Upcoming Events
The Landscape of American Song: Vanguard Festival 2010
March 4-7, 2010
Dickinson College (Carlisle, PA)
Florestan toasts its final year of residency at Dickinson College with a four-day feast of contemporary American songs. Together with composer Libby Larsen and other guest artists, Florestan will explore the myriad styles and influences that shape today’s American song repertoire, and celebrate the collaborations between performers, poets, and composers that drive its evolution. In addition to works by major and emerging composers, the festival will feature world premiere performances of four song cycles commissioned by Florestan: works by American composers Libby Larsen, Stephen Paulus, and Robert Pound, as well as Poets in Love, a new 30-minute song cycle for tenor, baritone, and four-hand piano composed for Florestan by the renowned composer Thea Musgrave.
Past Events
Florestan Recital Project, Dickinson College Musical Artists in Residence, presents:
An Evening of Vocal Chamber Music
Sunday, November 8, 2009 at 4:00 pm
Joe Dan Harper, tenor; Anne Kissel, piano;
Guest artists from the Dickinson College Music Faculty
Rubendall Recital Hall, Dickinson College (Carlisle, PA)
Florestan Recital Project ventures beyond the piano to celebrate the world of song with Dickinson College’s own outstanding music faculty. This program presents vocal works with string quartet, violin, horn, and even Benjamin Britten’s magical fabrication of the voice of God! Featuring Britten’s Canticle I (Abraham and Isaac) and Canticle II (Still Falls the Rain),Vaughan Williams’s On Wenlock Edge, and Three Wedding Songs for tenor and violin by American composer Robert Deemer.
Florestan Recital Project, Dickinson College Musical Artists in Residence, presents:
The Creatures’ Choir
Friday, October 2, 2009 at 7:00 pm
Jessica Bowers, mezzo-soprano; John McDonald, composer/pianist.
Rubendall Recital Hall, Dickinson College (Carlisle, PA)
Commissioned in 2007 by Florestan, pianist/composer John McDonald’s elegant evening-length song cycle portrays 26 poems by Carmen Bernos de Gasztold in magnificent English translations by Rumer Godden. McDonald set 20 poetic letters from a menagerie of animals to God; six other beasts are represented by solo piano interludes. From "The Gnat" to "The Snail" to "The Whale," McDonald's songs and interludes illuminate the "miniscule shy active life of country creatures." McDonald is joined by his original partner on the piece and longtime Florestan artist, mezzo-soprano Jessica Bowers.
Florestan Recital Project in partnership with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP) presents:
BarberFest
September 25-27, 2009
Distler Performance Hall, Tufts University (Medford, MA)
Florestan's next Boston event promises to be one of the most exciting ever! Florestan presents BarberFest: The Complete Songs of Samuel Barber within a week-long festival of American music in collaboration with Boston Modern Orchestra Project under the direction of Gil Rose. The festival will take place at Tufts University's beautiful new Distler Recital Hall this coming September. In addition to Barber’s published songs, we will present many of his previously unheard unpublished songs, which were obtained by special permission from the U.S. Library of Congress and Barber’s estate. Artists include Sarah Pelletier, soprano; Shadi Ebrahimi, soprano; Janna Baty, mezzo soprano; Joe Dan Harper, tenor; and Aaron Engebreth, baritone; with pianists Sheila Kibbe, John McDonald, Linda Osborn-Blaschke, Alison d’Amato, and Anne Kissel.
View the BarberFest programs >>
For full program information and tickets through BMOP>>