From picture to poem to song with Lyric Fest

Lyric Fest has done something unusual and given music writers an advance peek at “Waxing Poetic,” the Kile Smith song cycle it premieres on March 13 and 15. I got to hear four of the songs at a special event on February 25, and I can report that my fellow BSR contributor seems to have come up with another winner. His work can evoke torch songs and jazz without actually being either, along with a spectrum of moods and styles that are uniquely his. The images come from a fascinating set of stylized fine-art batiks of women by Laura Pritchard; the words were supplied by a group of Philadelphia poets who delved into the minds of the women in the images; and Smith, Lyric Fest’s composer-in-residence, has found the music that ties it all together. The songs will be sung by a globetrotting guest baritone, David Teadt, and one of our region’s most compelling art song interpreters, mezzo-soprano Suzanne DuPlantis. Lyric Fest’s expressive pianist Laura Ward will, as usual, play the accompaniments.

Lyric Fest will present “Waxing Poetic” on Friday, March 13 at 7:30pm at the Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill, 8855 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia and Sunday, March 15 at 3pm at the Academy of Vocal Arts, 1920 Spruce Street, Philadelphia. Tickets are $25 at the door, $5 at the door for students, or $20 online.