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Margaret Brouwer’s Voice of the Lake, revised version at CIM (Oct. 19)

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by Daniel Hathaway

On October 19, almost a year after its debut, Margaret Brouwer’s ambitious oratorio Voice of the Lake, chronicling the most recent environmental assaults on Lake Erie, was revived in an updated version in Kulas Hall at the Cleveland Institute of Music. The affecting and nearly flawless performance conducted by Domenico Boyagian, involved soloists (Angela Mortellaro, soprano, Sarah Beaty, mezzo-soprano, Brian Skoog, tenor, and Bryant Bush, bass), the 15-member Blue Streak Ensemble and 12 voices of the Blue Streak Ensemble Chamber Singers, and the 21-voice Cleveland Institute of Music Children’s Choir. [Read more…]

Blue Streak challenge grant for Voice of the Lake

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Cuyahoga Arts and Culture has awarded a $5,000 challenge grant to the Blue Streak Ensemble toward production costs of a professional video recording of Margaret Brouwer’s Voice of the Lake, to bring her oratorio about Lake Erie’s ecological challenges to a wider audience. Matching donations must be received by September 19. The revised oratorio will be performed at the Cleveland Institute of Music on October 19.

Review link:
Oratorio Sounds The Alarm About Lake Erie’s Health

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by Mike Telin

Margaret+Brouwer+by+Christian+Steiner+#3762CLEVELAND – Margaret Brouwer’s “environmental oratorio,” Voice of the Lake, was inspired by an algae bloom in Lake Erie that caused a water crisis in 2014. Its premiere makes an urgent case that the lake is in trouble. Click here to read the article on Classical Voice North America, the website of the Music Critics Association of North America.

Music and the environment: a conversation with composer Margaret Brouwer about Voice of the Lake

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by Samantha Spaccasi

Margaret+Brouwer+by+Christian+Steiner+#3762

“Lake Erie is in trouble, and getting worse by the year,” reads an August 2014 article in The New York Times that describes the water crisis in Toledo. The disaster spawned another national conversation about the state of the country’s drinking water and environmental pollution. For composer Margaret Brouwer, that conversation, coupled with her love of Lake Erie, spawned an idea — a new piece titled Voice of the Lake.

In a recent phone conversation, Brouwer described her newest work about Lake Erie’s beauty, but also about its serious environmental problems. I reached her at Interlochen, which she called “a great place to compose.” Brouwer explained her process of creating Voice of the Lake. She’s been working on it for over a year and said it’s “3/4 complete.” [Read more…]

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