Repertoire

The Lyric Arts Trio presents classical music with a fresh approach. Concerts are crafted around a central theme, and have a diverting balance of solos, duos and trios for clarinet, soprano voice and piano. The programs feature informal commentary about the music by the performers. (All programs can be customized, and other programs are available.)

The Lyric Arts Trio performs at Kansas Public Radio.
Lyric Arts Trio
Sarah Tannehill Anderson, Elena Lence Talley, Daniel Velicer

Brahms and Friends (New!)

Johannes Brahms is one of the Big Three “B” composers of classical music (alongside Bach and Beethoven). The Lyric Arts Trio newest program is a delightful concert of outstanding chamber music of Brahms and his friends and colleagues. The ensemble will perform new custom arrangements of lovely lieder of Clara Schumann, Gustav Jenner (Brahms’ only pupil), and Antonín Dvořák, as well as a selection from one of Brahms’ justly-famous clarinet sonatas and the beloved piano Intermezzo in A, op. 118, No. 2. The concert closes with a sparkling trio arrangement of Johann Strauss Jr.’s “Voices of Spring” Waltz.

Hooray for Havana!

In Cuba they say, “Echale Salsita!” which means, “Throw a little seasoning on it!” And that’s exactly what we do when we step back in time with this music from the classic Cuban song era. Think tropical nightclubs, pre-Castro Cuba, tangy mojitos, and Ernesto Lecuona’s “Malaguena” as we perform lively favorites that include “Anadalucia” and “Tico, Tico,”

Of Love and Remembrance

A program especially appropriate for All Saints or All Souls Day, these selections bring to mind happy memories of the past that bring a measure of comfort and peace to those left behind. Works include “Cantar de los Cantares,” a setting of the Old Testament’s “Song of Songs” by Ian Krouse, and poems by Rudyard Kipling, Alfred Lord Tennyson and Daisy Zamora, set to music by area composers Ian David Coleman, Jean Belmont Ford and Charles Hoag.

Remembering the Great War

World War I (1914 – 1918) centennial commemorations have already begun, and our concert features gorgeous music composed during the war years, as well as settings of poems by some of the Great War’s most noted poets. Highlights include:

  • Ravel’s Tombeau de Couperin (Ravel dedicated each movement to a fallen comrade)
  • George Butterworth’s “Bredon Hill” (Butterworth was killed at the Battle of the Somme)
  • Exclusive new setting of Wilfred Owen’s poem “The Soldier’s Dream” by Robert Pherigo (Owen was killed just weeks before the war ended in 1918)

Our exclusive new arrangement of “In Flander’s Field,” the inspiration for the red poppies worn to honor fallen soldiers.

Listen to “Rose of the Night” by Griffes/Naughtin
Listen to “In Flander’s Field” by Foote/Talley

A Little Light Music

This “pops” program is a charming mix of folk songs, American popular songs from several eras and light-hearted melodies you will whistle as you leave the concert.

Listen to “Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair” by Stephen Collins Foster/arr. Charlie Harmon
Listen to “If You’ve Only Got a Moustache” by Stephen Collins Foster/arr. Charlie Harmon

Glad Tidings

A warm and wonderful holiday concert, featuring Canadian carols, the ever-popular “Gesu bambino” and Brahms’ lovely cradle song for the Christ Child.

Listen to “Cradle Song” by Johannes Brahms

Worship Through Song

A lovely concert of sacred texts from the Psalms, Song of Solomon, William Blake and others by composers Schubert, Ferdinando Paer, Arnold Cooke, Jean Belmont Ford and others.

Watch a video excerpt from Jean Belmont Ford’s En la memoria Yda Garcia Lence, a LAT commission and premiere
Listen to “Beatus Vir (excerpt)” by Ferdinando Paer
Listen to “I Can Not Dance” by Richard Faith

Music of the Americas

Our “Music of the Americas” program is a resounding success! This colorful and vivacious program highlights US, Canadian and Latin American composers, from Kansas’ own Forrest Pierce to George Gershwin to Carlos Guastavino of Argentina. Audiences have embraced it enthusiastically, especially our new arrangements of Cuban Ernesto Lecuona. Listen to some performance excerpts and see why we smile every time we play this concert.

Listen to “To me, my myrrh” by Forrest Pierce
Listen to “Honey-stuck” by Forrest Pierce
Listen to “Pampamapa” by Carlos Guastavino
Listen to “I Got Rhythm” by George Gershwin
Listen to “Juventud” by Ernesto Lecuona (arr. Harmon)

Old World Gems

Imagine the best of Old Europe, and this lyrical and charming concert will take you there with elegant selections from England, Vienna, France, Germany and beyond. Composers include Vaughan Williams (England), Gottfried Herrmann (Germany) and W.A. Mozart (Austria), among others.

Watch a video excerpt from “Du bist wie eine Blume” by Gottfried Herrmann
Watch a video of Scherzo from Three Vocalises for Soprano and Piano by Ralph Vaughan Williams

American Voices

A program that celebrates American poets and composers, from Emily Dickinson to Stephen Foster to Aaron Copland. Includes a LAT commission of a setting of a poem by Kansan Gordon Parks, an outstanding African-American photographer/filmmaker/poet. Ad Astra, a special version of this program, was created to highlight the experience of the Kansas pioneer settlers.

Listen to “Prairie Dawn” from A Prairie Diary by Kim D. Sherman
Listen to “Transformation Song” from A Prairie Diary by Kim D. Sherman
Listen to “Bee! I’m expecting you” from Four Songs on Texts of Emily Dickinson by James Sclater
Listen to “No Rain” from A Prairie Diary

Hearts and Flowers

Celebrating the beauty of love and the delights of nature, this romantic program features Schubert’s famous “Shepherd on the Rock,” Gordon Jacob’s supremely tuneful Four Seasonal Songs and works of Debussy and Mozart, among others.

Listen to an excerpt from “Schon Lacht der holde Frühling” by W. A. Mozart.

A Shakespeare Festival

One of the most popular of all of our programs. This features selections from Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story (a modern re-telling of Romeo and Juliet), a lush song cycle by Erich Korngold, and the LAT’s own Three Shakespeare Sonnets by Beverly McLarry (LAT commission).

Listen to “Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day” from Three Shakespeare Sonnets

Great Poets

Great music married to the works of great poets. Features settings of poems of Robert Frost, William Blake, Emily Dickinson and James Joyce.

Listen to “The Road Not Taken” from Three Songs by Stella Sung.
Listen to “Piping Down the Valleys Wild” from Three Songs of Innocence by Arnold Cooke.