News
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Music of Remembrance performs The Seed of Dream in San Francisco on May 24, 2017
In 2005, Music of Remembrance commissioned my Abraham Sutzkever song cycle, The Seed of Dream and premiered the work on May 9, 2005 at Benaroya Recital Hall with baritone Erich Parce, cellist Walter Gray and pianist Mina Miller. photo credit: David Wilson On May 24, 2017, MOR performed the mezzo-soprano adaptation of the work at…
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An interview about “I Never Saw Another Butterfly” – conducted by soprano Malinda Haslett
Prior to Malinda Haslett and Terry Ewell’s performance of I Never Saw Another Butterfly on March 15, 2017 at Towson University, Malinda interviewed me about the composition of my Butterfly cycle. Terry filmed us, and the interview is now posted on YouTube, interspersed with portions of their performance. This Holocaust-themed cycle, composed in 1996, sets…
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Houston Cecilia Chamber Choir to feature “I Never Saw Another Butterfly”
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New Recordings of “Fresh Patterns” and “Wider Than The Sky”
In late March, 2017, my song cycle “Fresh Patterns,” settings of Emily Dickinson and Annie Finch, will be recorded by sopranos Alisa Jordheim and Patrice Michaels and pianist Andrew Rosenblum. Patrice and Andrew will also be recording “Wider Than The Sky,” from Two Dickinson Songs, as part of a CD tribute to Justice Ruth Bader…
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Eastman Opera Outreach to perform “The Three Feathers, Abridged”
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Eastman Opera Outreach to perform “The Three Feathers, Abridged”
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The Scarlet Letter: On Colorado Public Radio’s 2016 in Review: 5 Classical Music Stories We’re Still Talking About
Colorado Public Radio’s feature: 2016 in Review: 5 Classical Music Stories We’re Still Talking About includes The Scarlet Letter. This lovely feature by Jean Inaba includes excerpts from interviews with me and librettist David Mason, as well as excerpts from the opera. To listen, please click here.
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“Are Women People?” to premiere March 5, 2017 at Eastman School of Music
Are Women People? is a song cycle celebrating the 100th Anniversary of Women’s Right to Vote in New York State. It was commissioned by The Hanson Institute for American Music at the Eastman School of Music and the Susan B. Anthony Center for Women’s Leadership. The premiere will take place on March 5, 2015 at…
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The Scarlet Letter, Abridged — at the 2017 West Chester University Poetry Conference
The 2017 West Chester University Poetry Conference will take place from June 7-10, 2017 at West Chester University in West Chester, PA. I am honored to be named the 2017 recipient of The Kate Light Scholarship. The final concert will take place on June 10th at 7:30 pm at the Madeline Adler Theatre on campus,…
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Vedem Oratorio with Music of Remembrance, November 6, 2016, Benaroya Hall, Seattle
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Lyrica Dialogues at Harvard University
On December 2, 2016, my song cycle Sable Pride, a setting of three poem by Countée Cullen, will be performed at the 2016 Lyrica Dialogues at Harvard University, which this year focuses on African-American art song, opera and operetta and choral repertory. The Dialogues will also commemorate Harvard’s late Pastor Peter J. Gomes at the…
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2018 Domenic J. Pellicciotti Opera Composition Prize Finals — now on YouTube
The finals for the 2018 Domenic J. Pellicciotti Opera Composition Prize at The Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam were live-streamed on September 24, 2016. Program A featured: Albert Nobbs by composer Patrick Soluri and librettist Deborah Brevoort followed by Mayo by composer & librettist Tom Cipullo. Program B featured: The Reef by composer…
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Tickets now available for The Baltimore Symphony’s World Premiere of “Unsung”
Unsung, for orchestra, was commissioned in late 2015 by The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra with Marin Alsop, Music Director — as one of ten Centennial Celebration Commissions. The commissions celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. The World Premiere performances, conducted by Marin Alsop, will take place on three nights: — September 29, 2016, 8…
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Guest on WAYO’s “Music Matters” on 8.31.16
On August 31, 2016, I will be a guest on the radio show “Music Matters,” run by Carlos Sanchez-Gutierrez and members of the composition department at The Eastman School of Music. My daughter, composer Diana Rosenblum (a PhD candidate at Eastman), along with some of her colleagues — Alex Stephenson, Nick Morandi and Danny Hansen,…
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Commission from Howard Hanson Institute for American Music at the Eastman School of Music and the Susan B. Anthony Center for Women’s Leadership
My latest commission is from the Howard Hanson Institute for American Music at the Eastman School of Music and the Susan B. Anthony Center for Women’s Leadership. The piece will be for SATB vocal quartet and piano 4-hands, and will celebrate the 100th anniversary of Women’s Right to Vote in New York State. I am…
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Underwriting of The NATS Art Song Composition Award
I am underwriting the NATS Art Song Composition Competition awards. The competition, started in 1983, had been held every two years. Now it will become an annual event, and the entry fees for professionals and students will be reduced. For more information, please click here.
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Critical Acclaim for “In Sleep The World Is Yours”
In Sleep The World Is Yours, was commissioned by Music of Remembrance, and sets 3 poems by the young poet Selma Meerbaum-Eisinger, who tragically died in a Nazi labor camp at the age of 18. Scored for soprano, oboe and piano, this 18 minute work was released on the Naxos label in May 2016, on…
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Critical acclaim for THE SCARLET LETTER
Boulder’s DAILY CAMERA: “[A]ll around superb … everything one could hope for in a new opera. … Mason’s adaptation … is astoundingly brilliant … Director Beth Greenberg, who has collaborated with Mason and Laitman from the outset, provides a stark, riveting frame … Laitman has grown and nurtured a score that already seems to belong…
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Opera News and Huffington Post articles about The Scarlet Letter
The May 2016 issue of Opera News includes a feature on Lori and The Scarlet Letter, written by Matthew Sigman. To read the article, please click here. Susan Eisenberg of The Huffington Post interviewed Lori about The Scarlet Letter. To read the interview, please click here.
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Rehearsals for The Scarlet Letter Opera with Opera Colorado
Rehearsals have been fantastic! You can watch video from our recent rehearsal by clicking here. I am so grateful to Opera Colorado and the fantastic cast, orchestra and creative team! The Opera Colorado site has biographical information for everyone — please visit www.operacolorado.org.
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Sorel Organization 2016 Recording Grant
The Sorel Organization has awarded their 2016 Recording Grant to Opera Colorado to record The Scarlet Letter by Lori Laitman. The opera will be recorded live, and Naxos will release the CD. For more information about The Sorel Organization, please click here.
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Pellicciotti Opera Prize 2018 Finalists
I am proud to announce that librettist Leah Lax and I are one of the four finalist teams for the 2018 Domenic J. Pellicciotti Opera Composition Prize. Leah Lax is adapting her moving memoir “Uncovered: How I Left Hasidic Life and Finally Came Home.” Other finalists include composer Patrick Soluri and librettist Deborah Brevoort; composer…
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Unsung – A Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Centennial Commission
Unsung, for orchestra, was commissioned in late 2015 by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra with Marin Alsop, Music Director — as one of ten Centennial Celebration Commissions. The commissions celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Further information about the commission will be forthcoming. The premiere dates are September 29, 2016, 8 pm at Strathmore…
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Expanded Orchestration for The Scarlet Letter
I have added additional winds and one horn to the orchestration for The Scarlet Letter, allowing for a larger and darker range of sound. The new orchestration is as follows: 2 Flutes/Piccolo 2 Oboes/English Horn 2 Clarinets in B flat/Bass Clarinet 2 Bassoons 2 Horns in F Trumpet in C Trombone Timpani: 5 (20, 23,…
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The Scarlet Letter to feature soprano Laura Claycomb as Hester Prynne
The Scarlet Letter will feature soprano Laura Claycomb as Hester Prynne in her Opera Colorado debut. Claycomb is stepping in for soprano Elizabeth Futral, who had to withdraw from the production due to personal health reasons. To read the official press release, please click here. To learn more about Laura Claycomb, please click here.