Leighanne Saltsman (Voice), Melinda Faylor (Piano)
The programming for this Valentine’s Day concert is inspired by romance, beauty, and joy. It also originated with the idea that performable music should engage the mind, excite the heart, and yet still be recognizable to the untrained ear. Featured are Three Sonnets from the Portuguese, a cycle of songs by the venerated contemporary American opera composer Thomas Pasatieri on some of the most famous poems of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, as well as Siete Canciones Populares Espanolas, a cycle of playful tunes by Spanish composer Manuel de Falla. The concert’s repertoire is connected by its unique and exceptional beauty.
Despite living parallel lives as students at Oberlin Conservatory in the early 00s, Melinda Faylor and Leighanne Saltsman did not start collaborating until 2012. After reconnecting over several Williamsburg happy hours, they discovered that their shared history of off-the-beaten-path contemporary premiers, mutual love of cabaret music and innate drive to perform were urging them to create something different together. One John Cage Festival, one guerilla street performance, one wedding singer website and several cabaret sing-alongs later, Faylor and Saltsman have settled into a more traditional classical recital form for this performance.
For more information on Leighanne, visit her website.
To listen to Melinda, visit soundcloud.
