Opera America Songbook Recital of March 19, 2013

On March 19, 2013, Lori Laitman and soprano Jennifer Check performed Lori's "Building A House." The work was one of 47 songs commissioned by Opera America to celebrate the opening of the National Opera Center. Lori chose to set a poem by Joyce Sutphen, the current Poet Laureate of Minnesota.

10 selections were performed on March 19. The other works on the recital were by composers David Carlson, Christopher Cerrone, Paula Kimper, Robert Xavier Rodriguez, Gregory Spears, David T. Little, Erling Wold, Richard Danielpour, and Lewis Spratlan.

The recital can be viewed at this link. Lori and Jennifer close the program, beginning at 53:40. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WBsrDhj3RY&feature=youtu.be

Gregory Berg of The Journal of Singing recently reviewed the Opera America Songbook CD set. He wrote: "Space does not permit comment on all forty-seven songs, but several deserve at least a brief mention. Lori Laitman's contribution to the collection is an exquisite setting of a text by Joyce Sutphen titled "Building a House," which Jennifer Check sings divinely."

Reach Out Kansas, Inc (ROKI) commissions new cycle for soprano Julia Broxholm and pianist Russell Miller

Thanks to funding from Reach Out Kansas, Inc. (ROKI), Smithyman and Zakoura Chartered and the Zakoura Family Foundation, a new work has been commissioned for soprano Julia Broxholm of Kansas University's School of Music, and pianist Russell Miller of The Eastman School of Music.

The work will be the centerpiece of a new CD of American song literature. The cycle is entitled "The Soul Fox" and uses the poetry of David Mason, current Poet Laureate of Colorado. Mason is the librettist for Lori's The Scarlet Letter, Ludlow and Vedem.

The Soul Fox will premiere on September 22, 2013 at 2:30 p.m. at Kansas University and on October 2, 2013 at 8 pm at Eastman School of Music. Lori will be in attendance for both performances.

OPERA COLORADO receives NEA Artistic Excellence Grant for The Scarlet Letter

Opera Colorado was awarded a $30,000 grant by The National Endowment for the Arts to support the professional world premiere of my opera The Scarlet Letter. For more information, please visit:

http://www.nea.gov/grants/recent/13grants/13aae.php?CAT=Art%20Works&DIS=Opera

The Opera America Songbook

Laitman’s Building A House, to a poem by Minnesota Poet Laureate Joyce Sutphen, is one of the 47 songs commissioned by Opera America for the opening of the National Opera Center in NYC in September of 2012. The Opera America Songbook is available in print from Schott Music New York, and the songs are available in a 3 CD set as well as digital downloads. Laitman recorded her song with soprano Jennifer Check, and they will perform it on March 19, 2013 at The National Opera Center. To purchase the sheet music or audio, please click here: http://www.operaamerica.org/content/publications/songbook/index.aspx

Vedem featured on WETA’s Choral Showcase

On November 4, 2012, WETA (90.9 FM, www.weta.org) featured Lori’s Vedem on their Choral Showcase program. The wonderful Vedem libretto is by David Mason, who wraps his touching narrative around six poems by the imprisoned teenage boys who contributed to the Vedem magazine.

To hear and view excerpts from Vedem, or to purchase the CD, please click here:

http://web11.streamhoster.com/naxosusa/ecards/vedem/index.html