Music Meets Drama

In our crazy and wonderful music business one is never sure where or when our next performance may come to us. We will work diligently to send our publicity packets to the right people, try to market ourselves and network as best as we can. Then, what seems to be out of left field, we will receive a phone call or an e-mail inviting us to perform in a place we had not imagined. In the early days of my Gena Branscombe project I came across the music of composer Kathleen Lockhart Manning. I considered recording a few of her songs which did not happen, yet I kept her music in mind for future concerts. In November 2008 I was again drawn to Lockhart Manning's music and began an internet search for some of her songs. Up came a website "Lanning not Manning" and to my surprise I found mezzo-soprano Rebecca Lanning was doing a project on Lockhart Manning in the vein of my Gena project. I was thrilled to find someone who had found a woman composer whose life and music needed...

Performing my Gena Branscombe show is always a delight and something I enjoy doing. Yet, there are more facets to music making and I have tried to develop those interests and avenues of performance. Imagine my surprise this past June when I met Dr. Eleanor Elkins, Assistant Professor of Piano at Angelo State University, who invited me to perform on a recital with her as accompanist and share the the program with the University's trumpet teacher, Dr. John Irish. A return to something I love to do, perform art songs of various composers with poetry by the great writers, creating a mini drama in three minutes of a song. I love the creative process of finding composers whose songs blend together a story over the evening of a recital. My usual way of researching is to pull music scores from my personal library, open each book, read through songs, search the poetry for a hint of a theme for the recital. I leave the scores open to songs and scatter th...