Burchfield & Whitman in Opera and Song

Peter and Elizabeth C. Tower Auditorium

A concert of contemporary opera and art songs by composer Nell Shaw Cohen comparing the works of two iconic American artists: painter Charles E. Burchfield and poet Walt Whitman. A set of Whitman songs, including an exclusive World Premiere, will be followed by a staged production of The Coming of Spring: a one-man opera illuminating Burchfield’s life and artistic evolution. Tenors Joe Dan Harper and Alexander Kosmowski join Matthew Marco, pianist and Artistic Director of Buffalo Opera Unlimited, in this special event presented in conjunction with the Burchfield Penney Art Center’s exhibition Embracing Earth: Burchfield & Whitman.

Admission to this event is free and open to the public. Seating is limited. Auditorium doors open at 1:30 p.m.

Composer and librettist Nell Shaw Cohen (b. 1988) evokes landscapes, visual art, and the lives of mavericks in her lyrical works for concert and stage. Sauntering Songs, a 75-minute live album of Cohen’s choral and vocal works commissioned and recorded by three-time GRAMMY-nominee Skylark Vocal Ensemble, featuring performances by Juventas New Music Ensemble, was released in 2023. Her past commissions also include collaborations with Houston Grand Opera, Boston Choral Ensemble, soprano Laura Strickling, and Montage Music Society, et al. Cohen’s projects have garnered an OPERA America Commissioning Grant for Women Composers and Ellen Taaffe Zwilich Prize from the International Alliance for Women in Music, among other honors, and her operas have been given workshop performances by many organizations, including Fort Worth Opera, American Opera Projects, and New Dramatists. Cohen earned her degrees in composition from New York University and New England Conservatory. As Founder & Director of Landscape Music (LandscapeMusic.org), she advocates for music inspired by landscape, nature, and place. She lives in the Shawangunk Mountains of New York's Hudson Valley. Learn more at nellshawcohen.com.