Program:

Binna Kim, Lady Macbeth (world premiere)
Samuel Barber, Dover Beach, Op. 3
Arthur Shepherd: Triptych for Voice and String Quartet
Ottavino Respighi, Il Tramonto

Artists:

Bridget Haile, soprano
Ken Hamao and Yoonhee Lee, violins,
Samuel Kelder, viola
Joseph Gotoff, cello

About the program:

Tonight's concert features a compelling collection of works for voice and string quartet spanning nearly a century of composition. Samuel Barber's "Dover Beach" (1931), written when he was just 21, masterfully sets Matthew Arnold's melancholic Victorian poem for baritone and string quartet with wavelike accompaniment evoking the sea. Ottorino Respighi's "Il tramonto" (1914) offers a lush, continuous musical narrative of Percy Bysshe Shelley's tragic love poem "The Sunset," showcasing Respighi's intimate chamber sensibilities beyond his famous orchestral works. Arthur Shepherd's lesser-known but remarkable "Triptych for Voice and String Quartet" (1927) sets poems by Rabindranath Tagore across three distinctive movements that blend American folk influences with European classical traditions. The program also features the world premiere of Korean-American composer Binna Kim's newest work, a dialogue between voice and strings based on Shakespeare’s iconic character Lady Macbeth.