The March Program Features Copland’s Appalachian Spring and a World Premiere on Friday, March 3, 2023, at First United Methodist Church in Bloomfield and Sunday, March 5, 2023, at the Carnegie Music Hall in Carnegie 

“This concert is inspired by the twin themes of remembrance and possibility, incorporating familiar classics with contemporary works for our audiences to enjoy in an intimate setting,” says Maria Sensi Sellner, Resonance Works’ Artistic & General Director. “Over the last ten years, Resonance Works has developed a gifted, diverse community of artists. With this concert, we reflect on our growth in the last decade and celebrate the spirit of partnership that continues to drive us.”

To Breathe Free opens with the Lyric for Strings by revered American composer George Walker, the first African American to be awarded the Pulitzer Prize for music. Lyric, one of his most enduring works, is based on a piece he wrote for string quartet when he was 24, which he dedicated to the memory of his grandmother, who had been enslaved.

Aaron Copland‘s Appalachian Spring Suite hums with the optimism and possibility of building a new life and the trepidation of facing an uncertain future. The original version for 13 instruments was written as a ballet for Pittsburgh-born dancer/choreographer Martha Graham and heightens the parallel threads of American nostalgia and cultural dissent woven throughout Copland’s music. 

To Breathe Free features the Pittsburgh professional premiere of Caroline Shaw’s To the Hands for choir and strings, inspired by 17th-century Danish composer Dietrich Buxtehude’s Membra Jesu nostri patientis sanctissima. To the Hands is a meditation on empathy, refuge, and communal responsibility through diverse texts, including a riff on Emma Lazarus’s sonnet, The New Colossus, engraved on the Statue of Liberty.

To celebrate the organization’s tenth anniversary, a newly commissioned work entitled Gaining the Ledge by Grammy-nominated composer Gilda Lyons, an alum of the University of Pittsburgh, was written for mezzo-soprano Timothi Williams, baritone Daniel Teadt, and the Resonance Chamber Orchestra. Williams, who was introduced to Resonance Works by Lyons, previously appeared in Resonance Works’ digital “March of the Women” series in 2020 and most recently sang the role of Maddalena in the company’s production of Rigoletto, earning praise from onStage Pittsburgh: “[it] made the listener wish that Verdi hadn’t saved her vivid character for the last act.” 

“Landmarks in time and achievement intensify the human tendency to look forward and to reflect at the same time. As Resonance Works marks its 10th anniversary season, I turned to text that looks in both directions to celebrate the occasion, looking back into the public record and poetry of the past and forward through the eyes of children interviewed for the project who speak to memory, to the present moment, and to their tomorrows,” says Lyon

Daniel Teadt first performed with Resonance Works during its inaugural season in 2014 and has been a mainstay almost every year since then: “As I look back over my ten-year history with Resonance Works, every performance has been an inclusive and innovative collaborative experience. Whether it was the extraordinary programming, the high level of musicianship, or Maria Sensi Sellner’s fearless leadership, I felt sure what I would be a part of would be outstanding, and I’ve never been disappointed. Resonance Works is a vital part of our performing arts community, and I’m thrilled to debut this new work celebrating this important milestone.” 

For more information and tickets, visit: https://www.resonanceworks.org/to-breathe-free

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Categories: Arts and Ideas