A Recluse Takes Center Stage: Concert/Theatre Piece pays tribute to Emily Dickinson
Jenine Baines
November 22, 2009
"This, And My Heart is a uniquely moving tribute to the great American poet Emily Dickinson," says composer Lori Laitman, whose compositions setting such Dickinson poems as "Will There Really Be A Morning?" and "Dear March, Come In" will be performed by soprano Anne Marie Ketchum and pianist Victoria Kirsch as part of the 80-minute production. Songs by composers Aaron Copland, Tom Cipullo and Steve Heitzeg are also included in the musical repertoire of this multi-faceted tribute to the poet.
In addition, Emmy and Golden Globe nominated actress Linda Kelsey will recite Dickinson´s poetry and share excerpts from the poet´s letters with the audience. This, And My Heart is not Kelsey´s first foray into Emily Dickinson´s life. Over the last seven years, she has portrayed the poet in numerous productions of the one-woman play, The Belle of Amherst, thus bringing a wealth of knowledge and unique perspective to her portrayal.
This, And My Heart does more than vividly bring Emily Dickinson to life," says Victoria Kirsch, who has worked with major and regional opera companies, including Los Angeles Opera, and who now serves as music director for the Operetta Foundation and Opera Arts and curates programs for the USC Fisher Museum and other arts institutions. "It traces the themes Emily returns to again and again in her work – nature, love, God, and death. At the same time, the reading seem to ´amplify´ the songs, giving them added vibrancy and depth."
After months of readings and workshop productions, This, And My Heart received its first fully staged performance as part of Grand Performances´ 2009 summer series at California Plaza in downtown Los Angeles. Reviews from audience members were consistently positive, ranging from pianist Armen Guzelimian´s description of the show as "evocative and engaging" to stage director Mark Lamanna´s claim that he "drove home with that rarest of feelings, a buoyed heart."
Long-term plans for This, And My Heart include taking the production on tour.
"Emily Dickinson wrote a poem that begins ´Hope is the thing with feathers.´ And, as the poem says, we´ve found that our hope for the ongoing success of our tribute to Emily ´sings a tune that never stops at all,´ " says Anne Marie Ketchum, whose recent recording of Morton Lauridsen´s Cuatro Canciones on the RCM label was honored with a Grammy nomination. "We look forward to introducing audiences to a woman who ´sang´ with an ecstatic voice unparalleled in its beauty and power."
Reservations for "This, And My Heart" at the Annenberg Community Beach House are available at no cost by visiting http://beachculture21.eventbrite.com. For more information, contact Victoria Kirsch at vhkirsch@earthlink.net or call 213.304.2480.
The Annenberg Community Beach House is located on the beach at 415 Pacific Coast Highway in Santa Monica, California. It is north of the Santa Monica Pier and south of Will Rogers State Beach. For more information, visit beachhouse@smgov.net or call 310.458.4904
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
LINDA KELSEY, Actress
Linda Kelsey is probably best known for her portrayal of reporter Billie Newman in the critically acclaimed CBS series, LOU GRANT. During her five years on LOU GRANT she received five Emmy, and two Golden Globe nominations. Kelsey is a graduate of the University of Minnesota, where she received a McKnight Fellowship in acting. Her professional career began at the Guthrie Theatre, where she appeared for two season in such roles as Miranda in THE TEMPEST, Maggie in THE LOVERS, and Teresa in THE HOSTAGE. She has also appeared at the Long Wharf Theater as Creena in A PAGAN PLACE, directed by John Lithgow. At the Ahmanson Theater she portrayed Mary Warren in THE CRUCIBLE, with Charlton Heston, and at the Kennedy Center she was Nellie in the Eva Marie Saint production of SUMMER AND SMOKE. She costarred in the highly acclaimed West Coast premiere of DUET FOR ONE, at the Back Alley Theater.
Most recently in the Twin Cities, Kelsey has appeared at the Park Square Theatre as Agnetha in FROZEN. She has also played the roles at the Park Square of Mother Superior in AGNES OF GOD, Sarah in THE O'CONNER GIRLS, Penny in YOU CAN´T TAKE IT WITH YOU, Cora in GOING TO ST. IVES, Mary Stuart in MARY QUEEN OF SCOTTS, Constance in GOOD NIGHT, DESDEMONA, Dorthea, in ELEEMOSYNARY, Marion in BIOGRAPHY, and Kate in DANCING AT LUGNHASA. In addition, she appeared in the Minnesota Actors Theater production of MOM´S THE WORD at the Fitzgerald Theatre.
Kelsey´s television career includes guest starring roles on over thirty series, including TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL, ER, THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW, MASH, THE TWILIGHT ZONE, STREETS OF SAN FRANCISCO, ST. ELSEWHERE, RAY BRADBURY THEATER, and MIDNIGHT CALLER. She has also starred in the made for television movies, A PERFECT MATCH, SOMETHING FOR JOEY, HIS MISTRESS, A FAMILY TORN APART, IF SOMEONE HAD KNOWN, and A PLACE TO BE. In the miniseries ELEANOR AND FRANKLIN, she portrayed Lucy Mercer, and played Lee Remick´s sister in the miniseries NUTCRACKER: MONEY, MADNESS AND MAYHEM.
In addition to LOU GRANT, as a series regular, she played the role of Kate Harper on DAY BY DAY, for NBC. Kelsey also co-starred in the role of Carol for Billy Crystal´s series, SESSIONS, for HBO.
In 2002, Kelsey starred as Emily Dickinson in the one-woman play, THE BELLE OF AMHERST. The production originated at the Phipps Center for the Arts, in Hudson, Wisconsin, where it was restaged in January, 2009.
ANNE MARIE KETCHUM, Soprano
Anne Marie Ketchum is widely recognized for her performances of contemporary art music, vocal chamber music, solo recitals and opera. Martin Bernheimer (Los Angeles Times) effectively summed up her vocal excellence when referring to her "radiant tone," and Daniel Cariaga (Los Angeles Times) wrote that "one has to admire Ketchum´s vocal poise, interpretative directness and musical immersion."
Ketchum has made several recordings of contemporary music (Orion, North/South Consonance and Raptoria Caam Labels), in addition to a CD of vocal chamber music – a collaborative project that she launched with the Los Angeles based Viklarbo Chamber Ensemble. In addition she has premiered numerous works by such composers as Ernst Krenek, Aurelio de la Vega, Daniel Kessner and Maria Newman. She has also been instrumental in the first United States performances of works by Shulamit Ran, Alexander Goehr, Hans Werner Henze, Carlos Chavez and Silvestre Revueltas.
A well known interpreter of twentieth century Latin American art music, Ketchum has appeared at the International Forum of New Music in Mexico City, the Monday Evening Concerts series at the Los Angeles County Museum, the Los Angeles Philharmonic´s Green Umbrella New Music Series and Los Angeles County´s Sundays Live Series. Her numerous appearances with the Long Beach Opera include the U.S. Premiere of John Cage´s Europera 4, which was subsequently released on CD. She has recorded works ranging from Schubert to Shostakovich to Aurelio de la Vega. Her recent recording of Morton Lauridsen´s Cuatro Canciones on the RCM label, was honored with a Grammy nomination.
Ketchum is a Professor of Music at Pasadena City College where she is the director of the Opera Program. She is also the Artistic Director and Conductor of the Verdi Chorus, a well-established organization located in Santa Monica, California, which is dedicated to performing opera chorus repertoire in concert.
VICTORIA KIRSCH, Pianist
Pianist Victoria Kirsch maintains a varied professional schedule includes national and international performing. In 1998, she began an extensive collaboration with Julia Migenes (Carmen in the 1984 film with Plácido Domingo) on the celebrated soprano´s one-woman show, Diva on the Verge. Kirsch has played Diva on the Verge at L´Opéra Comique in Paris, the Peacock Theatre in London, L´Opéra de Monté Carlo in Monaco, Hawaii, San Francisco and the East coast, in addition to sold-out runs at the Odyssey Theatre in West Los Angeles. Recent tours have included shows in Australia, New Zealand and Mexico City.
Kirsch has also served as répétiteur/ chorusmaster/assistant conductor for major and regional opera companies, including Los Angeles Opera, and she has been an official auditions pianist for numerous organizations (including Plácido Domingo´s Operalia competition in 2000 and 2004 and, until 2003, the Metropolitan Opera´s National Council Auditions. She was a vocal faculty member of the University of Southern California´s Thornton School of Music from 1995 to 1999, and she maintains a private coaching studio in Los Angeles.
A recent recipient of an NEA Chairman´s Grant from Chairman Dana Gioia, Kirsch is committed to presenting programs based on the melding of poetry, music and the visual arts. She is currently a popular teaching artist for Los Angeles Opera´s Education and Community Programs Department, participating in Opera for Educators and LA Opera 90012 programs. She presents ongoing exhibit-based musical presentations at California-based museums, including the Getty Center, the Huntington Library and USC´s Fisher Museum (through the campus-wide Visions and Voices program).
Frequently Kirsch collaborates in recital with soprano Anne Marie Ketchum, as well as many other Southern California-based singers. She is the pianist and music director of the Los Angeles-based Operetta Foundation, which presents staged concerts of rare operetta gems, and she performs on numerous local and regional chamber music series, including Sundays Live at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Grand Performances at California Plaza, Jacaranda in Santa Monica and the Brand Library Music Series in Glendale. She served on the vocal faculty of the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara from 1987-1992, playing in the studio of renowned baritone and master teacher Martial Singher.