2024 COLLABORATIVE WORKS FESTIVAL
SONG Of the bard
ABOUT
The Song of Bard, examined William Shakespeare’s influence on the world of song. Featuring two main stage concerts and a masterclass, the 2024 Festival highlighted the music of the countless composers who have been inspired by William Shakespeare’s work, probing scholar Harold Bloom’s bold assertion that it was Shakespeare who 'defined our modern conception of what it is to be human.'
PROGRAM I
SHAKESPEARE’S TIME
The Festival’s first concert was an evocation of Shakespeare’s time and as well as his imagination. As is so aptly described in the quote above from Berlioz’ symphonic fantasia on Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare had a unique ability to convey the human experience of romantic love. Yet as this program demonstrates, he was not the only bard of his time to ruminate on the rollercoaster journey of love and lust. These themes were popular fodder for many of the composers of the period, and the first festival concert features many of their love songs interspersed with many of Shakespeare’s sonnets that meditate on the vicissitudes of romantic love.
ARTISTS
Hannah DePriest, soprano | Nicholas Phan, tenor | Craig Trompeter, viola da gamba | Adrian Murillo, lutes | Mark Shuldiner, harpsichord & organ
PROGRAM
works by
THOMAS MORLEY
FRACESCA CACCINI
JOHN DOWLAND
SETTIMIA CACCINI
NICHOLAS LANIER
CLAUDIO MONTEVERDI
ALFONSO FERRABOSCO II
ROBERT JOHNSON
PROGRAM II:
LES PARISIENNES
The Festival's second concert, Les Parisiennes, featured the works of the women composers trailblazing during the years of the Parisian Belle époque: songs which broke barriers, pushing past the domestic confines of Paris' salons to the city's grand, public concert halls.
ARTISTS
Janai Brugger, soprano | Amanda Lynn Bottoms, mezzo-soprano | Nicholas Phan, tenor | Myra Huang, piano
PROGRAM
Works by
JONATHAN DOVE
JAKE HEGGIE
NICO MUHLY
ERICH KORNGOLD
HECTOR BERLIOZ
HANNAH KENDALL
MARIO CASTELNUOVO-TEDESCO
MICHAEL TORKEJ
DAVID LANG
GERALND FINZI
JOSEPH HOROVITZ
PETER LIEBERSON