PREMIERE: "Longing" Song Cycle from In America: Modjeska

Molly Pease, mezzo-soprano, & David Bergstedt, piano

Friday, September 19, 2025 8:00pm
Meng Concert Hall, Cal State Fullerton

Program

Pamela Madsen, “Longing (Tesknota) Song Cycle from In America: Modjeska”

Fredric Rzewski, “Which Side Are You On?” from North American Ballads

Pamela Madsen, “Neried’s Lyre: the Singing of the Waves”

Pamela Madsen, “Proof and Disproof (an opera for one alone)…”
Movement V -VII

Molly Pease, “Recovery Family”

Pauline Oliveros, from “Four Meditations-Approaches and Departures”

About In America: Modjeska

In America: Modjeska for voice and piano focuses on immigration in America. The work follows the complex story of Helena Modjeska, a Polish immigrant and renowned Shakespearean actress who emigrated to the United States in the late 19th century for personal and political reasons. She settled in Southern California to establish the Bohemian artist community "Arden" in what is now Modjeska Canyon, near my home in Laguna Beach.