Bowers Fader Duo, Bridge Records, Paul Salerni

People, Places and Pets

The Bowers Fader Duo will release a recording of music by Paul Salerni on Bridge Records.

Salerni is endlessly imaginative–

Details will be added here soon.

Composer Paul Salerni’s music “pulses with life, witty musical ideas and instrumental color” (The Philadelphia Inquirer),and has been described by the New York Times as “impressive” and “playful.” Recent premieres include Four City Scenes for mezzo and guitar on poems by Richard Wilbur and Kevin Young (October 27, 2018), Haunted, a one-act dance opera on a libretto by Dana Gioia for baritone, three dancers, string quartet, and percussion (March 2, 2019), Repentance for mezzo and guitar on a poem by Natasha Trethewey (October 23, 2019). A choral piece entitled “Bethlehem Carol” was published by Carl Fischer in fall 2018.

Salerni’s one-act opera Tony Caruso’s Final Broadcast won the National Opera Association’s Chamber Opera competition in 2007, and a definitive recording of the opera was released on Naxos. His second one-act, The Life and Love of Joe Coogan, is an adaptation of a Dick Van Dyke TV Show episode. Both one-acts are published by Theodore Presser. Other recent pieces include a ballet (FABLES) commissioned by RIOULT New York as well as commissions from Philadelphia Brass, Gabriel Chamber Ensemble, Two-Part Invention, Cape Cod Symphony, San Diego Chamber Orchestra, New Haven Symphony, Emory Chamber Music Society of Atlanta, and SATORI. A CD of Salerni’s chamber music (“Touched”) was released by Albany Records in January 2015 and a second Albany CD featuring chamber music and songs on texts by Dana Gioia (“Speaking of Love”) was released in January 2017.

“The afternoon ended with the stylish pairing of husband and wife team of Jessica Bowers, mezzo-soprano and Oren Fader, guitar. They are clearly “in sync” on stage as a pairing, here interpreting songs of Brahms, Mozart, and Salerni with excitement and skill. Her diction and communicative skills were a master class in song interpretation while his accompaniment was sensitive and playful.”

Ladd Boris, soundwordsight.com

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“The full-bodied voice of mezzo soprano and commanding presence of Jessica Bowers presents Gaia as a complex figure of elegance and repressed sexuality…” - New York Theater Wire

“His scholarship, technique, and intelligent musicianship are plainly evident and the beauty of his tone is consistently compelling.” - Guitar Review Magazine

​Created in 2009, The Bowers-Fader Voice and Guitar Duo is Jessica Bowers, mezzo-soprano, and Oren Fader, guitar, whose mission is to promote New American Art Songs for mezzo and guitar, through commissions, performances, and recordings.

In October 2017 The Duo presented the Second Annual New American Art Songs for Mezzo and Guitar Concert at the Tenri Cultural Institute in New York. The performance featured nine world premieres written or arranged for The Duo.

The Third Annual New American Arts Songs concert will be in the Fall 2018, and will feature newly commissioned works for The Duo.

The Bowers Fader Duo performs in New York City and across the US. Recent concerts have taken them to Washington State, Virginia, Vermont (Manchester Music Festival and Taconic Music Festivals), Pennsylvania (Classical Guitar Society of Northeastern Pennsylvania and Lehigh University), Make Music NY, Spectrum NYC, Tenri Cultural Institute, and Scholes Street Studio.

They have been the featured performers on the NYC presenters Soft Series and Composers Concordance. premiering new works written for them

The Duo’s repertoire includes classical works by Mozart, De Falla, Brahms, Schubert, and Weill, as well as contemporary works written for them. To date, more than 15 pieces have been written for them, including works by Frank Brickle, Judith Sainte Croix, Melissa Grey, David Claman, Ana Milosavljevic, Tim Mukherjee, Erin Rogers, Martin Rokeach, Paul Salerni,

Scott Wheeler, and Randy Woolf.

​Recordings include two song cycles by Paul Salerni, produced and recorded by Grammy winner, Adam Abeshouse, and three songs by David Claman (Prof. at Lehman College). Both the Salerni and Claman pieces were written for The Duo.

On September 30 and October 1 of this year,

The Bowers Fader Duo were in residence at Lehigh University for the new music festival, “From Boston to Bethlehem, and Beyond,” performing works written for them, playing other chamber works, and working with student composers.

Outreach activities for the Duo include free concerts each year for the Lighthouse Guild for the Blind, and Beginnings, a social program for seniors supported by Renewal Care.

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