Lyric Fest Presents ANYTHING GOES: COLE PORTER - UNCENSORED, May 17-18

Lyric Fest presents a larger-than-life musical biography of iconic American composer Cole Porter: Anything Goes: Cole Porter - Uncensored will take place on Tuesday, May 17, 2022 at 7:00pm at the Moorestown Community Center in Moorestown, NJ and Wednesday, May 18, 2022 at 7:00pm at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia, PA.

Featured in this all-Cole Porter program are baritone Randall Scarlata, mezzo-soprano Suzanne DuPlantis, and pianist Laura Ward.

The concert program will include selections from Porter's musicals Anything Goes ("Anything Goes", "Let's Do It!", "It's De-Lovely", "I get a kick out of you", "You're the Top", "Let's Misbehave", "Friendship"), Kiss Me, Kate ("So in Love", "Where is the Life That Late I Led?", "I Hate Men"), Broadway Melody of 1940 ("I Concentrate on You"), Born to Dance ("I've got you under my skin"), Gay Divorce ("After You, Who?", "Night and Day"), Jubilee ("Just One of Those Things", "Begin the Beguine"), and Fifty Million Frenchmen ("The Tale of the Oyster"), plus his songs "Every Time We Say Goodbye", "Don't fence me in", and "Miss Otis Regrets".

"When springtime comes around again, it's always time for Lyric Fest to return to the great American songbook," Artistic Director Suzanne DuPlantis says. "This time, we turn the spotlight on Cole Porter who was quite the naughty lyricist... We're happily presenting Cole in all his raunchy splendor!"

Lyric Fest's season continues with the Brooklyn premiere of Daron Hagen's The Art of Song on June 3, 2022 at the Brooklyn Historical Society, featuring Meg Bragle, Michael Brofman, Steven Eddy, Gilda Lyons, Rebecca Myers, James Reese, Elisa Sutherland, and Laura Ward; and My Favorite Things on June 11, 2022 the Academy of Vocal Arts, featuring Jennifer Aylmer and Laura Ward.

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Concert Information
Anything Goes: Cole Porter - Uncensored
Tuesday, May 17, 2022 at 7:00pm
Moorestown Community Center | Moorestown, NJ
Tickets: $25
Link: https://lyricfest.org/tickets/

Anything Goes: Cole Porter - Uncensored
Wednesday, May 18, 2022 at 7:00pm
Academy of Vocal Arts | Philadelphia, PA
Tickets: $25
Link: https://lyricfest.org/tickets/

Program:
Anything Goes
Let's Do It!

I Concentrate on You
So in Love
Every Time We Say Goodbye

It's De-Lovely
Don't fence me in
I've got you under my skin
I get a kick out of you

Where is the Life That Late I Led?
I Hate Men

You're the Top
After You, Who?
Miss Otis Regrets

Just One of Those Things
Let's Misbehave
Night and Day

The Tale of the Oyster
Begin the Beguine
Friendship

Artists:
Suzanne DuPlantis, mezzo-soprano
Randall Scarlata, baritone
Laura Ward, piano

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.

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.

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.

Baritone Randall Scarlata has been praised by The New York Times as "an intelligent and communicative singer" with a "compelling desire to bring texts to life." He has also been acclaimed for his "extraordinary vocal range and colour palette" and "ability to traverse so many different singing styles" (MusicWeb International). The Daily Telegraph (London) adds "Randall Scarlata sings with the assurance of one with nothing to prove." Randall Scarlata has appeared on concert stages throughout Europe, North America, South America, Australia, and Asia. He has been a soloist with the Philadelphia and Minnesota Orchestras, and with the Pittsburgh, San Francisco, American, Sydney, Ulster, Tonkünstler, National, New World, and BBC Symphonies, as well as the early music groups Wiener Akademie, Grand Tour, Tempesta di Mare, and Musica Angelica, among others. Many of the world's great music festivals have sought him out as a soloist, including the Ravinia, Marlboro, Edinburgh, Norfolk, Vienna, Music at Menlo, Gilmore, Salzburg, Norfolk, Aspen, and Spoleto (Italy) festivals. Mr. Scarlata is co-artistic director of the Alpenkammermusik Chamber Music Festival in Carinthia, Austria during the summer, and gives masterclasses throughout the United States and abroad. In 2019, he joined the faculty of the Tanglewood Music Center, and the faculty of the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University. He has also served on the faculties of West Chester University and SUNY Stony Brook. He has given world premieres of works by George Crumb, Paul Moravec, Richard Danielpour, Ned Rorem, Benjamin CS Boyle, Lori Laitman, Thea Musgrave, and many others. His recording of Schubert's Winterreise with pianist Gilbert Kalish was honored with a Grammy nomination for Best Classical Vocal Solo. www.randallscarlata.com.

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