EMERGING VOICES: ART SONG & SOCIAL CONNECTION

Emerging Voices Preview Video

“This tour de force by Phan and the PCMS provides a shot of adrenaline to the Philadelphia chamber music scene, attracting a more diverse audience to discover art songs and the picture they paint of history and social change.”

– Broad Street Review

In January 2020, the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society curated a special project with tenor Nicholas Phan that explored and illuminated themes of social connection and identity through art song. Emerging Voices was born out of Nick’s pressing desire to understand his own history, to depict our collective identities as Americans, and to deepen our capacity to empathize with the experiences of others. His career as a world-class singer provided him the special opportunity to bring to life the work and stories of composers and poets, and to reveal new and often unexpected perspectives on who we are as human beings. As Nick says, “The reason art song endures is because the themes that it’s grappling with are themes that we still confront today. The mystery of life doesn’t really change.”

This collaborative project featured 13 world-class artists and ensembles, six concerts, four world premieres, special projection design, panel discussions, and more.

A website hosts by PCMS serves as an archive of the project catalog, films, essays, programs, participants, and a selection of recordings from the concerts at the Kimmel Center’s Perelman Theater.

Major support for Emerging Voices was provided by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage — with additional support from Grant Greapentrog, Constance & Michael Cone, Vincent Tseng & Geoffrey Mainland, and the Presser Foundation.

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PANEL DISCUSSION I

The 20th century bore witness to dramatic transformations in the world order and major shifts in national and cultural boundaries. Artists frequently emerged as ambassadors for the people they represented, and composers, in particular, harnessed art song as a means of defining and expressing the unique character of a nation. To set the stage for this project, Jay Winter and Ceri Owen joined Nicholas Phan to explore how art song was historically used to understand national identity, especially during times of great social, political, and cultural change.

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CONCERT I

NEW VOICES: Paris of the Belle Époque

NEW VOICES Preview

Joélle Harvey, soprano

Amanda Lynn Bottoms, mezzo-soprano

Nicholas Phan, tenor

Roderick Williams, baritone

Jasper Quartet

Tony Flynt, double bass

Myra Huang, piano

Shannon McGinnis, piano

PROGRAM

The initial Emerging Voices program began in fin-de-siècle Paris where a uniquely French aesthetic blossomed in the ubiquitous salon concerts of that era. In this environment of cultural exchange between artists, the oeuvre of composers like Debussy and Fauré swelled with mélodies—the French equivalent of the German Lieder.

N. BOULANGER: Versailles

HAHN: Songs [Sel.]

BACRI: De La Douceur  - WORLD PREMIERE

DEBUSSY: Ariettes oubliées

- INTERMISSION -

N. BOULANGER: selected songs

FAURÉ: La bonne chanson

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SALON CONCERT I

Joélle Harvey, soprano

Amanda Lynn Bottoms, mezzo-soprano

Nicholas Phan, tenor

Roderick Williams, baritone

Myra Huang, piano

Shannon McGinnis, piano

PROGRAM

The first program at the Stotesbury Mansion offered an intimate experience akin to the “salon-style” events held in Europe in the early 20th century. While these English, French, and Spanish songs are laden with themes of love for one’s homeland, they also foreshadow the conflicted emotions of patriotism and the horror associated with World War I.

VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: The Sky Above the Roof

STRAVINSKY: Deux poèmes de Paul Verlaine

DE FALLA: Siete canciones populares

- INTERMISSION -

TAILLEFERRE: Six chansons françaises

GRANADOS: Elegia eterna

OBRADORS: Canciones clásicas Españolas

- INTERMISSION -

SANDERSON: God be with our Boys Tonight

IVES: Three Songs of the War

BUTTERWORTH: A Shropshire Lad

W.D. BROWNE: To Gratiana Dancing and Singing

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CONCERT II

LOST VOICES: The War to End All Wars

LOST VOICES Preview

Amanda Lynn Bottoms, mezzo-soprano

Nicholas Phan, tenor

Roderick Williams, baritone

Myra Huang, piano

Shannon McGinnis, piano

PROGRAM

As the world descended into the Great War, composers joined the war effort, many as soldiers. The works on this program present the individual struggles of wartime and give voice to the many lives cut short. Of particular note is Lili Boulanger’s song cycle Clairières dans le ciel, a uniquely French work that expresses the suffering and tragedy of loss.

N. BOULANGER: Soir d’hiver

DEBUSSY: Noël des enfants qui n’ont plus de maisons

GRANADOS: Tonadillas al estilo antiguo [Sel.]

WALLEN: Roundel - WORLD PREMIERE

GURNEY: selected songs

- INTERMISSION -

L. BOULANGER: Clairières dans le ciel

Readings of poetry by Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sassoon, E.E. Cummings, and Vera Brittain.

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CONCERT III

FOUND VOICES: The New European Map

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Jennifer Johnson Cano, mezzo-soprano

Nicholas Phan, tenor

Douglas Williams, bass-baritone

Myra Huang, piano

Shannon McGinnis, piano

Women of the Temple University Chamber Choir

PROGRAM

In the wake of the Treaty of Versailles, Central Europe’s borders were dramatically redrawn. Bartók and Kodály pioneered major ethnomusicological research at this time, collecting numerous Hungarian folk songs and incorporating them into their works, while the songs of Czech composers Kaprálová and Janáček reflect the national and social liberation of their people.

BARTÓK:  Elindultam szép hazámbul, BB. 42, No. 1

PADEREWSKI: Six Songs, Op. 18

BITTOVÁ: Nezabudka - WORLD PREMIERE

KAPRÁLOVÁ: selected songs

KODÁLY: Hungarian Folksongs (sel.)

- INTERMISSION -

JANÁCEK: The Diary of One Who Disappeared

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PANEL DISCUSSION II

Today, art song faces its own crisis of identity amid the abundance of cultural opportunities and options for virtual connection. Alex Ross and Susan Stewart joined Nicholas Phan to explore the role of poets and composers in communicating the human experience and fostering empathy between people. This second panel discussion explored why this art form, with its unique intersection of poetry and music, remains a powerful vehicle for social exchange.

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SALON CONCERT II

Sarah Shafer, soprano

Corinne Winters, soprano

Nicholas Phan, tenor

Douglas Williams, bass-baritone

Brooklyn Rider

Myra Huang, piano

Shannon McGinnis, piano

PROGRAM

The urge to incorporate the music “of the people” into art song extended from England to Brazil. In America, composers drew inspiration from traditional tunes, folk songs, and spirituals that expressed the nation’s diverse character. This second salon performance serves as an apt prelude to the final Emerging Voices concert, bringing our attention to a time and place close to home.

VILLA-LOBOS: Suite for voice and violin

CLARKE: Three Irish Country Songs

BURLEIGH: selected songs

- INTERMISSION -

D. DIAMOND: Vocalises

GLASS: String Quartet No. 3

- INTERMISSION -

Selection of songs by BERNSTEIN, BOWLES, BLITZSTEIN, ROREM, and COPLAND

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CONCERT IV

OUR VOICES: The Rise of the American Voice

OUR VOICES Preview

Sarah Shafer, soprano

Corinne Winters, soprano

Nicholas Phan, tenor

Douglas Williams, bass-baritone

Brooklyn Rider

Myra Huang, piano

Shannon McGinnis, piano

PROGRAM

American composers flocked to France after the war to study with Nadia Boulanger, who exhorted them to embrace their personal identities and seek out an “American voice.” This final program connects their contributions to contemporary composers Tania León, Caroline Shaw, and Nico Muhly, whose works help us understand who we are and encourage dialogue within the remarkable cultural diversity of 21st century America.

N. BOULANGER: Écoutez la chanson bien douce

THOMSON: Mostly About Love

SWANSON: selected songs

E. CARTER: Three Poems of Robert Frost

COPLAND: Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson (sel.)

- INTERMISSION -

M. BONDS: 3 Dream Portraits

LÉON: Oh Yemanja – Mother’s Prayer

C. SHAW: And So

MUHLY: Stranger - WORLD PREMIERE

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PHAN PROGRAM NOTES