"The Passive-Aggressive's Guide to Mother Goose" - World Premiere of Ross Crean's Newest Song Cycle

I am so very excited to announce that my comedic song cycle "The Passive-Aggressive's Guide to Mother Goose" will receive its World Premiere in Philadelphia on March 13th and its Toronto premiere on March 20th. I have the pleasure of having it performed by the very talented soprano Maureen Batt and pianist Cheryl Duvall for their "Crossing Borders: Realities Blurred" tour! If any of my Philly friends can make it, I'll be there! Tickets are limited, so get them soon HERE!

 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – February 22, 2016

 

Crossing Borders: Realities Blurred

Maureen Batt and Cheryl Duvall to perform concert of works by living Canadian and American composers.

 

Philadelphia, PA– Canadian soprano Maureen Batt will perform in Philadelphia on Sunday, March 13 at 7:30 PM, at Biello Martin Studio, 148 N. Third Street. The program, titled Crossing Borders: Realities Blurred, focuses on questioning reality, gender and sexuality, and being in-the-moment. Each piece represents a reality that is blurred, a line that is crossed, a time that is both past and present. Tickets are pay-what-you-can, cash at the door. Please reserve your seat at www.maureenbatt.com.  

 

Batt is joined by Canadian contemporary pianist, Cheryl Duvall, who says, "Maureen and I met in Toronto a few years ago and have enjoyed many successful collaborations. I am thrilled to be touring a new program of Crossing Borders.”

 

“For the past several years, it has been my personal mandate to foster the creation and longevity of recent compositions. It is my goal to tell and share our North American stories through song. Crossing Borders lets me do just that,” says Batt.

 

Crossing Borders: Realities Blurred is being presented in Philadelphia on March 13, then goes to Toronto on March 20, and will have a final presentation in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, in the spring. The tour includes performances by Philadelphia composers Jenny Beck and Dan Martin; and offers world premières of works by American composers Ross Crean and Anthony Marasco. The concert will be emceed and hosted by Maria Murphy, PhD Candidate in Musicology, University of Pennsylvania.

 

About Crossing Borders:

 

Crossing Borders is a dynamic concert programme that creates a dialogue among contemporary compositional voices from Canada and other countries. The inaugural tour took place in January and March 2015 in Halifax, Philadelphia, and Toronto.  This year's Crossing Borders: Realities Blurred series includes Philadelphia on March 13, and Toronto on March 20, 2016. 

 

 

About Maureen Batt:

 

Maureen Batt, soprano: Noted by Opera Canada as a “young, lovely and captivating soprano,” Maureen Batt is an accomplished artist. Her career embraces the full variety of genres: opera, oratorio, cabaret, musical theatre, art song, and contemporary music. She has been engaged by the Windsor Symphony Orchestra, Opera in Concert, Toronto Operetta Theatre, Maritime Concert Opera, Toy Piano Composers, New Hamburg Live!, Open Ears Festival of Music and Sound, and Opera Nova Scotia. She is the co-artistic director of Essential Opera, who closes its sixth season this April in Toronto. In April 2014, Essential Opera presented a triple bill of Canadian premières where Maureen created the roles of Dorothy Parker (Etiquette, Pearce), Anna (Regina, Denburg), and Cindy (Heather: Cindy + Mindy =BFFs 4EVER, Thornborrow). Maureen has also created the roles of Helen (Aunt Helen, Pearce), Keri Ferrell (Hipster Grifter, Denburg), Lorelie Henderson (Stockholm Syndrome, Ryan), Bride (Cake, Pearce), Hannah (Hannah & Paige and the Zombie Pirates, Thornborrow). In 2017, Maureen will release her first commercial CD, with Simon Docking, piano, including Schubert’s Op. 52 and premièring Fiona Ryan’s Lady of the Lake

More info: Maureenbatt.com and facebook.com/maureenbattsoprano

 

About Cheryl Duvall: 

 

Cheryl Duvall, piano

Cheryl Duvall is a multi-faceted musician and pianist. She is active as a soloist, collaborative pianist, teacher and adjudicator and has toured and performed throughout Canada, Italy, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Switzerland, the Netherlands, England, Argentina and the U.S. She is especially passionate about contemporary music, which has led her to co-found the Thin Edge New Music Collective, now in their fourth season. Thin Edge completed a Canadian tour in winter 2013, were guest artists in residence at the SoundSCAPE Festival of New Music in Maccagno, Italy in 2013 and at Le Pantographe in Moutier, Switzerland in 2014. To date, they are responsible for commissioning and premièring 27 new works in the past three years, with plans for 13 new works throughout their fourth concert season. Ms. Duvall is the pianist for the Toronto-based Bell’Arte Singers and the internationally renowned Oakville Children’s Choir, with whom she has toured and competed internationally with gold standings. Besides performing, she maintains a full private piano studio and adjudicates piano competitions across Canada. Cheryl completed a BMus in Piano Performance and Theory, and a Diploma of Chamber Music from Wilfrid Laurier University, as well as a Master’s of Piano Performance and Pedagogy at the University of Toronto. 

 

For more information contact:

 

Maureen Batt at crossingbordersconcerts@gmail.com 

or Maria Murphy at 713-854-3484

 

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