Collaborations
Florestan's recent collaborations have brought new song projects to audiences in the U.S., Canada, and beyond. Future projects include an original theatrical adaptation of Libby Larsen's The Strange Case of Dr. H. H. Holmes (Florestan 2010 commission) and a new song cycle by composer Andy Vores.
In August 2011, an acclaimed presentation of Schumann's Dichterliebe with Maine State Ballet. This acclaimed production featured baritone Aaron Engebreth, pianist Alison d'Amato, and seven dancers from the company, with original choreography by Linda MacArthur Miele.
"The performance was, quite simply, breathtaking. Engebreth's singing, with Alison d'Amato on piano, was beautiful and heartfelt...In fact, it would have been difficult to imagine applause. When the curtain was drawn, there seemed to be a collective intake of breath, followed by a roaring standing ovation."
—Portland Press Herald
View "Ballet partners with baritone for Schumann's 'Poet's Love'," Portland Press Herald >>
In October 2011, Florestan partnered with AmBul Festival in Bulgaria to perform the European premiere of Libby Larsen's The Strange Case of Dr. H. H. Holmes, a 2010 Florestan commission. The concert also included songs and piano music by Ruth Crawford Seeger and Bulgarian composer Dimiter Nenov. While in Bulgaria, Florestan presented a class at the American University in Bulgaria that included new settings of Langston Hughes's poem "Harlem," commissions from Wordsong's 2009 forum.
"Expertly led and beautifully performed by Engebreth and d’Amato, “Getting It Together” illustrated the subjectivity of artistic experience by illuminating several interlocking forms of collaboration: between poet and composer, composer and performer, and performer and listener."
View "Getting It Together: The Art of Collaboration," American University in Bulgaria >>
Since 2010, Florestan has worked with Wordsong, a Boston-based organization that presents concerts of newly-commissioned art songs all set to the same text. The mission of Wordsong is to connect musicians and listeners through a shared, active, and artistic experience. Florestan has been part of two "forums": settings of Wallace Stevens's "Disillusionment at Ten o'Clock" (songs by Nicholas Vines, Howard Frazin, Felicia Sandler, and Thomas Schnauber) and Langston Hughes's "Harlem" (songs by Frazin, Schnauber, Andy Vores, and Dalit Hadass Warshaw).
In addition to performances in the greater Boston area, Florestan has brought Wordsong programs to Eastman School of Music, SUNY Fredonia, Arts On the Edge (Wolfeboro, NH), and the Vancouver International Song Institute (Vancouver, BC, Canada).
"In an industry full of recitals and concerts that require audience members to simply sit back and enjoy the show on stage, the Florestan Project invites and even encourages spectators to become actively involved in the performance. The recital proved that innovation is not created through the medium itself but rather through those artists willing to demonstrate ingenuity."
View "Florestan Recital places students at center stage" in The Leader >>