Lori Laitman, composer

Videos

Almost all of my songs have been recorded. To hear the commercial recordings, please visit my page on Spotify.

Below are a few links from YouTube.

  • Beyond All Price 

    An excerpt from Beyond All Price, Hester’s aria from The Scarlet Letter (libretto by David Mason). Live performance with Opera Colorado and soprano Laura Claycomb from May 2016.

  • Dear Future Roommate 

    Video from Lyric Fest of Philadelphia (letter by Mike Gioia). With baritone Keith Phares and pianist Laura Ward.

  • I Never Saw Another Butterfly

    Poems by Pavel Friedmann, Koleba, Anonymous and Franta Bass — all children killed in the Holocaust. Recorded live with soprano Maureen McKay and saxophonist Gary Louie at Pianocraft Studios in Gaithersburg, MD on October 10, 2018.

  • I Was Reading a Scientific Article

    Poem by Margaret Atwood. Recorded live from Wigmore Hall in February 2019 with mezzo-soprano Kitty Whately and pianist Simon Lepper.

  • In Sleep The World Is Yours

    Poems by Selma Meerbaum-Eisinger. This is the premiere of the work for soprano, oboe and piano commissioned by Music of Remembrance — with soprano Megan Chenovick, oboist Benjamin Hausman and pianist Mina Miller.

  • Into Eternity

    Indianapolis Opera with mezzo-soprano Lyndsay Moy and pianist Maria Lyapkova, premiere Into Eternity, a setting of Vilma Grunwald’s letter (translated by Frank Grunwald). Frank speaks at the start to give context.

  • Men with Small Heads

    Poetry by Thomas Lux, from the song cycle of the same name. With baritone Andrew Garland and pianist Donna Loewy.

  • Men with Small Heads 

    Video from Lyric Fest of Philadelphia. With baritone Randall Scarlata and pianist Laura Ward.

  • Our Voices: Lori Laitman “I Shall Not Live In Vain” — Eastman Opera Theatre, December 2021

    During the pandemic, I worked with the talented students of Eastman School of Music’s Opera Theatre, Artistic Director Steven Daigle and Music Director Timothy Long as the students prepared video interpretations of my songs. Near the end of the film, Steven interviews me. Songs included are: I was reading a scientific article (Margaret Atwood); Swimmers on the Shore (David Mason); Men with Small Heads (Thomas Lux); Homeless (Michael Flack); The Butterfly (Pavel Friedmann); The Old House (Franta Bass); Kindness (Sylvia Plath); On a Photograph (John Wood); If I… (Emily Dickinson).

  • Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University — Laitman Virtual Residency Art Song Film May 2021

    n May 2021, I worked with the talented voice students at Peabody, who created video interpretations of the following songs: The Sunflowers (Mary Oliver); The Ancestor (Paul Muldoon); Building a House (Joyce Sutphen); The Night Has a Thousand Eyes (Robert Bourdillon); The Mystery (Sara Teasdale); The Imaginary Photo Album (Joyce Sutphen); The Strong House (Sara Teasdale); What Lips My Lips Have Kissed (Edna St. Vincent Millay); A Winter Night (Sara Teasdale); I Am Sitting on the Edge (Margaret Atwood); Over The Fence (Emily Dickinson); To A Loose Woman (Sara Teasdale); Second Date (Jāma Jandroković); Two Horses in an Orchard (James Wright); One or Two Things (Mary Oliver); Gingko Biloba (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe); If I… (Emily Dickinson).

  • Sarong Song

    This is a newly released (2022) film of Sarong Song, the 2nd song in my 2013 song cycle The Soul Fox (settings of David Mason). Made in conjunction with Positive Note Films (in the UK) and directed by Jeremy Hamway-Bidgood, the film is a hybrid presentation of classical song, poetry and art featuring mezzo-soprano Kitty Whately and pianist Simon Lepper and illustrations by Ian Beck. The film won Best Original Song in the Global Film Festival Awards, Best Animation in The Scotland International Festival of Cinema, Honorable Mention for Best Original Score in the Mindfield Film Festival in Albuquerque and The Athens International Monthly Art Film Festival.

  • The Apple Orchard 

    Poem by Dana Gioia. Recorded March 28, 2021, at the Tonhalle St. Gallen in Switzerland — with baritone Shea Owens and pianist Roxana Ionescu-Beck.