Mine Be the Lips preview

Vira Slywotzky + David Sytkowski

perform music by women composers past and present

Mine Be the Lips

Saturday, October 18th at 7:30pm

Saint John's in the Village 218 West 11th Street in NYC

Mine Be the Lips

Friday, October 24th at 7:30pm

Follen Church 755 Massachusetts Avenue in Lexington, MA

*This program is supported in part by a grant from the Lexington Council for the Arts,

a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.*

Violinist and Pulitzer prize winning poet Leonora Speyer (1872-1956)

wrote a poem titled Song, set to music by her contemporary Amy Beach (1867-1944).

The last line of both poem and song is "Mine be the lips that would sing - would sing!"

Beach's lilting music builds slowly, with some rhythmic surprises,

full measures of silence between verses, and chords that anticipate jazz,

to a triumphant end.

Our selections are notable both for their beauty and

for their power to transport listeners.

My favorites have a strong rhythmic impetus (which I find to be sexy), but of course I also treasure those that are marked by

resplendent melodies and harmonies and

the sparse, atmospheric pieces that encourage reflection.

I look forward to sharing these marvelous works with you,

as well as the stories of the marvelous women who created them!

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