News
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SALT Opera to perform Lori’s Butterfly cycle March 22, 2014
On March 22, 2014 at 7 pm, SALT Opera will present a benefit concert in support of nonprofit organizations that fight human rights abuses and work toward eradicating poverty. The concert will take place at the Theatre House at Castleton Farms in Castleton, VA, and will include a performance of Lori’s “I Never Saw Another…
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Hear Dana Gioia recite “Money” and more….
On November 20, 2013, The University of Southern California’ Visions and Voice Program and the USC Fisher Museum of Art presented “The Poet’s Voice: The Collaborative Art in Words and Music.” The program ends with a terrific rendition of my setting of Dana Gioia’s poem “Money” — featuring soprano Shana Blake Hill, baritone Nmon Ford…
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The Apple Orchard featured on F. Gerard Errante’s new CD: The Lyric Clarinet
The Lyric Clarinet, F. Gerard Errante’s new CD, was released by Ravello Records in February 2014. The CD features works from the vocal repertoire, arranged for clarinet and piano. Gerry and pianist Philip Fortenberry have included my song “The Apple Orchard” (original poem by Dana Gioia). To purchase this CD, please click
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Lori to be Kenan Music Scholar Guest Artist at UNC Chapel Hill
I am honored to be a Kenan Music Scholar Guest Artist at UNC Chapel Hill from March 17-20, 2014. I will be working with the voice and composition students, and my schedule also includes a talk and a master class. On Tuesday, March 18, 2014, at 7:30 pm, the students will perform a concert of…
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Update on The Three Feathers
The Piano/Vocal score is done! I have begun to orchestrate for a relatively small ensemble: Flute/Piccolo Clarinet Oboe Bassoon 2 Trumpets Trombone Timpani Percussion Harp Piano Violins I and II Viola Cello Bass Auditions at VA Tech have gone well and the roles are being cast! The premiere is October 17, 2014 at the new…
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Joy in Singing to present songs of Stephen Foster and Lori Laitman
On May 1, 2014 at 6 pm, Joy in Singing will present The Songs of Stephen Foster and Lori Laitman on their Edward Cone Foundation Composers Concert – featuring soprano Kristina Bachrach, baritone Michael Kelly and collaborative pianist Bretton Brown. The concert will take place at the Bruno Walter Auditorium at the New York Performing…
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FONDAZIONE ADKINS CHITI: DONNE IN MUSICA to present Lori’s music
Fondazione Adkins Chiti: Donne in Musica and the Conservatorio “Giuseppe Verdi” has chosen Lori’s “I Never Saw Another Butterfly” cycle (soprano/clarinet version) and Julie Mandel’s “Memories” (violin/piano) for inclusion on their Holocaust Memorial concert at the Teatro Verdi in Milan. The concert will take place on January 27, 2014. For more information please click here.
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First performances of Lori’s music in Korea
On December 21, 2013, Sung Jin Park will premiere Lori’s music at The Seoul Arts Center in Korea. She will be singing 3 Dickinson settings from the “Days and Nights” cycle: They Might Not Need Me, Over The Fence, and Wild Nights. Dr. Park recently wrote about these songs in her doctoral dissertation “The Poetry…
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Premieres of “The Soul Fox”
“The Soul Fox” — Lori’s new song cycle setting five very recent poems of David Mason — was commissioned by Reach Out Kansas, Inc. (ROKI) for soprano Julia Broxholm and pianist Russell Miller. Julia and Russell will premiere the work both at The University of Kansas and at The Eastman School of Music. The first concert will…
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New Music of Remembrance commission and May 12, 2014 concert
Music of Remembrance, under Mina Miller’s artistic direction, has commissioned a new song cycle from Lori — “In Sleep The World Is Yours.” The cycle sets three poems of Selma Meerbaum-Eisinger, a gifted young girl who perished at the age of 18 in a Nazi labor camp. The songs are scored for soprano, oboe and…
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New “Holocaust 1944” recording with baritone Dashon Burton and doublebassist Logan Coale
A recent successful Kickstarter campaign will allow baritone Dashon Burton and doublebassist Logan Coale to release their new recording of my song cycle “Holocaust 1944.” To watch the video released for the campaign, please click here.
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Ludlow Opera, Act I Video Trailer now up on YouTube
Lori and director Beth Greenberg have created a short video trailer for Ludlow. Ludlow is Lori’s opera-in-progress with libretto by David Mason, current Poet Laureate of Colorado. To view the video, please click here.
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The Center for the Arts at Virginia Tech commissions new children’s opera
Lori is currently composing a one-act children’s opera with librettist Dana Gioia (past chairman of The National Endowment for the Arts). This work has been commissioned by the Center for the Arts at VA Tech, in conjunction with VA Tech and Opera Roanoke — to celebrate the opening of the Center. The opera is based…
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The Washington Master Chorale to record Lori’s “The Earth and I”
The Earth and I, an a cappella choral song cycle to three poems by Emily Dickinson, was commissioned by the Washington Master Chorale and premiered by them on December 18, 2011. In April 2013, the group recorded this and other works for inclusion on their debut CD. Thomas Colohan is Washington Master Chorale’s Artistic Director…
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Dutch baritone Hans Pieter Herman and pianist Jason Wirth perform Lori’s Men With Small Heads
The wonderful young Dutch baritone, Hans Pieter Herman, along with collaborative pianist Jason Wirth, will perform songs by Schumann, Tchaikovsky, Ravel, Poulenc, and Laitman on the evening of April 5, 2013 at Symphony Space in NYC. Men with Small Heads cycle (poems by Thomas Lux) will be on the program. http://www.symphonyspace.org/event/7799-hans-pieter-herman-in-recital-jason-wirth-piano
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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…
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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…
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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
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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…
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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,…
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Naxos Releases Binders Full of Women Composers CD
Naxos has issued a new CD, Binders Full of Women Composers, (inspired, of course, by Mitt Romney’s 2012 debate remark) – and the CD includes an excerpt from Lori’s Holocaust oratorio, Vedem — Home Number One, to poetry by David Mason. This particular excerpt features the Northwest Boychoir, under the direction of Joseph Crnko, and…
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Andrew Garland’s American Portraits CD
Baritone Andrew Garland’s latest CD, American Portraits, with collaborative pianist Donna Loewy, features a new recording of Lori’s Men with Small Heads, as well as songs by Jake Heggie, Stephen Paulus and Tom Cipullo. To order, please click here: http://www.gprrecords.com/andrew-garland-american-portraits/
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Lori to present a Master Class at West Chester University
Lori will present a master class on her songs on September 27, 2012 at West Chester University in West Chester, PA.
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1st Act of LUDLOW at University of Colorado’s New Opera Works
The University of Colorado’s New Opera Works Program, run by Leigh Holman, presented Act I of my newest opera Ludlow in three workshop performances from June 1- 3, 2012, with director Beth Greenberg and music director Robert Spillman. Ludlow is based on the verse novel by David Mason. The action takes place in the early American…
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David Mason’s The Scarlet Libretto now available
The Scarlet Libretto is the libretto for my opera The Scarlet Letter. Award-winning poet and librettist David Mason, author of Ludlow and other books, gives new life in verse to Nathaniel Hawthorne’s classic novel. By distilling the book’s narrative line and adding a charged lyricism of his own, Mason has created another magnificent work in his ongoing poetic portrait…