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(Complete program information: http://issuu.com/resonantbodies/docs/...) About the Program It is an honor to take part in the 2015 Resonant Bodies Festival. I celebrate the creativity and innovations of my colleagues —performers and composers —and marvel at the rich heritage and ever-expanding wealth of our classical vocal realm. My repertoire tonight includes both memorabilia and fresh connections, and opens with a tiny, playful excerpt from my very first New York City recital: in January of 1979, I was the first to perform in Abraham Goodman House (later named Merkin Hall) for a concert that included the premiere of a solo monodrama, “Sounds of Desolation and Joy” by James Yannatos. His setting of the Dickinson text inspired tonight’s title, “Soul Perching”, and gave me a bird theme with singing “that never stops at all” (which I recognize as quite unrealistic) along with a thoughtful soul search. The array of short premieres by new and old friends—Richard Festinger, Icli Zitella, Susan Botti, and Eric Nathan—offers meditative, adamant, and chirping responses that are interspersed with the two occasional works by Elliott Carter and Tom Flaherty. (The former was a surprise gift for a concert of Baudelaire settings performed at Brown University in 2007, and the latter served as my acceptance speech for an honorary doctorate at Pomona College in 2003.) And for me, the past is carried into the future with haunting echoes in John Chowning’s evocation of ancient ritual incantation through voice and interactive computer: “Voices.” Indeed, long may Resonant Bodies thrive! —Lucy Shelton