Featured Residency: Evidence of Things Not Seen

Artists: Aaron Engebreth, baritone; Martha Guth, soprano; Joe Dan Harper, tenor; Lynne McMurtry, mezzo-soprano; Alison d’Amato, piano.

Florestan Recital Project has developed a special residency package that features a performance of Evidence of Things Not Seen, Ned Rorem’s compelling evening-length song cycle. The piece involves 4 singers (SATB) and a pianist, and Florestan worked directly with Ned Rorem to give the Boston premiere of the piece in 2003. Written in 1997, Evidence is a ground-breaking example of vocal chamber music that chronicles three main stages of human existence with a seamless combination of solos, duets, trios, and quartets. Evidence provides a unique basis for a song residency because of its specific ensemble of performers, its representation of Rorem’s command of text setting, and its direct communication of issues of contemporary life.

Evidence is the fulfillment of Rorem’s longtime dream of an “Art of the Song”; his long career as a composer has been rooted in his idea that ‘Music is song and inside all composers lurks a singer striving to get out.’ This cycle uses an excellent selection of English-language texts to express the journey of a life lived, encompassing the emotional breadth of innocence and youth, love and love lost, the struggles with illness and loss, and, finally, the wisdom and reconciliation that can come with age and death. The cycle’s texts include poems by Theodore Roethke, Walt Whitman, Paul Goodman, W.H. Auden, Oscar Wilde, as well as prose settings by William Penn and translations of the French authors Colette, Charles Baudelaire, and Julien Green.

Florestan works with singers and pianists to enhance their understanding of song within all styles and languages. However, we recognize that young singers often respond more easily to new musical ideas when they have a straightforward relationship with the music’s language. Evidence provides a vehicle for Florestan to demonstrate the expressive power of a cycle in English, and it serves as an effective departure point for work in other repertoire.

A sample schedule of the residency follows:

Day One:  Arrival at college/university. Florestan artists will offer an open rehearsal of Evidence of Things Not Seen for students and faculty.

Day Two-Three:  Masterclasses, individual coachings, and seminars with students. Topics relate to song repertoire, poetry reading, and collaboration specific to song performance.

Day Four:  Evening performance of Evidence of Things Not Seen by Florestan Recital Project.

A special feature of the Evidence residency project is its inherent collaborative resources available for unique masterclass and coaching structures. The five Florestan artists involved cover a broad range of voice types, repertoire, and professional experiences, and Florestan’s passion for teamwork lends itself to productive sessions of group teaching and conversational seminars about creativity and success as a professional musician.

The parameters of this residency, such as its length, number of classes, and use of specific artist/teacher combinations, can easily be tailored to the needs and preferences of each individual school. 

Please contact residency coordinator Alison d’Amato at 617.510.9219, or email her at agdamato@florestanproject.org for more information.