Program:
"Everyone Sang"
Music by Natasha Senanayake
Text by Siegfriend Sassoon
Dhanushi Wijeyakulasuriya, Soprano
Rachel Anne Moore, Soprano
Silas Berlin, Piano

"A friend introduced me to this poem, and I had an immediate response to the celebratory nature of the first line.The poem provided a good opportunity for the use of word painting. I structured the song cycle with three songs, using the same text in both the first song and the final duet. The idea of the second song being a vocalise was inspired by the words “and the song was wordless and the singing will never be done”. - N. Senanayake -

Natasha Senanayake (B.1987) is a Sri Lankan composer, music director, choral director, and conductor. She is among the few professional composers of Sri Lanka and is also a former Commonwealth Music Ambassador. She is a passionate musician who enjoys working on commissions for both concert music and film music.

“Another Hand”
Music by Janet Anderson
Text by Marie S. Cates
Katie Hochman, Soprano
Sharon Wong, Piano

Marie Sanders Cates (1912-1985) is the grandmother of Katie Hochman. Marie, the youngest of five, lost her father at the age of four. Her mother was unable to keep her family together and Marie was taken in by other family members. It was in that house that her love of poetry began. She expressed the joy and sadness of her life’s events in her poems. The first two songs are about her separation from and eventual return to her mother and siblings. The third song is about her life after her husband died and her faith that she would see him again.