Event: Music, text
7 – 9 pm
$5 donation

Denise Konicek, soprano
Charles Blandy, tenor
Richard Giarusso, baritone
Rodney Lister, piano

Production: Randy Lister

Twenty-first Century Americans have been conditioned to believe that the
arts—especially the high arts—are without political content. Indeed, any
effort to give them political content is considered just cause for
suppression of the art and punishment of the artist. Many of the most
important composers in New York at the height of the Great Depression did
not subscribe to this outlook. They were extremely conscious of the
connection between their work and their political philosophy, and they saw
their struggle for the advancement of their art as being integral to the
struggle for the advancement of American society. This concert features the
music of several composers who were active in the musical and political life
of New York in the 1930’s and beyond: including Aaron Copland, Marc
Blitzstein, Charles and Ruth Crawford Seeger, Elie Siegmeister, Hans Eisler,
and Earl Robinson. As well as being politically aware, they were all good
composers, and wrote engaging, entertaining, and rousing music. You’ll feel
like going out and picketing.