composer’s works to be performed by student, faculty musicians
Suitcases of Sound @ TEDxYouthTampaBay2011
“Beautiful… evocative… sensitively managed economy.” – Anonymous
“Ms. Baker’s compositions continue the classical tradition into the current information-rich generation in the way that they are composed from fragments cut and pasted together (this is not a negative comment) in the way that a hip-hop DJ might combine older popular music into a background texture for a rapper – though in this case, of course, a classical-based composition results. John Zorn has done similar. I’m also reminded of some of the “pseudo-minimalism” by Toshi Ichiyanagi, where various fragments emerge and entangle over a quick, jagged loop consisting of only a few notes. All in all, exciting music.” – S. E. Scribner of The SoundScroll
“Elizabeth’s piano book [Compositions for the Contemporary Student Pianist] was an outstanding addition to the course material provided in the classroom. Her pieces were both entertaining and challenging which provided a means to deeply explore the nuances of piano technique and performance. I would highly recommend her pieces for both novice students and intermediate piano performers! – Michael Hummer (Class Piano Student at St. Petersburg College)
The Honourable Elizabeth A. Baker 