Composer Showcase Featuring the Ravinia Steans Institute
Paul Novak’s youth is an exploration of ghost stories as an inherently queer genre, imagining haunting as a metaphor for queer trauma. Liza Sobel Crane’s Worth demonstrates how handling hardships creates character. Blair Boyd writes about being apart from the place you know. Eric Malmquist sets Illinois Poet Laureate Mark Turcotte’s “Hawk Hour.” Asher Sizemore writes Everyone Dies in the Gender Reveal Apocalypse. Paradoxical Ode, from Andrei Skorobogatykh, is a poem about science, universe and death. Bliss, from Bradley Robin transforms from wanting to having and from innocence to wisdom, through a lyrical and musical journey inspired by Sondheim, Scriabin, Salvador Dali, and Santa Claus.
Additional Details
Program
Program:
Blair Boyd † | The Hermitess*, text by Alyx Chandler
Andrei Skorobogatykh † | Paradoxical Ode*, text by James Clerk Maxwell
Liza Sobel Crane † | Worth*, text by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
Eric Malmquist † | Hawk Hour*, text by Mark Turcotte
Bradley Robin † | Bliss*, text by Maggie Gautier
Asher Sizemore † | Everyone Dies in the Gender Reveal Apocalypse*, text by Asher Sizemore, Kevin Whiteneir
Paul Novak † | youth*, text by Victoria Flanagan
* World Premiere Performance
† Illinois-based Composer
Ear Taxi Festival is proud to partner with Ravinia’s Steans Institute to present Sabrina Langlois, soprano, Joanne Evans, mezzo-soprano, and Brent Funderburk, piano for an evening of freshly composed art songs. Paul Novak’s "youth" sets a text by Chicago-based poet Victoria Flanagan and explores ghosts and haunting as a metaphor for queerness and trauma. Liza Sobel Crane’s work “Worth” focuses on social media and how it affects users’ body image. Bradley Robin’s “bliss” charmingly explores recovering from the loss of innocence when a child's knowledge of the world is realized. Blair Boyd writes music for a series of poems about a woman who has decided to leave society and be alone.