{"id":24482,"date":"2026-09-28T09:51:54","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T13:51:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/?p=24482"},"modified":"2026-10-22T15:40:42","modified_gmt":"2026-10-22T19:40:42","slug":"sep28-oct4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/2026\/09\/sep28-oct4\/","title":{"rendered":"Sep 28th-Oct 4th: Premiere performance of a Shulamit Ran commission"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\" id=\"wpb-content-root\"><p>[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1792604081193{background-color: #ffffff !important;}&#8221;]<em>Published on Sep 28th, 2026<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/this-week-at-eastman\/\">Back to This Week at Eastman<\/a><\/p>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row full_width=&#8221;stretch_row&#8221; css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1658327150379{background-color: #f4f4f4 !important;}&#8221;][vc_column css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1726852979961{padding-top: 20px !important;padding-bottom: 20px !important;}&#8221;][vc_custom_heading text=&#8221;1985: Premiere performance of a Shulamit Ran commission&#8221; font_container=&#8221;tag:h3|text_align:left&#8221; use_theme_fonts=&#8221;yes&#8221; css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1792677814950{border-top-width: 0px !important;border-right-width: 0px !important;border-bottom-width: 1px !important;border-left-width: 0px !important;border-left-style: solid !important;border-right-style: solid !important;border-top-style: solid !important;border-bottom-style: solid !important;border-color: #dddddd !important;border-radius: 1px !important;}&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row full_width=&#8221;stretch_row&#8221; css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1658327150379{background-color: #f4f4f4 !important;}&#8221;][vc_column css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1729000374562{padding-bottom: 20px !important;}&#8221;][vc_column_text css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1792674590121{margin-bottom: 0px !important;border-bottom-width: 0px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;border-bottom-style: solid !important;}&#8221;]The frequency of premiere performances is one of the exciting hallmarks of the Eastman School\u2019s concert calendar; the introduction of new works by living composers always commands attention and interest.\u00a0 \u00a0The composers receiving that recognition might fall anywhere on the professional spectrum\u2014whether already enjoying the height of professional renown, or still on their professional ascent; or for us at Eastman, they may be student composers who have amply demonstrated technical mastery and elevated musical expression; still others are composers-in-residence, as during the Eastman School\u2019s past Women in Music Festivals (2005-2015). Forty-one years ago this week, on Tuesday, October 1<sup>st<\/sup>, 1985, a newly composed vocal chamber work by Shulamit Ran (b. 1949) was premiered in Kilbourn Hall, when the <em>Amichai Songs \u00a0<\/em>were performed by Jan DeGaetani, Philip West, Arthur Haas, and Martha McGaughey.\u00a0 The Eastman School of Music had commissioned the work expressly for these four artists.\u00a0\u00a0 The concert was promoted as \u201cA Happy Birthday Concert\u201d featuring lesser-known works by four composers whose birth milestones were observed in 1985:\u00a0 Henrich Sch\u00fctz, J. S. Bach, G. F. Handel, and Domenico Scarlatti.\u00a0 Their music was complemented by the \u00a0work newly composed in 1985.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref1\" name=\"_ftn1\"><\/a>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row full_width=&#8221;stretch_row&#8221; gap=&#8221;10px&#8221; equal_height=&#8221;yes&#8221; css_animation=&#8221;none&#8221; css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1792674726870{background-color: #F4F4F4 !important;}&#8221;][vc_column css_animation=&#8221;none&#8221; width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243; css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1792674749216{padding-top: 20px !important;padding-right: 20px !important;padding-bottom: 20px !important;padding-left: 20px !important;background-color: #FFFFFF !important;}&#8221; offset=&#8221;vc_col-xl-inherit vc_col-lg-inherit vc_col-md-6 vc_col-sm-inherit&#8221;][vc_single_image onclick=&#8221;link_image&#8221; image=&#8221;24498&#8243; img_size=&#8221;medium&#8221; alignment=&#8221;center&#8221; css_animation=&#8221;none&#8221; css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1792695967783{padding-top: 20px !important;}&#8221;][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">First page of a facsimile of the composer\u2019s manuscript of the <em>Amichai Songs. <\/em>\u00a0The facsimile is a holding of the Sibley Music Library.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column css_animation=&#8221;none&#8221; width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243; css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1792674763919{padding-top: 20px !important;padding-right: 20px !important;padding-bottom: 20px !important;padding-left: 20px !important;background-color: #FFFFFF !important;}&#8221; offset=&#8221;vc_col-xl-inherit vc_col-lg-inherit vc_col-md-6 vc_col-sm-inherit&#8221;][vc_images_carousel images=&#8221;24487,24488,24489,24490,24491,24484,24492,24485,24499,24486&#8243; img_size=&#8221;medium&#8221; speed=&#8221;5000ms&#8221; css_animation=&#8221;none&#8221; css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1792695834381{padding-left: 40px !important;}&#8221;][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">\u25ba \u00a0Printed program (carousel of ten .JPGs)<\/span><\/p>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row full_width=&#8221;stretch_row&#8221; css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1658327150379{background-color: #f4f4f4 !important;}&#8221;][vc_column css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1729000374562{padding-bottom: 20px !important;}&#8221;][vc_column_text css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1792677194750{margin-bottom: 0px !important;border-bottom-width: 0px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;border-bottom-style: solid !important;}&#8221;]Composer Shulamit Ran was born in Tel Aviv in 1949 and was educated in Israel and in the United States, her adopted country. \u00a0She studied at the Mannes College of Music (BM 1976) with additional studies under Dorothy Taubman (1970-76) and Ralph Shapey (1976).\u00a0 At the time of the <em>Amichai Songs <\/em>commission, Shulamit Ran had served for twelve years on the faculty of the University of Chicago, where she would continue to serve until her retirement in 2015, since which time she has been the Andrew MacLeish Distinguished Service Professor Emerita in the Department of Music.\u00a0 In 1985, most of her larger works, and her Pulitzer Prize (1991), were still in the future.\u00a0 Nevertheless, she had compiled a substantial catalogue of works in various genres and for diverse performing forces.\u00a0 Of particular note, she had completed numerous vocal and chamber works, including <em>Seven Japanese Love Poems\u00a0 <\/em>(1968) for mezzo-soprano and piano;\u00a0 <em>Hatzvi Israel Eulogy <\/em>(1969) for mezzo-soprano, string quartet, and harp;\u00a0 <em>O the Chimneys <\/em>(1969), a setting of verses by Nelly Sachs, for mezzo-soprano, ensemble, and tape; <em>Apprehensions<\/em> (1979), a setting of verses by Sylvia Plath, for soprano, clarinet, and piano.\u00a0 Ran\u2019s proven affinity for vocal chamber music was recognized by the artists who in 1985 commissioned a new work, the result being the <em>Amichai Songs.\u00a0 <\/em>Several years later, the composer briefly spoke of the commission and the challenge of writing for the viola da gamba for the first time.<sup><a href=\"#_ftn1\" name=\"_ftnref1\">[1]<\/a>\u00a0<\/sup> Shulamit Ran would again be recognized at the Eastman School twenty-five years after this commission, when she was in residence at the Eastman School of Music as the 2010 Howard Hanson Visiting Professor of Composition. \u00a0The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esm.rochester.edu\/news\/2010\/02\/600\/\">press release announcing her appointment<\/a> remains on the ESM website. \u00a0Her principal publisher is Theodore Presser Company, at whose website is a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.presser.com\/shulamit-ran\">professional profile<\/a> with lists of publications and recordings, and also extensive excerpts from reviews.<\/p>\n<p>Interestingly, the <em>Amichai Songs <\/em>\u00a0were programmed in a recital that was otherwise promoted as a celebration of four of the year\u2019s milestone birth anniversaries: those of Heinrich Sch\u00fctz (1585), Johann Sebastian Bach (1685), George Frideric Handel (1685), and Domenico Scarlatti (1685).<sup><a href=\"#_ftn2\" name=\"_ftnref2\">[2]<\/a>\u00a0<\/sup> \u00a0The juxtaposition of the newly composed <em>Amichai Songs <\/em>\u00a0(1985) with the works of those venerable composers of yesteryear was not as unseemly as might have appeared at first glance.\u00a0 The printed program carried an eloquent note by the performers that offered reflection on the meanings of the year\u2019s anniversaries, noting the particular\u00a0 qualitative contribution of each of the composers concerned.\u00a0 In particular, these words speak a universal truth:<\/p>\n<p>The role of music as a repository for distilled emotion, as well as a carrier of messages and as a unique record of the past is an enduring constant in the musician\u2019s experience.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014Inherent in that notion was the appropriateness of including a contemporary work, \u201cborn in today\u2019s world and reflecting today\u2019s spirit.\u201d \u00a0Thus, the newly composed work was offered as sharing something vital with the music of the other composers.\u00a0 The program note further cited the \u201cgraphic passion\u201d in the Ran work, no doubt referring to both the texts and the instrumental-musical treatment.<\/p>\n<p>The four poems that comprise the <em>Amichai Songs<\/em> \u2014 \u201cOn this evening\u201d, \u201cPeople use each other\u201d, \u201cMy God, the soul\u201d, and \u201cLate in life\u201d \u2014 were selected from the <strong><em>Love Poems <\/em><\/strong>\u00a0by Israeli writer and poet Yehuda Amichai (1924-2000). Mr. Amichai is recognized as one of Israel\u2019s greatest writers; his poetry has been translated into more than 40 languages.<sup><a href=\"#_ftn3\" name=\"_ftnref3\">[3]<\/a>\u00a0<\/sup> The volume of <strong><em>Love Poems\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong>was pubished in a dual-language edition (Hebrew and English) in 1981, but most of the poems therein had previously appeared in either English or Hebrew in other collections.\u00a0 The Eastman printed program of October 1, 1985 offered representation of the texts variously in in their English translations:\u00a0 the first stanza (of two) of \u201cOn this evening\u201d;\u00a0 \u201cPeople use each other\u201d in its entirety; \u201cMy God, the soul\u201d in its entirety; and, the first stanza (of four) of \u201cLate in life\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0 The translations of the four poems as set in <strong><em>Love Poems <\/em><\/strong><em>\u00a0<\/em>were by Yehuda Amichai and Ted Hughes.<sup><a href=\"#_ftn4\" name=\"_ftnref4\">[4]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n<p>Not knowing Hebrew, I regret that I cannot read the original texts, for to encounter verse solely in translation is to miss an essential part of the experience.\u00a0 Reading them in translation, the four poems of the <em>Amichai Songs \u00a0<\/em>present a somewhat hard-edged perspective on the human experience.\u00a0 In the poem \u201cOn this evening\u201d the speaker reflects, for not the first time, on \u201cthe many days \/ that have sacrificed themselves \/ for just one night of love\u201d and eventually calling it \u201cthis waste . . . .\u201d\u00a0 In \u201cLate in life\u201d the speaker describes having found his other, \u201creduced\u201d (or exhausted) by experience \u201ctil almost nothing remained of me\u201d and at the conclusion, apparently for naught when in a hard finality, \u201cAnd then you went.\u201d\u00a0 In the last poem, the speaker directly addresses God \u2014 \u201cMy God, the soul \/ you gave me \/ is smoke \u2013\u201d\u00a0 the smoke that results from the burning that had begun \u201cthe minute we are born . . . \/ until the smoke \/ dies, like smoke.\u201d\u00a0 The poem ______ \u201cPeople use each other \/ as a healing for their pain. \/ They put each other \/ on their existential wounds.\u201d\u00a0 \u2014Which seems an almost desperate act in search of healing, for, as in the last line, \u201cthey hold each other hard and won\u2019t let go.\u201d\u00a0 No rose-colred view of the human experience is to be found in these verses; perhaps it\u2019s their very realism that resonates most deeply.\u00a0 It\u2019s pertinent to know that Shulamit Ran began to set Hebrew verses at any early age.<sup><a href=\"#_ftn5\" name=\"_ftnref5\">[5]<\/a>\u00a0<\/sup> \u00a0Numerous of her instrumental works and larger works have either been inspired by literature or else constitute settings of written texts.<sup><a href=\"#_ftn6\" name=\"_ftnref6\">[6]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref1\" name=\"_ftn1\"><\/a>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row full_width=&#8221;stretch_row&#8221; css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1658327150379{background-color: #f4f4f4 !important;}&#8221;][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243; css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1729000374562{padding-bottom: 20px !important;}&#8221;][vc_column_text css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1792677718469{margin-bottom: 0px !important;border-bottom-width: 0px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;border-bottom-style: solid !important;}&#8221;]Altogether, the Kilbourn Hall program of October 1, 1985 was a mixed bill of chamber music featuring the various performers in turn, but as the artist delivering and interpreting the texts, Ms. DeGaetani could arguably be regarded as the evening\u2019s principal performer. Jan DeGaetani was a noted interpreter of contemporary music, and in particular, her association with George Crumb\u2019s <em>Ancient Voices of Children,<\/em> has received much attention.<sup><a href=\"#_ftn7\" name=\"_ftnref7\">[7]<\/a>\u00a0<\/sup> She had served on the ESM faculty since 1973, and had also been Artist-in-Residence at the Aspen Festival annually since that same year.\u00a0 In contrast with other singers of her caliber and renown, she appeared in opera only rarely, preferring to specialize as a song recitalist and also appearing with orchestras and other ensembles. Ms. DeGaetani\u2019s public performances had included a 1977 guest appearance at the White House before then-President Jimmy Carter and visiting Prime Minister of the United Kingdom James Callaghan.\u00a0 A video excerpt of that appearance, in which tenor Robert White also performed and pianist Gilbert Kalish assisted, is <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/kwyo4QY3nv8?si=Jt9QDP1bOla1N_Vq\">accessible on YouTube<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref1\" name=\"_ftn1\"><\/a>[\/vc_column_text]<div id=\"ultimate-video-59766adbc3aa98e10\" class=\"ult-video  vc_custom_1792677626926 ult-adjust-bottom-margin ultimate-video-59766adbc3aa98e10 ultv-2119 \"><div class=\"ultv-video ultv-aspect-ratio-16_9 ultv-subscribe-responsive-none\" data-videotype=\"uv_iframe\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"ultv-video__outer-wrap\" data-autoplay=\"0\" data-device=\"false\"  data-iconbg=\"#3A3A3A\" data-overcolor=\"\" data-defaultbg=\"#1f1f1e\" data-defaultplay=\"defaulticon\"><div class=\"ultv-video__play\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/kwyo4QY3nv8?rel=0&#038;start=157&#038;end=0&#038;controls=1&#038;mute=0&#038;modestbranding=0&#038;autoplay=1\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"ultv-video__thumb\" src=\"https:\/\/www.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/files\/TN-JG.png\" alt=\"\"\/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"ultv-video__play-icon  ultv-animation-none\" style=\"width:75px\"><svg height=\"100%\" version=\"1.1\" viewBox=\"0 0 68 48\" width=\"100%\"><path class=\"ultv-youtube-icon-bg\" d=\"m .66,37.62 c 0,0 .66,4.70 2.70,6.77 2.58,2.71 5.98,2.63 7.49,2.91 5.43,.52 23.10,.68 23.12,.68 .00,-1.3e-5 14.29,-0.02 23.81,-0.71 1.32,-0.15 4.22,-0.17 6.81,-2.89 2.03,-2.07 2.70,-6.77 2.70,-6.77 0,0 .67,-5.52 .67,-11.04 l 0,-5.17 c 0,-5.52 -0.67,-11.04 -0.67,-11.04 0,0 -0.66,-4.70 -2.70,-6.77 C 62.03,.86 59.13,.84 57.80,.69 48.28,0 34.00,0 34.00,0 33.97,0 19.69,0 10.18,.69 8.85,.84 5.95,.86 3.36,3.58 1.32,5.65 .66,10.35 .66,10.35 c 0,0 -0.55,4.50 -0.66,9.45 l 0,8.36 c .10,4.94 .66,9.45 .66,9.45 z\" fill=\"#1f1f1e\" ><\/path><path d=\"m 26.96,13.67 18.37,9.62 -18.37,9.55 -0.00,-19.17 z\" fill=\"#fff\"><\/path><path d=\"M 45.02,23.46 45.32,23.28 26.96,13.67 43.32,22.34 45.02,23.46 z\" fill=\"#ccc\"><\/path><\/svg><\/div> <\/div> <\/div><\/div><\/div>[\/vc_column][vc_column css_animation=&#8221;none&#8221; width=&#8221;1\/2&#8243; css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1792676790283{padding-top: 20px !important;padding-right: 20px !important;padding-left: 20px !important;background-color: #FFFFFF !important;}&#8221; offset=&#8221;vc_col-xl-inherit vc_col-lg-inherit vc_col-md-6 vc_col-sm-inherit&#8221;][vc_single_image onclick=&#8221;link_image&#8221; image=&#8221;24497&#8243; img_size=&#8221;medium&#8221; alignment=&#8221;center&#8221;][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">Jan DeGaetani photographed in her studio; the photo published in the Eastman School\u2019s 1986 yearbook.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row full_width=&#8221;stretch_row&#8221; gap=&#8221;0px&#8221; css_animation=&#8221;none&#8221; css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1792696252920{margin-bottom: 0px !important;border-bottom-width: 0px !important;padding-top: 20px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;background-color: #f4f4f4 !important;border-bottom-style: solid !important;}&#8221;][vc_column css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1729000374562{padding-bottom: 20px !important;}&#8221;][vc_column_text css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1792676657851{margin-bottom: 0px !important;border-bottom-width: 0px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;border-bottom-style: solid !important;}&#8221;]In addition to performing the solo vocal liberature, Ms. DeGaetani performed regularly with instrumental ensembles of various sizes and formations, whether symphonic or chamber.\u00a0 Her versatility lent itself to chamber works of different eras and instrumentations.\u00a0 For the Shulamit Ran commission, her collaborators were similarly renowned artists in their own right.\u00a0 Philip West, serving on the Eastman School faculty since 1973, was an American oboist and English hornist whose years on the Eastman faculty were noteworthy for his direction of inter-departmental chamber music recitals.\u00a0 Harpsichordist Arthur Haas had won the first prize in the 1975 Paris International Harpsichord Competition and had won a robust reputation for his performing and commercial recordings as an artist of early music.\u00a0 He was a visiting faculty member at the Eastman School in 1983-85.\u00a0 Martha McGaughey was by this time an internationally recognized viola da gamba artist, having been a member of the Paris-based Five Centuries Ensemble (1971-84).<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref1\" name=\"_ftn1\"><\/a>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row full_width=&#8221;stretch_row&#8221; gap=&#8221;0px&#8221; css_animation=&#8221;none&#8221; css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1792696274958{margin-top: 0px !important;border-top-width: 0px !important;padding-top: 0px !important;background-color: #f4f4f4 !important;border-top-style: solid !important;}&#8221;][vc_column css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1729000374562{padding-bottom: 20px !important;}&#8221;][vc_column_text css_animation=&#8221;none&#8221; css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1792696289539{margin-top: 0px !important;margin-bottom: 0px !important;border-top-width: 0px !important;border-bottom-width: 0px !important;padding-top: 0px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;border-top-style: solid !important;border-bottom-style: solid !important;}&#8221;]With respect to the Kilbourn Hall performance on October 1<sup>st<\/sup>, 1985, the view from the archive is at this time, alas, sparse. No photographer was present in Kilbourn Hall that evening\u2014that is, no photographs are known to be extant, and so we have no representation of the four performers together.\u00a0 Ms. DeGaetani\u2019s own papers yield no reference to the songs apart from a few printed programs, and no copy of the score is extant in her performing library.\u00a0 What remains to document the premiere performance are the printed program, the master audio reels (recently digitized for streaming), and a facsimile of the composer\u2019s manuscript, which was the gift of Dr. Robert Freeman, then-Director of the Eastman School, from whose office the commission was most likely executed.<sup><a href=\"#_ftn8\" name=\"_ftnref8\">[8]<\/a><\/sup> . Printed programs in the Jan DeGaetani Collection indicate that the four artists DeGaetani, West, Haas, and McGaughey gave at least three performances of the <em>Amichai Songs\u00a0 <\/em>during the 1985-86 season: in Kilbourn Hall (October 1), in the Mohawk Trail Concerts in Western Massachusetts (October 11-12), and at Swarthmore College (November 10).\u00a0 While the four did not make a commercial recording of the work, the live concert recording in Kilbourn Hall is preserved for posterity.\u00a0 The <em>Amichai Songs <\/em>\u00a0were later published by the Theodore Presser Company in 1995.<sup><a href=\"#_ftn9\" name=\"_ftnref9\">[9]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n<p>The Shulamit Ran commission of 1985 deserves renewed attention at the Eastman School of Music.\u00a0 With the recent publication of the first biography of Jan DeGaetani,<sup><a href=\"#_ftn10\" name=\"_ftnref10\">[10]<\/a> <\/sup>renewed attention to Ms. DeGaetani\u2019s career and legacy may well engender greater interest in the numerous works either that she premiered or with which she was associated.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref1\" name=\"_ftn1\"><\/a>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row full_width=&#8221;stretch_row&#8221; css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1658327150379{background-color: #f4f4f4 !important;}&#8221;][vc_column css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1726852979961{padding-top: 20px !important;padding-bottom: 20px !important;}&#8221;][vc_row_inner gap=&#8221;10&#8243; content_placement=&#8221;top&#8221; equal_height=&#8221;yes&#8221;][vc_column_inner][vc_separator color=&#8221;black&#8221;][vc_column_text css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1792673856918{margin-bottom: 0px !important;border-bottom-width: 0px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;border-bottom-style: solid !important;}&#8221;]<span style=\"font-size: 8pt;\"><a href=\"#_ftnref1\" name=\"_ftn1\">[1]<\/a>\u00a0 Music commentator Bruce McDuffie interviewed Shulamit Ran in 1994 and in 1997; portions of both interviews were broadcast on WNIB, Classical 97, and on WNUR, Contemporary Classical Internet Radio.\u00a0 The entire transcripts are now <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bruceduffie.com\/shulamitran.html\">published online<\/a>.\u00a0 Accessed on October 21, 2026.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 8pt;\"><a href=\"#_ftnref2\" name=\"_ftn2\">[2]<\/a>\u00a0 The performers\u2019 note in the printed program acknowledged that their particular instrumentation did not allow for the performance of a work by Alban Berg, the centenary of whose birth was acknowledged in 1985.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 8pt;\"><a href=\"#_ftnref3\" name=\"_ftn3\">[3]<\/a>\u00a0 Altogether, he wrote eleven volumes of poery in Hebrew, two novels, and a volume of short stories.\u00a0 Among his numerous professional recognitions was his being named a foreign honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters (1986).\u00a0 His papers are archived at Yale University.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 8pt;\"><a href=\"#_ftnref4\" name=\"_ftn4\">[4]<\/a>\u00a0 Ted Hughes (1930-1998) was a British writer and poet who served as Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 1984 until his death.\u00a0 As the ex-husband and literary executor of American poet Sylvia Plath (1932-1963), he gained a certain notoriety among Plath\u2019s admirers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 8pt;\"><a href=\"#_ftnref5\" name=\"_ftn5\">[5]<\/a>\u00a0 So indicates the biography on the composer\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/shulamitran.com\/biography\/\">professional website<\/a> .\u00a0 Accessed on October 21, 2026.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 8pt;\"><a href=\"#_ftnref6\" name=\"_ftn6\">[6]<\/a>\u00a0 Probably one of the most compelling is her full-length opera <em>Anne Frank, <\/em>based on the famous diary, written with librettist Charles Kondek.\u00a0 The opera was commissioned by Indiana University\u2019s Jacobs School of Music and was premiered at IU in 2023.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 8pt;\"><a href=\"#_ftnref7\" name=\"_ftn7\">[7]<\/a>\u00a0 Ms. DeGaetani was one of the participant performers in the premiere performance at the Library of Congress in November, 1970.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 8pt;\"><a href=\"#_ftnref8\" name=\"_ftn8\">[8]<\/a>\u00a0 The copy bears call number M1613.3 .R185 A51 1985 Folio, and is shelved in the vault of the Ruth T. Watanabe Special Collections.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 8pt;\"><a href=\"#_ftnref9\" name=\"_ftn9\">[9]<\/a>\u00a0 Note that Theodore Presser also published, in 2014, a vocal chamber work by American composer Daniel Asia (b. 1953), also under the title <em>Amichai Songs, <\/em>commissioned by SOLI and the Network for New Music, and scored for flute, clarinet in B-flat, violin, cello, voice, and piano.\u00a0\u00a0 For his own work <em>Amichai Songs, <\/em>Mr. Asia set six poems other than the four which Shulamit Ran had set.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 8pt;\"><a href=\"#_ftnref10\" name=\"_ftn10\">[10]<\/a>\u00a0 The book <em>Jan DeGaetani, Mezzo-Soprano: Her Life, Art, and Teaching\u00a0 <\/em>by Ann Marie Wilcox-Daehn, DMA has just been published by the University of Rochester Press.<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_empty_space]<svg id=\"gambit-row-separator-1\" preserveAspectRatio=\"xMidYMax meet\" class=\"gambit_separator gambit_sep_bottom gambit-sep-type-straight\" viewBox=\"0 0 1600 38\" data-bg-color=\"#f4f4f4\" style=\"display: none; width: 100%; height: calc(19 \/ 1600 * 100vw)\" data-height=\"19\">\n<rect x=\"-4\" class=\"gambit_sep_decor1\" style=\"opacity: 1;fill: #ffffff;\" width=\"1608\" height=\"18\"\/>\n<rect x=\"-4\" y=\"12\" class=\"gambit_sep_decor2\" style=\"opacity: 1;fill: #dddddd;\" width=\"1608\" height=\"18\"\/>\n<rect x=\"-4\" y=\"24\" class=\"gambit_sep_main\" style=\"\" width=\"1608\" height=\"16\"\/><\/svg>[\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1631195300893{margin-top: 40px !important;}&#8221;][vc_column][vc_basic_grid item=&#8221;17490&#8243; post_type=&#8221;post&#8221; max_items=&#8221;4&#8243; items_per_row=&#8221;4&#8243; element_width=&#8221;3&#8243; grid_id=&#8221;vc_gid:1792696223552-02189f36-ccc3-0&#8243; taxonomies=&#8221;18&#8243; offset=&#8221;0&#8243;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On Tuesday, October 1st, 1985, a newly composed vocal chamber work by Shulamit Ran (b. 1949) was premiered in Kilbourn Hall, when the Amichai Songs were performed by Jan DeGaetani, Philip West, Arthur Haas, and Martha McGaughey.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":276,"featured_media":24493,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"single-no-separators","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[20,17],"coauthors":[3],"class_list":["post-24482","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-this-week-at-eastman","tag-october","tag-september"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24482","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/276"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24482"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24482\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24535,"href":"https:\/\/www.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24482\/revisions\/24535"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24482"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24482"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=24482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}