Events

LIFE & DEATH showcases works for voice and piano by underrepresented composers, specifically art songs by African American and African diaspora composers, including several women and three Latin American composers, ranging from the 18th to the 21st century. In addition to English language pieces, the program includes songs in Italian, German, French, and Spanish, some of which have never before been performed in the United States. The texts address a wide range of life experiences, including daily existence, celebration, passion, indecision, heartbreak, grief, and death. This diverse and exciting recital concludes with a gospel-infused spiritual that will bring the audience to their feet.

ORIGIN: This program was curated by the University of Texas at El Paso Voice Professor and El Paso Opera Artistic Associate Cherry Duke, as an outgrowth of her research on “Diversity in Vocal Repertoire,” supported by a 2021 Career Enhancement Award from the UTEP College of Liberal Arts.

COMPOSERS AND WRITERS: The music includes works by American composers Harry T. Burleigh, Howard Swanson, William Grant Still, Robert Owens, Florence Price, Margaret Bonds, Rosephanye Powell, Undine Smith Moore, and Jacqueline Hairston; Caribbean composers Joseph Bologne, Carmen Brouard, and Mariela Rodríguez; and British composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. Texts are by Harlem Renaissance poets and various other writers (Black and white) from the U.S., Europe, and the Caribbean.