University of Miami School of Music

Media Contact: Annette Herrera

305.284.1607

December 15, 2004

UM PERFORMANCE HIGHLIGHTS POETIC LANGUAGE OF BENJAMIN BRITTEN’S SONGS

Concert on January 27^th at 8 p.m.

Coral Gables, FL – At a time when many popular music lyrics are censored for their dubious use of language, Diane Mauch is singing the praises of renowned twentieth century British composer, Benjamin Britten, whose extensive output of operas, choral works and songs celebrated the musical qualities of the English language.

Ms. Mauch, an Associate Faculty member in Vocal Performance at the University of Miami’s Phillip and Patricia Frost School of Music for the past ten years, received a scholarship from the English-Speaking Union of Miami to support a research project on the English Poetry in the Songs of Benjamin Britten. Ms. Mauch, one of four finalists from a large pool of applicants consisting of university faculty and scholars in the arts and literature from South Florida, was unanimously selected to spend two-weeks in August at the Cambridge International Summer School hosted by Cambridge University in England.

“Benjamin Britten demonstrated a strong interest in the spoken word from the beginning of his professional life, not only in his words for the theatre but also in his abundant output of song literature,” explains Ms. Mauch. Britten’s eclectic style focused on three major interests in his song composition: the poetry of renowned and contemporary poets; anonymous folk texts and folk music arrangements; and arrangements of the songs of Henry Purcell. Poets featured in Britten’s works include Thomas Hardy, William Blake, John Donne, W.H. Auden, the Scottish poets William Soutar, Ronald Duncan and Robert Burns, Thomas Randolph and many anonymous verses.

Ms. Mauch’s research project culminates with a performance of various selections from ten of Britten’s song cycles on January 27^th at 8 p.m. in the Maurice Gusman Concert Hall located on the University of Miami’s Coral Gables Campus. Eighteen UM undergraduate and graduate vocal students will perform songs inspired by W. H. Auden, Thomas Hardy among others, including traditional folk songs and Irish melodies. The Coral Reef Magnet High School Women’s Chorus, under the direction of John Rose, will perform two choral selections from Ceremony of the Carols, including Britten’s original harp accompaniment. Additionally, several Coral Reef students and UM faculty will be doing dramatic readings of the song texts. Paul Schwartz will accompany the performers on piano. The concert is free and open to the public.

The Maurice Gusman Concert Hall is located at 1314 Miller Road on the University of Miami’s Coral Gables campus. For more information, call 305/284-4886 or visit www.music.miami.edu.

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The University of Miami’s mission is to educate and nurture students, to create knowledge, and to provide service to our community and beyond. Committed to excellence and proud of the diversity of our University family, we strive to develop future leaders of our nation and the world.

Formally organized in 1920, the English-Speaking Union of the United States is a non-profit, non-political, educational organization committed to promoting scholarship and the advancement of knowledge through the effective use of English in an expanding global community.