This famous aria from Verdi’s Falstaff encapsulates everything about spring: Breezes, flowers, Fairies, love and dancing in the moonlight. I am also a huge fan of Lisette Oropesa’s voice—this aria is worth listening to for her breath control alone. Thank you for reading my blog posts and happy spring!
Read MoreL’une d’avril (April Moon) is the very last song French composer, Francis Poulenc, ever wrote from his song cycle, La courte paille (The Short Straw). The song voices the concern of parents for the violence of the modern world. He composed the work in 1960 during the time of nuclear disarmament and demonstrations banning nukes. I personally love the colors used in the song and its haunting ending.
Read MoreWhat would a Spring themed Song of the Day be without Frülingsstimmen (Voices of Spring)? In my mind, Strauss’ zippy waltz conjures a rainy NYC day during morning rush hour when the sidewalks are congested with oversized umbrellas and your goal is to maneuver past everyone by ditching the umbrella and owning a rain coat with a hood. Or maybe that’s just me.
Read MoreMaybe because I am a Sagittarius and have an incessant yearning to escape life, avoid 9-5 jobs, and live my best creative life by doing my own thing that I picked Queen’s 1984 hit, “I want to break free”. I have a very distinct memory of me in high school, blaring this song while driving with the windows down in my hometown of Cockeysville, Maryland.
Read MoreHelloooooo spring! Hello sunshine, budding trees, my impending sneeze, and a fresh “spring” in my step. When I was asked by NYFOS to contribute to Song of the Week, I immediately knew my theme and what song to start with.
Read MoreI am shamelessly ending this week of music with one of my favorite techno-pop songs. Anyone who knows me knows that I am a sucker for a solid beat and varied syncopation. I think that’s why I am drawn to contemporary music—I love the challenge of decoding a composers rhythmic intent and marrying difficult rhythm with the language on the page.
Read MoreIn the spirit of the Kate Soper NYFOS Next concert this evening, I would love to share the very first piece I ever heard of Kate’s, “Only the Words Themselves Mean What They Say.” This song from Kate’s larger work Ipsa Dixit (translated: she, herself, said it…), which was premiered with a quartet from the Wet Ink Ensemble in 2016 and was named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Composition in 2017.
Read MoreToday, I wanted to share a song by one of my favorite folk artists, Hazel Dickens. I stumbled across this song while curating music for a play set in the Appalachian mountains. Hazel Dickens is known primarily for her one of a kind vocal color, and her provocative pro-union feminist songs.
Read MoreToday, I wanted to share one of my favorite pieces of all time for soprano—“Lúa Descolorida,” by Osvaldo Golijov. The piece was premiered in 2002 by Dawn Upshaw and the Minnesota Orchestra. The recording below is from Dawn’s album “Voices of Light,” and features her long-time pianist/collaborator Gilbert Kalish.
Read MoreWe start the week with a song from my childhood. My uncle is the pianist in a longstanding jazz fusion band called the Yellowjackets. The band formed in 1977 around the popular jazz guitarist, Robben Ford. In 1991, they collaborated with the the acapella group Take 6 to record the song “Revelation.”
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