Folklore, high art and home: a double recital
The second stage: Soprano Claire Latosinsky and guitarist Nicolas Plourde (Canada) take the audience on a musical journey through Germany, Austria, Spain, the United Kingdom, and Canada. They explore the space between art song and folk song through music by Schubert, Britten, and Federico García Lorca, among others. Soprano Maria Pedano (Netherlands/Argentina) and pianist Illia Fialko (Ukraine), both multi-nationals in the best sense of the word, present a selection of music in which they feel at home: Rimsky-Korsakov, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Guastavino, and Illia Fialko. The concept of "home" can be this multifaceted and layered.
Old Songs Made New
Though the term “folksong” evokes ideas of ancient, oral traditions, the word is modern, coined by Johann Gottfried Herder in the late 18th Century. It is no coincidence that the division between art song and popular song genres, including folksong, became more solidified around this time. Yet, the boundaries between these genres are blurry, with many folksongs beginning as classical compositions, and many composers and poets drawing on folk music and themes in their work. Since its conception, this musical borderland between “folk” and “art” song has been deeply political, with both forms of song serving as battlefields and war cries for nationalist movements, ethnic cleansings, resistances and revolutions.
Through a combination of folk song arrangements and art songs, contextualized through conversational-style introductions and archival recording excerpts, we encourage audiences to listen to these “old songs” in new ways. Our recital explores folksong through four stories: that of Goethe’s poem “Heidenröslein” (1771), which has become both a folksong and an art song, Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca and his Canciones españolas antiguas, Benjamin Britten’s folksong arrangements and the folksong revival movement in Britain, and our own experiences with Canadian “folk song.”
Through empathetic and non-judgemental storytelling and performance, we aim to reflect with our audience on important questions. Among them: who are the “folk,” and who gets to determine who they are and what they sound like? What makes folk music “folksy” and art music “artsy?” How have these intertwined musical traditions been mobilized by and against different peoples? What are the consequences of forgetting the authorship, origin, or accumulated meanings of a song, and what responsibilities, if any, do we have for remembering, or for listening anew?
Soprano Maria Pedano: “Our program Stemmen van verbinding (“Voices of connection”) is rooted in our personal stories and heritage. I am a Dutch-Argentine soprano, with family spread across the world, and I feel very much at home in the music of Argentine composers, which resonates with both melancholy and zest for life. I also carry Latvian blood, which reminds me of how multifaceted and layered "home" can be. My duo partner, Illia Fialko, is of Ukrainian descent but grew up with Russian language and music. For him, music is a place where conflicting feelings can rest: not politics, but a quest for connection and peace. He also wrote a beautiful song, which we are proud to share in this program. Together, we want to present a concert that shows how music, despite differences and borders, can become a home for everyone, a place where our stories meet and where the audience can hopefully experience the same warmth and connection.”
Claire Latosinsky - soprano Nicolas Plourde - guitar Maria Pedano - soprano Illia Fialko - piano
The other stages of our musical world tour will take place on March 8, April 12, and May 9. Will you join us? Then purchase a discount pass for the entire "GenZ Voice Recitals" series before January 11th. You'll then attend all five concerts with a 10% discount.
