This new cycle of fifteen songs, duets, and ensembles by fifteen composers was commissioned In honor of 5BMF’s 15th Anniversary and On Site Opera’s 10th Anniversary seasons, and marks the third installment of 5BMF’s critically-acclaimed quinquennial FIVE BOROUGH SONGBOOK project
Featuring new works by Arianne Abela, Raquel Acevedo Klein, Kinan Azmeh, Colin Britt, Majel Connery, Laura Jobin-Acosta, Will Healy, Brian Lawlor, Jessica Meyer, Angélica Negrón, Nkeiru Okoye, Juri Seo, Aaron Siegel, Darian Thomas, and Jonathan Woody, the Songbook derives its inspiration from locations scattered throughout New York City — three songs for each borough — to create a mosaic of the city’s past, present and future. The Songbook’s texts are drawn from a variety of sources: written by the composers themselves, from existing poetry (including Joseph Tusiani, Amy Lowell, and Walt Whitman), and newly-commissioned words in Arabic by Firas Sulaiman, in Spanish and English by Noel Quiñones, and by Valerie Seeley.
This April, the Songbook, Vol III will receive its World Premiere in a free performance at the Brooklyn Public Library’s Dweck Cultural Center, co-presented by BPL PRESENTS, followed by the Staten Island premiere at Trinity Lutheran Church. Both concerts feature an all-star lineup of artists, including performers from the acclaimed vocal super-group KALEIDOSCOPE VOCAL ENSEMBLE — sopranos Michele Kennedy and Gitanjali Mathur, mezzo-soprano Cecilia Duarte, tenor Haitham Haidar, and bass-baritone Jonathan Woody — as well as pianist Candace Chien, violinist Pala Garcia, and cellist John Popham.
