News
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BBC/Royal Philharmonic Society commission for soprano Katharina Konradi
I am thrilled to announce that the BBC and The Royal Philharmonic Society have commissioned a song cycle for their “New Generation Artist” Katharina Konradi. The work will center around the themes of parenthood and childhood, and will feature the poetry of A.E. Stallings and another well-known female poet, whose name I will release after…
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Steamboat Opera to present The Three Feathers in August 2020
I am thrilled to announce that Steamboat Opera, under the Artistic Direction of Maestro Andres Cladera, will present The Three Feathers from August 7-9, 2020 in Steamboat Springs, CO. Based on a little known tale by the Brothers Grimm, with a libretto by Dana Gioia, this magical opera presents a young female protagonist, Princess Dora, as…
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Indianapolis Opera to present Vedem with Brundibar in April 2020
UPDATE: This production will be postponed to spring 2021, due to the Coronavirus. Indianapolis Opera will present a semi-staged version of my Holocaust-themed oratorio Vedem in a double bill with Hans Krasa’s Brundibar from April 24-26, 2020. Vedem tells the story of the boys imprisoned in the infamous Terezin Concentration Camp during WWII, and their…
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Opera at UC Irvine to present THE SCARLET LETTER in MAY 2020
POSTPONED DUE TO THE CORONAVIRUS. PLEASE CHECK BACK FOR INFO ON RESCHEDULED DATES. I am thrilled to announce that The Opera Department at UC Irvine in California will present The Scarlet Letter May 9-10, 2020. The presentation will be under the artistic direction of Dr. Darryl Taylor with Dr. Stephen Tucker conducting. For more…
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Review of “Hands” premiere by Chicago Classical Review
The Grant Park Chorus, under the director of Christopher Bell, premiered my choral work “Hands” on July 18, 2019 at the Columbus Park Refectory in Chicago. The piece sets the poetry of Robinson Jeffers (1887-1962). This particular poem was written in response to Jeffers’ visit to the ancient Esselen people’s “Cave of the Hands” near…
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New Mary Oliver choral work commission
The Donald Sinclair Sutherland Music Endowment for the Bradley Hills Presbyterian Church Chancel Choir, under the director of Matthew Robertson, has commissioned a new choral work to premiere in early March 2020. Early in my career, Mary Oliver granted me permission to set many of her poems. For this commission, I chose to set her…
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The Royal Conservatory 2019 Voice Series Anthology
I am thrilled that the 2019 Edition of The Royal Conservatory’s Voice Anthology includes my Emily Dickinson song If I…. This song is the last of my Four Dickinson Songs. My father, Milton Abraham Laitman, lived to be almost 100. This song was written as a birthday gift for his 80th birthday. It has become…
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Edinburgh Fringe Festival performances mark the Scottish premiere of The Ocean of Eternity
Soprano Sally Carr, clarinetist Calum Robertson and pianist Anna Michels will be presenting the Scottish premiere of my song cycle The Ocean of Eternity (in a new arrangement for voice, clarinet and piano) at the 2019 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The cycle sets the poetry of Sri Lankan poet Anne Ranasinghe. All concerts are in Edinburgh –…
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Upcoming production of The Three Feathers in Singapore
L’Arietta Productions will be producing the abridged version of The Three Feathers from November 18-24, 2019 under the artistic direction of Akiko Otao Larietta. This will mark the first time an opera composed by a woman will be performed in Singapore! Commissioned by the Center for the Arts at VA Tech, the opera is a re-telling of a Grimm’s…
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Lullaby selected for inclusion in NewMusicShelf’s Alto Saxophone Anthology
Lullaby, composed in 2000 for saxophonist Gary Louie and pianist Kirsten Taylor, was selected to be part of NewMusicShelf’s Alto Saxophone Anthology. Also included are 15 other works by Stephanie Ann Boyd, Wes Flinn, Nick Gianopoulos, Anthony Green, Chiayu Hsu, Quinn Mason, Aaron Jay Myers, Garrett Shatzer, Clare Shore, Aleks Sternfeld-Dunn, Cassie Wieland, Chelsea Williamson,…
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Dual premieres for Partial Lunar Eclipse, SATB and piano
I have been jointly commissioned by the Alexandria Choral Society with Brian Isaac, Artistic Director and Virginia Choral Society with Sarah Gallo, Artistic Director, to re-envision my song Partial Lunar Eclipse (poem by Anne Ranasinghe) from the cycle And Music Will Not End. Two premieres are scheduled: The Virginia Choral Society will premiere the work on May 4, 2019 at 4 pm…
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City Lyric Opera presents music of Lori Laitman on their Salon Series, March 6, 2019
City Lyric Opera presented a recital of Lori Laitman songs at the home of Beth and Larry Lenke on the evening of March 6, 2019 in New York City. In the days leading to the recital, Lori coached all the young performers, giving them first-hand insight into each of the compositions. A review of the…
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The Ocean of Eternity premiere now online
The Ocean of Eternity, my song cycle to the poetry of Anne Ranasinghe, premiered February 9, 2019 at the National Opera Center, with soprano Yungee Rhie, saxophonist Michael Couper and pianist ChoEun Lee (all of whom commissioned the work). Video of the premiere is available by clicking here. I say a few words about the…
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songSLAM in Chicago April 14, 2019 – Hosted by Lori Laitman
songSLAM is an art song composition competition created by Sparks & Wiry Cries. The Fourth Coast Ensemble will be presenting this event at The Promontory in Chicago at 6 pm, with Lori as the EmCee. Ten composer/singer/pianist teams will present a new art song to compete to win $2000 in prize money. During the deliberations,…
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Journey for violin and piano now available on MusicaNeo
Journey started out as a song with words — and the original poem was about a slave mother’s harsh reality as she traveled on a slave boat from Africa. Due to a misunderstanding with the poet, permission to set the poem was withdrawn. I first reworked the song as a solo for saxophone with piano…
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Live stream of Premiere of “The Ocean of Eternity” — February 9, 2019, National Opera Center, 7:30 pm ET
The Ocean of Eternity, my new song cycle for soprano, soprano saxophone and piano, will premiere February 9, 2019 at 7:30 pm at the National Opera Center in New York City. To watch the live stream, please click here. The piece was commissioned by soprano Yungee Rhie, saxophonist Michael Couper and pianist ChoEun Lee, and…
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Grant Park Music Festival Chorus Commission – premiering July 18 and 22, 2019
I am thrilled to announce that I have been commissioned to write an a cappella chorus piece for The Grant Park Musical Festival Chorus with director Christopher Bell. The work will premiere July 18,2019 at the Columbus Park Refectory and will be repeated on July 22 at the South Shore Cultural Center in Chicago, IL. The commission celebrates…
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Journey for alto saxophone and piano – now available on MusicaNeo
Journey started out as a song. Due to a misunderstanding with the poet, permission to set the poem was withdrawn. I then reworked the song as a solo for saxophone and piano. The poem was about a slave mother’s harsh reality as she traveled on a slave boat from Africa, so I felt the timbre of…
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Lullaby for alto saxophone and piano – now available on MusicaNeo
Lullaby, a short, sweet piece that I composed in 2000 for saxophonist Gary Louie and pianist Kirsten Taylor, is now availabe for sale here. Gary and Kirsten recently recorded this work for me. It will be on my upcoming double CD from Naxos, which has a tentative release date of December 2019.
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Lullaby for alto saxophone and piano – now available on MUSICANEO
I composed Lullaby in 2000 for saxophonist Gary Louie and pianist Kirsten Taylor. We recently recorded the work for my upcoming double CD entitled “Living in The Body — Songs of Lori Laitman”. The expected release date on the Naxos label is December 2019. This short and sweet piece is just under 2 minutes long.…
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RBG in SONG — Live Stream, 7 pm on February 4, 2019 from the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC
The wonderful soprano/composer Patrice Michaels has created a one-hour dramatic concert based on her RBG in Song CD. Included is Patrice’s masterful song cycle “The Long View,” a musical portrait of RBG (who happens to be Patrice’s mother-in-law). Also included is a new arrangement of my Dickinson song “Wider Than the Sky” — now orchestrated…
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Wigmore Hall Recital with Kitty Whately and Simon Lepper — February 18, 2019
On February 18, 2019 at Wigmore Hall at 1 pm, mezzo-soprano Kitty Whately and pianist Simon Lepper will be presenting a recital, “From The Pens of Women.” The songs to be performed include a wide range of settings of 20th century women writers. Included is my song “I was reading a scientific article” — from…
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Promised Lands? Of Leaving and Longing at All Souls Church Unitarian in Washington, DC
Washington Performing Arts will be presenting a special concert, “Promised Lands? Of Leaving and Longing,” on Feb. 10. 2019 at 2 pm at the All Souls Church, Unitarian, 1500 Harvard Street, NW, Washington, DC. My song “Race” – from my Holocaust, 1944 cycle, will be performed by baritone Jose Sacin and double bassist Bruce Rosenblum.…
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Promised Lands? Of Leaving and Longing at All Souls Church Unitarian in Washington, DC
Washington Performing Arts will be presenting a special concert, “Promised Lands? Of Leaving and Longing,” on Feb. 10. 2019 at 2 pm at the All Souls Church, Unitarian, 1500 Harvard Street, NW, Washington, DC. My song “Race” – from my Holocaust 1944 cycle, will be performed by baritone Jose Sacin and double bassist Bruce Rosenblum.…
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Madison Leonard Recital — January 26, 2019 at Washington Adventist University in Takoma Park, MD
Soprano Madison Leonard, a 2018 Winner at the Metropolitan National Council Auditions, along with pianist Christopher Koelzer, will be giving a recital on January 26, 2019, 8 pm at Bingham Hall of Washington Adventist University in Takoma Park, MD. The program includes Sunflowers, my song cycle to Mary Oliver poems. For more information and to purchase…