Join as we celebrate the release of “In This Short Life,” the debut album by Devony Smith and Danny Zelibor, featuring Michael Nicolas on cello with a concert celebrating this veritable bouquet of pre-eminent American composers of art-song, commissioned and curated to form this fresh and beautiful new album by these rising chamber music stars!

The concert presents the chance to hear live many of the album’s world and studio premieres by composers Mark Adamo, Grammy Award-winner Jennifer Higdon, David Lang, Eve Beglarian, B.E. Boykin, Jake Landau, Will Liverman, and Benjamin Perry Wenzelberg. This collection of American compositions and texts features commissions from Will Liverman and Jake Landau, incorporating the poetry of Harlem Renaissance poet Anne Spencer and folks texts collected by Jean Ritchie.

The songs are joyful, introspective, soulful, heartfelt, and deeply personal, reflecting the collaborative relationships between the performers and composers. They explore the many facets of American sound through the lens of classical art song, drawing inspiration from folk music, movie music, gospel, jazz, and musical theater.

We will have our usual reception after the concert, this time at the Blue Building in Midtown.

Performers:

Devony Smith

Recognized for her “sensual” and “strong” voice (New York Times), mezzo-soprano Devony Smith is a versatile performer with a wide-ranging repertoire in opera and concert music. Known for her interpretation of contemporary works, she premiered Little River Songs by Grammy Award-winning composer Jennifer Higdon and the world premiere of Luna Pearl Woolf’s oratorio Number Our Days at the Perelman Performing Arts Center with the Choir of Trinity Wall Street. Devony has a long-standing relationship with Rome Prize winner Kate Soper’s Here Be Sirens, which she has toured in three different seasons. Additionally, she sang the role of “The Lover” on the cast album of Soper’s second opera, Romance of the Rose, released with New Focus Recordings. Devony frequently performs with the Albany Symphony, where she premiered fi ve works on a tour across New York State. A champion of concert repertoire, Devony has performed as a featured recitalist with Caramoor Center for the Arts, Carnegie Hall Citywide, Ravinia Steans Music Institute, and SongFest, where she received a Sorel Fellowship. She made her Carnegie Hall debut as the alto soloist in Dan Forrest’s Jubilate Deo and participated in the The Song Continues workshop at Carnegie Hall with Marilyn Horne, Renée Fleming, and Graham Johnson.

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Danny Zelibor

Pianist Danny Zelibor, praised for his sensitive and colorful playing, is a sought-after collaborator and performer. He made his Carnegie Hall debut with baritone Jarrett Ott and has performed in recital with numerous leading musicians, including soprano Harolyn Blackwell and Canadian cellist Amanda Forsyth. An ardent lover of art song, he frequently performs with the Brooklyn Art Song Society and the New York Festival of Song and has recorded world premieres of songs by Jake Heggie, Jennifer Higdon, and Mark Adamo. On the cutting edge of new music, he has premiered and workshopped dozens of new works. A true believer in the power of music to be a bridge and a force for good, he joined baritone Sidney Outlaw on a concert tour and series of masterclasses in The Republic of Chad sponsored by the U.S. State Department and recently performed in his fi rst series of Well-Being Concerts at Carnegie Hall with cellist Joshua Roman and violinist Simon Porter.

Danny’s debut CDs for Toccata Classics, the beginning of a multi-volume set of the piano music of Alexandre Tansman, have received widespread praise from top music publications. A fellow of Tanglewood and graduate of Manhattan School of Music, Danny resides in New York City.

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Michael Nicolas

A “long-admired fi gure on the New York scene,” (The New Yorker), cellist Michael Nicolas enjoys a diverse career as chamber musician, soloist, recording artist, improvisor, and teacher. He is the cellist of the intrepid and genre-defying string quartet Brooklyn Rider, which has drawn praise from classical, world music, and rock critics alike. As a member of the acclaimed International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), he has worked with countless composers from around the world, premiering and recording dozens of new works. Earlier in his career, he held a post as Associate

Principal Cellist of the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, and was also a member of the wildly popular South Korean chamber group Ensemble Ditto. His solo album Transitions is available on the Sono Luminus record label.

Of mixed French-Canadian and Taiwanese heritage, Michael was born in Canada, and currently resides in New York City, where he is on the cello faculty at The Mannes School of Music at The New School. He is a graduate of the Juilliard School.