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Songs Across the Americas Festival - 2006 Arkansas

a. The theme for 2006, which duplicates in the North the theme from the 2003 Festival held in the South - "Americans, Who Are We?" - was an exploration of how songs reflect American identity in both South and North.

b. Six days - May 15 to 20, 2006 - of activities - Lecture/Demonstrations, Concerts and Cultural Exhibits focused this time on the songs of the Southern Cone countries (Argentina, Chile and Uruguay) with equivalent representation from the United States.

c. The Festival culminated on the Final Day with a Marathon Musical Fair when all professional artists were joined by student winners of vocal competitions in the hosting region in presenting songs written either for traditional voice with piano or for voice and other instruments.

d. Again, as in 2003, the Festival had in residence living composers of songs from each country, as well as singers, pianists and scholars, all cooperated to immerse our guests in the culture out of which the songs emerge.

e. Other special attractions were the participation by the Latin American Art Song Alliance and the African American Artsong Alliance. Each of these organizations was invited to lead presentations devoted to their own genre.

f.  As a continuing policy, Songs Unlimited, enjoyed the collaboration of its local co-sponsor, the University of Central Arkansas, whose beautiful campus is located in the 'city of colleges' - Conway, Arkansas.

SONGS ACROSS THE AMERICAS FESTIVAL~2006 ARKANSAS
~MAY 15-20, 2006~

Songs Across the Americas Festivals bring together composers, performers, scholars, students and listeners in various living cultural historic settings in the western hemisphere, to promote the Art of American Song. Festival activities provide a “total immersive” experience to encourage a deeper, more vivid understanding of the culture of the Americas, and of our American identity, as reflected in songs composed by its composers from both South and North. Our 2006 Festival theme was Americans, Who Are We? and was explored through intimate sessions where music was joined with discussion, plus concerts, special cultural events, an extended look at the song culture of Arkansas and other features listed below.

To carry out its Mission of exploring the Song Culture of its Festival location, Songs Unlimited offered a NEW special Arkansas Song Excursion to applicants on a ‘space available’ basis. Applicants joined a small Mentor Group lead by Humanities Scholars by means of selected Humanities questions and gained extra insight into Arkansas history and culture as reflected in its songs. A Reserved Dinner Table for each Mentor Group provided a daily discussion period.

Itinerary at a Glance
                5/15 – WELCOME
Concert: Latin American Song Heritage
Special Event: AR Traditional Dance
Concert: North/South Song Potpourri
             5/16 – Spotlight: CHILE
Historic Chile Songs
Resident US Composer – Richard Hundley
Resident Chile Composer – Juan Orrego-Salas
Special Event: AR History & Culture
Concert: Songs of Lori Laitman / Orrego-Salas
             5/17 – Spotlight: URUGUAY
Historic US Songs
Historic Uruguay Songs from North and South
Resident Uruguay Composer – Eduardo Gilardoni
Special Event: AR Gospel Singers
Concert: Arkansas Song Heritage / of American song Songs of Eduardo Gilardoni
             5/18 – Spotlight: ARKANSAS
Arkansas Song Heritage: William Grant Still /
Florence Price
Resident US Composer – Lori Laitman
Arkansas Composers Showcase
Special Event: AR Post Office Mural Art
Concert: Songs of Richard Hundley / Songs of the Southern Cone
            5/19 – Spotlight: ARGENTINA
Historic US Songs
Historic Argentina Songs
Resident Argentina Composer – Irma Urteaga
Special Event: Tango Cabaret
Concert: Songs of the US / Songs of Irma Urteaga
             5/20 – FINALE
All Day Marathon Musical Fair / International
Food Court w/ Cultural Exhibits
Concert: Gala Finale – Songs with Instruments

COMPOSERS-IN-RESIDENCE:

JUAN ORREGO-SALAS, native of CHILE and Professor Emeritus at Indiana University, Founder of the Latin American Music Center and the OAS Pan-American concerts in Washington DC. Winner of countless awards, commissions and honors.
RICHARD HUNDLEY, native of New York NEW YORK and eminent composer of songs with a vast array of prizes, commissions and honors.
LORI LAITMAN, native of Cleveland OHIO and much awarded, commissioned and performed composer of songs, opera and instrumental works.
IRMA URTEAGA, native of Buenos Aires ARGENTINA, winner of numerous prizes and performed throughout the hemisphere.
EDUARDO GILARDONI, native of Montevideo URUGUAY, prominent teacher of many of his country’s most celebrated musicians and composers.
ROBERT BOURY, native of ARKANSAS, a prominent Arkansas composer of songs with awards, commissions and publications to his credit, and active as a teacher of Arkansas song composers through his post on the University of Arkansas at Little Rock music faculty.

SINGERS

SUSAN DUNN, soprano native of Arkansas, former Metropolitan leading singer, currently director of the Duke University opera program.
MARY ANN HART, mezzo-soprano currently chair of the voice faculty at Indiana University School of Music, eminent artist for the Art of Song, especially by American composers of the past and present.
DESIREE HALAC, mezzo-soprano native of ARGENTINA, currently active in New York City and renowned for her interpretation of Argentine songs.
PAUL SPERRY, tenor native of New York City, eminent promoter of American composers of song, premier performer and commissioner of many prominent composers in the field, currently on the Juilliard School of Music faculty.
RICARDO ESTRADA, dramatic tenor native of BOLIVIA, a Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence, a Pavarotti competition finalist and promoter of classical vocal music in all its genres.

PIANISTS / CONDUCTORS

PABLO ZINGER, native of URUGUAY, currently of New York City, one of the foremost pianists and conductors of the Spanish Zarzuela form, eminent in the Tango art and promoter of Latin American songs.
JUAN-FELIPE ORREGO, of CALIFORNIA and active as conductor and promoter of Chilean music.

SCHOLARS

LUIS MERINO, native of Santiago CHILE, Dean of the College of Fine Arts at the University of Chile in Santiago. Renowned for his publications about the music of Chile.
JUDITH CARMAN, native of Houston TEXAS, prominent author of Songs of the U.S. and regular contributor to the NATS Journal, which is the official journal of the National Association of Teachers of Singing.
PAUL SPERRY, one of the foremost authorities on the Art of Song both in the U.S. and worldwide, prominent editor and compiler of collections of songs.
ROBERT COCHRAN, prominent folklorist and authority on American Culture Studies, with emphasis on the history and culture of Arkansas.
MICHAEL DOUGAN, prominent historian with emphasis on Arkansas, author of a standard text used in the Arkansas schools on Arkansas history.
SONDRA GORDY, member of the University of Central Arkansas history faculty and expert in the history of Arkansas. Author of The Lost Year an account in print and video of the famous Little Rock Central High School confrontation.
CLAIRE DETELS, music historian on the University of Arkansas music faculty with numerous publications to her credit.
A special interest in vocal music and opera.
DEBORAH IMBODEN, producer and host of the public radio program Classical Arkansas in which she has done as much as anyone to promote living composers in the state.
GAYLE SEYMOUR, art historian on the University of Central Arkansas faculty and expert in the Art of Arkansas.
DAVID PETERSON, specialist in Arkansas Country Dance and its history and development.
LEAH WILKINSON, teacher of Spanish at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and specialist in Latin American culture and history.
TODD MARSHALL, interim director of the Institute for Humanities and World Cultures at the University of Central Arkansas, an expert in African American Studies and teacher of French and Russian languages.
DARRYL TAYLOR, currently on the music faculty at the University of California at Irvine, founder of the African American Artsong Alliance which promotes the songs of African American composers of the past and present.
ALLISON WEISS, native of Vancouver, WASHINGTON, Fulbright Scholar to Argentina, founder of the Latin American Artsong Alliance.