14.
In this program, Song of America Fellow Emma Beachy explores Margaret Bonds’s song cycle Three Dream Portraits, which sets the poetry of Langston Hughes. With the help of performers and scholars Thomas Hampson and Louise Toppin, Emma considers who is meant to hear and sing American song.
In this program, Song of America Fellow Emma Beachy explores Margaret Bonds’s song cycle, Three Dream Portraits, which sets the poetry of Langston Hughes. With the help of performers and scholars Thomas Hampson and Louise Toppin, Emma considers who is meant to hear and sing American song.
Host, Audio Editing & Scriptwriter: Emma Beachy
Production Support: Christie Finn
Guests: Thomas Hampson & Louise Toppin
Recording:
Songs from Chicago (Cedille Records)
Thomas Hampson, baritone
Kuang-Hao Huang, piano
This program was created in 2023-2024 and released in September 2024 as part of the Song of America Fellowship Program, a project of the Classic Song Research Initiative between the Hampsong Foundation and the University of Michigan, School of Music, Theatre, and Dance.
Song listings with composer / poet, performers, CD label, and CD number:
There are places in the American landscape that are part of our collective consciousness, thanks to music. In this program, we listen to songs that have helped shape the way we see our country.
This program covers Songs for the African Violet, a song cycle by Jasmine Barnes that addresses the experiences of Black women. Song of America Fellow Emma Beachy explores the ways that race and gender are represented in American song and has the chance to speak with the composer as well as soprano Leah Hawkins.
