Mezzo-soprano Megan Ihnen employs her formidable talents as a 21st-century vocalist to shine a light on a varied array of contemporary composers with CURRENTS IN TIME. This program showcases the profundity of the human voice in a prime selection of modern compositions from the 2022 Navona Records release, whose lyrical foundations are as diverse as the emotional states transported: from grief to joy, modesty to hubris, and self-doubt to unshakable faith and valor.
VENUE
First Unitarian Church
Chicago, Illinois, United States
About
Megan Ihnen is a “new music force of nature.” The act of live performance is integral to Ihnen’s work and her performances thrive on elaborate sound worlds and fully-developed dramatic interpretations. Through narrative and non-narrative musical storytelling, she explores the subjects of memory, nostalgia, the perception of time, and relationships. Whether through chamber music, staged recitals, opera, or large ensemble soloist work, she emphasizes the full range of vocal sounds, timbres, colors, and uses that characterize the 21st century voice.
Pianist Marianne Parker’s playing has been described as “a cut above…her sympathetic fingers offering well-sculpted phrases and impassioned pealing” (Chicago Classical Review). Her work can be heard on three commercially released albums, Pages intimes (2019), Pyano Sa (2020), and CURRENTS IN TIME from Navona Records featuring mezzo-soprano Megan Ihnen. Parker is a curator for an upcoming anthology of 21st century works for solo piano through NewMusicShelf Publishing.
Michael Hall lives in Chicago and has performed and taught across Europe, Asia, and the United States. Described by the New Music Connoisseur as “utterly masterful,” and Chamber Music Today as having “superb technique,” he recently made his Chicago Orchestra Hall solo debut performing the world premiere of Kim Diehnelt’s Montegar, and concluded a recital tour to Vienna, Austria and Udine and Tolmezzo, Italy.
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