Sessions Vol. XXI: In This Short Life

Sessions XXI: In This Short Life • June 13, 7:30pm

Join us as we celebrate the release of “In This Short Life,” the debut album by Devony Smith and Danny Zelibor, featuring Michael Nicolas on cello with a concert celebrating this veritable bouquet of pre-eminent American composers of art-song, commissioned and curated to form this fresh and beautiful new album by these rising chamber music stars!

The concert presents the chance to hear live many of the album’s world and studio premieres by composers Mark Adamo, Grammy Award-winner Jennifer Higdon, David Lang, Eve Beglarian, B.E. Boykin, Jake Landau, Will Liverman, and Benjamin Perry Wenzelberg. This collection of American compositions and texts features commissions from Will Liverman and Jake Landau, incorporating the poetry of Harlem Renaissance poet Anne Spencer and folks texts collected by Jean Ritchie.

The songs are joyful, introspective, soulful, heartfelt, and deeply personal, reflecting the collaborative relationships between the performers and composers. They explore the many facets of American sound through the lens of classical art song, drawing inspiration from folk music, movie music, gospel, jazz, and musical theater.

We will have our usual reception after the concert, this time at the Blue Building in Midtown