Chamber Music
vocal music
My Heart's in the Highlands(2019)
for Baritone and Piano
Text by Robert Burns
Premiered on Andrew Schad's Senior Recital
by Andrew Schad, voice
and Blake Hansen, piano
on April 21st, 2019
Duration: 4 minutes
Madame X is sitting at her desk, staring at her mugshot in the morning paper (2019)
for Soprano and Piano
Text by Sawyer Harrington-Verb
Premiered by Anna Koogler
on April 27th, 2019
at the New Britain Museum of American Art
Based on the Painting
"Madame X Desk Blotter" by Michael Theise
Duration: 3 minutes
I. Desk
Sargent...
I am yours
Put me on display
I am your muse
I knew what I did from the start
I saw the aftermath in full view
I said...
"They'll see me on the canvas!
They'll watch this swan
smolder on the wall!"
Sargent...
I am yours
My life is your life
I give you
II. Soliloquy
This cell has eyes
with which I can hide.
A museum, a bar, a place to lie down
with no guards, just walls?
A place where “Madame X” exists.
Instead
this desk, covered with
hatred and affection.
I lied?
My face wasn’t who I am?
Porcelain was my world
A tapestry of letters, of letters of love
Nobody loved me
Is shame a thing of mercy?
I sit in this cell
knowing I lost everything
and the life I still have.
Lo Fatal (2018)
for Baritone and Piano
Text by Rubén Darío
Premiered on the Public Sharks Concert
by Sawyer Harrington-Verb, voice
and Tobias Haus, piano
on April 17th, 2019
Duration: 4 minutes
If I Believe (2015)
for Baritone and Piano
Text by E. E. Cummings
Performed by Sawyer Harrington-Verb
Duration: 3 minutes