Letters from Lincoln world premiere to be recorded live

Feb 23, 2009

For Immediate Release

Contact: Annie Matlow 464-7071

Spokane Symphony’s first commercial CD features Michael Daugherty and Thomas Hampson

SPOKANE - The Spokane Symphony announced today that its performance of Michael Daugherty’s Letters from Lincoln, sung by world renowned baritone Thomas Hampson will be recorded by E1 Music (formerly KOCH International).

The world premiere performances on Saturday, February 28 and Sunday, March 1, will be recorded live in Martin Woldson Theater at The Fox. The Symphony’s first commercial recording will be ready for release in about six months but presale of a limited number of copies will be available at the concerts.

Letters from Lincoln (2009) for baritone and orchestra was commissioned by the Spokane Symphony in celebration of the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth (1809-1865). Based on the speeches and letters of Abraham Lincoln, Daugherty's 25 minute seven-movement song cycle is an homage to America's greatest President. 

Rehearsals with Thomas Hampson and the Spokane Symphony begin on Tuesday, February 24.  Last Friday in New York, Daugherty and Hampson had a two-hour piano rehearsal at the Metropolitan Opera where Hampson is currently performing the lead role in Eugene Onegin.

While composing Letters from Lincoln, Daugherty studied Lincoln’s speeches, poems and letters. He also visited the Lincoln Memorial, the battlefields of Gettysburg and became involved in the 2008 presidential campaign of Barack Obama.  Daugherty has stated that "in Letters from Lincoln, I create a musical portrait of a man who expressed his vision with eloquence, and with hope that the human spirit could overcome prejudice and differences of opinion in order to create a better world.”

Daugherty has been hailed by The Times (London) as “a master icon maker” with a “maverick imagination, fearless structural sense and meticulous ear”.  Daugherty first came to international attention when the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, conducted by David Zinman, performed his Metropolis Symphony at Carnegie Hall in 1994 and the Houston Grand Opera premiered his opera Jackie O in 1996.  Since that time, his music has entered the orchestral, band, opera and chamber music repertory and made him, according to the League of American Orchestras, one of the 10 most performed living American composers.

 “The Spokane Symphony commissioned Michael Daugherty for this project because we wanted  to capture the personality of such a multi-layered man like Abraham  -- to create  colorful, attractive, and accessible music --  something new and surprising. And the perfect choice for soloist is Thomas Hampson, one of the most thoughtful singers of our time,” said Eckart Preu, music director.

According to Operacritic.com, “Thomas Hampson possesses one of today’s most beautiful voices, due to an extraordinary symbiosis of vocal and performing powers. To tell stories, to bring them to life, to move and touch us, this is what matters most to him when he appears on stage.”

Following a very successful career in Europe, Hampson recently moved back to New York where he has been receiving rave reviews for performances at the Metropolitan Opera. His musical versatility has allowed him to be equally successful in opera, operetta, oratorio and musical theater. Hampson made his debut with the Spokane Symphony at the Fox Theater while a student at EasternWashingtonUniversity.

Tickets are available at Martin Woldson Theater Box Office, 1001 W. Sprague, Spokane, by calling 509-624-1200 and at www.spokanesymphony.org. Saturday, Feb. 28, 8 p.m.  Tickets are $32-$54 and Sunday, March 1, 3 p.m. tickets are $28-$51.