Soprano Laura Strickling Announces THE 40@40 PROJECT
Laura Strickling has commissioned 40 new art songs from 40 composers to focus on continuing the legacy of art song.
In November 2019, Ms. Strickling made the realization that, while she’d been asked to premiere countless works over the course of her career, she’d never actively commissioned any. Since the collaborative relationship between singer and composer is one of her favorite aspects of the work, Laura decided to aim high – to commission 40 new songs as a 40th birthday present to herself. The project aim quickly developed into, “40 songs by 40 composers,” and has since grown beyond its original scope to include performances, recordings, and a published anthology of all of the commissioned works. The resulting songs have been beyond exciting in their quality and variety.
The commissioned composers include: H. Leslie Adams, Clarice Assad, Eugenia Cheng, Tom Cipullo, Andrea Clearfield, Nell Shaw Cohen, Emily Doolittle, Melissa Dunphy, Emerson Eads, Marti Epstein, Kurt Erickson, Evan Fein, Daniel Felsenfeld, Julian Gargiulo, Jodi Goble, Stanley Grill, Daron Hagen, Juliana Hall, Ted Hearne, Felix Jarrar, Jennifer Jolly, Joseph Jones, James Kallembach, Lori Laitman, Libby Larsen, Cecilia Livingston, Gilda Lyons, James Matheson, Bess McCrary, Reinaldo Moya, Eric Pazdziora, Kala Pierson, James Primosch, Matthew Recio, Jessica Rudman, Kamala Sankaram, Myron Silberstein, Lauren Spavelko, Gylchris Sprauve, Dennis Tobenski, Jennifer Wang, Scott Wheeler, Philip Wharton, Ed Windels, and Lorna Young Wright.