Baritone James Martin & pianist Lynn Raley open TVT 25 with David Amram premiere

Baritone James Martin & pianist Lynn Raley open TVT 25 with David Amram premiere

3 February 2025 /Announcements

Baritone James Martin and pianist Lynn Raley open The Village Trip ‘25 Classical/New Music events on Sept. 19 at St. John’s in the Village with a new work by TVT’s composer emeritus David Amram.

St. John’s in the Village
218 W 11th St.
New York, NY 10014

The duo recently released a CD, produced by Judith Sherman, reviewed here, the NY Times.

David Amram writes:

I am calling the new piece FIVE AMERICAN VOICES: Poetry of Carolyn Cassady, Ted Joans, Ron Whitehead, Tom Piazza (wrote a great book “Why New Orleans Matters”, Script for HBO’s first two seasons of Treme , lives in N’Awlins) and Leslie Marmon Silko (renowned Native American poetess) who like Tom Piazza and Ron Whitehead is still alive and wailing.

–Carolyn Cassady was a writer. She knew all the beat poets. She was married to Neal Cassady.
–interesting to see on Tom Piazza’s homepage that he’s endorsed by Bob Dylan.
–Ted Joan’s motto was: “Jazz is my religion and Surrealism my point of view”.
–Ron Whitehead is from Kentucky. Doesn’t mean he’s pals with Wendell Berry.This comes up.
–Leslie Marmon Silko is the author of the short story, “The Man to Send Rain Clouds,” and the novel, Ceremony.

James Martin (Bass-Baritone)
The American bass-Baritone, James C. Martin, holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Illinois Wesleyan University and his Master of Music from the Juilliard School, where he was also a Young Artist with the Juilliard Opera Center. He apprenticed with the Santa Fe Opera, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, the San Francisco Opera’s Merola program and Western Opera Theatre Tour, and L’Opéra National du Rhin in Strasbourg, France, as one of seven international Les jeunes voix du Rhin. His awards include Juilliard’s William Schuman prize, the SONY Elevated Standards award, IWU President’s Award, a Lilly fellowship research grant, the Gluck Fellowship, and the Theodore Presser Award. He has received prizes and citations from London’s Wigmore Hall, Joy in Singing, Opera Carolina, Belvedere and most recently the American Traditions Competitions in Savannah, Georgia, receiving the bronze medal/Gignilliat Award in 2012. He studied voice with David Nott (IWU), Cynthia Hoffmann (Juilliard) and Benita Valente. Other notable mentors and coaches include Steven Blier, Michael Barrett, Paul Sperry, Jon Humphrey, Luis Battllé, Barrington Coleman, John Crosby, Marilyn Horne, Evelyn Lear, Hermann Prey, Joan Sutherland, Reri Grist, George Shirley, Ernst Haefliger, Adele Addison, Edward Berkeley, Kenneth Merrill, Diane Richardson, Owen Burdick, and Broadway legend Barbara Cook. He is on the music faculty of Dickinson College.

Lynn Raley (pianist)
As a pianist, I’ve had the privilege of performing in various countries, including the United States, Canada, the Netherlands, Thailand, and Taiwan. My passion for new music has led me to perform at prestigious events such as the Santa Fe and Florida International Festivals of Electro-Acoustic Music, the NewMusicNewCollege series in Sarasota, Florida, and several contemporary music festivals across the United States.
I was honored to be a Fulbright Senior Scholar at the National Chiao Tung University’s Institute of Music in Taiwan from 2012 to 2013. During my time there, I presented a solo recital of American music at the inaugural Taipei International New Music Festival. Following the festival, I embarked on a tour of Taiwan, performing new works by Taiwanese composers, thanks to the sponsorship of the International Society for Contemporary Music.
My recordings can be found on the Leonarda, Capstone, and Nimbus labels. BBC Music Magazine praised my 2018 solo CD, Maëlstrom, calling it “thoughtfully compiled and skillfully performed,” and described it as “a highly commendable release, offering rich insight into contemporary American music for piano.”




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