In Time of Silver Rain
Carolina Cabin
from Silver Rain, Op. 11 (1951)
Robert Owens (1925-2017)
Jonathan Crutchfield, piano
Silver Rain is a setting of seven songs for Tenor with text by Langston Hughes which tells of two young lovers as they journey from youthful bliss into mature old age together.
Miriamic Canons for four tambourines (2023)
Brian Graiser (b. 1986)
The piece was inspired by the Biblical account of Miriam leading the women of Israel in tambourine-accompanied song after the Exodus across the Red Sea, and the recurring “melodic” motive is actually a phonetic representation of the Hebrew text of her song: “Shiru l’Adonai ki-ga’oh ga'ah soos v’rochvo ramah vayam” (“Sing to the LORD, for He has triumphed gloriously! The horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea!”).
Mother and Child
from Suite for Violin and Piano
William Grant Still (1895-1978)
Dr. Kyung-Mi Kim, piano
Mother and Child is one of William Grant Still's most popular works, written in 1943 during a challenging period in his life. Still had turned down an incredibly lucrative film commission because he thought the movie depicted people of color badly and that the studio's actions were degrading. This principled stand was costly but indicative of Still's belief in human rights and the value of Black lives.
Trois Chansons
Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
arr. Michael Levin
I. Dieu! Qu’il la fait bon regarder!
(God, how good it is to behold her!)
III. Yver, vous n’estes qu’un villain
(Winter, you're just a villain)
Hommage a Manuel de Falla (1994)
Bela Kovacs (1937-2021)
“My pedagogical activities inspired me to compose the Hommages. The pieces were intended to be etudes or studies which students may use as supplementary material to the usual dry and mechanical – although indispensable – exercises. If performed with impressive dexterity, with proper tone production and sufficient knowledge of styles, coupled with a sense of humor and a certain amount of fantasy, they could – hopefully- find success even on the stage."
- Bela Kovacs
“To Know Love”
Kelsey White (b. 2003), Noah Pappo (b. 2003) & Daniel Brown (b. 2002)