As part of her creative research into female poets and composers, JMU faculty soprano Dr. Dorothy Maddison will present Songs for Edith, Emily and Friends. Dame Edith Sitwell, a poet and sister of brothers who were also writers, is most famous in musical circles for her poems set to music by William Walton in Facade. An English eccentric with a dramatic style, her poetry creates unusual colors, sounds and rhythms that are reflected in Betty Roe’s settings of Five Bucolic Comedies for Soprano, Flute, Clarinet and Voice, a work commissioned for Maddison. Gwyneth Walker’s settings of five of Emily Dickenson’s poems in the song cycle Emily! (from new England) for soprano and piano are semi-staged, capturing the most famous American recluse’s genius for creating a universe of sounds and emotions.
Maddison is assisted by featured soloists Dr. Karen Dannessa on clarinet and Jane Strauman on flute. JMU alumna Tracey Schimmel-Reed will join as guest pianist. The concert concludes with two extracts from the new opera The Dickinsons of Amherst, composed by Maddison’s longtime collaborator Dr. Larry Taylor. This last section features two scenes with the composer at the piano and the assistance of three JMU students: D.M.A. candidates JiHee Kim and Miracle Ogbor as well as graduating senior Haley Griffith.
During her 20-year professional career in Europe, soprano Dorothy Maddison was a full-time soloist with the Stadttheater Döbeln (Germany) where she had lead roles in Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Lucia di Lammermoor, Orphée aux Enfers, and Le Nozze di Figaro. She sang Christine in the Yeston-Kopit version of Phantom.
Maddison is co-author of Kein’ Angst Baby!, a guide book for singers in the German audition process. Recordings include Christmas Art Songs (Mario Balzi, piano), Songs for Bertha and Brenda: Two song cycles for soprano featuring ME (Brenda Ueland) by Libby Larsen, Brautlieder by Peter Cornelius (Lori Piitz and Gabriel Dobner, piano), and Jason Haney's Apollo with the Colloquy ensemble.
Since joining JMU in 2002, her engagements include singing for the vice president of Brazil, the Staunton Music Festival and Haydn’s Creation in 2012 in London. Full bio
