SongStudio young artists bring light to darkness

Mon Jan 20, 2025 at 2:36 pm
By Kathryn Felt
SongStudio tenor Matthew McKinney and pianist Corey Silberstein performed Gerald Finzi’s “The Comet at Yell’ham” Sunday night at Carnegie Hall. Photo: Jennifer Taylor

On Sunday evening, SongStudio presented a theatrically inspired vocal recital at Zankel Hall, featuring poetry, dance, and the artistry of eight talented singers and pianists. 

A mentorship program founded by Marilyn Horne and expanded under Renée Fleming’s leadership, SongStudio brings together young talent to work with experts in vocal performance. Sunday’s young artists recital concludes a weeklong project that aims to nurture young talent and refresh the vocal recital. This year, Fleming invited countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo as creative advisor to push the boundaries of the traditional recital. To achieve this vision, Costanzo collaborated with the National Black Theatre (NBT) and pianist Javier Arrebola to integrate theatrical storytelling with vocal artistry.

The partnership between SongStudio and NBT showcased the power of cross-disciplinary collaboration, exploring the evening’s theme: the duality of darkness and light. This “double tone” was reflected throughout the performance—from the staging of two pianos and two podiums to the contrasting halves of the program, two spoken word artists, and the pairing of stylistically diverse pieces. 

The relationship between singer and pianist, singer and speaker, and speaker and pianist often mirrored this balance; the performers, like yin and yang, constantly searched for the seed of darkness within light and light within the darkness.

The first half of the program, “Light in Darkness,” featured newly commissioned works by writer a.k. payne, paired with art songs by composers such as Finzi, Barber, Schumann, Messiaen, Brahms, and Sarah Kirkland Snyder.

Pianist Elitsa Desseva evoked a cosmic atmosphere in Cheryl Frances-Hoad’s reflective Star Falling, allowing the overtones to ring out. Pianist Corey Silberstein and tenor Matthew McKinney followed with “The Comet at Yell’ham” (1927) presenting a similarly vast and expressive atmosphere. Soprano Jazmine Saunders brought warmth and resonance to Barber’s “Sure on this Shining Night,” standing in front of a light to mirror the image of an eclipse. 

This theme seamlessly transitioned into the pairing of Schumann’s “Stille Tränen” with Schubert’s “Frühlingsglaube.” Baritone Wencong Xue, walking on stage while singing, delivered Schumann’s lied with long, sustained phrasing. This gave way to the hopeful opening melody of “Frühlingsglaube,” beautifully shaped by pianist Chris Soong.

The first half reached its emotional peak with Brahms’s “Verzagen,” where baritone Anton Kirchhoff dramatically fell to the floor to enact the text’s despair in the opening stanza, his expressive apathy and numbness paired with Jou-an Chen’s vibrant piano accompaniment. As Kirchhoff rose during the second stanza, his physicality mirrored the increasing intensity of the music, reaching a fever pitch as his fingers matched the rapid thirty-second notes in the piano.

Soprano Sophia Baete and pianist Marc Serra performed Kurt Weill’s “Youkali” on Sunday. Photo: Jennifer Taylor

The second half, “Darkness in Light,” continued the theme of duality with works by Messiaen, Crumb, Heggie, and others, interspersed with narration and poetry by Hope Boykin. Boykin’s text was marked by repetition, which helped her words and transitions resonate with the audience. 

Prefacing the opening of “Resurrection” from Songs of Earth and Heaven by Olivier Messiaen, Boykin’s text echoed her powerful cycle of words. Soprano Margaret Tigue’s response to Boykin in her “Alleluia” was a solo burst of fresh light that filled the hall, followed by jarring yet luminous harmonies in the piano. 

George Crumb’s “Dance of the Moon in Santiago” and Kurt Weill’s “Youkali” further explored this thematic tension, each offering a distinct highlight on the program. The opening of Crumb’s song  performed by tenor Joel Terrin and pianist Jong Sun Woo, dramatically interrupted Boykin’s line, “Look, but…” and responded with Lorca’s text, emphasizing a gruesome object: “Behold that gallant, that white cavalier, oh, ook at his wasted body!” The piece brimmed with rhythmic intensity, dramatically answering Boykin’s statement and infusing Lorca’s words with full vigor and a dynamic partnership. Woo’s mallet strikes created a pounding rhythm, while the resonant interplay of their voices through the piano’s soundboard added a haunting timbre. 

Weill’s “Youkali,” performed by soprano Sophia Baete and pianist Marc Serra, also stood out for its strong stylistic contrast to the rest of the program. Baete’s delivered the cabaret-style piece with great power and yearning, while Serra’s tango-like rhythm supported her serpentine melodic lines, creating a captivating interplay of desire and melancholy.

Dancer Terri Ayanna Wright, dressed in pale attire, bridged the worlds of light and darkness, and of spoken and sung word. During her poignant solo at the end of the recital, her shadow cast over writer Hope Boykin at the lectern. Wright’s fluid, shifting movements embodied the transition between opposing forces, enhancing the program’s exploration of duality.

The program concluded with Johannes Brahms’ “Geistliches Lied,” fittingly using counterpoint and a Latin hymn to demonstrate the theme of light and community. Singers Tigue, Baete, Terrin, and Xue formed a rich texture and serenity to end the evening, and they were joined on stage by the rest of the performers, leaving the audience with a sense of peace to end the evening. 


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