Emerging Voices:
Art Song & Social Connection

January 13-24, 2020
Nicholas Phan and Myra Huang

During the 2019-20 season, the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society curated a special project with tenor Nicholas Phan that explored and illuminated themes of social connection and identity through art song. Emerging Voices was born out of Nick’s pressing desire to understand his own history, to depict our collective identities as Americans, and to deepen our capacity to empathize with the experiences of others. His career as a world-class singer provided him the special opportunity to bring to life the work and stories of composers and poets, and to reveal new and often unexpected perspectives on who we are as human beings. As Nick says, “The reason art song endures is because the themes that it’s grappling with are themes that we still confront today. The mystery of life doesn’t really change.”

This collaborative project featured 13 world-class artists and ensembles, six concerts, four world premieres, special projection design, panel discussions, and more. This website serves as an archive of the project catalog, films, essays, programs, participants, and a selection of recordings from the concerts at the Kimmel Center’s Perelman Theater.

 

Concert Recordings
Reynaldo Hahn - D’une prison (Joélle Harvey, Shannon McGinnis)
Nadia Boulanger - Heures ternes (Amanda Lynn Bottoms, Shannon McGinnis)
Nadia Boulanger - La mer est plus belle (Joélle Harvey, Shannon McGinnis)
Nicolas Bacri - De la douceur [World Premiere/PCMS Commission] (Amanda Lynn Bottoms, Joélle Harvey, Shannon McGinnis)
Gabriel Fauré - La bonne chanson: La luna blanche luit dans les bois (Nicholas Phan, Myra Huang, Jasper Quartet, Tony Flynt)
Nadia Boulanger - Soir d'hiver (Roderick Williams, Shannon McGinnis)
Enrique Granados - Tonadillas al estilo antiguo: La maja dolorosa No. 1 (Amanda Lynn Bottoms, Shannon McGinnis)
Errollyn Wallen - Roundel [World Premiere/PCMS Commission] (Amanda Lynn Bottoms, Roderick Williams, Shannon McGinnis)
Ivor Gurney - In Flanders (Roderick Williams, Shannon McGinnis)
Lili Boulanger - Clairières dans le ciel: Parfois, je suis triste (Nicholas Phan, Myra Huang)
Béla Bartók - Elindultam szép hazámból, BB. 42 No. 1 (Jennifer Johnson Cano, Shannon McGinnis)
Ignacy Jan Paderewski - Six Songs, Op. 18: Polały się łzy (Sarah Shafer, Shannon McGinnis)
Vítězslava Kaprálová - Vánoční koleda (Sarah Shafer, Shannon McGinnis)
Leoš Janáček - The Diary of One Who Disappeared: Vítaj, Janíčku (Nicholas Phan, Jennifer Johnson Cano, Temple University Voices, Myra Huang)
Howard Swanson - I Will Lie Down in Autumn (Douglas Williams, Myra Huang)
Elliott Carter - Dust of Snow (Corinne Winters, Shannon McGinnis)
Caroline Shaw - And So (Corinne Winters, Brooklyn Rider)
Nico Muhly - Stranger [World Premiere/PCMS Commission] (Nicholas Phan, Brooklyn Rider)
Featured Events
Featured Artists
Project Films
Composers Commissioned


MAJOR SUPPORT FOR EMERGING VOICES HAS BEEN PROVIDED BY THE PEW CENTER FOR ARTS & HERITAGE, with additional support from Grant Greapentrog, Constance & Michael Cone, Vincent Tseng & Geoffrey Mainland, and the Presser Foundation.