Los Angeles Chapter “Local Vocal” Art Song Concert Sunday, October 7, 2018, 4:00 Pm St

National Association of Composers, USA - Los Angeles Chapter “Local Vocal” art song concert Sunday, October 7, 2018, 4:00 pm St. Athanasius Episcopal Church at the Cathedral Center of St. Paul 840 Echo Park Avenue, Los Angeles James French, Music Director/Organist

From “Sea Fever” Katherine Saxon Texts by John Masefield ASCAP Composed in 2008

2. Christmas Eve at Sea 3. Sea Fever Keith Colclough, bass-baritone Kacey Link, piano Summer Roses Matthew Hetz Composed in 2018 ASCAP

1. Du bist wie eine Blume . . . . text by Heinrich Heine 2. The Rose Family ...... text by Robert Frost 3. Sea Rose ...... text by Hilda Doolittle 4. Roses ...... text by George Eliot

Kirsten Ashley Wiest, soprano Ashley Zhang, piano

From “A Theme for My Song” Richard Derby Text by Charlene Derby ASCAP Composed in 2013

4. The Plan Kirsten Ashley Wiest, soprano Ashley Zhang, piano

A Song Cycle on Life and Love Sandra Bostrom-Aguado Texts by Sandra Bostrom-Aguado ASCAP Composed in 2013, revised in 2018

1. Learning to Love 2. Looking for Love 3. Young Love 4. Decaying Love 5. Eternal Love 6. Postlude

VanNessa Hulme Silbermann, soprano Jason Stoll, piano

Two Songs for Soprano and Piano Adrienne Albert

1. Let Love Not Fail ...... text by Ivan Gallardo

Composed in 2002

2. The Owl and the Pussycat . . . text by Edward Lear

Composed in 2010, revised in 2013

Julia Hwang, soprano Victoria Kirsch, piano

> > > INTERMISSION > > >

From “Four Love Songs” Deon Nielsen Price Texts by Robert T. Bowen ASCAP Composed in 1990, revised in 2015

1. The Connection 2. Cycle of Love

Darryl Taylor, countertenor Deon Nielsen Price, piano

From “Armgart” Greg Steinke Text by George Eliot ASCAP Composed in 2000, revised in 2009 Rachel Labovitch, soprano James French, piano

Love Daniel Robbins Text by Joel Martinez ASCAP Composed in 2018 Rachel Labovitch, soprano Daniel Robbins, piano

Son de Negros en Cuba Yalil Guerra Text by Federico García Lorca ASCAP Composed in 2018 Erica Campbell, soprano Victoria Kirsch, piano

I Am in Need of Music Mark Carlson Composed in 2008 BMI

1. There Is Sweet Music Here ...... text by Alfred, Lord Tennyson 2. I Am in Need of Music ...... text by Elizabeth Bishop

Marina Gomez, mezzo-soprano Victoria Kirsch, piano

From “Murder Ballads” Michael Glenn Williams Texts are anonymous, from American folk songs – adapted by the composer BMI Composed in 2018

1. Banks of the Ohio 2. Two Sisters

Elyse Willis, soprano Michael Glenn Williams, piano

From “Sacred Transitions” Russell Steinberg Texts by Rabbi Harold M. Schulweis ASCAP Composed in 2015

1. Holding On and Letting Go 2. Mirror Eyes 3. It Is Never Too Late Diana Tash, mezzo-soprano Wendy Prober, piano

> > > Biographies, Program Notes and Song Lyrics > > >

Katherine Saxon was born in Santa Monica, California and completed her Ph.D. in music at the University of California Santa Barbara. Katherine also holds a BA from Williams College and a Masters of Music from the University of Oregon. In 2012 Katherine received first prize in the San Francisco Choral Artists’ New Voices Competition for her work Speed and Perfection. Navona Records released her compositions East of the Sun/West of the Moon and Vox Dilect Mei on the album “Polarities”. She was awarded honorable mention in the 2015 American Prize Composition Choral Music Division for Kubla Khan. Recently her mini opera 452 Jamestown Place was presented by West Edge Opera. She has attended the Oregon Bach Festival Composer’s Forum, Open Space Festival, the Atlantic Music Festival, the Bowdoin International Music Festival, New Music on the Bayou, the Banf Center for the Arts and the COSI Opera Creation Lab.

The complete cycle Sea Fever sets four poems by John Masefield’s 1902 collection Salt Water Ballads. Each portrays a different mood of the sea. The second song in the cycle, “Christmas Eve at Sea,” portrays the eerie calm of the ocean at night. The supporting harmonies in the piano appear at key points, so that the silence rings in the emptiness. “Sea Fever” is a poem I remembered from my childhood. I copied it out for my father many years ago, and it is still tacked to the wall of our garage. The singer vacillates between his stubborn duplet, diving and joining the piano in its seductive triplet rhythm. In the end, the allure of the ocean draws the singer into “a quiet sleep and a sweet dream”, for now “the long trick’s over.”

Christmas Eve at Sea - by John Masefield

A wind is rustling “south and soft,” Cooing a quiet country tune. The calm sea sighs, and far aloft The sails are ghostly in the moon.

Unquiet ripples lisp and purr, A block there pipes and chirps i’ the sheave, The wheel-ropes jar, the reef-points stir Faintly - - and it is Christmas Eve.

The hushed sea seems to hold her breath, And o’er the giddy, swaying spars, Silent and excellent as Death, The dim blue skies are bright with stars.

To-night beneath the dripping bows Where flashing bubbles burst and throng, The bow-wash murmurs and sighs and soughs A message from the angel’s song.

Sea Fever - by John Masefield

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky, And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by; And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song and the white sail’s shaking, And a grey mist on the sea’s face, and a grey dawn breaking.

I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied; And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying, And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life, To the gull’s way and the whale’s way where the wind’s like a whetted knife; And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover, And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick’s over.

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Los Angeles native Matthew Hetz is a composer with works performed nationally. He is a sometime piano and violin player. Hetz is the Executive Director/President of the Culver City Symphony Orchestra/Marina del Rey Symphony and is a member of the orchestra’s second violin section. He is an instructor at Santa Monica Emeritus College. Hetz is an environmental and transit advocate.

Summer Roses. Thank you to NACUSA for this song concert. I am grateful for the past performances of my works in NACUSA concerts. I need to give special thanks to Richard Derby for his assistance. I look forward to the performance of “Summer Roses” by soprano Kirsten Ashley Wiest and pianist Ashley Zhang.

When the NACUSA call for scores went out I decided to write new songs instead of relying on older ones. My elderly Mom recently reminisced about Heine’s “Du bist wie eine Blume” and that as a girl she would recite it to her father. This prompted me to set the poem. After setting that poem, the flowers, for no particular reason, turned into Summer Roses. The Internet search of rose poems led me to various gardens, and I plucked the three rose poems for the four-song collection.

Du bist wie eine Blume - by Heinrich Heine

Du bist wie eine Blume, You are so like a flower, So hold und schön und rein; So fair and pure and fine; Ich schau’ dich an und Wehmut I gaze on you, and sadness Schleicht mir ins Herz hinein. Steals through this heart of mine.

Mir ist, als ob ich die Hände It is as though I should gently

Als Haupt dir liegen sollt’, Lay hands upon your hair, Betend, daß Gott dich erhalte Praying to God that he keep you So rein und schön und hold. So fine and pure and fair.

The Rose Family - by Robert Frost

The rose is a rose, And was always a rose. But the theory now goes That the apple’s a rose, And the pear is, and so’s The plum, I suppose. The dear only knows What will next prove a rose. You, of course, are a rose - But were always a rose.

Sea Rose - by Hilda Doolittle

Rose, harsh rose, marred and with stint of petals meagre flower, thin, sparse of leaf,

more precious than a wet rose, single on a stem— you are caught in the drift.

Stunted, with small leaf, you are flung on the sand, you are lifted in the crisp sand that drives in the wind.

Can the spice-rose drip such acrid fragrance hardened in a leaf?

Roses - by George Eliot

You love the roses. So do I. I wish The sky would rain down roses, as they rain From off the shaken bush. Why will it not? Then all the valley would be pink and white And soft to tread on. They would fall as light As feathers, smelling sweet; and it would be Like sleeping and like waking, all at once!

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Richard Derby has a Ph.D. in music composition from the University of California Santa Barbara. In 1977-78 he held a Fulbright Fellowship to study composition with Justin Connolly at the Royal College of Music, London. In 1982 his article “Elliott Carter’s ‘Duo for Violin and Piano’“ was published in Perspectives of New Music. A Cambria Master Recordings CD of his chamber music is available from Southwest Chamber Music (swmusic.org). Derby is the current vice president of the Los Angeles chapter of NACUSA. Recent music is posted at soundcloud.com/richardderby. Derby’s website is at richardderbycomposer.com.

The song cycle A Theme for My Song was written in 2013 and sets poems by the composer’s wife, Charlene Derby, about family members. The cycle is based on a specific five-note chord (01367, or m2-M2-m3-m2) from which unique four-note and three-note chords are drawn to characterize the different songs. The last song, “The Plan”, is about their son John and his moderate learning disabilities. John is represented by the chord 0137 (m2-M2-M3) and the intervals of the perfect fourth and the perfect fifth.

The Plan - by Charlene Derby

We had a plan for you before you were born You’d be the best that each had to offer Dad’s teeth and Mom’s toes Dad’s grades and Mom’s grace You were our little package of possibilities

We watched you grow into a boy who liked construction Who had a bent for figuring things out Your favorite video was Hard Hat Harry And your favorite activity was building things Out of anything From sofa cushions to the dinner entrée

We weren’t prepared for the June morning That shook the foundations of who we thought you were

The report and the professionals who delivered it Brought our perceptions tumbling down around us

What did it all mean? What was it you couldn’t do, you Whom we thought could do anything?

When the dust cleared We began to sift through the rubble Finding the bits we could keep and discarding the rest What remained was a boy who liked construction Who had a bent for figuring things out Whose favorite TV show was Nova Whose favorite activity was building things Out of anything From Mad Science projects to the sand at the beach

Slowly, carefully, we began to rebuild Selecting this, rejecting that Using new materials to build the scaffolding that would support you While you reached for the sky

God had a plan for you before you were born You’d be the best that He had to offer

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Dr. Sandra Bostrom-Aguado, resident of Los Angeles, taught piano and keyboard, song-writing, music in films and technology at California State University, Northridge. She presently owns Angel Publishing House which publishes sacred and secular choral, instrumental, solo music and teaching materials for musicians. She has composed over 300 choral and instrumental works that are performed in numerous venues. She has written scores for motion pictures, educational films and commercials and 24 educational books and CDs on teaching keyboard skills. Her publishers include Lawson-Gould, Choristers Guild, Valiant Educational Products and Gehrmans Musikforlag. She and her company, Angel Publishing House are members of ASCAP and she is presently listed in the Who's Who in Music.

The six songs (words and music) of A Song Cycle on Life & Love, Op. 17 are based on the memories of anyone who has lived and loved, the musings of what is and what could have been. The lyrics of the songs sample and sniff a variety of types of love just as we as humans wander through our lives in constant search for fulfillment. But what do we consider important in our daily pursuits? “Consider the lilies of the field”….we toil and fret and worry but to what end? … People come into our lives and we learn that love is not a singular concept but rather we react to love directly dependent on where we are in our life’s journey.

Learning to Love - by Sandra Bostrom-Aguado

Why then is everyone looking at me? Why am I nurtured by smiles? Could this be love that they all talk about? Could this be wonderful love?

Why is she holding me so very close? Why does he play ball with me? Could this be love that they all talk about? Could this be wonderful love? Why do they cry when I’m leaving my home? Why do they hug me so tightly? This must be love that they all talk about. This must be wonderful love!

Looking for Love - by Sandra Bostrom-Aguado

Where is he? Where should I look, where can I find him? Where is the one who is special for me? How can he find me; please look over here. Do not ignore me, why can you not see?

I need to find love, if only a little. Perhaps I’m too old or even too young, To reach out and touch one who needs a touch too. But where should I look to find one special one?

My tongue is so tied when it mentions of love. My heart is so willing when it searches for you. I guess I must wait for the look that will tell me, That in that one moment, my dreams will come true.

Young Love - by Sandra Bostrom-Aguado

Adieu, Farewell. Can we stay just a few moments longer? Your touch, it still lingers so soft on my breast. I cannot leave without so much regretting, The shortness of time and my longing for you. Adieu, No! Farewell! No!

Adios, Goodbye! Why can’t you wait; please linger beside me. A moment or two, for I ask not much more. A kiss, or a word is but all that is needed; More time to absorb you my heart it implores. Adieu, No! Farewell, No!

Adieu, Good Night! It is not time for a quick tearful parting. Look not at the clock, for it lies to us both. Gaze into my eyes, the moments stop shortly; And we will have eons to nurture our love. Adieu, No! Farewell, Please stay!

Decaying Love - by Sandra Bostrom-Aguado

Was there a moment, an instant it happened? Was there a twist of fate, an incident, one day? What could have been present to change all to tear drops? What was the word and who knew what to say?

Love burned so bright but its passion was fleeting. The thought of your smile or the sound of your name, Pulled my brain flying away from mundane; Yanked me away from this world, so insane.

Now, love is gone, replaced with a passion, That borders on hatred, on emptiness, on cold. Where is that love which filled me with worship? Now there are memories with stories so old.

Eternal Love - by Sandra Bostrom-Aguado

Where did the years go; they went so fast. Together we stayed, despite turmoil. I did not deserve all the love you gave; But we had fun and it lasted.

We became one and the years flew by; Love sometimes shaken, but standing. Through all the shouts, we had so much love; Two remained we, and it lasted.

Why did we triumph when others failed? What was the glue that had bound us? Was it the time that we worked things out? Two remained we, and love lasted.

Postlude - by Sandra Bostrom-Aguado

I have loved! Yes, I was loved! Time passed quickly when I felt in love. I have loved! Yes, I was loved! Everyone I loved would love me back.

Love is not empty; it cannot be one. For if love still searches for one to make two, Then happy can balance our life’s ups and downs. And peace can bring joy to our years past and new.

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Award-winning composer Adrienne Albert (ASCAP) has had her chamber, choral, vocal, orchestral and wind band works performed throughout the U.S. and around the world. Having previously worked as a singer with composers who include Igor Stravinsky, Leonard Bernstein, Phillip Glass and Gunther Schuller, Albert began composing her own music in the 1990s. Her music has been supported by noteworthy arts organizations including the NEA, ACF, MTC/Rockefeller Foundation, Subito, MPE Foundation, ACME and ASCAP. Recent commissions include works for (among others) Cornell University Chorus, Holyoke Civic Symphony, MPE Foundation, Palisades Virtuosi, Pennsylvania Academy of Music, Chamber Music Palisades and Pacific Serenades. A graduate of UCLA, Albert studied composition with Stephen Mosko and orchestration with Albert Harris. Her music is recorded on MSR, Naxos, Navona, Centaur, Little Piper, Albany and ABC Records, is published by Kentor Canyon Music (ASCAP) and is also available through FluteWorld, TFML and Trevcor-Varner Music. Visit www.adriennealbert.com.

Let Love Not Fail is a beautiful poem by Ivan Gallardo which he wrote for his bride-to-be, Jeannine Wagner, in honor of their marriage. I happily set his words to music, and the song was premiered at their wedding in 2002. Sadly, it was performed at his funeral in 2014 with Julia Hwang singing.

Let Love Not Fail - by Ivan Gallardo

Let Love not fail to open the heart To all that’s possible with our reach. Bring to our arms the burgeoning field Filled with hopes and dreams of life. Today sees only with eyes unmasked

The visions that stream from The mountains unscaled Whose purifying waters, at last released, Rush to form a harbor of faith.

We give each other our truest selves, Noble in Spirit, Firm in mind, Constant in truth. Have passion now fulfill our faith That all the love is ours to own.

When I was a singer, I recorded The Owl and the Pussycat by Igor Stravinsky for Columbia Records with the composer present! I have always loved the song and the poem by Edward Lear and decided to set this delightful poem to my own music. It was premiered in March 2010 in New York. “The Owl and the Pussycat” is a deliciously charming tale of love and delight.

The Owl and the Pussy-cat - by Edward Lear

The Owl and the Pussy-cat went to sea In a beautiful pea-green boat, They took some honey, and plenty of money, Wrapped up in a five pound note. The Owl looked up to the stars above, And sang to a small guitar, "O lovely Pussy! O Pussy, my love, What a beautiful Pussy you are, You are, You are! What a beautiful Pussy you are."

Pussy said to the Owl, "You elegant fowl, How charmingly sweet you sing. O let us be married, too long we have tarried; But what shall we do for a ring?" They sailed away, for a year and a day, To the land where the Bong-tree grows, And there in a wood a Piggy-wig stood

With a ring at the end of his nose, His nose, His nose, With a ring at the end of his nose.

III

"Dear Pig, are you willing to sell for one shilling Your ring?" Said the Piggy, "I will." So they took it away, and were married next day By the Turkey who lives on the hill. They dined on mince, and slices of quince, Which they ate with a runcible spoon; And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand. They danced by the light of the moon, The moon, The moon, They danced by the light of the moon.

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Deon Nielsen Price, (B.A. Brigham Young University; M.M. University of Michigan; D.M.A. University of Southern California) is a commissioned composer, award winning pianist, performing and recording artist, conductor, vocal coach, author, church musician, retired professor and advocate for women in music and for living composers. Her CD recordings on the Cambria label, including the 2017 release, Radiance in Motion, are widely available. Her book, Accompanying Skills for Pianists, and sheet music for her compositions are available at www.culvercrest.com and are being archived at Brigham Young University. Price’s most recent commission is the orchestration of “Behind Barbed Wire,” about life in the Japanese-American incarceration camps 1942-1946. The Metro Chamber Orchestra will perform it in the Roulette Theater in Brooklyn (NY) on December 2, 2018. Recently relocated from Culver City to the Presidio of San Francisco, she is enjoying coordinating Interfaith Center Concerts at the historical Presidio Chapel. Her new opera, “Ammon and the King” will have a workshop performance there in March 2019.

The cycle of Four Love Songs on texts by Robert T. Bowen (a former member of NACUSA-LA) was published in 1991. The premier performance with the author in the audience was by Taylor and Price in 1990 at Temple Hill Concerts in Los Angeles. However, in 2010, all copies and masters of two of the songs were completely lost in a studio fire.

The Connection - by Robert T. Bowen

I am finding you here I am knowing you now I am now finding,

I am knowing you now And finding I know you I am sifting through your name to you I am sifting through my knowing and knowing I am finding you here and now I am loving you

Love - by Robert T. Bowen

We loved each other When we were young Then we grew old And learned that love is for the young And we fell out of love Children came to us And they were young And we loved them, And we too became young And fell in love.

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Dr. Greg A. Steinke is the retired, former Joseph Naumes Endowed Chair of Music/Art and Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies at Marylhurst University in Marylhurst, Oregon. He was the Associate Director of the Ernest Bloch Music Festival (1993-97) and Director of the Composers Symposium in Newport, Oregon (1990-97). He served as the National Chairman of the Society of Composers, Inc. (1988-97). He is a composer of chamber and symphonic music and an author with published and recorded works and performances across the U.S. and internationally. He is a speaker on interdisciplinary arts and an oboist specializing in contemporary music. Dr. Steinke is the current national president of NACUSA and also serves on the NACUSA Cascadia chapter board.

Armgart (excerpt) – by George Eliot

For herself, She often wonders what her life had been Without that voice for channel to her soul. She says, it must have leaped through all her limbs – Made her a Maenad – made her snatch a brand And fire some forest, that her range might mount In crashing roaring flames through half a land, Leaving her still and patient for a while ‘Poor wretch!’ she says , of any murderess –

The world was cruel, and she could not sing: I carry my revenges in my throat; I love in singing and am loved again.’

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Dr. Daniel Robbins was born in New Orleans, Louisiana on November 4, 1947. He received a Bachelor of Music degree from California State University at Long Beach, a Master of Music degree from the University of Southern California and a Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of California Los Angeles. While at USC he studied motion picture scoring with David Raksin and at UCLA was a student in the film music seminar of Henry Mancini. Daniel Robbins is the leading authority on the music of Miklos Rosza, whose classic motion picture scores Robbins has arranged for numerous new commercial recordings. He instituted courses in film music at Cypress College, Golden West College and Chapman University. His lectures on movie music have been sponsored by the New York Council for the Humanities, Louisiana State University and the Atlanta Symphony. Dr. Robbins’s published works include The Prince and the Princess, First String Quartet, Pastorale and Capriccio for Symphonic Band.

Love for voice and piano is based on lyrics by Joel Martinez. Mr. Martinez is a freelance writer in Southern California and my fellow writers’ group member at Gatsby Bookstore in Long Beach. One evening, he read aloud his poem Love, which he had just written on the spot at the meeting. Upon hearing his lovely poem, I commented that composers are often in search of inspirational lyrics on which to base vocal compositions; instantly, I was elected composer for his lyrics! The piece is in a three-part structure with shared melodic material between the sections. A gentle piano ostinato helps to differentiate the opening and closing A material, while the voice moves in expressive lyrical phrases throughout.

Love - by Joel Martinez

Love is me giving to you. Love is you giving me yourself to give to. Love is you giving to me. Love is me giving you myself set free.

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Yalil Guerra was born in Havana, Cuba on April 27, 1973. He is the son of the famous Cuban vocal duo Rosell y Cary. He obtained a bachelor’s degree in classical guitar at the Escuela Nacional de Música in Havana in 1991. At the age of 16, Guerra won the International Competition and Festival of Classical Guitar award in Krakow, Poland as well as receiving their Special Prize (1990), thus becoming the youngest Cuban awarded a prize in an international contest. Additionally, in 1991 he received a full scholarship and studied at the Instituto Superior de Música, Cuba. In 1993 he moved to Spain and obtained a master’s degree in classical guitar at the Conservatorio Superio de Música de Madrid. Since 2008, Guerra has been studying composition privately with Aurelio de la Vega. In 2015 Guerra graduated from Shepherd University, Los Angeles, with a master’s degree in music. His art music includes compositions for orchestra, chamber ensembles and soloists, the majority of them having been premiered in the Americas and in Europe. In 2012, Guerra won a Latin Grammy award for Best Classical

Composition for Seducción. Additionally, he has been nominated six times to the Latin Grammy Awards. In 2014 he was the recipient of the Cintas Foundation Fellowship in Music Composition. In January 2016 he became the president of the Los Angeles chapter of the National Association of Composers USA, serving until 2018. At the present time he is pursuing a Ph.D. in composition at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA).

Son de Negros en Cuba is a work inspired by a poem written by Federico García Lorca (1898- 1936). The music travels across the hopes of the author, going back to Santiago de Cuba, a city located next to Guantánamo in the eastern zone of Cuba. The melody of the song brings back reminiscences of the romantic Bolero and Contradance rhythms. The harmonic language is contemporary, whereas the use of polytonality is present, and at some moments the harmonies connect to distant chords and keys that are not related to the original key.

Son de Negros en Cuba - by Federico García Lorca

Cuando llegue la luna llena When the full moon arrives iré a Santiago de Cuba, I will go to Santiago de Cuba, iré a Santiago, I will go to Santiago, en un coche de agua negra. In a car with black water. Iré a Santiago. I will go to Santiago. Cantarán los techos de palmera. They will sing, the roofs of palm trees. Iré a Santiago. I will go to Santiago. Cuando la palma quiere ser cigüefla, When the palm wants to be a stork, iré a Santiago. I will go to Santiago. Y cuando quiere ser medusa el plátano, And when the banana wants to be jellyfish, iré a Santiago. I will go to Santiago. Iré a Santiago I will go to Santiago con la rubia cabeza de Fonseca. With the blond head of Fonseca. Iré a Santiago. I will go to Santiago. Y con la rosa de Romeo y Julieta And with the rose of Romeo and Juliet iré a Santiago. I will go to Santiago. ¡Oh Cuba! ¡Oh ritmo de semillas secas! Oh Cuba! Oh rhythm of dried seeds! Iré a Santiago. I will go to Santiago. ¡Oh cintura caliente y gota de madera! Oh hot waist and wooden drop! Iré a Santiago. I will go to Santiago. ¡Arpa de troncos vivos, caimán, flor de tabaco! Harp of live trunks, alligator, tobacco flower! Iré a Santiago. I will go to Santiago. Siempre he dicho que yo iría a Santiago I have always said that I would go to Santiago en un coche de agua negra. In a car with black water. Iré a Santiago. I will go to Santiago. Brisa y alcohol en las ruedas, Breeze and alcohol in the wheels, iré a Santiago. I will go to Santiago. Mi coral en la tiniebla, My coral in the darkness, iré a Santiago. I will go to Santiago.

El mar ahogado en la arena, The sea drowned in the sand, iré a Santiago, I will go to Santiago, calor blanco, fruta muerta, White heat, dead fruit, iré a Santiago. I will go to Santiago. ¡Oh bovino frescor de calaveras! Oh bovine freshness of skulls! ¡Oh Cuba! ¡Oh curva de suspiro y barro! Oh Cuba! Oh curve of sigh and mud! Iré a Santiago. I will go to Santiago.

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Composer Mark Carlson’s lyrical, emotionally powerful and stylistically unique music has earned him the admiration of audiences and musicians throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico and Europe. The recipient of more than 50 commissions, his 100-plus works include art songs, chamber music, choral music, concertos and other large ensemble works. One of his fourteen CDs, The Hall of Mirrors, was a winner of the Chamber Music America/WQXR Record Awards for 2001. He is the founder and artistic director of Pacific Serenades, which received a “letter of distinction” from New Music USA in 2013 for its significant contribution to the field of contemporary American music. Carlson attended the University of Redlands and CSU Fresno and received graduate degrees from UCLA. He is currently writing an opera on The Scarlet Letter with librettist Bruce Olstad. He recently retired from UCLA, where he taught for 28 years. He also taught at Santa Monica College for fifteen years. Carlson’s website is at www.markcarlsonmusic.com.

I Am in Need of Music. In 2005, Juliana Gondek asked me to write something new for an upcoming recital of hers, which was to feature songs by UCLA composers. The various songs on the program required sax, viola, cello and piano, but none used all of those instruments, so she asked me if I might write my songs to include all of them. The unusual—but dark and beautiful—ensemble immediately suggested to me something autumnal and elegiac, which in turn led me to one poem by Tennyson and another by Elizabeth Bishop—both of which speak of the call of music at a time of emotional fatigue, of world-weariness.

There is Sweet Music Here - by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

There is sweet music here that softer falls Than petals from blown roses on the grass, Or night-dews on still waters between walls Of shadowy granite, in a gleaming pass; Music that gentlier on the spirit lies, Than tired eyelids upon tired eyes; Music that brings sweet sleep down from the blissful skies. Here are cool mosses deep, And through the moss the ivies creep, And in the stream the long-leaved flowers weep, And from the craggy ledge the poppy hangs in sleep.

I am in Need of Music - by Elizabeth Bishop

I am in need of music that would flow Over my fretful, feeling finger-tips, Over my bitter-tainted, trembling lips, With melody, deep, clear, and liquid-slow. Oh, for the healing swaying, old and low, Of some song sung to rest the tired dead, A song to fall like water on my head, And over quivering limbs, dream flushed to glow!

There is a magic made by melody: A spell of rest, and quiet breath, and cool Heart, that sinks through fading colors deep To the subaqueous stillness of the sea, And floats forever in a moon-green pool, Held in the arms of rhythm and of sleep.

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Michael Glenn Williams was composer in residence at the 2010 Lake Como Festival. He was “balloted” for Best Classical Grammy in 2014. He is a composer for Liquid Cinema libraries (carried in the United Kingdom by Music Hub). He has written a score for the “Crabs and Penguins” iPad video game (Coca- Cola). He has written themes for the Chinese and American “Pet Central” commercial videos. He has scored music for national TV and theatrical release commercials for 12th Street Films. He has arranged and performed Michael Nyman’s music from “The Piano.” He composed an original work based on “Zelda themes” in response to a commission from the Video Games Live orchestra for the 25th anniversary of the Zelda video games. For the New West Symphony he composed and conducted an original orchestral work in a “Western/Americana” style. He was commissioned by the Thousand Oaks Orchestra to write the Oceanic Overture and the Rising Stars Overture. He has received a commission for a violin solo with orchestral Beatles themes and regularly receives commissions for “mashups” of popular and classical music for orchestra and chamber ensembles.

American murder ballads are often versions of Old World ballads that have had any elements of supernatural retribution removed and the focus transferred to the slaughter of the innocent. For example, the English ballad “The Gosport Tragedy” of the 1750s had both murder and vengeance on the murderer by the ghosts of the murdered woman and her unborn baby, who call up a great storm to prevent the murderer’s ship from sailing before he is torn apart. In contrast, the Kentucky version, “Pretty Polly”, is a stark murder ballad ending with the murder and burial of the victim in a shallow grave, followed (in a few versions) by the hanging of her killer and his burning in hell. Banks of the Ohio has been adapted by the composer to make the woman the murderer, using a modern weapon.

Banks of the Ohio - American folk song, adapted by the composer

I asked my love to take a walk To take a walk, just a little walk Down beside where the water flows Down by the bank of the Ohio

Please only say that you’ll be mine In no other arms will you entwine Down beside where the water flows Down by the bank of the Ohio

He bowed his head and turned away I could not breathe, then I heard him say “Oh Sarah, thank you, but just the same I love a girl by another name, by another name, by another name”

I held a gun against his chest Into my Glock his body pressed He pled “Oh Sarah, don’t murder me! I’m not prepared for eternity”

I’m walking home, it’s almost one Oh what the f***! What have I done? I killed the only man I loved Because he would not give me all his love

Two Sisters - American folk song, adapted by the composer

I had a sister in county Blair, cryin’ Oh, the wind and rain I am dark and she was fair, Oh, the dreadful wind and rain We both had a love of the miller's son, cryin’ Oh, the wind and rain But he was fond of the fairer one, Oh, the dreadful wind and rain He gave her a ring and he gave me none Oh, the wind and rain

So I pushed her in the river to drown cryin’ Oh, the wind and rain And watched her as she floated down Oh, the dreadful wind and rain She floated till she came to the miller’s pond Oh, the wind and the rain Dead on the water like a big black swan And watched her as she floated down Oh, the dreadful wind and rain The truth be told I’m happy she’s gone

She came to rest on the riverside Oh, the wind and the rain And her bones were clean by the rolling tide, cryin’ Oh, the dreadful wind and rain The miller’s son was a fiddler fair Oh, the wind and rain We found her bones just a lying there, cried And green I was of her golden hair

I said make a fiddle peg of her long finger bone Oh, the wind and the rain He made a fiddle peg of her long finger bone, cryin’ Oh, the dreadful wind and rain Give me that ring off her long finger bone Oh, the wind and the rain He put that ring where it belongs Now you made me right from wrong Oh, the dreadful wind and rain

I said string yer fiddle bow with her long yeller hair Oh, the wind and the rain He strung his fiddle bow with her long yeller hair, cryin’ Oh, the dreadful wind and rain And he made a little fiddle of her breast bone parts The sound it played sure broke his heart And he still he loved my sister, my sister, my sister

The only song that fiddle would play is Oh, the dreadful wind and rain Oh, the dreadful wind and rain

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Russell Steinberg composes concert music described as “freshly lyrical, pulsating, edgy, infectious” and “shimmering with great beauty and energy.” His orchestral tone poem Cosmic Dust was featured in Science News Magazine for the 25th anniversary of the Hubble Space Telescope and was premiered by three orchestras—the New West Symphony, the Bay Atlantic Symphony and the Hopkins Symphony Orchestra. His Daniel Pearl Foundation commission Stories from My Favorite Planet, honoring the slain Wall Street journalist, continues to receive performances. The Bay Atlantic Symphony programs his Hanukkah fantasy Lights On! annually for its holiday programs. Recent premieres include his piano trio Paleface (inspired by and accompanied with video projections of New York “psychological pop” artist Jerry Kearns), his Horn Trio with Sierra Ensemble, and Rucksack, a monodrama for mezzo-soprano. Steinberg is the conductor and founder of the Los Angeles Youth Orchestra, a widely-praised ensemble that includes 120 students from over 60 schools. He is also a popular pre-concert speaker for both the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Santa Monica Symphony.

The texts for these songs from the Sacred Transitions cycle are selections from mediations in Finding Each Other In Judaism by Harold M. Schulweis. With these meditations, Rabbi Schulweis revitalizes rites of passage as sacred moments in our lives using simple, clear, and beautiful language to focus us to a higher awareness. In reading them, I find a personal, intimate quality to these meditations, as if one person is speaking to another with deep love, compassion, and awareness. That is why I've set the texts as arts songs, the most intimate form of chamber music.

Holding On and Letting Go - by Harold M. Schulweis

Hold on and let go, two sides of one coin. Hold on—death is not the final word The grave no oblivion. Every kindness, every embrace has its afterlife in our minds, our hearts, our hands.

Hold on and let go. Sever the fringes of the tallit of the deceased. Hold on and let go. Lower the casket. Return the dust to the earth not to bury hope but to resurrect the will to live.

Hold on and let go. The flow of life gives and takes, yesterday and tomorrow both in one embrace.

Hold on and let go Old and new, yesterday and tomorrow, Both in one embrace.

Mirror Eyes - by Harold M. Schulweis

The mirror is not neutral. A cool, silver-covered surface reflecting me impartially. No two mirrors are alike.

Some mirrors make me look Hard and gross. However I fix my smile it reflects A grimace. However wide I set my eyes, It appears a squinting mean-ness.

Other mirrors see me differently And raise me up to New confidence, new trust. No two mirrors are twins. I choose one to find my own image.

Your eyes are like mirrors. And like them are not neutral. In your eyes I find my self. I choose eyes Not focused on blemishes alone Eyes that do not blink away my crooked nose And twisted mouth But wink encouragement and hope and love. Mirror eyes.

It Is Never Too Late - by Harold M. Schulweis

The last word has not been spoken, The last sentence has not been writ, The final verdict is not in

It is never too late

To change my mind My direction To say "no" to the past And "yes" to the future To ofer remorse To ask and give forgiveness.

It is never too late To start over again To feel again To love again To hope again.

It is never too late To overcome despair To turn sorrow into resolve And pain into purpose.

It is never too late to alter my world Not by magic incantations Or manipulations of the cards Or deciphering the stars.

But by opening myself To curative forces buried within To hidden energies The powers of my self.

In sickness and in dying, it is never too late Living, I teach Dying, I teach How to face pain and fear.

It is never too late— Some word of mine, Some touch, some caress may be remembered.

Write it on my epitaph That my loved ones be consoled It is never too late.

> > > Performers > > >

Bass-baritone Keith Colclough is a performer, scholar, and educator. He has been a soloist with a number of arts organizations in Southern California, including Los Angeles Philharmonic, Opera Santa Barbara, Sacramento Philharmonic and Opera, Pacific Opera Project, LACMA Sundays Live, Salastina Society and the Santa Barbara Choral Society. Mr. Colclough has been a vocal fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center, Fall Island Vocal Arts Seminar, Music Academy of the West, the Aspen Opera Center and Songfest. After graduating from Pepperdine, Mr. Colclough was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to Mannheim, Germany, where he studied voice at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst and performed with the Opernschule. Mr. Colclough is on the voice faculty at Pepperdine University in Malibu, CA and is the new Director of the Flora Thornton Opera Program.

Kacey Link is a pianist and scholar residing in Santa Barbara, CA. As both a solo and collaborative artist, she performs regularly in Southern California and has given recitals in the United States, France and Switzerland. She has worked as a pianist for Opera Santa Barbara, the University of California Santa Barbara Department of Theater and Dance, Kansas City Lyric Opera and New Theatre of Kansas City. As a scholar, her research focuses on the music of Latin America with specific concentration on tango music of Argentina. She recently co-authored the book Tracing Tangueros: Argentine Tango Instrumental Music (Oxford University Press). She holds degrees from the University of California Santa Barbara (D.M.A. in Keyboard), the University of Miami (M.M. in Musicology) and the University of Kansas (M.M. in Accompanying, B.M. in Piano Performance).

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Award-winning coloratura soprano Kirsten Ashley Wiest's “bright, dazzling vocal technique” (San Diego Story) has captured the attention of composers worldwide, resulting in numerous world premiere performances. She has sung as a soloist with the Grammy-winning Partch ensemble, La Jolla Symphony and Chorus, YMF Debut Orchestra, MiraCosta Symphony, HEAR NOW Festival of New Music, the Industry experimental opera company, and wild Up new music collective, among many others, and has performed at venues including Walt Disney Concert Hall, REDCAT, Copley Symphony Hall, and Aratani Japan America Theater. She has given solo recitals on concert series' hosted by Harvey Mudd College, Chapman University and Tuesdays @ MONK Space, was a featured soloist in the LA Philharmonic’s installation, Nimbus, and has recorded for several interactive operatic experiences and film scores. Operatic roles include "La Princess" in Ravel's L'enfant et les sortileges (Perigueux, France), "Polly Peachum" in Weill's Threepenny Opera (San Diego CA), and "Mabel" in Gilbert and Sullivan's Pirates of Penzance (Fort Worth, TX). A Doctor of Musical Arts candidate at UC San Diego under the guidance of GRAMMY-winning soprano Susan Narucki, Kirsten holds a Masters of Fine Arts degree from California Institute of the Arts and a Bachelor of Music “cum laude” from Chapman University’s Conservatory of Music.

Hailed as musician with “flair and fury,” Shaoai Ashley Zhang is a concert pianist performing throughout the US and Europe. An advocate of contemporary music, Ashley’s recent performances include the Boston premiere of Sofia Gubaidulina’s Die Pilger and Franco Donatoni’s Rasch II, as well as collaborations with Georg Friedrich Haas, Unsuk Chin, Vinko Globokar, and John Zorn. A graduate of New England Conservatory, Ashley is currently a doctoral student at the University of California, San Diego where she studies with Aleck Karis.

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VanNessa Hulme Silbermann has been hailed internationally and at home for her uniqueness and ability to sing all genres. As a versatile stage actor, VanNessa has found herself performing both opera and musical theater in over 150 lead and supporting roles. She was a Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions Regional Finalist in 2003, 2004, and 2007 and the winner of the Eistedfodd Musical Theater Singer of the World as well as many other awards. She earned a B.M. in voice from Grand Canyon University and a M.M. in voice from California State University, Northridge. VanNessa appears often around Southern California as a soloist in opera, musical theater, and jazz, is the Head of Performing Arts at Phoenix Ranch School in Simi Valley and owns a voice studio in the San Fernando Valley.

Southern Californian pianist Jason Stoll has garnered many praises and awards for his performances throughout his career thus far. Concert highlights for the upcoming 2018-2019 season include solo recitals and chamber music throughout California and New York and a performance of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Antelope Valley Symphony. Past concert highlights include a number of solo recitals throughout his native California, New York, Toronto and orchestral appearances with the Miami Music Festival Orchestra, the California State University, Northridge Symphony, the York Symphony Orchestra and the Tehachapi Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Stoll has also competed internationally and was named a Semi-finalist in the 2015 Dublin International Piano Competition and Finalist in the 2013 American Paderewski Piano Competition.

In addition to a busy schedule of performing as a solo artist, Mr. Stoll is also a lover of chamber music. For the past year, he has been a member of ACE Trio which features Ryan Glass on clarinet and Shannon Canchola on flute. With this unique instrumentation, they have performed a varied and unique repertoire in a multitude of recital series throughout California. They were coined “Musical Tour de Force” by the Mountaineer Progress Newspaper. Mr. Stoll holds degrees from California State University, Northridge, the Juilliard School and the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. His principal teachers included John Perry, David Louie, Jerome Lowenthal, Matti Raekallio, Dmitry Rachmanov, and John Roscigno. Additionally, Mr. Stoll has attended several prestigious summer music festivals including the Miami Music Festival, Pianofest in the Hamptons, Aspen Music Festival and the Adamant Music School. Currently, Mr. Stoll is a piano instructor and lecturer at California State University, Northridge and is also a freelance pianist, masterclass presenter and adjudicator throughout the Los Angeles area.

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Julia Hwang, coloratura soprano, was born in Seoul, Korea. She has an MFA from Cal Arts, an MM from Cal State Los Angeles and has performed with numerous opera companies, with the Roger Wagner Chorale and with Cantori Domini. She currently lives in Los Angeles.

Collaborative pianist Victoria Kirsch creates and performs innovative programs throughout Southern California, including concerts based on museum exhibitions and staged art song/poetry programs. Victoria has worked with national and regional opera companies, including LA Opera and Long Beach Opera, and served as an official pianist for the Operalia Competition and the Metropolitan Opera’s National Council Auditions. She played for soprano Julia Migenes (Carmen in the award-winning opera film with Plácido Domingo), touring the world for many years with the celebrated singing actress.

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Countertenor Darryl Taylor has sung in major concert halls and opera houses across the United States and Europe and is a prolific recording artist on the NAXOS, Albany and Cambria labels. He is the Founder of the African-American Art Song Alliance. Dr. Taylor serves as Director of Voice Studies on the music faculty of the University of California, Irvine. Pianist Dr. Deon Nielsen Price and Dr. Taylor are long-time collaborators on recordings and international concert tours, both as a duo and as members of the Echosphere Quartet. The two Love Songs are included on their recent, critically acclaimed recording Radiance in Motion.

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British/American mezzo-soprano Rachel Labovitch comes to the operatic stage after a fine career as an actress in London. She has recently sung the role of Romeo in Hawkmore Lyric Opera's production of I Capuleti e I Montecchi, Prince Orlofsky for Landmark Opera's Die Fledermaus, Polina/Milovzor for the Independent Opera Company's production of Tchaikovsky's Queen of Spades, covered the role of Mark Smeton in Opera by the Glass's production of Donizetti's Anna Bolena, Flora for Opera Prima Vera’s production of La Traviata, Cherubino in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro with the Celestial Opera Company, Mrs. Herring in Benjamin Britten’s Albert Herring with the Miami Summer Music Festival and Angel in Anton Rubinstein’s Demon as part of the Russian Opera Workshop, Philadelphia. Rachel debuted her operatic career playing Karolka in Janacek’s Jenufa with Opera Slavica NYC and has sung in numerous recitals and concerts across the United States and Europe. Rachel holds an MA from the University of the Arts London. Rachel is the cantor for the Cathedral Center of St Paul in Echo Park, Los Angeles.

James French began his multi-faceted career as child musician in his father’s churches, moving to Music Director positions in Washington, D.C., Santa Barbara, and Los Angeles. French moved to Maui during the 1991-92 Season to serve as Music Director and Conductor of the Maui Symphony Orchestra, presented in Hawaii’s premiere concert hall, Castle Theater in the Maui Arts & Cultural Center. French was featured for his work with MSO creating concert theater performances in ASOL’s Symphony Magazine and was critically acclaimed in numerous reviews by the local press. French has directed Joseph and His Multi-Colored Dream Coat, Oliver, The Importance of Being Earnest, Phantom of the Opera, Sweeney Todd, Chorus Line, Pirates of Penzance, Mikado, and H. M. S. Pinafore on the professional stage. Along with being an orchestral conductor, French has been active as a composer, church musician, and recitalist at the pipe organ, harpsichord, and piano. French taught vocal music, directed choirs and music dramas at Luther Burbank Junior High School and Burbank High School where he founded and trained teachers in the Show Choir concepts. French serves as Music Director/Organist at The Cathedral Center of St. Paul in Echo Park, Los Angeles and recently retired from work as a creative writing instructor. He enjoys family life with wife Claudia and their seven most accomplished children.

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Soprano Erica Campbell recently received her Master of Music degree in Vocal Performance at UCLA as a Mimi Alpert Feldman Scholar. She currently studies with Russian baritone Vladimir Chernov after being under the tutelage of Gwen Curatilo for almost a decade. Among her coaches are Douglas Sumi, Cathy Miller, and Rakefet Hak. Notable performances under the direction of Peter Kazaras include Dorothée from Jules Massenet’s Cendrillon, Julia from Jonathan Dove’s Mansfield Park and The Governess in the last scene of Benjamin Britten’s Turn of the Screw. Her most recent roles were George Frederic Händel’s Amadigi as Oriana, directed by UCLA alumnus James Darrah, and Virgil Thomson’s The Mother of Us All as Constance Fletcher, directed by the UCLA School of Theater’s Michael Hackett.

Campbell performed as the soprano soloist in Mozart's Coronation Mass with the UCLA Philharmonic and choirs in 2018, conducted by Neal Stulberg. She received her Bachelor of Music in Vocal performance from Willamette University.

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Marina Gomez is a senior voice major at UCLA and a student of Juliana Gondek, for whom I wrote these songs in 2005.

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Elyse Willis has a thriving career as a session singer, singing on films, television shows and video games. She has sung on dozens of projects, including Star Wars: The Last Jedi, where she voiced the opera-singing alien Ubbla Mollbro. Other recent film credits include Kingsman: The Golden Circle, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, Big Hero 6, Minions, Star Trek Beyond, Suicide Squad, The Conjuring (1 and 2), Godzilla, La La Land, and Sing. She is currently in her ninth season with the prestigious Los Angeles Master Chorale, where she regularly performs at Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Hollywood Bowl with the LA Philharmonic. She was also recently seen in La La Land Live! at the Hollywood Bowl. Additional live credits include Threepenny Opera (Polly), H.M.S. Pinafore (Josephine), and soprano soloist in Mahler's Fourth Symphony.

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American mezzo-soprano Diana Tash appears in both operatic roles onstage and as a featured soloist, gaining popularity in recital with renowned pianist Armen Guzelimian. Her mezzo stage work has been hailed as “radiant” by the Los Angeles Times, “stylish” by the San Diego Union and “skillful” by the New York Times. She is a Southern California radio favorite, having been heard for many years (as both mezzo and soprano) on “Sundays Live at LACMA” on KCSN 88.5FM. Recent performances include a recital with New York Philharmonic principal violist Cynthia Phelps in Los Angeles and a performance at the Boston Court with the California String Quartet in May 2016. On March 4th, 2016 Ms. Tash performed as the mezzo soloist with the Los Angeles Dream Orchestra in Rossini’s Stabat Mater. On September 30, 2014, Tash and famed countertenor Brian Asawa released their new baroque recording, “Spirits of the Air.” Her varied career has spanned both the soprano and mezzo repertoire. Performances in 2014 include the role of Annina in La Traviata with the Pacific Symphony as well as a tour to Guadalajara to perform “The Baroque Project” program in concert with countertenor Brian Asawa at the Festival de Mayo. She has premiered songs by composer Ian Krouse with the Debussy Trio and Sacred Transitions with LA Philharmonic violinist Mitchell Newman by composer Russell Steinberg. Past performances include a 2013 Collegiate Tour in Tennessee and Mississippi with award winning composer Maria Newman, singing the alto solos with The Santa Barbara Chorale Society in Handel’s Messiah in December 2012, with Long Beach Opera in Medea in 2011 and at Sacramento Opera as Medoro in Orlando in November 2010.

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Pianist Wendy Prober has performed throughout the United States and Israel as a critically acclaimed chamber musician and soloist. She is the founding pianist of the award-winning Viklarbo Chamber Ensemble and has served as Artist-in-Residence at Loyola Marymount University, the prestigious USC Composition Department, “Sundays Live” at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Montgomery

Arts House for Music and Architecture (MAHMA), as well as the popular Los Angeles based SPaCE Salon. Highly sought after as an expert in the field of new music, Prober recorded Morton Lauridsen’s Cuatro Canciones on the RCM label. She has taught on the faculties of Loyola Marymount University, the University of Judaism and the Omaha Conservatory of Music Institute. For two seasons she was Executive Director of the Los Angeles Jewish Symphony, where she remains on the Board of Directors. In addition, she has oft been a featured soloist with Robert Kapilow’s wildly celebrated, “What Makes it Great” series. Locally Ms. Prober has been soloist with the Brentwood-Westwood Symphony, Riverside County Philharmonic, Los Angeles Jewish Symphony, Malibu Coast Chamber Orchestra, the Occidental/Caltech Chamber Orchestra, the West Valley Chamber Orchestra, and the Los Angeles Doctor’s Symphony. She has performed recitals with Israeli Master Percussionist Chen Zimbalista, L.A. Chamber Orchestra Principal Cellist Andrew Shulman, cellist Michael Fitzpatrick and cellist Emilio Colón at Indiana University. Ms. Prober has been awarded multiple grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the California Arts Commission and the Utah Performing Arts Tour. She has performed at the Consulate General of the Czech Republic in Los Angeles. In 2016 she performed TV and film composer Charles Fox’s Victory at Entebbe piano concerto with the Los Angeles Jewish Symphony at the historic Orpheum Theatre in downtown Los Angeles. Fox wrote “Wendy’s playing was as beautiful, spirited and rich in feeling as I could imagine.”

> > > Notes on NACUSA-LA > > >

About NACUSA Los Angeles Chapter: We engage our community through the creation, performance and promotion of contemporary musical art, while providing resources and opportunities to Southern California composers and performers. We are an educational, non-profit organization with 501c3 IRS status. We provide free concerts of contemporary music in the greater Southern California area. Please visit us on Facebook and watch for announcements of future events.

Many thanks go to James French for the use of St. Athanasius Episcopal Church and to Katherine Saxon for the beautiful flyer for this concert. Thanks are also due to NACUSA-LA’s Board of Directors: Dr. Jeannie Gayle Pool, President; Dr. Richard Derby, Vice President; Dr. Tony Wardzinski, Treasurer; Dr. Carla Bartlett, Secretary; Dr. Katherine Saxon, Publicity Chair; Adrienne Albert, Communications; Michael Glenn Williams, and Dr. Deon Nielsen Price, President Emerita. We are grateful for all of our individual and corporate contributors. To join NACUSA, visit http://music-usa.org/nacusa and select “Activities.” Select “Join NACUSA!” from the “Activities” menu for information about benefits, dues rates and a link to the Membership Application Form.