News
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Critical Acclaim for “In Sleep The World Is Yours”
In Sleep The World Is Yours, was commissioned by Music of Remembrance, and sets 3 poems by the young poet Selma Meerbaum-Eisinger, who tragically died in a Nazi labor camp at the age of 18. Scored for soprano, oboe and piano, this 18 minute work was released on the Naxos label in May 2016, on…
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Critical acclaim for THE SCARLET LETTER
Boulder’s DAILY CAMERA: “[A]ll around superb … everything one could hope for in a new opera. … Mason’s adaptation … is astoundingly brilliant … Director Beth Greenberg, who has collaborated with Mason and Laitman from the outset, provides a stark, riveting frame … Laitman has grown and nurtured a score that already seems to belong…
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Opera News and Huffington Post articles about The Scarlet Letter
The May 2016 issue of Opera News includes a feature on Lori and The Scarlet Letter, written by Matthew Sigman. To read the article, please click here. Susan Eisenberg of The Huffington Post interviewed Lori about The Scarlet Letter. To read the interview, please click here.
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Rehearsals for The Scarlet Letter Opera with Opera Colorado
Rehearsals have been fantastic! You can watch video from our recent rehearsal by clicking here. I am so grateful to Opera Colorado and the fantastic cast, orchestra and creative team! The Opera Colorado site has biographical information for everyone — please visit www.operacolorado.org.
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Sorel Organization 2016 Recording Grant
The Sorel Organization has awarded their 2016 Recording Grant to Opera Colorado to record The Scarlet Letter by Lori Laitman. The opera will be recorded live, and Naxos will release the CD. For more information about The Sorel Organization, please click here.
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Pellicciotti Opera Prize 2018 Finalists
I am proud to announce that librettist Leah Lax and I are one of the four finalist teams for the 2018 Domenic J. Pellicciotti Opera Composition Prize. Leah Lax is adapting her moving memoir “Uncovered: How I Left Hasidic Life and Finally Came Home.” Other finalists include composer Patrick Soluri and librettist Deborah Brevoort; composer…
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Unsung – A Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Centennial Commission
Unsung, for orchestra, was commissioned in late 2015 by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra with Marin Alsop, Music Director — as one of ten Centennial Celebration Commissions. The commissions celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Further information about the commission will be forthcoming. The premiere dates are September 29, 2016, 8 pm at Strathmore…
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Expanded Orchestration for The Scarlet Letter
I have added additional winds and one horn to the orchestration for The Scarlet Letter, allowing for a larger and darker range of sound. The new orchestration is as follows: 2 Flutes/Piccolo 2 Oboes/English Horn 2 Clarinets in B flat/Bass Clarinet 2 Bassoons 2 Horns in F Trumpet in C Trombone Timpani: 5 (20, 23,…
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The Scarlet Letter to feature soprano Laura Claycomb as Hester Prynne
The Scarlet Letter will feature soprano Laura Claycomb as Hester Prynne in her Opera Colorado debut. Claycomb is stepping in for soprano Elizabeth Futral, who had to withdraw from the production due to personal health reasons. To read the official press release, please click here. To learn more about Laura Claycomb, please click here.
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My first “Letter” Song commissioned by Lyric Fest of Philadelphia
Lyric Fest commissioned my first “Letter” song for its newest commission project, “Sincerely Yours — Letters Set to Music”. I spent several months trying to find the perfect letter to serve as the basis for my song, finally settling upon one written by Mike Gioia, who is the son of my frequent collaborator, Dana Gioia. Mike…
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“forgetting” — by the Artsong Repertory Theater Company
On November 13 and 14 of 2015, the Artsong Repertory Theatre Company of Philadelphia will present “forgetting” — a show which examines the relationship between a mother and daughter as they both confront the mother’s Alzheimer’s Disease. My songs will be featured, along with the music of Jake Heggie, Charles Ives, Tom Cipullo, William Bolcom, Dominick…
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Opera Colorado Young Artists — American Song Recital 1.24.16
The Young Artists of Opera Colorado will be giving a concert entitled “American Song Recital” at the Redline Gallery in Denver, CO on Sunday, January 24, 2016 at 2 pm. Many of my works with be featured, along with works by other contemporary American composers, and I will be in residence for a few days…
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Upcoming Residencies and Master Classes
November 11-14, 2015: Salem College in Winston-Salem, North Carolina: I will work with the students and faculty on my songs, and also give a talk about my compositional process. The residency will end with a concert of my music. April 9, 2016: University of Wyoming in Laramie, WY: I will give a master class on…
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The Three Feathers, Abridged
I have created an abridged version of The Three Feathers for educational outreach. This new version is about 45 minutes long – and scored for 7 singers and piano. It will debut in February 2016 in the Tallahassee, FL elementary schools under the direction of Grant Preisser. Grant is studying Opera Directing at Florida State…
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“If I…” — East Coast choral version premiere on Oct 18, 2015 with Washington Master Chorale
The wonderful Washington Master Chorale, conducted by Thomas Colohan, will present the East Coast premiere of Lori’s choral version of If I… (text by Emily Dickinson in an arrangement by Bruce Rosenblum), on October 18, 2015 at 4 pm at The National Presbyterian Church. Lori’s Echo, to a text by Christina Rossetti, will also be…
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Coming Soon: The Abridged Version of “The Three Feathers”
Lori is creating an abridged version of The Three Feathers for educational outreach. This new version is for 7 singers with piano accompaniment, and will be about 40 minutes long. Thanks to librettist Dana Gioia and director Beth Greenberg for their help in crafting this new work, which will premiere in late January in Tallahassee,…
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Cantabile Project to include “Refrigerator, 1957” on Feb. 21, 2016 recital
On February 21, 2016, Cantabile Project will present the recital “Songbirds Always Eat: a Recital for Foodies!” at Christ Episcopal Church in Smithfield, VA as part of the “Sundays at Four” music series. Bridgid Eversole, Stephanie Marx, Brian Nedvin and Chris Mooney with Aurelien Eulert, pianist, will sing a variety of songs both witty and…
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Boston Opera Collaborative to perform “The Act”
Lori’s very short opera about a circus knife-thrower and his wife, to a wonderful text by H.L. Hix, will have its Boston premiere on Nov. 7 and 8, 2015 on a program entitled Opera Bites — a Feast of 10 Minute Operas. The performances will take place at the Longy School of Music in Cambridge,…
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A Load of Shoes – video from May 28, 2015 UK performance
An excellent performance of my song cycle “The Seed of Dream,” which was commissioned by Music of Remembrance (2005), took place on May 28, 2015 in Sheffield, England. The second movement, “A Load of Shoes,” is now up on YouTube. Click here to watch. With baritone Stein Skjervold cellist Tom Collingwood and pianist Zinaida Zubova.
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Note regarding performances and recordings of “I Never Saw Another Butterfly”
If you purchased sheet music to my work I Never Saw Another Butterfly and it includes a notice about a “performance license” required from “Empire Publishing”—please ignore the notice. Similarly, if you receive any demands for “license fees” from Empire Publishing in connection with the distribution of recordings or streamed performances of the work, please…
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unSUNg 2015: Songs Uncommon and New
On June 28, 2015 at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Glendale, CA at 6:00 pm (PDT), soprano Natalie Mann and collaborative pianist Victoria Kirsch will be performing my works on this concert of new music. Natalie and Vicki will be performing “Beyond All Price” —— Hester Prynne’s lullaby to her daughter Pearl, adapted from my…
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The Fall Island Vocal Arts Seminar Final Concert
On May 24, 2015, the final concert of The Fall Island Vocal Arts Seminar was streamed live. Composers performed were Jeffrey Wood, Dominick Argento, Libby Larsen, Ricky Ian Gordon, Stephen Mark Kohn and myself. My very first song cycle, “The Metropolitan Tower and Other Songs” was performed brilliantly by tenor Jonathan Johnson and pianist Daniel…
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Music of Remembrance records “In Sleep The World Is Yours”
In April 2015, I traveled to Seattle to record “In Sleep The World Is Yours” — a song cycle commissioned by Music of Remembrance, for soprano, oboe and piano, setting the texts of Selma Meerbaum-Eisinger. Soprano Megan Chenovick, oboist Benjamin Hausmann and pianist Mina Miller recorded the work at Benaroya Recital Hall and the CD…
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Gregory Berg of The Journal of Singing reviews 2 new CDs with Laitman songs
Gregory Berg of The Journal of Singing recently reviewed two new CDs that feature songs by Lori. First is Over the Fence: Songs of Elsa Respighi, Lori Laitman and Modesta Bor, performed by soprano Tanya Kruse Ruck and pianist Elena Abend. “Last [on the CD] but certainly not least is a song cycle by Lori…
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I Never Saw Another Butterfly to be performed by members of the Sioux City Symphony Orchestra
Lori’s I Never Saw Another Butterfly will be performed by soprano Loralee Songer and principal Sioux City Symphony Orchestra clarinetist Holly Haddad on April 22, 2015 at 7:30 PM at the Orpheum Theatre in Sioux City, IA. The program is in honor of Tolerance Week. Other composers on the program are Steve Reich, Ilse Weber,…