Tom Purdom has published his review of our last concert of the 2014–2015 season, I’ll Make Me A World, in the Broad Street Review. Here are some little snippets from it, to whet your appetite for the whole thing, which you can read by following the link above. Once you are on the Broad Street Review website reading the review, you might want to check out the rest of the site and bookmark it and visit it often for its coverage of the arts in Philadelphia.
One of Lyric Fest’s most attractive qualities is the deep humanity that colors all their programs … Scarlata creates appropriate characters when he sings … You know you’re attending a Lyric Fest event when a song by Stephen Foster follows pieces by Mahler and Schoenberg … Elizabeth Weigle[‘s] … performance of Cesar Frank’s “Nocturne” created one of the program’s loveliest interludes … Some of the most memorable items on the program showcased Chrystal E. Williams, an up-and-coming young mezzo with a big, beautifully colored voice … The choral works on the program added to the overall blend of wonder tempered by a toughminded awareness of the harsher realities … BSR contributor Kile Smith finished his season as Lyric Fest’s composer-in-residence with a small piece with big impact.