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Lori Laitman master class, concert coming to Birmingham-Southern College

Lori Laitman master class, concert coming to Birmingham-Southern College

For Immediate Release
Oct. 7, 2016


BIRMINGHAM, Ala.--The Birmingham-Southern College community will get a rare opportunity this month to experience internationally renowned composer and visiting artist Lori Laitman. During her two-day residency on campus, Monday, Sept. 19, and Tuesday, Sept. 20, Laitman will work closely with students and faculty.Lori Laitman

To close out the visit, the college will present a recital of her works at 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 20 in the Hill Recital Hall by BSC Associate Professor of Music Dr. Jacqueline Leary-Warsaw, the BSC Concert Choir, student soloists, pianist Dr. Kevin Chance ’00, assistant professor of piano for the University of Alabama School of Music, and others.

The concert is free and open to the public. Leary-Warsaw will also give a free, public Provost’s Forum presentation on “The Songs of Lori Laitman” at 11 a.m. that day in the Hill Recital Hall.

“We are extremely fortunate to be able to bring her to campus,” said Leary-Warsaw, who explained that Laitman is usually booked two years in advance, but had an opening in her schedule this fall. “She is an extraordinarily gifted and hard-working artist, and I am so thrilled our students will be able to engage with and learn from her.”

Laitman is one of the most prolific and widely performed composers of contemporary vocal music, setting texts by classical and modern poets. Her works include operas, oratorio, choral works, and more than 250 songs. She was described as “one of the most talented and intriguing of living composers” by Fanfare Magazine; the Journal of Singing wrote that “it is difficult to think of anyone before the public today who equals her exceptional gifts for embracing a poetic text and giving it new and deeper life through music.”

Earlier this year, Opera Colorado premiered Laitman’s opera, “The Scarlet Letter,” with a libretto by Colorado’s former poet laureate. She is also working on “Vedem,” a Holocaust oratoria commissioned by Music of Remembrance, and the opera “Ludlow,” based on the 1914 Colorado mining town disaster. In addition to visiting BSC this September, she’ll be celebrating the premiere of a work commissioned by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra for its 100th anniversary.

Laitman is a magna cum laude graduate of Yale University and has a master’s in music from the Yale School of Music; you can find out more about her and her music at www.artsongs.com. A generous gift from the BSC Arts Alliance made her visit possible.

About Birmingham-Southern College:
Birmingham-Southern College is a four-year, private liberal arts institution in Birmingham, Ala., founded in 1856 and affiliated with the United Methodist Church. It enrolls about 1,300 students from more than 30 states and 15 foreign countries.