Program

H.T. Burleigh: Worth While
     from Songs of Laurence Hope

Conrad Susa: Against Despair
     from Hymns for the Amusement of Children 

Lee Hoiby: The Serpent
     from Songs for Leontyne 

Richard Hageman: Miranda 

Robert L. Morris: Juba
     from Lyric Suite 
Hope Briggs, soprano
Kevin Korth, piano

Eric Choate: Those Winter Sundays 

Eric Choate: Tavern

Joseph Stillwell: When You Are Old 

David Conte: A Lady Who Thinks She Is Thirty 
Brian Thorsett, tenor
Kevin Korth, piano

Aaron Copland: Nature, the Gentlest Mother 
     from Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson 

David Conte: Rest
     from Three Poems of Christina Rosetti 

Eric Choate: My Cathedral

David Garner: Call Letters: Mrs. V.B. 
     from Phenomenal Woman (b. 1954)
Ellen Leslie, soprano
Dale Tsang, piano

Theo Popov: Goblin Market
A Dramatic Song Cycle on a Poem by Christina Rossetti 
(World Premiere: 2024 Kristin Pankonin American Art Song Award)
     1. Temptation
     2. Experimentation
     3. Dependence
     4. Crisis
     5. Salvation
Chea Kang, soprano
Tommaso Saturnia, piano

About the Kristin Pankonin Art Song Award

The Kristin Pankonin Art-Song Award was endowed at SFCM by Kristin’s friends and fans to honor her legacy of collaborative music-making, and her passion for new vocal work. Each fall student consortiums composed of a composer, vocalist, and collaborative pianist submit proposals for new English-language art-song cycles. The proposals–which include samples of previous works, the selected poem or text, and vision for the cycle–are vetted by SFCM faculty, with the assistance of outside judges.  The winning consortium receives a cash prize, and then creates and rehearses the new piece, which is premiered the following spring at the annual Kristin Pankonin Art-Song Showcase Concert.

About Kristin Pankonin

A long-time staff accompanist at SFCM, Kristin Pankonin drew students, faculty members, and guest artists into her orbit by force of her compelling artistry, skill, commitment, and humor. She moved audiences around the world through countless recitals. Those fortunate enough to share the stage with her would say that she had “it,” a hard-to-define quality that made for particularly rich and satisfying music-making. A champion of new music, Kristin became a first-choice pianist for composers who appreciated her uninhibited and insightful approach. Her discography for Pentatone includes world premiere recordings of pieces by John Corigliano, David Garner, Gordon Getty, Jake Heggie, and Luna Pearl Woolf, many written for her and her collaborative partners. A master of many genres, she was particularly inspiring with vocal music.