News
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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…
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Laitman songs on NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART Recital by Jessica Jones and Danielle Hahn
On March 25, 2012 at 6:30 pm, Soprano Jessica Jones and pianist Danielle Hahn will present a recital at The National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. The recital will feature music by Nadia Boulanger, Clara Schumann and Lori Laitman. For more information, please visit http://www.nga.gov/programs/music/
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Vedem Songs and The Boys of Terezin
The Boys of Terezin documentary will be featured at the New Jersey Jewish Film Festival. Prior to the screening on Sunday, March 25, 2012 at 7:30 pm, Lori and mezzo-soprano Denise Mihalik will perform selections from Vedem Songs. Leo Lowy, one of the Terezin survivors and original contributor to the Vedem Magazine will be the…
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Dark Spring Premiere
The premiere of Dark Spring will take place on April 21 Saturday, June 23, 2012 at 4:30 pm at the Salone of the Galleria Nazionale Palazzo Spinola di Pelliceria in the Centro Storico of Genoa, Italy. Fondazione Spinola will host the concert, which features British tenor Chris Elliott and Austrian pianist Bernadette Bartos. The cycle…
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Lori’s music featured on Thomas Hampson’s Song of America Radio Series
Song of America is a 13-week radio series, developed by Thomas Hampson. The series showcases American song, and each hour long program focuses on a particular topic. Lori’s songs are featured on two of the shows: “There Is No Gender in Music” and “Emily Dickinson: Letter to the World”. For more information, please visit: http://www.songofamerica.net/cgi-bin/iowa/radio/index.html
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Lori Laitman Recital at the National Museum of Women in the Arts
On Wednesday, March 14, 2012 at 7:30 pm, I presented a recital of my music on The Shenson Series at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, DC. I accompanied three wonderful vocalists: soprano Megan Monaghan, tenor Vale Rideout and baritone Randall Scarlata. Together, we presented a selection of artsongs as well…
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Wolfgang Holzmair premieres Todesfuge in NYC and DC
Tuesday, February 21, 9:00 PM at the Austrian Cultural Forum in NYC, the acclaimed Austrian baritone Wolfgang Holzmair, along with French cellist Sonia Wieder-Atherton, will premiere my Todesfuge Songs as part of the recital. This concert is part of the ACFNY’s ongoing series, Lied: The Art of Song. The recital will also be performed in…