Lori Laitman Master Class
Following the Dimensions concert last night, art song composer Lori Laitman gave a master class for APSU voice students this morning. Sopranos Lindsey Claytor, Amanda Lowery, Rachel McNamara, and Jordan Stewart and tenor Christopher Bailey each performed a different song by Laitman. Anne Glass, Dr. Mabry, and Laitman were pianists for the class. After each performance, Laitman offered interpretive insight into performance of her songs, and several themes emerged.
Laitman emphasized the inherent flexibility of each song, and she showed how her music has enormous capacity for expressive freedom, particularly at the ends of phrases. She showed how the performer can become the speaker of the poem to capture the sweeping musical gestures and nuance that can’t be included in the score. The audience also learned how Laitman uses a confluence of sounds in her settings. She is concerned both with the meaning of the text as well as the sounds and colors of the actual words.
To end the class, Laitman shared a preview of a work in progress.