Serenata concert covers wide range
Program of art songs will feature vocalist, pianist from Santa Fe
Two New Mexico natives will navigate a musical journey from Puccini to music based on Craigslist at Serenata of Santa Fe on Feb. 24.
Tenor James Onstad and pianist Nathan Salazar will perform at First Presbyterian Church in Serenata’s first vocal recital.
“James and Nathan both grew up in New Mexico and were friends forever,” Serenata artistic director Pamela Epple said. “It’s a collaboration of two very gifted musicians from our state.”
The program is a mix of both classic and contemporary art songs set to poetry.
“Art songs are secular songs that originated in the Middle Ages, sung with a lute or accompaniment,” Epple said.
Onstad will sing in French, Italian and English.
“It’s a very challenging concert because the singer isn’t playing just one role or mode; it’s many,” Epple said. “Each piece has a distinctive flavor.”
Francis Poulenc’s “Fêtes galantes” is a war song.
“It’s festive, but it’s about the absurd ugliness of war,” Epple said. “The tempo markings are unbelievably fast. This is an answer to Germany’s World War I occupation of France. It’s a bitter parody.”
Contemporary composer Gabriel Kahane penned his “Cragslistlieder” in 2006.
“He based it on texts he found on Craigslist,” Epple said. “It’s funny, it’s quirky, it’s so calibrated for this world.”
The program also features works by Charles Gounoud and Gabriel Fauré, as well
as contemporary classical composer Tom Cipullo’s 2001 piece “Late Summer.”
“The trajectory covers a lot of territory,” Epple said.
A Santa Fe native, Salazar is an assistant professor of voice at Boston Conservatory at Berklee. He performs and coaches with Serenata, the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, the Santa Fe Opera and the Boston Lyric Opera.
Onstad, also a Santa Fe native, works in both Los Angeles and New York. He recently sang with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in Leonard Bernstein’s “Mass.”