Friday, January 10
12:30 pm | von Kuster Hall
Susan Gouthro, soprano
Rachel Wood, mezzo-soprano
Singing in the Northland
Western gradutes Susan Gouthro, soprano, and Rachel Wood, mezzo-soprano, return to the stage to present Singing in the Northland, a recital of vocal repertoire by living Canadian composers. The program features works by Martha Hill Duncan, Matthew Emery, Iman Habibi, and Cecilia Livingston.
Soprano Susan Gouthro and pianist Marie-Elise Boyer will be performing Iman Habibi’s song cycle, Silent Awakening, at Wolfe Recital Hall in Corpus Christie, Texas.
Works by Beethoven, Iman Habibi, Jocelyn Morlock, and Jeffrey Ryan.
This event has been canceled.
Baritone Tyler Duncan and Pianist Erika Switzer perform Iman Habibi’s Khayyam-Fitzgerald songs, The River-Lip and False Morning at Aspect Chamber Music Series.
Thursday, January 19, 7.30PM
Bohemian National Hall
321 E 73rd St, New York, NY 10021
Tyler Duncan, baritone
Erika Switzer, piano
Illustrated talk by Nicholas Chong
Songs by Johannes Brahms, Robert Schumann, Hugo Wolf, Viktor Ullmann, Jean-Émile-Paul Cras, Darius Milhaud, Iman Habibi
The great Goethe, when in his sixties, fell under the spell of Hafiz, the 14th century Persian poet. Hafiz’s poetry inspired Goethe to create the ‘West-Östlicher Divan’ – a collection of love poems, epigrams and drinking songs. Goethe’s life-intoxicated verses inspired composers such as Robert Schumann, while poems of Hafiz were set to music by Johannes Brahms, Hugo Wolf, Richard Strauss and Viktor Ullmann. The spell spread outside the German-speaking lands, drawing in the very different sensibilities of Jean Cras and Darius Milhaud. Join us as we explore Europe’s century-long love affair with the Orient through poetry, painting and song.
Mezzo soprano Julia Dawson, pianist Deborah Grimmett, and violinist Mark Fewer will perform Iman Habibi’s songs, per caliginem, ardeo, and Ey Saba. Originally written for string quartet and voice, per caliginem and ardeo were commissioned for Julia Dawson by Exsultate Project, with the generous support of Hessisches Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kunst and Bob and Mary Gore. Ey Saba was written for Julia Dawson and Guillaume Faraut, and is being performed live for the first time.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/reopening-celebration-tickets-168014292271
Re-Opening Weekend at Kingston Road United Church! Celebrate with us on Saturday, September 25 at 4:30 pm ET for an hour-long concert. We welcome back superstar violinist Mark Fewer and the extraordinary mezzo soprano, Julia Dawson joined by Jeanie Chung – piano, Deborah Grimmett – piano and Lucas Harris – theorbo. The program will include a Beethoven violin sonata, Mozart’s Exsultate Jubilate and the Canadian premiere of a new work by Iman Habibi.
This free event is to thank our community for its continued support during these very challenging times. Covid protocols will be in place and social distancing and mask protocols will be observed. You will need to provide your contact information and proof of vaccination at the door.
While this concert is free to the community, there will be an opportunity to make a donation to KRU’s Raise Our Roof Campaign. Among the many challenges facing KRU as we reopen is the immediate need to replace the entire church roof, a huge and expensive undertaking. Our beautiful building is a valued hub of community activity and we rely on local support to enable us to continue to serve our neighborhood. If you would like to make a contribution E-transfers can be made to [email protected]
Sat, September 25, 2021
4:30 PM – 5:30 PM EDT
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Kingston Road United Church
975 Kingston Road
Toronto, ON M4E 1T1
Join William George (tenor) and Stanton Jack (guitar) for an afternoon of songs with music inspired by the poetry of such luminaries as Rumi, Rilke, and Shakespeare. The concert will include one of my songs, False Morning for guitar and tenor, written to poetry by Omar Khayyam. It will also include music featured on East, a recently released album featuring performances by William George and Michael Strutt (guitar). East includes two of my songs, False Morning and The River-Lip.
Purchase the album here
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It has been a terrific honour to have William George and Michael Strutt record two of my songs for tenor and guitar, False Morning and The River-Lip, for Redshift Records’ upcoming CD release, East. The songs were written specifically for this recording project in 2014. They are set in English to Edward Fitzgerald’s translations of poetry by the iconic Persian polymath, Omar Khayyam. The songs have also been arranged for piano and tenor, and for piano and baritone. They were premiered in February 2015 at the New York Festival of Song (NYFOS) by pianist Michael Barrett and baritone Shea Owens, and were described as “beautiful” by Wall Street Journal music critic, Allan Kozinn.
Before the phantom of False morning died,
Methought a Voice within the Tavern cried,
When all the Temple is Prepared within,
Why nods the drowsy Worshiper outside?
And this reviving Herb whose tender Green
Fledges the River-Lip on which we lean–
Ah, lean upon it lightly! for who knows
From what once lovely Lip it springs unseen!
Entitled East, the CD includes music by seven composers, and also features performances by composer/guitarist John Oliver. The featured works are inspired by Asian and Middle-Eastern themes. Stay tuned for more information, and the official release date.
Performers: William George, tenor; Michael Strutt, guitar; John Oliver, guitar
Chinese Gardens – Alec Roth
Two Chinese Songs** – Marga Richter
3 Moon Songs of Li-Po* – William George
The Basho Fragments* – Keith R. Cole
Do not go gentle into that good night* – Lou Warde
2 Omar Khayyam Songs* – Iman Habibi
Unseen Rain** – John Oliver
*Premiere recording
**Premiere recording of guitar arrangement
TK454 © 2017 Redshift Music
On February 17, 2014, Baritone Shea Owens joined pianist and co-artistic director of NYFOS (New York Festival of Song), Michael Barrett, in the premiere performance of two of my most recent compositions, False Morning, and The River-Lip. Originally written for Baritone and Guitar, the songs were recorded by Michael Strutt, and Will George in Vancouver, BC, and are set to Edward Fitzgerald’s English translations of poems by Omar Khayyam. The sold-out performance by NYFOS was nothing short of exquisite.
Most notably, the famed music critic, Allan Kozinn, who formerly worked for The New York Times, wrote a favorable review of all three performances at NYFOS in the Wall Street Journal, entitled The Newest of New.
A few days later, [Q]onStage published another wonderful review of the performance by the award-winning activist, Sherri Rase:
“Our first new friend of the evening was Sheng’s student Iman Habibi, whose songs “False Morning” and “The River Lip” are settings of Edward FitzGerald’s translations of Omar Khayyám’s poetry. Habibi told us that this poetry is at the very heart of Persian mysticism. FitzGerald’s translations were so well-received, he said, that Khayyám’s countrymen went back to his poetry, inspiring a renaissance for the work of this philosopher, mathematician, and poet. Every heart in the room was yearning for spring and warmth by the time it was through and found a new friend in Habibi.”
It was an honor to be a part of this wonderful evening. I would like to thank NYFOS, and the concert’s curator, Bright Sheng, for programming my music.
From Left to Right – Standing: Shea Owens, Michael Barrett, Leann Osterkamp, Matthew Tommasini, Iman Habibi, Mingjie Lei, Bright Sheng, Brandon Rumsey – Sitting: Annie Rosen, Amy Owens