Five events in London include masterclasses, concerts, and a special appearance by Bolcom & Morris
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This evening offers a very rare opportunity to hear the duo in conversation in the first half and performing in the second.
Coming Up
Previous events
William Bolcom is joined by mezzo soprano Joan Morris for a workshop of some of his Cabaret Songs with singers and pianists from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
Bolcom's 80th Birthday Celebration: Music for Voice & Piano
Western Washington University - Concert Hall, 516 High Street , Bellingham, WA 98225
A 3-day festival of Bolcom's music concludes with a concert of his music for voice & piano, including Bolcom’s opera Lucrezia. Joan Morris and William Bolcom will perform a selection of Cabaret Songs.
The Mohawk Trail Concerts Spring Fundraiser t this year features a performance with William Bolcom and Joan Morris, longtime MTC favorites. At 5 pm, elegant hors d'oeuvres and wine will be served, and the performance will be at 6 pm. There will also be fantastic raffle items, including meals for ten or twenty, catered by Peng Yew, or personal compositions by Lew Spratlan and Alice Parker.
Bolcom & Morris
Holland America’s Westerdam, San Diego, CA
Bolcom & Morris will give two performances while aboard Holland America’s Westerdam, sailing from San Diego down the Mexican coast Dec. 1-7, 2017.
Joseph Alessi, trombone, Univ. of Mich. Symphony Band, Michael Haithcock, conductor - plus Joan Morris will perform a selection of Bill's "Cabaret Songs"
Bolcom & Morris: World Premiere in honor of WQXR Young Artists Showcase
The evening will include a world premiere, commissioned for the occasion, by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer William Bolcom in a special performance by Bolcom and his wife, mezzo-soprano Joan Morris.
William Walton’s Facade [narrated by Bolcom and Morris]
Lincoln Performance Hall, Portland State University, Portland Oregon
Chamber Music Northwest presents William Walton’s Facade [narrated by Bolcom and Morris]
William Walton’s Facade [narrated by Bolcom and Morris]
Kaul Auditorium, Reed College, Portland Oregon
Chamber Music Northwest presents - William Walton’s Facade [narrated by Bolcom and Morris]
Bolcom & Morris: “When the World Was Young”
The internationally renowned husband-and-wife duo of composer-pianist William Bolcom and mezzo-soprano Joan Morris present a concert of 100 years of songs from the American Songbook including James Reese Europe, Johnny Mercer, Rodgers & Hart, Bolcom & Weinstein and others.
Bolcom & Morris
Novi, MI
An Evening with Bolcom & Morris
University of South Carolina School of Music, 813 Assembly St., Columbia, SC
A discussion and Q&A with William Bolcom and Joan Morris, moderated by Armen Shaomian. Also featuring performances and a reception.
Welcome
Traversing Broadway, vaudeville and music hall, performing music from the ragtime era to the end of the 20th century, the duo of William Bolcom and Joan Morris have delighted audiences across the United States and around the world since 1973.
At the piano, composer and raconteur William Bolcom charms the audience with his engaging patter. One of the driving forces behind the ragtime revival that began in the 1970s, he is also the composer of the poignant “Graceful Ghost Rag.” As an accompanist, his lively and harmonically rich touch is impeccably tuned to every nuance of Joan Morris’s voice.
Chanteuse Joan Morris brings out a veritable cast of characters to sing each of her songs — from a curious little kid (“Love in the Thirties”) to a world-weary lover (“Toothbrush Time”) to an unforgettable dowager waging battle at the Ladies Club with her recipe for “Lime Jello Marshmallow Cottage Cheese Surprise.” According to the Chicago Tribune, “She projects not just a song, but the character singing it, and gives that character her own irresistibly funny and winning personality.”
The duo has 25 recordings to their credit, from their Grammy-nominated debut “After the Ball” to recent collections of songs by Yip Harburg, Gus Kahn and Arnold Weinstein/William Bolcom. Their newest CD, Autumn Leaves, is a collection of 21 popular cabaret songs, including “Am I Blue,” “Swinging on a Star,” “Can’t We Be Friends,” and “As Time Goes By.”
"Bolcom and Morris may be the best thing to happen to American popular song since the invention of sheet music." — The Chicago Sun-Times
"Together the couple is, to borrow the title of an early Bolcom opera, 'dynamite tonight.' His brilliantly propulsive, imaginative embellished pianism provides her with a strong rhythmic framework. And Morris plumbs every number for its specific emotional content." — The San Francisco Examiner
Updates
St. John's Smith Square presents 2-day Bolcom festival in June 2018
A 1986 interview with Chicago classical music host Bruce Duffie
This interview with William Bolcom, which took place on June 29,1986, also included the participation of his wife, mezzo-soprano Joan Morris. Bruce Duffie says: "As with some other musical couples that I’ve interviewed, on occasion they both responded to my questions together back and forth, and I was perceptive enough not to interrupt!"
Read moreBrian Kellow Review: "The degree of wit and joy they bring to their music-making brings out aspects of the songs that we might miss otherwise."
New York author Brian Kellow expressed deep appreciation for Bolcom & Morris's Dec. 26, 2016 performance at the Metropolitan Room.
Read moreReview: "When the World Was Young"
Alex Cohen writes for Theater Pizzazz: "Selected songs date from 1894-2015, the former offered respectfully as written, not pastiche, the latter, delivered with the insouciance of more devil may care days."
Read moreAutumn Leaves Reviewed in Opera News
Opera News (April, 2016) recaps Bolcom and Morris's career with a review of their latest CD, Autumn Leaves.
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