FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact
Lari Robling
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215 978 6933
LYRIC FEST PRESENTS IT’S ELEMENTARY
John Musto and Michael Djupstrom premiere two newly commissioned song cycles
PHILADELPHIA, PA – February 16, 2017
As technology becomes central to our lives, what happens to our relationship with the natural world? In commissioning two new song cycles – one by Pulitzer Prize finalist John Musto and another by Philadelphia’s own Michael Djupstrom – Lyric Fest examines the four elements of the ancient Greeks through the ages, culminating in these new works. Performances are Friday, March 31st, 2017 at 7:30 PM at The Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill and Sunday, April 2nd, 2017 at 3:00 PM at the The Academy of Vocal Arts 1920 Spruce Street.
When Laura Ward takes the piano with Jonas Hacker, John Moore, Meryl Dominguez, and Elisa Sutherland, these two new settings will join Lyric Fest’s growing body of commissioned work connecting Art Song to today’s audiences.
Said Laura Ward, “To date, Lyric Fest has commissioned 21 composers creating 22 individual songs, 11 song cycles/groups (67 songs) and five arrangements.”
Co-founding artistic director Suzanne DuPlantis notes, “We pull from a vast body of existing Art Song in our programming, but commissioning has become central to our mission. We want future generations to be able to get to know us through the songs we leave. In this concert we bring together past and present to look at our relationship with earth, wind, fire and water.”
She continues, “Lately we’ve been affected by natural forces in so many ways. Art gives us a touchstone to the beauty, spirituality, and power the elements have over us.”
Known for both his command of the piano and the language of song, John Musto’s cycle, Be Music, Be Night, will be performed by Soprano Meryl Dominguez. Combining the works of Sri Aurobindo, Carl Sandburg, Leonie Adams and Kenneth Patchen, Musto will take the audience through the emotional terrain of the elements, ending with gentle praise for our earth.
Elisa Sutherland, Mezzo Soprano, will sing Michael Djupstrom’s setting of Jeanne Minahan poems beginning with Oars in Water. Previously, Djupstrom set Gwendolyn Brook’s poem, “infirm” for the highly acclaimed 2014 Lyric Fest concert, Dear March Come In, American Women Poets in Song. The program also includes selections of Rachmaninoff, Britten, Schubert and more.
Tickets for refreshments and concert are $25 for advanced purchase on the secure website and $30 at the door. Special student tickets are $10 cash at the door with ID.
About Lyric Fest
“Compulsively enterprising…” (David Patrick Stearns, Philadelphia Inquirer)
Lyric Fest was founded in January 2003 as a 501 c.3 and is currently led by two of its founders, Artistic Directors Suzanne DuPlantis and Laura Ward. Dedicated exclusively to the voice recital, Lyric Fest occupies a singular place in the Philadelphia artscape and expands the definition of the song recital by jointly featuring regional and internationally recognized artists.
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