WNED Classical Live On Stage Presents #15: Arias & Art Songs

Please join us as one of WNY’s finest sopranos teams-up with one of WNY’s finest pianists for a program of arias and art songs with a decidedly Romantic flair, including classic works by Reynaldo Hahn, Richard Strauss, and Vincenzo Bellini, and new works by Buffalo-based composers Caroline Mallonee and Roland E. Martin. 

Free Parking is available in our parking lot located off of Charles Street.

You must register on Eventbrite to attend.

Program Selections 

1. “A Chloris”, Reynaldo Hahn 

2. Les Chansons Grises, Reynaldo Hahn 

a. Chanson d’Automne 

b. Tous deux 

c. L’Allée est sans fin 

d. En Sourdine 

e. L’Heure exquise 

f. Paysage triste 

g. La bonne Chanson 

3. Four Seasons from The Pillow Book, Caroline Mallonee 

a. Winter mornings at home 

b. Sunrise in the Spring 

c. I Love a Summer Moonlit Night 

d. The Fall is Best at Sunset 

4. A selection of Richard Strauss songs 

a. Ruhe, meine Seele (Op. 27, No. 1) 

b. Ich trage meine Minne (Op. 32, No. 1) 

c. Allerseelen (Op. 10, No. 8) 

d. Zueignung (Op. 10, No. 1) 

5. "What Lips My Lips Have Kissed", Roland E. Martin 

6. "Ah! non credea mirarti" and "Ah, non giunge uman pensiero" from La Sonnambula, Vincenzo Bellini 

Roland E. Martin is a member of the music faculty at the University at Buffalo (since 1986, as instructor of organ and harpsichord) and Canisius College (since 2008). As of February 1, 2024, he assumed the position of the Organist and Choirmaster at Calvary Church, Williamsville. In June of 2022 he retired from the position of Director of Music at Buffalo Seminary where he conducted the chorus and orchestra, as well as teaching numerous courses. He served as organist/choirmaster and Director of Music at St. Joseph University Church, Buffalo from 1992 until 2023. Prof. Martin served as Artistic Director of the Freudig Singers of Western New York from 1998 until 2022, and the same position with Chautauqua Chamber Singers from 1999 to 2008. In 1992 he founded Speculum Musicae, an ensemble for early music, which he also directed. He also served as conductor/music director for Opera Sacra for most of its productions, beginning in 1992 and concluding in 2015 with Dialogues of the Carmelites, for its 40th anniversary.

An accomplished composer, Mr. Martin has more than 100 works in publication, with a number of commissions from universities, colleges, choral societies, churches and various other organizations and individuals. A member of ASCAP, he is the recipient of two Pennsylvania State Council of the Arts grants, two Meet the Composer grants, and two ALCOA Arts Endowment Awards for commissioned compositions. His Annunciation was a joint commission from Holy Trinity Lutheran Church and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and was premiered in 2000 under the direction of Robert DeCormier. Martin’s compositions are continually being performed across the English-speaking world and beyond. Among his composition teachers were Robert Helps (1977-1980) and Aaron Copland (1979).

As conductor, Mr. Martin has worked primarily in the field of opera. In 1999 he conducted two American operatic premieres, and since then, has conducted many productions with Opera Sacra, ending with Poulenc's Dialogues of the Carmelites in 2015. In 2010 his own stage works, Riders to the Sea, and Calvary premiered under his baton, as well as The Cat and the Moon in 2013 (Buffalo Chamber Players conducted by Matthew Bassett). Mr. Martin has served as interim conductor for the Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus from January 2012 through July, and as guest conductor in the autumn of the following season.

As organist, Mr. Martin has given recitals throughout the United States, including the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., and has performed in Canada, Spain, France, Germany, Austria, Italy and England, as well as annual concerts in Belgium. October 2000, he debuted as soloist with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra in a performance of the Rheinberger Organ Concerto No. 2. His organ teachers have included Hans Vigeland and John Hofmann. He received a Bachelor of Music (1977) and Master of Music (1983) from SUNY @ Fredonia.

Mr. Martin’s expertise extends outside the field of music into scholarly pursuits such as the visual arts, poetics and theater. In 2014, he presented a lecture at the University of Iceland, Reykjavik, on the plays of William Butler Yeats, during the Art in Translation international conference. He is also an orchardist, specializing in heirloom varieties of apples.

Mr. Martin was the2008 recipient of the Individual Artist Award from the Arts Council of Buffalo and Erie County, the first musician to receive that honor since JoAnn Falletta eight years earlier.

Julia Anne Cordani has been described as “a clear, sparkling soprano” by Buffalo Rising and “dazzling… and sweeping” by Cleveland Classical. Julia is a conductor, private voice instructor, and soprano from Lewiston, New York who holds two bachelor’s degrees from the University at Buffalo in Voice Performance and Linguistics and a master’s degree from UB in Voice Performance. She has studied voice with Dr. James Harrington and Dr. Tiffany Du Mouchelle, and taken masterclasses with Hila Plittman, Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen, William Sharp, Lisa Vroman, and Julia Bullock. Julia is a passionate about the performance, conducting, and interpretation of contemporary solo and choral repertoire as well as standard works. In UB’s Polyglot Opera Studio, Julia appeared as Alice in Alice in Wonderland and the Mad Hatter (2016), Belinda in Dido and Aeneas (2017), and Papagena in The Magic Flute (2018), as well as Anne Truelove in scenes from The Rake’s Progress (2020). In 2021, she premiered the role of Bird Spirit in Dr. Jessie Downs’ The Second Sight. She has also appeared on television in scenes of Carmen as Frasquita and Faust as Marguerite for the 2020 and 2021 WNED Buffalo-Toronto On Stage with Buffalo Opera Unlimited collaboration series. Also with BOU, Julia has sung Oscar in Un ballo in maschera (2022) and Lucy in The Telephone (2023). With Sotto Voce, Julia has sung The Queen of The Night in Die Zauberflöte (2024) and will sing Suor Genovieffa in Suor Angelica this coming June. In the greater Buffalo community, Julia sings with the Women of Vivaldi, Vox Lusciniae, and Harmonia Chamber Singers. An accomplished soloist, she has performed locally and nationally with Ensemble Signal, Slee Sinfonietta, University at Delaware Chorale, the Cleveland Syndicate for the New Arts, HEX Vocal Ensemble, The Resonance Collective LA, and the UB Symphony Orchestra. She co-founded and serves as Artistic Director for new Buffalo-based choir INCIPIO and serves as the Director of Music for the Lutheran Chorale. A passionate teacher, she is an adjunct professor of voice at Niagara University and an adjunct lecturer in music at SUNY Buffalo

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

WNED PBS Studios, 140 Lower Terrace, Buffalo, United States