SFGMC’s new recording Passion: Songs of Love and Life is available now for purchase and download. Passion: Songs of Love and Life was recorded live at Davies Symphony Hall during two concerts on April 1 & 2, 2015 and was produced by multi-Grammy award-winner Leslie Ann Jones at Skywalker Ranch. The recording is available here:
SFGMC webstore (physical) iTunes (digital) Amazon (digital) GooglePlay (digital) Bandcamp (high quality digital audio)
“The definition of passion encapsulates perfectly this collection of music, men and message,” writes Dr. Timothy Seelig. “When we began planning this program we investigated all aspects of things about which we are intensely passionate. It came down to music, love and life.”
Passion: Songs of Love and Life includes Jake Heggie’s "For a Look or a Touch" choral opera. The performance of this opera was presented in collaboration with the San Francisco Opera, American Conservatory Theater and the Contemporary Jewish Museum. "For a Look or a Touch" examines the often-overlooked persecution of gays in Germany during the Holocaust, at a time of moral and historical importance. Heggie’s work has touched audiences from Seattle to Berlin with its true love story. "For a Look or a Touch" features operatic baritone Morgan Smith (San Francisco Opera’s Moby-Dick, also composed by Heggie), actor Kip Niven, a chamber orchestra and the men of the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus.
As an epilogue, “The Narrow Bridge,” also by Jake Heggie, is included on Passion: Songs of Love and Life. “The Narrow Bridge” is the final movement from Tyler’s Suite, a contemporary choral song cycle commissioned in 2014 by the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus based on the life of Tyler Clementi.
The Chorus explores passion in the digital age with the world premiere of James Eakin III and librettist Charles Anthony Silvestri’s "#twitterlieder: 15 Acts in 3 Tweets." "#twitterlieder" chronicles an entire life though a quintessentially 21st Century communication style- tweets.
“These 15 tweets take us on a roller coaster ride of emotions as they whisk us through an entire lifetime of passions - each with only 140 characters to tell its story,” writes Dr. Timothy Seelig.
Passion: Songs of Love and Life - conducted by Dr. Timothy Seelig, recorded by Jack Vad and Leslie Ann Jones on March 31 - April 2, 2015 at Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco, CA. #twitterlieder: 15 Tweets in 3 Acts is produced and edited by James Eakin III. For a Look or a Touch and “The Narrow Bridge” are produced by Leslie Ann Jones. Edited by Robert Gatley. Mastered by Michael Romanowski at Michael Romanowski Mastering, San Francisco, CA.
This recording has been made possible by the kind support of Steve and Diane Heiman and Lee and Susan Gammil.
Complete track listing is as follows:
Passion: Songs of Love and Life
For a Look or a Touch by Jake Heggie 01. Prelude 02. I. The Voice 03. II. Golden Years 04. III. A Hundred Thousand Stars 05. IV. The Story of Joe 06. V. Silence 07. VI. Der Singende Wald (The Singing Forest) 08. VII. Remember 09. Epilogue: The Narrow Bridge (from Tyler’s Suite)
#twitterlieder: 15 Tweets in 3 Acts by James Eakin III 10. Birthday 11. Schoolyard 12. OMG! 13. Scholars 14. Rise of Sun 15. The Big Night 16. Selfie 17. Busy 18. Merry-Go-Round 19. People of Light 20. Brothers of the Heart 21. Auto-Correct 22. Mom 23. Fiber 24. Treasures