This episode is an eclectic mixture of pieces and composers, starting with two song cycles by Dorothy Rudd Moore! Born and raised on the East Coast, she studied with Nadia Boulanger, and was one of the co-founders of the Society of Black Composers. Her music has enough dissonance to bring out the colors of the texts beautifully, while still being very accessible to an audience. Jonathan Bailey Holland is currently the Dean of Music at Northwestern University, and has some stunningly beautiful pieces - he was a student of Ned Rorem.We also included both settings of I Want to Die While You Love Me that we have talked about this season so that you can hear them back-to-back and see how different the two settings are, while both are excellent settings! The songs are in An Anthology of African and African Diaspora Songs and appear in the book back-to-back as well!Dorothy Rudd MooreFlowers of Darkness 1. Flowers of Darkness (sung by Aliyah)Sonnets on Love, Rosebuds, and Death (vocal chamber music, soprano, violin, piano)6. Idolatry (sung by Gracyn)Jonathan Bailey HollandLittle Elegy (in An Anthology of African and African Diaspora Songs) (sung by Solomon)Undine Smith MooreI Want to Die While You Love Me (in An Anthology of African and African Diaspora Songs) (sung by Gracyn)Rosephanye PowellI Want to Die While You Love Me (in An Anthology of African and African Diaspora Songs) (sung by Gracyn)***So Lit Song Lit is a production of Cincinnati Song Initiative. You can learn more about its network of podcasts at cincinnatisonginitiative.org/podcasts.You can follow Ellen and The Diction Police on Facebook and at www.dictionpolice.com.You can follow Toni Marie on Facebook at Toni Marie Palmertree, soprano and Instagram @ToniMariePalmertreeFor more information on Gracyn Blu, visit their website, or you can follow them on Instagram @gracynbluAliyah Quill and Solomon Onyukwu are students/graduates of Carnegie Mellon University.

Step right up and get learned by Jodi Goble, composer and vocal coach extraordinaire! She drops golden nuggets along the way for how composers and singers can best learn from each other, what's awesome about American art song today and where it's headed, and even her favorite hobby that may or may not involve a blow torch.Stick around for a fascinating #TeamArtSong Mailbag question from Daniel in Stamford, CT and an ensuing discussion on what makes a song a great song, as well as a great Songster in Your Neighborhood shoutout for Mike Brofman and Brooklyn Art Song Society, submitted by Harold in NYC!***Have a question you want answered by Laura and Sam on a future episode? Share your thoughts with a voice memo or written note through our new #TeamArtSong Mailbag!Submit a phenomenal artist in your local community for a shoutout in our Songsters in Your Neighborhood segment!***Song Cycle is a production of Cincinnati Song Initiative. You can learn more about its network of podcasts at cincinnatisonginitiative.org/podcasts.

On this episode we focus on some songs of Rosephanye Powell and Betty Jackson King, both amazing women with some fabulous songs to their credit. All of these songs are sure to be accessible and exciting to audiences, while offering enough challenge to performers to make their songs worth digging into!Our guest today is Dr. Sonya Baker, Professor of Voice at James Madison University. Sonya performs a lecture recital based on Marian Anderson's 1939 concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, and helped curate a new song literature curriculum for NATS that can be downloaded from the NATS website, called Expanding the Canon.Rosephanye PowellMiss Wheatley's Garden (sung by Gracyn)I Want To Die While You Love Me Langston Dreams (sung by Aliyah)Hold Fast to DreamsI Dream A WorldThen, Here, and Now (sung by Donovan)OppressionBetty Jackson King (sung by Toni)these songs are in A New Anthology of Art Song by African ComposersTheologyCompensationRecorded at the Carnegie Mellon School of Music Recording Studio in Pittsburgh, PA, and Morningstar Studios in Norristown, PA.To compare Rosephanye Powell's setting of "I Want To Die While You Love Me" with the one from Undine Smith Moore, check out Episode 6 of this season!***So Lit Song Lit is a production of Cincinnati Song Initiative. You can learn more about its network of podcasts at cincinnatisonginitiative.org/podcasts.You can follow Ellen and The Diction Police on Facebook and at dictionpolice.com.You can follow Toni Marie on Facebook at Toni Marie Palmertree, soprano and Instagram @ToniMariePalmertreeFor more information on Gracyn Blu, visit their website, or you can follow them on Instagram @gracynbluYou can follow Donovan Elliot Smith on his YouTube page.Aliyah Quill is currently a senior at Carnegie Mellon University.

The worlds of Hollywood and Lieder collide in this episode about Erich Wolfgang Korngold and his Sechs einfache Lieder. Including a very special live performance of the cycle by guest vocalist Claire McCahan and guest pianist Tzu Kuang Tan recorded during the Opening Fellows Concert at CSI's Fellowship of the Song program in May of 2024.Follow the Lieder is a production of Cincinnati Song Initiative. You can learn more about its network of podcasts at cincinnatisonginitiative.org/podcasts.

Adolphus Hailstork is an active, award-winning composer with a great output of art songs - and he's another name in our growing list of fabulous composers who studied with Nadia Boulanger! His works blend African, American, and European musical traditions in a unique way that is satisfying to both performers and audiences. We also have personal stories about Hailstork today from countertenor Darryl Taylor of the African American Art Song Alliance and baritone Kenneth Overton.The exciting news from the episode intro: you can order Tyson Deaton's new anthology Songs of Joseph Bologne de Saint-Georges Vol 3 from Classical Vocal Reprints! We discussed that with him on Season 1 Episode. Additionally, soprano Karen Slack (also a CSI Digital family member with  #KikiKonversations!) has published the works of Florence Price on her album Grammy Award-winning Beyond the Years: Unpublished Songs of Florence Price. The scores can be purchased from ONEcomposer.Recordings featured in this episode, performed by Gracyn Blu, mezzo-soprano, Donovan Elliot Smith, tenor, Toni Marie Palmertree, soprano, Ricky L. Owens, Jr., countertenor, and Ellen Rissinger, pianist:A Charm At Parting (Anthology of Art Songs by Black American Composers) (sung by Gracyn)Loveliest of Trees (An Anthology of African and African Diaspora Songs) (sung by Donovan)Song (Art Songs for High Voice) (sung by Toni)Vocalise (Art Songs for High Voice) (sung by Ricky)Recorded at Morningstar Studios in Norristown, PA, the Carnegie Mellon School of Music Recording Studio in Pittsburgh, PA, and The Church Recording Studio in Pittsburgh, PA.Check out Darryl Taylor and Brent McMunn performing Yet Do I Marvel by Adolphus Hailstork!Be sure to check out Kenneth Overton and Casey Robards' new CD What Dreams We Have: The Poetry of Paul Laurence Dunbar, which includes some pieces by Hailstork!***So Lit Song Lit is a production of Cincinnati Song Initiative. You can learn more about its network of podcasts at cincinnatisonginitiative.org/podcasts.You can follow Ellen and The Diction Police on Facebook and at www.dictionpolice.com.You can follow Toni Marie on Facebook at Toni Marie Palmertree, soprano and Instagram @ToniMariePalmertreeFor more information on Gracyn Blu, visit their website, or you can follow them on Instagram @gracynbluYou can follow Donovan Elliot Smith on his YouTube page.For more information on Ricky L. Owens, Jr., countertenor, visit his website.