Karen Slack, soprano and Mark Markham, piano
Dream Variations

Wednesday, February 26, 2025 at 7:30pm CST
Galvin Recital Hall
The Trilloquy podcast declares Karen Slack “not only one of the nation’s most celebrated sopranos, but a leading voice in changing and making spaces in classical music.” Recipient of the 2022 Sphinx Medal of Excellence, Slack was named Lyric Unlimited Artist-In-Residence at the Lyric Opera of Chicago for the 2024-25 season, and she has performed with major opera companies and symphonies worldwide. Her season highlights include a US tour of her new vocal recital project African Queens, the world premiere of Damien Geter’s Loving v. Virginia with the Virginia Opera and Richmond Symphony, and solo appearances with the Fresno Philharmonic. In July 2024, she released a new recording, Beyond the Years: Unpublished Songs of Florence Price, with pianist Michelle Cann, which won a 2025 Grammy Award for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album. Joining her for this performance is pianist Mark Markham, whose collaborations have included vocalists Jessye Norman, Elizabeth DeShong, J’Nai Bridges, Christine Brewer, and Isabel Leonard. Together they present Dream Variations, a recital including music by Undine Smith Moore, Gustav Mahler, George Gerhswin, and Nina Simone.
Presented in collaboration with Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Lyric Unlimited.
Tickets are $20 for the general public and $5 for students with valid ID.
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Undine Smith Moore, "Dream Variation"
Text by Langston Hughes
Gustav Mahler, "Ich atmet einen linden Duft"
Text by Friedrich Rückert
Alban Berg, "Sommertage"
Text by Paul Hohenberg
Michel LeGrand, "The Summer Knows"
Text by Marilyn and Alan Bergman
Hugo Wolf, "Er ist's"
Text by Eduard Mörike
Hector Berlios, Villanelle
Text by Théophile Gautier
George Gershwin, "Love walked in"
Text by Ira Gershwin
Richard Strauss, "Lob des Leidens"
Text by Adolf Friedrich von Schack
Harold Arlen, "Stormy Weather"
Text by Ted Koehler
Josef Marx, "Und gestern hat er mir Rosen gebracht"
Text by Thekla Lingen
Hugo Wolf, "Bedeckt mich mit Blumen"
Text by Emanuel von Geibel
Reynaldo Hahn, "L'heure exquise"
Text by Paul Verlaine
Undine Smith Moore, "Lyric for True Love"
Text by Florence Hynes Willette
Johannes Brahms, "Es träumte mir"
Text by Georg Friedrich Daumer
Graham Lyle/Terry Britten, "What's love got to do with it?"
Franz Schubert, "Die Liebe hat gelogen"
Text by August von Platen
David Del Tredici, "Acrostic Song"
Text by Lewis Carroll
Traditional folk song arr. Nina Simone, "Cotton-eyed Joe"
Richard Wagner, "Träume"
Text by Mathilde Wesendonck
Mary B. Galvin Recital Hall
Address
70 Arts Circle Drive
Evanston, IL 60208
United States
About
Located in the Ryan Center for the Musical Arts, this 400-seat hall features a 40-foot glass wall offering views of Lake Michigan and the Chicago skyline. Undulating walls of Forest Stewardship Council–certified wood, covered with a thin layer of African moabi wood, provide optimal acoustics, and the hall is equipped with state-of-the-art sound and video equipment for recording.