Dear Friends,
I hope this post finds you well.
This week, we were planning to present a beautiful and important work by an American composer George Walker (1922-2018). Lilacs for Voice and Orchestra was written in 1996, and Walker became the first African American composer to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Music. This work is based on Walt Whitman's (1819-1892) Poem "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd", an elegy written in response to President Abraham Lincoln's assassination in 1865.
I was very much looking forward to introducing soprano Susannah Biller to our audience with this work as well. Don't worry, I am planning to reprogram this work in the near future! You will also get to see and hear her on Tivoli Stage during next season's La Traviata as well.
Meanwhile, here is a recording of George Walker's Lilacs conducted by my teacher and mentor Timothy Russell.
Enjoy!
I'll check in with you again in a few days. Until then, stay healthy!
Best,
Kayoko
