World Premiere of "Two Sonnets for Music" March 6

Last summer Lake Forest College's composer-in-residence Rami Levin and I worked together on "Two Sonnets for Music," which will be performed with full choir and orchestra Tuesday night at the Lily Reid Holt Chapel. It was a miracle of long-distance collaboration, given that she was in Brazil and I in Chicago. Anyway, here's the press release — hope you can make it.

I kind of wish they'd used the (entirely accurate) phrase "LIVE! FREE! ONE NIGHT ONLY!"

On Tuesday, March 6 the Lake Forest College Chamber Orchestra and Chorus will perform a special work created in honor of the 150th anniversary of Lake Forest College titled "Two Sonnets for Music." The performance will be held in the Lily Reid Holt Memorial Chapel at 7:30 p.m. The public is welcome to attend free of charge.

"Two Sonnets for Music" was written by Associate Professor of English Robert Archambeau (text) and Composer-in-Residence Rami Levin (music), and will be performed under the direction of David Amrein, a member of the College's music faculty. The program also includes a performance of Schubert’s Fifth Symphony by the Chamber Orchestra and music of Purcell performed by the Chorus.

Robert Archambeau's books include Citation Suite (1997), Word Play Place (1998), Home and Variations (2004), and Laureates and Heretics (2007). His critical essays, poetry and translations have appeared in numerous journals in Europe and America, and he has been a visiting professor at Lund University, Sweden. From 1998-2004 he was the editor of the international poetry journal Samizdat. He has received prizes for his poetry from the Illinois Arts Council and the Academy of American Poets.

Rami Levin’s works include pieces for orchestra, chorus, chamber ensembles, and solo instruments. They have been performed in the U.S., Britain, Canada, Spain, Norway, Italy, Israel, and the Slovak Republic. Her orchestra piece, Anima / breath of life, recorded by the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra was recently released on the Master Musicians Collective label. The piece was premiered by the Slovak Radio Orchestra in May 2003. In June 2003 clarinetist Richard Stoltzman recorded her Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra with the Slovak Radio Orchestra. That recording was released on the Master Musicians Collective label in August 2006. Levin has received consecutive annual awards from ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) since 1994. She has served as president of American Women Composers, Midwest and has been active in the Chicago music scene both as a composer, and as the founding director of Lake Forest Lyrica.