Florestan at Fredonia

Florestan at Fredonia is a residency partnership between Florestan Recital Project and the SUNY Fredonia School of Music. It was instigated by Florestan’s Co-Artistic Director Joe Dan Harper, who is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor of Voice at SUNY Fredonia. Now in its second year, Florestan at Fredonia is a group of student pianists, singers, and faculty from the SUNY Fredonia School of Music. During the 2005-2006 season, Florestan at Fredonia will present two song recitals that explore the influence of Nadia Boulanger on American music.

The residency began in 2004, and, in that same year, Florestan at Fredonia was awarded a grant from the SUNY Fredonia Convocation committee. As part of the 2004-2005 Convocation Series “A Call to Civil Action,” Florestan at Fredonia presented a song recital entitled “Freedom from Oppression,” inspired by the group’s belief that music has the power to shape societies and rouse people to action in their communities. The program featured thought-provoking works by composers such as George Butterworth, Stephen Foster, Lee Hoiby, Charles Ives, Kirk Mechem, Francis Poulenc, and Ned Rorem. These songs explored responses to wars over the centuries, woven together with texts about the struggles of war and the endurance of the human spirit.

Chatauqua Region Word
press release, 4.7.05-4.13.05

Fredonia School of Music students will perform the concert, “Freedom from Oppression” in honor of the university’s Spring Semester Convocation on Monday, April 11, at 8 p.m. in the Juliet J. Rosch Recital Hall at SUNY Fredonia.

The convocation theme is “A Call to Civic Action.”

The concert is being presented by the Boston-based Florestan Recital Project, which is devoted to promoting the art of the song recital through performance and educational outreach. Joe Dan Harper, an artistic director of the Florestan Recital Project, is currently a visiting professor at the Fredonia School of Music. “Our goal is to present unique and carefully researched programs of artistic interest, achieving the highest standards of performance and building a diverse audience,” he said.

Karl Boelter, director of the School of Music, said: “This concert marks the beginning of a partnership between the Fredonia School of Music and Florestan Recital Project.” The Carnahan-Jackson Humanities Fund of the Fredonia College Foundation provided a grant for the concert’s performance.

Inspired by this semester’s convocation theme, the April 11 concert program features thought-provoking works around topics of war and freedom by composers including George Butterworth, Stephen Foster, Lee Hoiby, Charles Ives, Kirk Mechem, Francis Poulenc, and Ned Rorem.

The performers will be Geordie Alexander (baritone), a junior from Churchville, N.Y.; Michael Bies (piano), a graduate student from Farmington, Ontario; Brad Carson (baritone), a senior from Woodstock, N.Y.; Lori Johnson (soprano), a junior from Fairy Hill, Jamaica; Maryanne Kotylo (piano), a senior from Binghamton, N.Y.; Mayuha Kunisue (piano), a senior from Minami, Japan; David L’Hommedieu (baritone), a senior from Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.; Johanna Moffitt (soprano), a graduate student from Buffalo, N.Y.; Kristina Ramanayake (soprano), a graduate student from Lithuania;and Midori Tsujimoto (piano), a senior from Hannan, Japan.

Rehearsals for the concert began in December, when the 10 singers and pianists began researching songs around the convocation topic. “Many interesting songs were discovered that dealt with issues of equality and political oppression in countries around the world,” Professor Harper said. “But the songs the students found most compelling were songs about war, beginning with songs from the Civil War era and Negro spirituals, which mark the roots of the civil rights struggle in our country.” Walt Whitman’s poems about the Civil War have been set to music by numerous contemporary composers. Many powerful settings of Whitman’s texts will be presented at the concert, as well as several songs inspired by World War II.

“The concert presents many voices from wars over the centuries, woven together with texts about the struggles of war and the ultimate triumph of humanity,” Professor Harper said. “The idea for this project began with the belief that music has the power to shape the society in which we live and to inspire people to action in their communities.”