"Songs of Earth and Air"
A concert of songs exploring spiritual themes
The program will include Poulenc's Air Chantés, a collection of Liszt songs answering the question: "what is love?"; Libby Larsen's landmark cycle Try Me Good King, based on the actual last words of the wives of Henry VIII; a "sampler" of American songs with meditational/prayer texts by Samuel Barber, Richard Hundley, David Sisco, Juliana Hall, and James Matheson.
Praised by The New York Times for her, “flexible voice, crystalline diction, and warm presence,” soprano Laura Strickling has performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, Wigmore Hall, Ravinia Music Festival, Tanglewood Music Festival, the Afghanistan National Institute of Music, and Liederfest in Suzhou, China. A devoted recitalist, she is on the artist roster of the Brooklyn Art Song Society and Vox 3 Collective, and has appeared with Joy in Singing, the Half Moon Music Festival, and SongFusion. An alumna of the Berkshire Opera Company Resident Artist Program, her operatic roles include Countess Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro), Mimi (La boheme), Gretel (Hansel and Gretel), Micaëla (Carmen), and Pamina (Die Zauberflöte). New Voices, her best-selling recording with the Brooklyn Art Song Society, is available through Naxos Records. A Chicago native, Ms. Strickling currently resides in New York City and St. Thomas, U. S. Virgin Islands. For further information, visit www.laurastrickling.com.