ABOUT
Emerging Voices Preview Video
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.
“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
CONCERT I:
NEW VOICES - PARIS OF THE BELLE ÉPOQUE
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.
ARTISTS
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
N. BOULANGER: Versailles
HAHN: selected songs
BACRI: De La Douceur - WORLD PREMIERE
DEBUSSY: Ariettes oubliées
N. BOULANGER: selected songs
FAURÉ: La bonne chanson
NEW VOICES Preview
SALON CONCERT I
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.
ARTISTS
Joélle Harvey, soprano | Amanda Lynn Bottoms, mezzo-soprano | Nicholas Phan, tenor | Roderick Williams, baritone | Myra Huang, piano | Shannon McGinnis, piano
PROGRAM
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: The Sky Above the Roof
STRAVINSKY: Deux poèmes de Paul Verlaine
DE FALLA: Siete canciones populares
TAILLEFERRE: Six chansons françaises
GRANADOS: Elegia eterna
OBRADORS: Canciones clásicas Españolas
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
CONCERT II:
LOST VOICES - THE WAR TO END ALL WARS
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.
ARTISTS
Amanda Lynn Bottoms, mezzo-soprano | Nicholas Phan, tenor | Roderick Williams, baritone | Myra Huang, piano | Shannon McGinnis, piano
PROGRAM
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
L. BOULANGER: Clairières dans le ciel
Readings of poetry by Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sassoon, E.E. Cummings, and Vera Brittain.
LOST VOICES Preview
CONCERT III:
FOUND VOICES - THE NEW EUROPEAN MAP
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 Janácek reflect the national and social liberation of their people.
ARTISTS
Sarah Shafer, soprano | 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
BARTÓK: Elindultam szép hazámbul, BB. 42, No. 1
PADEREWSKI: Six Songs, Op. 18
BITTOVÁ: Nezabudka - WORLD PREMIERE
KAPRÁLOVÁ: selected songs
KODÁLY: Hungarian Folksongs (sel.)
JANÁCEK: The Diary of One Who Disappeared
FOUND VOICES Preview
SALON CONCERT II
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.
ARTISTS
Sarah Shafer, soprano | Corinne Winters, soprano | Nicholas Phan, tenor | Douglas Williams, bass-baritone | Brooklyn Rider | Myra Huang, piano | Shannon McGinnis, piano
PROGRAM
VILLA-LOBOS: Suite for voice and violin
CLARKE: Three Irish Country Songs
BURLEIGH: selected songs
D. DIAMOND: Vocalises
GLASS: String Quartet No. 3
Selection of songs by BERNSTEIN, BOWLES, BLITZSTEIN, ROREM, and COPLAND
CONCERT IV:
OUR VOICES - THE RISE OF THE AMERICAN VOICE
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.
ARTISTS
Sarah Shafer, soprano | Corinne Winters, soprano | Nicholas Phan, tenor | Douglas Williams, bass-baritone | Brooklyn Rider | Myra Huang, piano | Shannon McGinnis, piano
PROGRAM
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.)
M. BONDS: 3 Dream Portraits
LÉON: Oh Yemanja – Mother’s Prayer
C. SHAW: And So
MUHLY: Stranger - WORLD PREMIERE
OUR VOICES Preview
PROGRAM NOTES
GRECCHINOIS
Even before beginning work on the Emerging Voices project a couple of years ago, I had a strong internal reaction whenever the subject of identity came up, especially in the way it has with the recent intense waves of nationalism and the racial bigotry often associated with it…