Journée d’étude sur Charles Ives, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris 2005.
The venue was full to capacity and the audience received with great appreciation the succession of sixteen mid-19th century melodies in different historic arrangements by the composer. The Civil-War patriotic song "We are coming, Father Abra’am", composed by Foster in 1862, in support of president Lincoln and the Northern Union Army, was repeated as an encore. Today the local press covered the musical and cultural significance of this unusual program.
ICAMus expresses its thanks to the Scuola di Musica, its director Paolo Ponzecchi, organizational coordinator Paola Mensurati, Instructors -- Monica Benvenuti, voice; Marco Facchini, strings; Stefano Margheri, flute; Carlo Mascilli, guitar -- and the students of the School who performed the program; and to the City of Prato.
American music specialist dr. Marta Poggesi acted as pianist, music coordinator, and editor of the vocal/instrumental arrangements; she also lectured to introduce today's concert, providing a historical and musicological framework for the Foster program.
This educational event is part of an ongoing project on pre-Civil War and Civil War American music created and supervised by Aloma Bardi.
