I Have Some Light: Songs of Spirit |
Thursday, May 17, 7:30 pm What happens when you take away the trappings of religion and leave behind faith and doubt? How have poets and composers captured the intimacy of a relationship with the Spirit? What is a relationship with the Spirit? Soprano Anne-Carolyn Bird and pianist Jocelyn Dueck present songs pulled from diverse spiritual traditions with an eye toward answering these questions and more. The recital will feature works by Rachmaninoff, Barber, Dallapiccola, Messiaen, and Harbison, as well as folks songs and other native musics. A world-premiere work by Judd Greenstein, - based on texts from the Zohar, the central book of Kabbalah - rounds out this intimate and challenging program. Click Here to Listen to Sound Clips: |
Anne-Carolyn BirdSoprano Anne-Carolyn Bird is gaining national attention by major companies in her young career. Likewise, she is receiving acclaim from noted journalists in roles such as Olympia in Les Contes d'Hoffman, Nanetta in Falstaff, Zerlina in Don Giovanni, Eurydice in Orphee aux Enfers, Marie in La fille du Regiment, Adina in L'elisir d'amore, Adele in Die Fledermaus, Miss Wordsworth in Albert Herring, and Tytania in A Midsummer Night's Dream. Of a recent portrayal the New York Times hailed her "superior" performance, and the Boston Globe exclaimed her voice is "glamorously luminescent in Tytania's coloratura." Often collaborating with contemporary composers, Ms. Bird is a sought-after performer of new music. In April 2005, she gave the New York premiere of Augusta Read Thomas's In my sky at twilightwith Alarm Will Sound at Miller Theatre. Ms. Bird has also performed works of Lukas Foss and Bernard Rands, and is featured on the Boston Modern Orchestra Project's recording of Foss's opera, Griffelkin, available on Chandos records. Working with celebrated composer Osvaldo Golijov, she recently sang a featured role in the world premiere of Ainadamar at The Santa Fe Opera. She reprised her role at Lincoln Center in January and can be heard on the Deutsche Grammophone recording of Ainadamar, released in May 2006. In February 2006, Ms. Bird worked with Mr. Golijov again, singing The Soprano in the Grammy-nominated La Pasion Segun San Marcos. Touring with the Robert Spano and the Atlanta Symphony strings, along with the Schola Cantorum de Caracas, La Pasion was presented in Atlanta, New York City, London, and Porto . She will spend the summer as a second-year Apprentice Singer with the Santa Fe Opera, where she will perform the role of Noemie in Cendrillon. In the 2007-2008 season, Ms. Bird will make her Metropolitan Opera debut, with roles in Il Tabarro and Suor Angelica. She will also perform with Portland Baroque and is planning a recital project with pianist Jocelyn Dueck. The program will feature a new work by Judd Greenstein written specifically for Ms. Bird. Ms. Bird has won numerous awards, including first prizes in the Sun Valley Opera Competition (2003); the Ladies Musical Club of Seattle Competition (2003); and the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Western Washington district (2003). For more information visit www.annecarolynbird.com. |
Jocelyn DueckPianist Jocelyn Dueck has participated in recitals in venues across North America and Europe. Her collaborative engagements include performances at Alice Tully Hall, Seiji Ozawa Hall (Tanglewood fellow, 2004), the Schubert Club Courtroom Concert Series, Clotre du Monastre de Cimiez, Nice and the Konzertsaal der Hochschule fr Knste, Bremen. Jocelyn has performed as a soloist on NPRs Talking Volumes, in recital at Glimmerglass Opera, in her hometown of Steinbach, Canada for the Steinbach Arts Council Young Artists Series, and at the Glebe-St. James United Church Concert Series in Ottawa, Ontario. In the fall of 2003, Jocelyn was awarded a grant from the University of Minnesota Graduate School and traveled to Paris to meet with the family of French composer Louis Durey, a member of Les Six. Her D.M.A. thesis focuses on sixteen unpublished song cycles by Durey, which manuscripts she was able to consult with the permission of his family. She continues to document these valuable and overlooked contributions to the art song repertory. Jocelyn completed the D.M.A. in Accompanying and Coaching under Professors Margo Garrett and Karl Paulnack at the University of Minnesota in March of 2004. Jocelyn is a frequent performer of new music and has debuted works by Lisa Bielawa, Corey Dargel, Louis Durey, Daron Hagen, Edie Hill, and Gilda Lyons. She is a founding member of the new music duo Two Sides Sounding with soprano Eleanor Taylor. One third of the trio The Dueck Three, she and her pianist siblings Byron and Valerie have been featured live on CBC Radios All in a Day and in concert in Steinbach, Ottawa, and Chicago. Future engagements for The Dueck Three include a 10-city tour of China in the spring of 2007. Jocelyn has been on the faculty of the University of Minnesota and on the music staff at Glimmerglass Opera. She is currently an adjunct Assistant Professor at NYU, where she is teaching Italian, French and English diction. For more information visit www.jocelyndueck.com. |