Performers:
KAIA String Quartet:
Victoria Moreira, violin
Naomi Culp, violin
Susan Bengtson Price, viola
Hope Shepherd DeCelle, cello
Laura Strickling, soprano
Michelle Areyzaga, soprano
Hayley Fox, soprano
Naomi Brigell, mezzo-soprano
Grace Ryan, mezzo-soprano
Program:
Amos Gillespie † | Shadow Effect
Rosśa Crean † | to cradle empty air*, text by Christina Ramirez
Lee Kesselman † | I No Longer Pray*, lyrics by Chelan Harkin
Ty Bloomfield † | Cicadian Rhythms*, original text
Justin Weiss † | Hold out your hands and listen to the rain*, Robin Wall Kimmerer
Graham Meyer † | Sappho, Woven*, text by Sappho
*World Premiere Performance
† Illinois-based Composer
KAIA String Quartet is joined by Laura Strickling, Michelle Areyzaga, and Hayley Fox, Sopranos, and Naomi Brigell and Grace Ryan, Mezzo Sopranos to present five new works by Illinois-based composers Rosśa Crean, Lee Kesselman, Ty Bloomfield, Justin Weiss, and Graham Meyer, alongside a work written for KAIA Quartet by Amos Gillespie. Texts for the program range from Sapphic verses interwoven with music by Justin Weiss, to original texts created by Ty Bloomfield. Rosśa Crean writes a song cycle about recovery from abuse and trauma through a hopeful lens. Justin Weiss writes music based on Robin Wall Kimmerer's book, Braiding Sweetgrass, exploring elements of nature, time, memory, and collective experience. Lee Kesselman’s work explores the life-wise ways outside of traditional prayer that evoke the Holy. “Shadow Effect” was written for the Kaia String Quartet by Amos Gillespie and based on selected poems by Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz. Gillespie drew on the baroque music of Sor Juana’s time period to illustrate how wisdom from past eras can be used to benefit modern times.
