Vocal Arts DC

It’s the 2024 ! ✨

Like athletes, several Vocal Arts DC Perman artists travel globally! From Virginia to Vienna, this summer these artists are performing on the world’s greatest stages, including Paris! 🇫🇷

Swipe through to see where they’re taking center stage this summer! 👉

🎶 John Williams, “Olympic Fanfare & Theme,” performed by

Thrilled to have Lucas and Irina Meachem opening our season on September 12th!

This industry is so much about looking and planning ahead, but enjoying the process of reaching goals and working hard to make your wildest dreams come true is where the true passion lives. Any obstacle can be overcome if we relish the journey to success, not of success.

See you next season! Very excited for what’s ahead. Check my website for ticket links and dates.

Thank you ❤️

Don't miss a note! Single tickets and subscriptions are now on sale!
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Performances | Vocal Arts DC 2024-2025 Season   Don’t miss a note. Select three or more performances to enjoy priority seating and ticket discounts. Lucas Meachem & Irina Meachem THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2024 at 7:30 PM Together this husband and wife duo, Lucas and Irina Meachem, present Gustav Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder, a...

The countdown is on - Single tickets are on sale July 10th at 10am!

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Lucas Meachem and Irina Meachem: September 12, 2024
Lunga Eric Hallam and Craig Terry: November 18th, 2024
Samantha Hankey and Myra Huang: January 14, 2025
Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen and John Churchwell: February 20, 2025
Fleur Barron and Kunal Lahiry: March 14, 2025

Earning rave reviews in Glyndebourne this summer, Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen is one to watch.

And you can with Vocal Arts DC as part of our 2024-2025 season!

Artist of the Week: Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen - OperaWire For his performances thus far he has received rave reviews, with critics stating, "The title role was superbly sung by countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen, strong and stirring as man of action, tender and poignant as would-be lover."

SAVE THE DATE!

Single tickets go on sale July 10th at 10am.

Lucas Meachem and Irina Meachem: September 12, 2024
Lunga Eric Hallam and Craig Terry: November 18th, 2024
Samantha Hankey and Myra Huang: January 14, 2025
Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen and John Churchwell: February 20, 2025
Fleur Barron and Kunal Lahiry: March 14, 2025

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We are grateful for every new and renewing subscriber who already booked their tickets for our 24/25 season!

Would you also like to receive priority seating for upcoming recitals? Visit https://vocalartsdc.org/subscribe/ to learn more about subscriber benefits.

Erin Morley and Gerald Martin Moore closed our season last night with their stunning flower-themed program, “Rose In Bloom.” In the premiere by Ricky Ian Gordon, Morley “sang the cycle with exceptional dignity…[she] delivered a poignantly beautiful legato tone, lyrical and refreshing” (Washington Classical Review). The second half of their program was full of musical delights and concluded with a tender performance of “We’ll Gather Lilacs” by Ivor Novello.

Thank you to everyone who joined us for this special evening, we hope you enjoyed Morley and Moore’s sublime performance.

We're looking forward to this event!

📀 ALBUM SIGNING 📀

On Monday, directly following our recital at The Kennedy Center, please come say hello to me, Gerald Martin Moore, and Ricky Ian Gordon! We will happily sign your personal copies of “Rose in Bloom.” You can purchase CDs at the table.

We’re so looking forward to meeting you!! Who has their tickets?! 🎟️😎

Vocal Arts DC Orchid Classics

📸 Chris Gonz
💄 Affan Malik
🎨 Lenny's Studio

Will today be your first recital with Vocal Arts DC? Use our "plan your visit" resource to learn about parking, when to arrive, or where to pick up your tickets.
https://vocalartsdc.org/plan-your-visit/

Featured on Erin Morley’s program is Huit Chanson De Fleurs by Ricky Ian Gordon, which the New York Times cited for Gordon’s “effortless prosody, soaring melodies and generous spirit [which] suffuse the music…”

Gordon was born in New York and studied piano, composition, and acting at Carnegie Mellon University. He settled in New York City and emerged as a leading writer of vocal music that spans art song, opera, and musical theater. He is best known for his opera The Grapes of Wrath, based on the novel by John Steinbeck, Orpheus and Euridice, an adaptation of the well-known Greek myth, and the song cycle Green Sneakers, a deeply personal and emotionally resonant piece for baritone, string quartet and piano.

His song cycle Huit Chanson De Fleurs was commissioned from a husband, Tony, to his wife, So-Chung. Its beautiful dedication says: “May we all bloom with kindness and cherish each other with love. For life, like a flower, is precious and impermanent.”

For tickets to see the premiere of Huit Chansons De Fleurs, visit: https://www.kennedy-center.org/whats-on/explore-by-genre/vocal-choral-music/2023-2024/erin-morley-gerald-m-moore-r/

On May 13, soprano Erin Morley and pianist Gerald Martin Moore present "Rose In Bloom," a program celebrating the cycle of flowers’ death and rebirth, and including the world premiere of Ricky Ian Gordon's song cycle, Huit Chanson de Fleurs. Other songs on the program include pieces by Camille Saint-Saëns, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Sergei Rachmaninov, Alban Berg, Alexander Zemlinsky, and Sir Arthur Sullivan.

We look forward to sharing Morley's sweet program and our final recital of the season with you!

Tickets: https://www.kennedy-center.org/whats-on/explore-by-genre/vocal-choral-music/2023-2024/erin-morley-gerald-m-moore-r/
*limited seating is remaining

We are thrilled to unveil our 2024–2025 season! Each artist makes their company debuts and offers a delightful blend of pieces never heard by VADC audiences and chestnuts from the standard repertoire. We invite you to join us for unforgettable musical experiences that celebrate the beauty of song.

To browse the season or become a subscriber visit: https://vocalartsdc.org/performances/. Single tickets go on sale in July.

Lucas & Irina Meachem (Sept 12, 2024)
Together this husband and wife duo present Gustav Mahler’s mournful Kindertotenlieder and pieces from the American art song canon by William Grant Still, Florence Price, and Jake Heggie.

Lunga Eric Hallam & Craig Terry (November 18, 2024)
This young South African tenor excels in repertoire by Handel and Mozart. Program to be announced.

Samantha Hankey & Myra Huang (January 14, 2025)
The cornerstone of Hankey’s program is Dichterliebe (A Poet’s Love) by Robert Schumann, a set of 16 cathartic songs that reflect on Schumann’s separation from his bride, Clara. This jewel sits between Poulenc’s masterful 3 Chanson de Federico García Lorca and songs by Satie, Schönberg, Trenet, Weill, and Porter.

Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen & John Churchwell (February 20, 2025)
In this sweeping program centered around the beauty found in nature, Nussbaum Cohen presents a wide range of repertoire never before sung by countertenor. The program includes music by Handel, Korngold, Brahms, Price, and Adams, alongside a newly composed song set by Jake Heggie. Robert Schumann’s song cycle, Liederkreis Op. 39, which Schumann wrote to his wife was “my most romantic music yet, with much of you in it,” rounds out this moving and memorable evening.

Fleur Barron & Kunal Lahiry (March 14, 2025)
The Power and the Glory explores diverse perspectives on colonial history through music and poetry of the last 150 years. From Sankaram’s rage-inspired “The Far Shore” to Azezi and Frenkel’s Uyghur song “Mitiz Meshrep,” the artists encourage their audience to explore uncomfortable issues of the past and present with empathy and understanding. Other composers on the program include Valcarcel, Messiaen, Montsalvatge, Mahler, Weill, and Schoenberg.

With every note, the audience was enthralled by Daniela Mack, Keun-A Lee, and JP Jofre. Mack and Lee have a beautiful artistic partnership which shined especially bright in the world premiere of At First, Now, Always; a tremendous addition to the mezzo-soprano repertoire by Rene Orth with text by Jeanne Minahan. Mack and Lee were joined by bandoneon player and composer JP Jofre and his piece “Dulces Sueños” was especially moving.

Thank you to everyone who joined us, we’re looking forward to seeing you again next month for our final recital of the season!

We are excited that mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack selected the fabulously gifted composer Rene Orth as her collaborator on a newly commissioned work for Daniela’s program with Keun-A Lee on April 18. Read on to learn how Vocal Arts DC expanded its mission to support new music with its first commission, Iconic Legacies: First Ladies at the Smithsonian.

Read the blog: https://vocalartsdc.org/commissioning-new-works/

From our friends at Opera Lafayette: Save 10% on tickets to Opera Lafayette's modern premiere of an opéra-ballet that broke the mold for its time. Featuring an all-star cast including Jonathan Woody, Angel Azzarra, Pascale Beaudin, Patrick Kilbride, and Margot Rood, this witty, joyful, female-centric tale will have you laughing and cheering until the end. Use promo code VOCALARTS10 at check out! https://operalafayette.org/productions

In Daniela Mack’s debut recital, she is joined by Grammy and Latin Grammy-nominated composer and bandoneon player, JP Jofre.

Raised in San Juan, Argentina, Jofre began making music at age five, studying numerous instruments throughout childhood including drums, vibraphone, bassoon, piano, singing, and double bass. When he was seventeen his uncle played an Astor Piazzolla record for him, leading Jofre to fall in love with the bandoneon’s sound and style. He began a course of self-education on the instrument before studying officially with Daniel Binelli and then Julio Pane.

Now Jofre works as a performer and composer with a catalog of more than 40 chamber music works and recordings of his music produced by the London Symphony Orchestra, Paquito d’Rivera, and Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, among others.

Daniela’s program features Jofre’s song, “Dulces Sueños,” and arrangements of Astor Piazzolla’s “Vuelvo al Sur,” “Chiquilín de Bachín,” “Los pájaros perdidos,” and “Yo Soy María.”

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Daniela Mack, Keun-A Lee, and JP Jofre In Recital
April 18 | 7:30 p.m.
https://www.kennedy-center.org/whats-on/explore-by-genre/vocal-choral-music/2023-2024/daniela-mack-keun-a-lee-r/

On April 18 mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack and pianist Keun-A Lee make their Vocal Arts DC debuts at the Terrace Theater. Mack is adept at the performance of Spanish repertoire and was recently recognized as "a gargantuan talent with a goosebump-inducing vocal register..." (KQED) for her debut as Frida in El último sueño de Frida y Diego.

The duo's program pairs songs from Daniela’s childhood home, Argentina, with a world premiere by Rene Orth entitled At First, Now, Always. This nine-piece song cycle explores the personal experience of motherhood with pieces such as “Before You Arrived” and “The Middle of the Night.” Other composers on the program include Piazzolla, Ginastera, Rossini, Jofre, Lorca, and Chapí.

For tickets, visit: https://www.kennedy-center.org/whats-on/explore-by-genre/vocal-choral-music/2023-2024/daniela-mack-keun-a-lee-r/

DC's spring concert schedule is bursting with variety! It includes Daniela Mack and Erin Morley who will both premiere new song cycles by Rene Orth and Ricky Ian Gordon.

D.C.’s spring classical concert season can barely contain itself Make space in your calendar for a season of world premieres, visiting orchestras and classical superstars.

DC has an abundance of performances coming up this spring, including Daniela Mack in recital this April!

Spring Performing Arts  Preview | The Georgetowner Along with famed jazzmen Arturo Sandoval (March 10), Emmet Cohen (March 15) and Pat Metheny (April 3), Strathmore hosts top artists from other genres, such

Bravi to Russell Thomas and Lucas Nogara on their VADC debut recital! They gave an affecting performance of Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915 and finished the evening with the encore, “Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child.”

Thank you to our partners, CAAPA - Coalition for African Americans in the Performing Arts, and all of our patrons, for joining us to celebrate love and the beauty of music!

Next week Russell Thomas performs Love and Light by Jasmine Barnes, a piece he first premiered in recital at LA Opera in 2023.

Barnes is from Baltimore, Maryland, and began her professional journey as a musician at Morgan State University. There she earned a Bachelor’s and a Master’s of Arts and has since built a reputation for composing vocal music that challenges the traditional boundaries of classical music. She is currently a Resident Artist in American Lyric Theater’s Composer and Librettist Development Program and was recently commissioned by Washington National Opera, Bare Opera, and Resonance Ensemble, among others.

Her set Love and Light includes three settings of poems by Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton which explore the complexity of love and identity, charting a journey from being unseen to celebrating connection.

For tickets visit: https://www.kennedy-center.org/whats-on/explore-by-genre/vocal-choral-music/2023-2024/russell-thomas-lucas-nogara-r/