FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Mallory McFarland | Morahan Arts and Media
mallory@morahanartsandmedia.com

LYRIC FEST OPENS 2022-23 SEASON WITH
ELYSIAN FIELDS

20th Anniversary Concert Celebrates Lyric Fest’s Beginnings
with Soprano Magdalena Kuzma, 
Mezzo-Soprano Sun-Ly Pierce, and Pianist Laura Ward

Program Includes Works by Tchaikovsky, Brahms, 
Peter Lieberson, Jake Heggie, and Others

Sunday, September 18 & Tuesday, September 20

“a world of tonal underpinning that both rumbled and roared
as well as soothed and inspired” — Chestnut Hill Local

www.lyricfest.org

Philadelphia, PA (August 15, 2022) — Lyric Fest opens its 20th anniversary season with Elysian Fields: Dawns, Dreams, Visions – A Celebration of Lyric Fest's Beginnings on Sunday, September 18, 2022 at 3:00pm at The Academy of Vocal Arts, and on Tuesday, September 20, 2022 at 7:30pm at Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church. The concert features solos and duets by Tchaikovsky, Chopin, Canteloube, Rachmaninoff, Boyle, Ferré, Higdon, Cipullo, Lieberson and more – sung by two rising vocal stars, soprano Magdalena Kuzma and mezzo-soprano Sun-Ly Pierce, who will present an evening of “dawns, visions, and dreams” in song. These two young artists are alums of Music Academy of the West – which is where co-founders Suzanne DuPlantis and Laura Ward first met and dreamed of creating a song series that would become Lyric Fest. Ward joins the concert on piano.

“We curated a program that both plays to the strengths of these two amazing young singers, each widely recognized for their artistry, warmth, and truly glorious voices, and that highlights significant songs and moments in Lyric Fest’s journey,” said DuPlantis. “Polish American soprano Magdalena Kužma is a young artist at the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann program, and Chinese American mezzo-soprano Sun-Ly Pierce is a studio artist at Houston Grand Opera. Both are incredible ambassadors of American song and have had works written especially for them. They met at the famed Music Academy of the West, like Laura and I, and it was there we dreamed and planned to found an art song series together. It’s thrilling to honor our beginnings in this way, with Magda and Sun-Ly.”

Lyric Festival’s upcoming concert season continues with two performances of A Singer’s Singer – A Biography in Music of Winnaretta Singer, An American Patroness in Paris, held on Saturday, November 12, 2022 at 3:00pm at the First Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, where Lyric Fest began, and Sunday, November 13, 2022 at 3:00pm at The Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill.

Performance Details
Elysian Fields: Dawns, Dreams, Visions – A Celebration of Lyric Fest's Beginnings 
Sunday, September 18, 2022 at 3:00pm
The Academy of Vocal Arts | 1920 Spruce St | Philadelphia, PA
Tickets: $25 advance purchase, $30 at the door
Link: https://lyricfest.org/concerts/elysian-fields/

Elysian Fields: Dawns, Dreams, Visions – A Celebration of Lyric Fest's Beginnings 
Tuesday, September 20, 2022 at 7:30pm
Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church | 625 Montgomery Ave | Bryn Mawr, PA
Tickets: $25 advance purchase, $30 at the door
Link: https://lyricfest.org/concerts/elysian-fields/

Magdalena Kuzma, soprano
Sun-Ly Pierce, mezzo-soprano
Laura Ward, piano

Program:

DAWN

TCHAIKOVSKY: ??????? (Dawn) - Opus 46, No. 6
CHOPIN:
   Zyczenie 
   Wiosna
JOSEPH CANTELOUBE: 
   Ound' onorèn gorda?
   Obal din lou Limouzi
BRAHMS AND DVORÁK: Two Duets 
   DVORÁK - Skromná, Opus 32, No. 8
   BRAHMS - Die Boten der Liebe - Op. 61, No.. 4. 

VISION

Four Baudelaire Settings
   LÉO FÉRRE: La mort des amants
   BENJAMIN C.S. BOYLE: Harmonie du Soir 
   BENJAMIN C.S. BOYLE: Le flambeau vivant 
   LÉO FÉRRE: La pipe

DREAM

RACHMANINOFF 
   ??! (The Quest), Op. 38, No. 6
   ??? (Dream), Op. 38, No. 5
Two Songs in Spanish from the newer world 
   PETER LIEBERSON: Ya eres mía. Reposa con tu sueño en mi sueño, from Neruda Songs
   XAVIER MONTSALVATGE: Canción de cuna para dormir a un negrito, from Cinco Canciones Negras

SUMMER AND THE NIGHT

JAKE HEGGIE: Hummingbird Duet
JENNIFER HIGDON: Moon Songs
   The Night Is Still
   The Half Moon Shows a Face of Plaintive Sweetness
TOM CIPULLO: Late Summer
   Summer into Autumn Slips
   Crickets
 
ONWARD
 
EDWARD GERMAN: Restless River

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, a unique vocal recital series in Philadelphia. 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, the Spoleto Festival (Italy), and the Colmar International Music Festival and Saint Denis Festival in France. She has served on the faculty of The CoOPERAtive Program at Westminster Choir College, the Academy of Vocal Arts, Temple University, Ravinia Festival Steans Institute, Washington Opera, University of Maryland, and the Music Academy of the West. Laura’s discography includes Lineage with Grammy-nominated baritone, Randall Scarlata, In This Blue Room: Lyric Fest Performs Songs of Kile Smith, Daron Hagen 21st Century Song Cycles, Hat er mir Rosen Gebracht: Songs of Joseph Marx with soprano Kendra Colton, Songs of Innocence and The Raven with The Raven Consort, and, most recently, Spirits in Bondage: Songs of Benjamin C.S. Boyle. Laura is also a 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 2,000 song accompaniments for Hal Leonard Publishing. These volumes help countless singers and pianists experience, learn and enjoy the art song repertoire, and 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 Collaborative Piano at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, and a Doctorate In Collaborative Piano from the University of Michigan where she was a student of Martin Katz.

About Magdalena Kuz´ma
Polish-American soprano Magdalena Kuz´ma is promptly establishing a name for herself in both concert and operatic repertoire. Kuz´ma recently won the ACPC Sembrich Vocal Competition, Mississippi Opera’s John Alexander Competition, and the CT Districts of Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition; in addition to placing third and winning Audience Favorite in the 2021 NAO Competition. This season, she sings the leading role of Adina in L’elisir d’amore at Yale, is the Mahler 4 Symphony soloist with Richmond Symphony, and is covering Nannetta in Falstaff at Santa Fe Opera. Last year she was honored as valedictorian at Yale University and debuted as a vocal fellow at both Merola Opera and Ravinia. Previous credits include Lila in Cold Mountain at Music Academy of the West, Blanche in Dialogues de Carmélites, and Anna in Die Sieben Todsünden with Oberlin Opera, in addition to several mainstage roles at Chautauqua Institute and Teatro Petrarca. 

She is a proud alumna of Renée Fleming’s SongStudio at Carnegie Hall, Houston Grand Opera's YAVA, and The Bach Institute at Emmanuel Music. Magdalena holds degrees from Oberlin & Juilliard and is currently pursuing a Master’s at Yale University.

About Sun-Ly Pierce 
Chinese-American mezzo-soprano Sun-Ly Pierce is quickly distinguishing herself as an exciting communicator and artist in the opera world. During the 2022-23 season, she will return to Houston Grand Opera as Jack in Dame Ethel Smyth's epic 1906 opera The Wreckers and make her house debut at Opera Philadelphia in a role debut as Emilia in Rossini's Otello alongside tenor Lawrence Brownlee. This season, Ms. Pierce debuts four new roles on stage at Houston Grand Opera: Stéphano (Roméo et Juliette), sing Sister Mathilde and cover Blanche de la Force (Dialogues des Carmélites), Second Lady (Die Zauberflöte), and Mercédès (Carmen). Additional appearances include reviving her portrayal of Mozart's Second Lady for Des Moines Metro Opera; joining the Aspen Music Festival in a role debut as Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, and mezzo-soprano soloist in a concert of Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream; and covering the role of Bao Chai in Bright Sheng's Dream of the Red Chamber with the San Francisco Opera. Previous season highlights include a debut at National Sawdust in two New York premieres of works by composers Annika Socolofsky and Emily Cooley; performing in Stravinsky's Pulcinella conducted by Thomas Adès; and taking on the role of Olivia in the West Coast premiere of Jennifer Higdon's Cold Mountain directed by James Darrah. As winners of the 2019 Marilyn Horne Song Competition, Ms. Pierce and pianist Chien-Lin Lu gave an international recital tour in spring of 2022, which included stops in London, New York, Chicago, and Santa Barbara, on which they will premiere a new song cycle, Wise Moon, written by three-time Grammy Award-winning composer Jennifer Higdon.

A native of Clinton, New York, she holds a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance degree from the Eastman School of Music and completed her training as a member of the Houston Grand Opera Studio in May of 2022. She is also an alumni of the Graduate Vocal Arts Program at Bard College Conservatory of Music, where she studied under the tutelage of Dawn Upshaw, Kayo Iwama, and Erika Switzer.

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