September 15 – October 1, 2017

Martha Guth, soprano

Tyler Duncan, baritone

Erika Switzer, piano

New Voices: Earthquakes and Islands
A newly commissioned work by esteemed Canadian composer Andrew Staniland on the brutally
honest, strange, and powerful poetry of Robin Richardson.

Earthquakes and Islands is a co-commission with Sparks & Wiry Cries and the Brooklyn Art Song Society. An ambitious song cycle, this piece melds the poetry of Robin Richardson, including poems from her forthcoming third volume of poetry “Sit how you want,” in combination with the lyrical, forceful, moving musical landscape of composer Andrew Staniland. Robin Richardson’s own artwork illustrates the score.

(Projections available but not required of the performance)

-Read more about the creative artists here-

PERFORMING ARTISTS:

Soprano Martha Guth’s recital performances include Wigmore Hall, the Leeds Lieder Festival and the Vancouver International Song Institute with Graham Johnson; the Liederkranz with Dalton Baldwin; recitals in NYC with Malcolm Martineau, and numerous appearances throughout North America and Europe with long-time collaborator, pianist Erika Switzer. Her recitals have been broadcast by the CBC Radio/Radio Canada, NPR, the BBC, and the WDR in Germany. Recent concert performances include The National Cathedral in Washington D.C., Sacred Music in a Sacred Space in NYC, The Flagstaff Symphony, the Newfoundland Symphony, the Columbus Symphony, and the Toledo Symphony. Recent recitals include performances in Berlin, Worms, Hannover, NYC, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa, and Norfolk, Virgina. Her operatic credits include The Canadian Opera Company, The Santa Fe Opera, Opera Lyra, and the Grazer Oper. She has performed under Maestro’s Seiji Ozawa, Robert Spano, Helmut Rilling, John Nelson, Richard Bradshaw, Alan Gilbert and others. Martha’s growing discography includes the Latin GRAMMY nominated recording of Roberto’s Sierra’s song cycle ‘Beyond the Silence of Sorrow’, recorded with the Orquesta Sinfonica de Puerto Rico for Naxos. She has also recorded a solo disc of Schubert songs with fortepianist Penelope Crawford for Musica Omnia, John Fitz-Roger’s ‘Magna Mysteria’ for the Innova label, and the Five Borough’s Song Book for GVR records.  She is a founding faculty member of the Vancouver International Song Institute and co-director of its Contemporary Performance Studies program.  Together with Erika Switzer, she is Co-Director of Sparks & Wiry Cries, a global platform for art song spanning dissemination, performance and commission of new works. Their first recording on the ‘Sparks & Co.’ label of the Brahms Liebeslieder Waltzes is available for purchase on iTunes.  More information can be found www.marthaguth.com  &  www.sparksandwirycries.org

Canadian baritone Tyler Duncan recently performed at the Metropolitan Opera as Prince Yamadori in Puccini’s Madam Butterfly. At the Spoleto Festival he debuted as Mr. Friendly in the 18th-century ballad opera Flora, returning the next season as the Speaker in Mozart’s The Magic Flute. Other appearances have included the role of the Journalist in Berg’s Lulu and Fiorello in Rossini’s Barber of Seville, both at the Metropolitan Opera, Raymondo in Handel’s Almira with the Boston Early Music Festival, Dandini in Rossini’s La cenerentola with Pacific Opera Victoria; and Demetrius in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Princeton Festival. Issued on the CPO label is his Boston Early Music Festival recording of the title role in John Blow’s Venus and Adonis. Mr. Duncan’s concerts include Mahler’s 8th Symphony with the American Symphony Orchestra and the Toronto Symphony, Berlioz L’enfance du Christ with the Montreal Symphony; both Bach and Mendessohn’s Magnificat with the New York Philharmonic; Bach’s St Matthew Passion with the Munich Bach Choir, Montreal Symphony, and the Oregon Bach Festival; Haydn’s The Creation with the Québec, Montreal, and Winnipeg symphony orchestras; Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Calgary Philharmonic and Philharmonie der Nationen in Munich, Berlin, Stuttgart, and Frankfurt; Haydn’s The Seasons with the Calgary Philharmonic; Handel’s Messiah with Tafelmusik, the Montreal and Toronto Symphony Orchestras, Handel and Haydn Society, San Francisco’s Philharmonia Baroque, and Portland Baroque; Mozart’s Requiem with the Montreal, Toronto, and Salt Lake City Symphony Orchestras. He has also performed at Germany’s Halle Händel Festival, Verbier Festival, Vancouver Early Music Festival, Montreal Bach Festival, Oregon Bach Festival, Lanaudière Festival, Stratford Festival, Berkshire Choral Festival, and New York’s Carnegie Hall. Frequently paired with pianist Erika Switzer, Tyler Duncan has given acclaimed recitals in New York, Boston, and Paris, and throughout Canada, Germany, Sweden, France, and South Africa. Mr. Duncan has received prizes from the Naumburg, London’s Wigmore Hall, and Munich’s ARD competitions, and won the 2010 Joy in Singing competition, 2008 New York Oratorio Society Competition, 2007 Prix International Pro Musicis Award, and Bernard Diamant Prize from the Canada Council for the Arts. He holds music degrees from the University of British Columbia, Germany’s Hochschule für Musik (Augsburg), and Hochschule für Musik und Theater (Munich). He is a founding member on the faculty of the Vancouver International Song Institute. Mr. Duncan’s recordings include Bach’s St. John Passion with Portland Baroque and a DVD of Handel’s Messiah with Kent Nagano and the Montreal Symphony from CBC Television. On the ATMA label are works by Purcell and Carissimi’s Jepthe with Les Voix Baroque. www.tylerduncan.com

Erika Switzer is an internationally active pianist, teacher, and arts administrator. She performs regularly in vocal and chamber music recitals with a great variety of artists and also enjoys long-term partnerships with several notable singers, including soprano Martha Guth, mezzo-soprano Hai-Ting Chinn, tenor Colin Balzer, and baritone Tyler Duncan. Erika Switzer has been heard on the stages of New York’s Weill Recital Hall (Carnegie), Rockefeller University, Frick Collection, and Bargemusic, at the Kennedy Center, the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, the Spoleto Festival (Charleston, SC), the Bard Music Festival, Stanford Live, as well as all across Canada at festivals including Toronto’s Canadian Voices, Montreal’s André Turp Society and Ottawa’s ChamberFest. Her commitment to new music speaks through premiers of works for the 5 Boroughs Music Festival (Matthew Aucoin, Evan Fein, Whitney George, Missy Mazzoli, Paola Prestini), the Brooklyn Art Song Society (Andrew Staniland), and Vancouver’s Music on Main (Jocelyn Morlock, Caroline Shaw). During her seven-year sojourn to Germany, she presented recitals at the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden and the Winners & Masters series in Munich, and she won numerous awards, including pianist prizes at the Robert Schumann, Hugo Wolf, and Wigmore Hall International Song Competitions.  Erika Switzer is on the music faculty at Bard College and the Vocal Arts Programs of the Bard Conservatory of Music. She also has been on the faculty of several summer programs, including the Vancouver International Song Institute, the CoOPERAtive Program at Westminster Choir College, and the St. Lawrence String Quartet Seminar at Stanford. She received her doctorate from The Juilliard School. As co-creator of Sparks & Wiry Cries (sparksandwirycries.org), Erika Switzer contributes to the future of art song performance through publication of The Art Song Magazine, presentation of recitals in New York City (Casement Fund Song Series), and the commission of new works (Sparks Commission). erikaswitzer.com

 

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