2023 Concerts
All events will take place at Blair School of Music on the campus of Vanderbilt University and
will be performed by SongFest Participants, Faculty, Guest Artists and Vanderbilt Faculty.
**Please note the concerts will be streamed live at vu.edu/livestream if you cannot attend.
FREE Admission for all events. However, donations are welcome.
PARKING: Free parking is available after 4 p.m. weekdays and anytime on weekends in the West Garage (2500 Children's Way),
which is directly across the street from the Blair School. The garage entrance on 25th Avenue must be used.
Please contact Rebecca Nichols: rebecca.nichols@vanderbilt.edu
for any audience and accessibility questions
For further questions email: songfestus.office@gmail.com or songfestus@gmail.com
WHAT’S PAST IS PROLOGUE
Sunday, June 11, 3 p.m. • Choral Hall*
Featuring alumna and faculty Laura Strickling and Martha Guth, sopranos and Tomasz Lis, pianist.
_____
JOURNEY’S WITHIN
Monday, June 12, 7:30 p.m. • Choral Hall*
Curated by SongFest faculty Javier Arrebola.
_____
LOVE, CURIOSITY, HONESTY AND STORYTELLING:
Songs of Alan Louis Smith**
Tuesday, June 13, 8 p.m. • Choral Hall*
Curated by SongFest faculty Elvia Puccinelli.
_____
SONGFEST CELEBRATES NEW AMERICAN SONG@SONGFEST**
Wednesday, June 14, 7:30 p.m. • Ingram Hall*
Featuring the works of long time faculty composers John Harbison,
Libby Larsen, John Musto and Jake Heggie.
_____
AN AFTERNOON OF WORLD PREMIERES
Thursday, June 15, Noon • Choral Hall*
The Sorel composition fellows will present new works written for SongFest. The Composer-Mentorship Program is supported by
the Sorel Organization.
Directed by SongFest faculty Martha Guth.
_____
JOHN HARBISON AT SONGFEST: Celebrating 20 Years!**
Thursday, June 15, 730 p.m. • Ingram Hall*
_____
CLARA AND AFTER
Friday, June 16, 5 p.m. • Choral Hall*
Directed and coached by SongFest faculty Lydia Brown.
_____
YET DO I MARVEL: Singing the Harlem Renaissance
Friday, June 16, 7:30 p.m. • Ingram Hall*
Narrated by poet, scholar, and SongFest faculty Tsitsi Ella Jaji.
_____
WHAT THE EAST WIND SAW – Songs from Eastern Europe**
Saturday, June 17, 5 p.m. • Ingram Hall*
Program devised by SongFest faculty Liza Stepanova.
SONGS IN FLIGHT** (Nashville Premiere)
Saturday, June 17, 8 p.m. • Ingram Hall*
Composed by Shawn Okpebholo with texts curated and
written by Tsitsi Ella Jaji.
Conceived and directed by Martha Guth.
_____
THE SACRED CANTATAS OF J.S. BACH
Sunday, June 18, 7:30 p.m. • Ingram Lobby*
John Harbison, conductor with Vanderbilt chorus master Tucker Biddlecombe and guest artist, Malcolm Matthews, harpsichord. Program includes Bach Cantata 106 and 163 performed by SongFest singers and a small baroque ensemble from The Nashville Symphony.
_____
E PLURIBUS UNUM **
Monday, June 19, 7:30 p.m. • Choral Hall*
Curated by SongFest Faculty Liza Stepanova
_____
THE BROWN LORANGER FELLOWS RECITAL+
Tuesday, June 20, Noon • Choral Hall*
_____
YOUNG ARTIST SHOWCASE
Wednesday, June 21, 7:30 p.m. • Choral Hall*
_____
A KALEIDOSCOPE OF LIGHT:
Songs from the Nordic and Latin countries+
Thursday, June 22, Noon • Choral Hall*
With SongFest pianists and singers.
Directed by Javier Arrebola.
_____
A NIGHT AT THE OPERA**
Thursday, June 22, 8 p.m. • Ingram Hall*
Faculty Grant Knox, stage director and Mark Trawka, musical director.
_____
PARIS, BERLIN, & NEW YORK CABARET**
Friday, June 23, 7:30 p.m. • Ingram Hall*
Directed by SongFest Faculty, composer John Musto and soprano Amy Burton. A Songest Tradition with John Musto at the piano.
SongFest Lectures
Mark Jarman, Centennial Professor of English, Emeritus, Vanderbilt University
Lecture: “In the Early Evening”^^
The poems of Louise Glück, American poet with a focus on the four poems selected and set by John Harbison.
Wednesday, June 15, 1:30-2:30pm • Choral Hall*
^^Performance June 15, 7:30 p.m • Ingram Hall*
John Harbison at SongFest: Celebrating 20 years!
Addy Sterrett, soprano and Tomasz Lis, piano.
Mark Jarman, Centennial Professor of English, Emeritus, Vanderbilt University
Lecture: “Of Mere Being”
Wallace Stevens, one of the great American modernist poets.
Friday, June 16, 1:30-2:30 p.m. • Choral Hall*
Program subject to change
*Ingram and Choral Halls: 2400 Blakemore Ave, Nashville, TN
+The Brown Loranger Noon Concert Series dedicated to the memory of Marcia Brown and Janet Loranger.
Their generosity and love of SongFest have allowed the program to continue.