Lyric Fest to Present ODE TO THE LOST SONG, a Collection Of Songs From Norwegian Composer Arne Dørumsgaard

Lyric Fest will continue its 20th anniversary season with Ode to the Lost Song, a collection of songs by Norwegian composer Arne Dørumsgaard, on Tuesday, December 6, 2022 at 7:00pm at the Moorestown Community House in Moorestown, NJ, and Wednesday, December 7, 2022 at 7:00pm at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia, PA.

The 20th century Norwegian composer, Arne Dørumsgaard, made it his life's work to compile a host of lost songs from cultures around the world, culled from over four centuries of old, forgotten songs. His exquisite song arrangements have been performed by recitalists for over seventy years and are now presented as a short sampling by Lyric Fest. Featured in concert are soprano Victoria Okafor and baritone Byron Jones, with Laura Ward at the piano.

Lyric Fest's season continues in 2023 with the extraordinary new social justice work COTTON that brings together music, poetry, and fine art photography. COTTON is inspired by the cotton photography of Philadelphia artist John Dowell, whose work explores in penetrating, superimposed images centuries of racial injustice, and the story of American history and its wealth told through the lens of the cotton industry. COTTON premieres at the Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral on Saturday, February 25, 2023 at 7:30pm, followed by a second performance at The Kennedy Center's Terrace Theater in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, February 28, 2023 at 7:30pm presented by Washington Performing Arts. This large scale multimedia event features collaborations with composer Damien Geter; opera stars mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves and baritone Justin Austin; Lyric Fest's co-founder pianist Laura Ward; plus eight major African American poets that include Lauren Alleyne, Charlotte Blake Alston, Nikki Giovanni, Marc Bamuthi Joseph, Trapeta Mayson, Glenis Redmond, Afaa Michael Weaver, and Alora Young to create unforgettable performances that will bring to words and music Dowell's evocation of "African American ancestral strategies of survival, and the little-known history of slavery in New York City."

Performance Details:

Ode to the Lost Song: Arne Dørumsgaard
Tuesday, December 6, 2022 at 7:00pm
Moorestown Community House | 16 E Main St | Moorestown, NJ
Tickets: $25 advance purchase, $30 at the door
Link: https://lyricfest.org/concerts/ode-to-the-lost-song-arne-dorumsgaard/

Wednesday, December 7, 2022 at 7:00pm
The Academy of Vocal Arts | 1920 Spruce St | Philadelphia, PA
Tickets: $25 advance purchase, $30 at the door
Link: https://lyricfest.org/concerts/ode-to-the-lost-song-arne-dorumsgaard/

Program:
All works arranged by ARNE DØRUMSGAARD.

CZECH FOLK SONG: Preleteł Slaviček
GERMAN FOLK SONG: Schwesterlein
CARL PHILIPP EMANUEL BACH: Die Güte Gottes
ALESSANDRO SCARLATTI: Caldo Sangue
FRANCESCA CACCINI: Per La Più Vaga E Bella
BARBARA STROZZI: Spesso Per Entro Al Petto
FRANCESCO CAVALLI: Son Ancor Pargoletta
JUAN DE ANCHIETA: Con Amores, La Mi Madre
JOHN DOWLAND: Flow Not So Fast, Ye Fountains
GERMAN CHRISTMAS CAROL: Joseph, Lieber Joseph Mein
DAVID GREGOR CORNER: Ein Neues, Andächtiges Kindelwiegen

FRANCISCO DE LA TORRE: Pámpano Verde
ANTONIO CALDARA: Sebben, Crudele
ALESSANDRO SCARLATTI: Chi Vuole Innamorarsi
ANTOINE BOËSSET: Cachez, beaux yeux
JOHN DOWLAND: Deare, if you change
CARL MICHAEL BELLMAN: Vila vid denna källa (Swedish drinking song)
JOHANN FRANCK: Sie nur still
HEINRICH WERNER: Sah ein Knab' ein Röslein stehn
GERMAN FOLK SONG: Schwesterlein
FINNISH FOLK SONG: Karjalan kunnailla
JOHN ATTEY: Sweet was the Song
GERMAN CHRISTMAS CAROL: Still, still, still

Artists:
Victoria Okafor, soprano
Byron Jones, baritone
Laura Ward, piano

Proof of vaccination required. You will be required to show proof of vaccination at the door for all Lyric Fest performances, and you are encouraged to wear a mask.

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, www.lyricfest.org, 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 Victoria Okafor

Praised for her "silver- voiced soprano" (Seen and Heard International), Victoria Okafor has sung with companies such as Cincinnati Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Washington National Opera and Opera Birmingham.

About Byron Jones

Byron Jones is well-known to audiences in the Washington, DC area, having performed regularly for more than two decades in opera, concert, recital and intimate cabaret settings, in such venues as the Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Opera House, and Millennium Stage, Lisner Auditorium, the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, and numerous regional theaters.

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