Dawn Upshaw

(ANNANDALE-on-HUDSON, N.Y.) – “First Songs: Dawn Upshaw and the Bard Graduate Vocal Arts Program” will feature the premiere of composer Kyle Gann’s new song cycle, “Your Staccato Ways,” set to poems of Karen Schoemer, in the Bito Auditorium at Bard College on Wednesday, April 8, 2015, at 8pm. Admission is free and open to the public.

The concert will also feature the world premiere of “Garden Songs” by the acclaimed Argentinian composer Pablo Ortiz on the poetry of Louise Gluck, and written for Dawn Upshaw. Also included are new and recent works by Shawn Jaeger (Two Songs from The Cold Pane), Matthew Schickele (Since 1500), and Bard composer Tamzin Elliott (When Vera), among others.

Dawn Upshaw, internationally renowned soprano and Bard Vocal Arts Program artistic director, will perform with pianist and Bard faculty Kayo Iwama, the singers of the program, and the Bard Conservatory Collaborative Piano Fellows.

The program will be repeated at the Morgan Library & Museum in Manhattan in its official premiere on Sunday, April 12, 2015, 4pm.