“Paterson’s expressive tonal melodies and energetic percussive accents tie the stories together.”
Preview performance of the piano/vocal version of Robert Paterson’s New York Stories with American Modern Ensemble, featuring librettos and lyrics by New York City-based writers, including Mark Campbell, David Cote, Margot Connolly, Briana Elyse Hunter, John De Los Santos, and Sokunthary Svay.
PROGRAM NOTE
New York Stories began as a single duet for soprano, baritone, and piano called Crossing The Hudson with text by Mark Campbell, which was commissioned by the Five Boroughs Music Festival. A few years later, David Cote wrote lyrics for a duet with the same instrumentation called Extraordinary, as a concert ender for two song cycles we created, called In Real Life I and In Real Life II. After these two pieces, I sensed a pattern emerging, or at least a potential project: since both of these pieces take place in and contain texts by writers based in New York City, I thought it would be fun to ask four other talented New York City-based writers to write lyrics or short libretti, with the only stipulation that each piece be inspired by or take place in the five boroughs. The other writers I chose for this project include Margot Connolly, Briana Elyse Hunter, John de los Santos, and Sokunthary Svay.
PROGRAM
ROBERT PATERSON – New York Stories
Original and Only – Libretto by Margot Connolly
Extraordinary – Libretto by David Cote
Shallow Wishes – Libretto by John de los Santos
River Park – Libretto by Sokunthary Svay
Rules In Effect – Libretto by Briana Elyse Hunter
Crossing The Hudson – Libretto by Mark Campbell
ARTISTS
Alexandra Henderson, soprano
Emily Solo, soprano
Caleb Horner, Tenor
Christopher Rodgriguez, baritone
Alejandro De Los Santos, baritone
Yun Hao, piano
Order and artists are subject to change