Lyric Fest is 15! Having assisted in its birth, having made the first online outfit for this new baby in the Philly song scene (its first website), having helped take care of the baby’s affairs as a member of the board, having made new outfits and accessories for the growing child (new versions of the website, social media), and having been there to applaud—with heart aflutter—so many fantastic performances over these years, I have been feeling my heart grow even fonder as the 15th-anniversary season unfolded. In just a few days, the long-awaited crowning event of the season will take place, with international opera stars Bryan Hymel and Irini Kyriakidou giving a concert with Lyric Fest’s Cofounder and Co-Artistic Director Laura Ward at the piano.
The program will include the first presentation in Philadelphia of the song cycle Chansons de Diane by Lyric Fest’s Composer-in-Residence Benjamin C.S. Boyle. Click here to read his own words about this piece.
It has been a season that let us into the secrets of collaborative piano performance in the first concert, continued with a spirited Happy Birthday concert for Dominick Argento, highlighted Benjamin C.S. Boyle’s extensive art-song repertory, presented a musical biography of Claude Debussy (I wrote my take on this concert here), and continued with an intimately gorgeous performance of songs accompanied by guitar. Sunday’s concert will crown those achievements with a concert you do not want to miss, as I certainly don’t!
Dimitrios Diamantaras