Artists

Theodore Platt baritone
Keval Shah piano 

“Daß ich trag’ Todeswunden, das ist der Menschen Tun” (Justinus Kerner)

Inspired by a line from Robert Schumann’s Kerner Lieder, this programme is a meditation on human suffering, with a particular focus on the innocent child victims of conflict. From the bombing of the Basque village of Guernica, to racist attacks in African American churches, to the horrors of Nazi occupation in France, this concert speaks of fascism, racism, and injustice, at the same time following the search for freedom, and putting forward a faith in the endurance of the human spirit.

Rising British-Russian baritone Theodore Platt, celebrated for his ‘warm and powerful English baritone’ is one of opera’s most promising young voices. He is a recent laureate of the Concours international de Montréal and recipient of the prestigious Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship. And to join him, we welcome back to Leeds alumnus of the Leeds Song Young Artist programme, and now Lecturer of Lieder at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, pianist Keval Shah. Shah’s career is marked by his innovative approach to classical music and his ability to bridge cultural and social divides through his performances.

Programme

James Macmillan 
The Children  

Joaquin Turina 
El arbol de Guernica (2 Danzas sobre temas populares espanolas)  

Robert Schumann 
from Kerner Lieder 
Erstes Grün
Sehnsucht nach der Waldgegend
Auf das Trinkglas eines verstobenen Freundes
Wer machte dich so krank?

Francis Poulenc 
La fraîcheur et le feu  

Shawn E. Okpebholo 
Two Black Churches  

Ilse Weber 
Wiegala  

Richard Farina arr. Will Liverman 
Birmingham Sunday  

Margaret Bonds 
The negro speaks of rivers

Florence Price 
My dream