AUGUST 11 2021

Prohibition: “the action of forbidding something, especially by law.” 

Every piece on this recital has gone through some sort of censorship, either because of the race, religious or sexual preferences of the poet, composer, or performers who popularized a piece, the content of the poetry, etc. One hundred years after Prohibition, I thought it appropriate to showcase some of the smokey, sumptuous melodies and secret speakeasy vibes of the Jazz Age. From the controversial racial and feminist agenda of jazz singer Bessie Smith, to the widely condemned explicit poetry of Charles Baudelaire and the Brettl-Lieder collection, to the banning of several compositions of Erich Korngold due to his Jewish heritage, there’s sure to be something here to thrill and scandalize.

Learn more here.

Piano: Howard Watkins
Soprano: Liz Lang

Sponsored by Nancy & Gary Radke