I Hear America Singing

I Hear America Singing

Aurea’s signature blending of songs, poetry and prose, harmonica improvisations, and chamber music celebrates Democracy, paying homage to Walt Whitman’s 2019 bicentennial and the 2020 centennial commemoration of the passage of the 19th Amendment, granting women the right to vote. In addition to selected passages from Whitman’s groundbreaking poetry and prose, this performance also features the compositions of Amy Beach, Aaron Copeland, Charles Ives, and Brown University’s Eric Nathan. The concert will conclude with an exciting premiere of Francine Trester’s new chamber opera about Florence Price, America’s first black female composer to have a symphony performed by a major American orchestra.  A “Talk Back,” moderated by Christina Bevilacqua, Providence Public Library Director of Programming, will immediately follow the performance.

The first half of the program draws from Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass” and other writings, his eclectic musical sensibility and vision for American democracy in the face of the Civil War. The second half expands on Whitman’s aesthetic and democratic vision, and illuminates Florence Price’s life and music (1888-1953), featuring one of her string quartets, and Boston-based composer, Francine Trester’s “Florence Comes Home.” This twenty-minute chamber opera is based on researched archives and the 2007 discovery of some of Price’s lost musical manuscripts and letters. The piece was given its Boston premiere in the fall, to high acclaim.

Consuelo Sherba, Aurea’s artistic director said, “We have much to gain from listening to the magnanimous fervor of Whitman with fresh and critical ears. In light of Whitman’s bicentennial last year, his expansive vision and impact on American culture, we are also keenly aware of how much more encompassing that vision can be.”  She continued, “The revelations of a newly discovered body of fine work by the early 20th century African American composer, Florence Price, have a particular poignancy as we celebrate the centennial anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment in 2020. Following the inspirational arc of the program, it is very gratifying to conclude with contemporary Boston composer, Francine Trester’s operatic homage “Florence Comes Home.”

Performers:
Brianna Robinson, soprano
Carrie Cheron, mezzo-soprano
Rashaun Campbell, baritone
Katherine Winterstein, violin
Mina Lavcheva, violin
Consuelo Sherba, viola
Emmanuel Feldman, cello
Chris Turner, harmonica/reader
Nigel Gore, reader