Video & Audio
Handel: Neun Deutsche Arien
I love making music with friends, and it’s even more fun when it’s music that’s not very frequently performed. This clip of Handel’s “Flammende Rose” from the NEUN DEUTSCHE ARIEN was filmed at a concert at the Church of the Ascension in Birmingham, Alabama in late 2023. I’m fortunate to be joined by collaborators Fred Teardo, harpsichord; Sam Nordlund, cello; and Jim Sullivan, oboe.
Gebirtig: S’brent
“S’brent” is from an anthology of Yiddish songs compiled by John Yaffé, originally arranged by Robert DeCormier. Ipsilon Music Press published this folksong repertoire in 2020, but this performance in 2024 was the live premiere. I’m joined by Yakov Kasman at the piano and violinist Daniel Szasz. The text is displayed along with art banned by the Nazis, as they deemed it “degenerate.” To keep it all in sync, I’m also running the video!
Haydn: Lord Nelson Mass
Independent Presbyterian Church has a wonderful music program featuring a large-scale work with their choir and musicians from the Alabama Symphony Orchestra. This piece has been on my bucket list for a while, and it’s always a treat to make music with friends and colleagues in this special space! Here is an excerpt from their spring 2023 concert, conducted by Jeff McLelland.
Schumann: Du Ring an meinem Finger
In March 2023, I was asked to jump in and sing Schumann’s FRAUENLIEBEN UND -LEBEN with ten days’ notice. Who could say no when it’s such a glorious cycle? Laurie Middaugh was my partner in crime, and the cycle fell into place with only one rehearsal. There’s nothing quite like finding such simpatico. Thank you, Laurie!
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The Blessed Virgin’s Expostulation
Likely inspired by Monteverdi’s Lamento d”Arianna, Purcell’s piece is truly an extended scene, much in the spirit of early opera. It expands on a chapter in the Gospel of Luke, imagining Mary’s distress when her 12-year-old Son is missing. I found it deeply fulling to perform this with Charles Hogan, harpsichord.
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Flow, my tears
I often joke that it’s a good thing I have an understanding husband, because I’ve been having a love affair with John Dowland for over twenty years. Here’s a live recording of this gorgeous song with Laudon Schuett on the lute. I’m fascinated by the coded messages Dowland was trying to send Queen Elizabeth I, but that’s for another time. Learn all about it when you buy my CD of lute songs, released on Centaur, below.
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Music for awhile
This famous song was the opening song on an early music recital featuring music by Henry Purcell, John Blow, William Byrd, and John Dowland. Here was the first time I had the great joy of performing with lutenist Lauden Schuett and gambist Brady Lanier. My long-time colleague Chris Steele joins us on the harpsichord.
Burning the Woods of My Childhood
This is the opening song in Lori Laitman’s song cycle Living in the Body, and I and my collaborator Denise Gainey experience it slightly differently every time we play it together. Originally scored for soprano and saxophone, Lori was kind enough to allow and provide clarinet instrumentation for our CD, THE SECRET EXIT.