Contemporary music’s leading soprano performs Fri., Oct. 2
The University of South Carolina’s Southern Exposure New Music Series is devoted to
exploring the rich variety of contemporary classical and world music. The upcoming
concert on Friday, October 2 at 7:30 p.m. is no exception. The concert is free but
patrons are encouraged to arrive early to secure a seat for this popular series. The
concert takes place at the USC School of Music Recital Hall at 813 Assembly St.
Contemporary music’s leading soprano, Tony Arnold consistently receives accolades
around the world for the warmth and beauty of her voice, her extraordinary technical
facility, superb musicianship, and riveting stage presence.
The Huffington Post says, “Soprano Tony Arnold is a luminary in the world of chamber
music and art song. Today’s classical composers are inspired by her inherently beautiful
voice, consummate musicianship and embracing spirit.”
Arnold’s long-time collaborator pianist Jacob Greenberg has been praised for his “brilliance,”
“heroic dexterity,” and the depth and nuance he brings to interpretations of both
old and new repertoire (New York Times).
Both Arnold and Greenberg are members of the pioneering International Contemporary
Ensemble (ICE), led by MacArthur-award-winning flutist Claire Chase.
Arnold and Greenberg’s Southern Exposure program includes touchingly beautiful early
songs by Hungarian composer György Ligeti, Greek experimentalist Georges Aperghis’
hyper-virtuosic “Recitation No. 12,” Viennese master Anton Webern’s “Songs on texts
of Stefan George,” Thomas Adès’s hilarious “Life Story,” and a short new work for
piano solo by the Japanese rising star Dai Fujikura.
Featured is American icon George Crumb’s haunting “Apparition,” which sets texts from Walt Whitman’s elegy for Abraham Lincoln, “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d.” (2015 is the 150th anniversary of Lincoln’s death; Whitman wrote his elegy shortly after Lincoln’s assassination, in the summer of 1865).
Tony Arnold website
2015-2016 Southern Exposure New Music Series