Hila Plitmann will perform at Boston Court. / Photo Credit: Marc Royce
Boston Court presents “An Autumn Evening of Art Song and Poetry” on Saturday, Oct. 1, at 8 p.m. in Pasadena. Grammy Award-winning soprano Hila Plitmann and pianist Tali Tadmor will perform the world premiere of composer Mark Abel’s newest song cycle, “The Palm Trees Are Restless.” Also on the program are three excerpts from the David Del Tredici-Colette Inez cycle “Miz Inez Sez.” The music will be paired with readings by poets from Red Hen Press, Laurel Ann Bogen and Brendan Constantine.
Abel’s “The Palm Trees Are Restless” is an L.A.-centric song cycle set to verses by L.A. poet Kate Gale, managing editor of Red Hen Press. Abel is known for his vocal music, with three releases on the Delos label that encompass art song, opera and an orchestral song cycle and feature Los Angeles singers. The double-CD “Home Is a Harbor” was released this spring; it includes the three-act opera of the same name and the song cycle “The Palm Trees Are Restless.” Gramophone has called “Harbor” “an affecting experience,” and Opera Lively praised “Palm Trees” as “very beautiful, with convincing, well-phrased vocal lines that are quite melodious and compelling.”
You can listen to a recording of the cycle here: Mark Abel: The Palm Trees Are Restless.
Boston Court Performing Arts Center is located at 70 N. Mentor Ave., Pasadena 91106. For more information, visit https://www.bostoncourt.com/events/296/hila-plitmann-and-red-hen-press.