April 30, 2015 | KAM Chamber Music Series presented Lyric Theatre "Singing in the Spring"
From Professor of Music, Michael Tilley
Lyric Studio provides an introduction to stagecraft and ensemble and scene work through focused study of specific periods in the history of sung theater. This semester, Professors Sarah Wigley Johnson and I chose baroque opera and Tin Pan Alley as the areas of specialization.
The common revolutionary thread to both eras is their rejection of artifice in favor of direct expression of emotion through song. From Claudio Monteverdi's poignant and chromatic trio "Non morir, Seneca", animated by its dancelike ritornelli and magisterial tone-painting to Johann Sebastian Bach's secular "Coffee" cantata, depicting the antagonism of an enraged father and an addicted child, to the wit of Irving Berlin's loving satire of Verdi, to the uplift of Gershwin's unforgettable melodies in "Embraceable You" and "On My Way", audiences will thrill to rediscover forgotten gems and find new treasures from this rich heritage.
The student performers were accompanied by two keyboards, flute, and cello, in new arrangements written especially for this concert.