Dec. 11 -12: Lyric Fest Presents My Letter to the World, a Biography in Music of Emily Dickinson

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Katy Salomon | Morahan Arts and Media
katy@morahanartsandmedia.com | (863) 660-2214

Lyric Fest Presents My Letter to the World,
a Biography in Music of Emily Dickinson

Featuring Christine Lyons, Pascale Spinney, Aaron Crouch,
Gregory Feldmann, Laura Ward, and Suzanne DuPlantis

Performances on December 11 at the Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill
and December 12 at the Academy of Vocal Arts

“An irresistible mix of high art and humane feeling…
as entertaining as a well-managed party.” — Broad Street Review

www.lyricfest.org

Philadelphia, PA (November 11, 2021) — Lyric Fest presents two performances of My Letter to the World, a special concert centered on the life and writings of Emily Dickinson, on Saturday, December 11, 2021 at 3:00pm at the Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill and Sunday, December 12, 2021 at 3:00pm at the Academy of Vocal Arts.

Featured in this unique program of letters and narration are 20th and 21st century song settings by Arthur Farwell, Aaron Copland, Andre Previn, Daron Hagen, Lori Laitman, Richard Hundley, Logan Skelton, Scott Gendel, and Jake Heggie, among others. The concert features soprano Christine Lyons, mezzo-soprano Pascale Spinney, tenor Aaron Crouch, and baritone Gregory Feldmann. Joining them are Lyric Fest Co-Founders and Artistic Directors Laura Ward and Suzanne DuPlantis, with Ward on piano and DuPlantis serving as narrator.

Of My Letter to the World, Lyric Fest Co-Founder and Artistic Director Suzanne DuPlantis says, “Dickinson died with nearly 1,800 poems locked in a chest, written in notebooks, on cards, and scribbled onto envelopes with their glue seams pressed open. The vast majority of these poems were completely unknown to the world. Lyric Fest shares the story of the beguiling life of one of America’s most notable and beloved poets.”

Lyric Fest’s 2021-22 season also includes A Time to Mourn on November 13 and 14, 2021 at 3:00pm, featuring Michelle Johnson, Hannah Ludwig, Richard Ollarsaba, Laura Ward, and Alora Young. The season continues with Yiddishe Nightingale on February 8 and 9, 2022 at 7:00pm and February 13, 2022 at 4:00pm, featuring Zalmen Mlotek, Elizabeth Shammash, and Thom King; The Song Catcher on April 9 and 10, 2022 at 3:00pm, featuring Cree Carrico, Devony Smith, Nicholas Davis, Steven Brennfleck, Laura Ward, Charlotte Blake Alston, and instrumentalists from Orchestra 2001; Anything Goes on May 17 and 18, 2022 at 7:00pm, featuring Randall Scarlata, Suzanne DuPlantis, and Laura Ward; and The Art of Song on June 3, 2022 at 7:30pm, featuring Justine Aronson, Gilda Lyons, Elisa Sutherland, Meg Bragle, James Reese, Steven Eddy, Laura Ward, and Michael Brofman.

Concert Information
My Letter to the World
Saturday, December 11, 2021 at 3:00pm
The Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill | 8855 Germantown Ave | Philadelphia, PA
Tickets: $25
Link: https://lyricfest.org/tickets/

My Letter to the World
Sunday, December 12, 2021 at 3:00pm
The Academy of Vocal Arts |  1920 Spruce St | Philadelphia, PA 19103
Tickets: $25
Link: https://lyricfest.org/tickets/

Works by Arthur Farwell, Aaron Copland, Ernst Bacon, Craig Urquhart, Andre Previn, Daron Hagen, Lori Laitman, Earnest Gold, William Bolcom, Lee Hoiby, Vincent Persichetti, Carlisle Floyd, Libby Larons, Celsius Dougherty, Richard Hundley, Logan Skelton, Scott Gendel, and Jake Heggie

Christine Lyons, soprano
Pascale Spinney, mezzo-soprano
Aaron Crouch, tenor
Gregory Feldmann, baritone
Laura Ward, piano
Suzanne DuPlantis, narrator

About Lyric Fest
Lyric Fest has been hailed in the press as “An irresistible mix of high art and humane feeling… As entertaining as a well-managed party” (Broad Street Review). Founded in 2003 with the goal of celebrating and revitalizing the art song tradition, it is the only performing arts organization in the Mid-Atlantic region with a primary focus on song in all its varied expression. 

Lyric Fest has produced and presented over 100 distinctly crafted and curated concert programs. Each has featured multiple artists of national and international stature sharing song through theme and story, together with the spoken word. The organization has defined commissioning new works as an integral part of its mission and programming philosophy. To date, Lyric Fest has commissioned an impressive body of more than 200 new American songs from many of the nation’s preeminent composers.

Lyric Fest is run by two of its founders, artistic directors Suzanne DuPlantis and Laura Ward. Known for their excellence and innovation in creating rich, thematic, accessible concerts, Lyric Fest performs throughout the Philadelphia region, and has brought programs to Washington DC; Moorestown, NJ; Wilmington, DE; New Orleans, LA; Pittsburgh, PA; Brooklyn and New York City, NY; and San Jose, CA. Learn more about Lyric Fest at lyricfest.org.

About Suzanne DuPlantis
Suzanne DuPlantis is Founder and Artistic Director of Lyric Fest. With a passionate commitment to song, and a belief in its power to reach all listeners, Suzanne enjoys sharing this vision with Lyric Fest audiences in novel and dynamic ways in creative program building; in writing scripts and program notes; through graphic design and by creating innovative song videos. Noted for her moving renditions of songs and her intimate way with an audience, “DuPlantis deeply imprints the music with her personality with great emotional underpinning” (The Philadelphia Inquirer). She made her New York debut at Alice Tully Hall with Musica Sacra and her Kimmel Center debut in Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with Orchestra 2001. Her career in opera has spanned debuts with companies across America in roles from Rossini’s heroines Rosina and Isabella, Carmen to Waltraute. In oratorio, chamber music and song, Suzanne has appeared with many of Philadelphia’s premiere music organizations including The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, The Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, The Philadelphia Orchestra, The Philadelphia Chamber Ensemble, Bucks County Choral Society, Singing City, The Wister Quartet, and Orchestra 2001. She has premiered new works written for her, including by Kile Smith, Andrea Clearfield, Robert Maggio, Roxanna Panufnik, Logan Skelton, Allen Krantz and Benjamin C.S. Boyle. She has recorded Brian Gaber’s Ancestral Waters for mezzo, orchestra and jazz trio, and has recently released a CD of American Songbook Standards, Lazy Afternoon – Songs of Love and the South.

About Laura Ward
Laura Ward is pianist and Artistic Director of Lyric Fest. As a distinguished collaborative pianist she is known for both her technical ability and vast knowledge of repertoire and styles. Concert engagements have taken her to Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Teatro Colon, the Spoleto Festival (Italy), the Colmar International Music Festival and Saint Denis Festival in France. She has served on the faculty of AlpenKammermusik, The CoOPERAtive Program at Westminster Choir College, The Academy of Vocal Arts, Temple University, Ravinia Festival Stean’s Institute, Washington Opera, University of Maryland, Music Academy of the West and as the official pianist for the Washington International Competition, the Astral Artists Auditions and for the Marian Anderson Award. Laura is pianist on the recently released Daron Hagen 21st Century Song Cycles on the Naxos label and Lineage with her frequent collaborative partner, Randall Scarlata on the Albany label. Laura is also recording artist and editor of song accompaniments for publisher Hal Leonard having co-edited: Richard Strauss: 40 Songs, Gabriel Fauré: 50 Songs, and Johannes Brahms: 75 Songs and recorded over 2000 song accompaniments for Hal Leonard Publishing. These volumes help countless singers and pianists experience, learn and enjoy the art song repertoire and also help introduce a world of art song to many who have had little exposure to classical song. A native of Texas, Laura received her Bachelor in Music degree from Baylor University, holds a Masters in Piano Accompanying at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and a Doctorate in Accompanying from the University of Michigan where she was a student of Martin Katz.

About Christine Lyons
Christine Lyons [she/her] is a critically acclaimed soprano who has been hailed a “true virtuosa” by Broadway World, exclaimed a “revelation” by Gay City News, and praised for her “potent soprano” by Opera Magazine. In 2022, Lyons will make an exciting role debut as the title role in Handel’s iconic Agrippina with Florida Grand Opera. www.christinelyons.com.

About Pascale Spinney
Pascale Spinney is a recent graduate from the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia. Immediately following the conclusion of her studies, she appeared as Dido in Dido and Aeneas and as Maddalena in Rigoletto at Central City Opera’s 2021 Summer Festival. www.pascalespinney.com.

About Aaron Crouch
An artist and activist, African-American tenor, Aaron Crouch has been described by the Huffington Post as “riveting vocally and as an actor.” Originally from Bowie, Maryland, he is a recent graduate of the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, studying under the guidance of Mikael Eliasen and Jonathan Beyer. aaroncrouchmusic.com.

About Gregory Feldmann
Hailed for his “fresh and resonant voice” (Seen and Heard International) New York-based baritone Gregory Feldmann is a rising young artist on opera and recital stages alike. Last February, Feldmann sang the role of the composer in Virgil Thomson’s The Mother of Us All, a collaboration with Juilliard Opera, the New York Philharmonic, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in February 2020. He will reprise the role of Belcore in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore in the spring with Juilliard Opera, directed by John Giampietro and conducted by Joseph Colaneri. www.gregoryfeldmannbaritone.com.

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