Event

Beth Carter Sings

Following the World Premier Performance in January 2016, soprano Beth Carter sings the West Coast Premier of a new setting of When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd written by Dr. Jonathan Green of Normal, Illinois.

Composition on this work began in the fall of 2014 with completion one year later. Dr. Green masterfully brings to musical life the broad emotional range of the poet, Walt Whitman, as he grasps the death found all around him during the Civil War and the assassination of President Lincoln.

While the string quartet and piano ordinarily accompany a singer in such a work, this particular composition has all musicians working in collaboration with one another occasionally finding that no one musician is more important than another. Honoring the performance this afternoon will be Dr. Green serving as conductor.

In addition to this incredible masterpiece Dr. Green will offer a few words about how his music came to be.

Prior to the performance Mrs. Carter will perform three other short pieces also written by Dr. Green, a song cycle entitled Come In Speaking Silence of a Dream.