Love Letters from a War for Baritone and Piano

Born in Florida, Cherise Leiter received a B. M. in Music Theory and an M. M. in Composition from the University of Florida where she studied with Dr. Budd Udell. She is currently Professor of Music at Metropolitan State University of Denver, teaching music theory and composition.

A composer whose output includes works for choir, piano, voice, band, orchestra and assorted chamber ensembles; her compositions have been performed throughout the United States, Canada, Scotland, France, Italy, Romania, and Japan. Her works were featured at the New Music Symposium, the University of Central Missouri’s New Music Festival, the Aspen Composer’s Conference, the Women Composers Festival, the Atlantic Center for the Arts, June in Buffalo, the Music By Women Festival, Brush Creek Foundation for the Arts, and the Penn State New Music Festival.

In her spare time, Ms. Leiter is an avid knitter, horse rider, hiker, swimmer, cook, and bibliophile. She also has a vested interest in anything made of chocolate. She can be reached at LeiterLieder@gmail.com.

Beat! Beat! Drums! for Baritone and Piano

R. Michael Daugherty’s catalog of compositions contains over 350 works, including eleven song cycles and numerous individual songs. As a singer, he makes sure his vocal works are text driven and reflect the strengths of the voice.

Acclaim for his vocal works include:

“...Locals marveled at the seemingly perfect mating of language and Michael's reaction to it." – distinguished professor, William Osborne

“...Honest songs that you can wear for a life time!" – soprano, Alice Pierce

“...The songs seem practically to sing themselves" – Mary Ann Dodd

Dr. Daugherty holds a B.A. degree from Denison University, studying with Elliot Borishansky and M.M. and D.M.A. degrees from The Ohio State University studying with Marshall Barnes.

In Newport for Soprano and Piano

Dylan Trần (he/they) (1994—) is a multi-media artist based out of New Orleans, LA. He views music as a form of world-building, poignantly evoking nuanced atmospheres within an intimately expressive writing style. Praised for “an entirely refreshing and distinct compositional voice” (CAI),

Dylan is unrestrained by genre or medium, with a musical background including folk, rock, opera, film, funk, early music, ethnomusicology, and more. Highlights from the past year include premieres in Los Angeles (Salastina), Orange County (CAI), New York City (TRANScend), Brooklyn (Sputter Box), New Jersey (Palisades Virtuosi), and New Orleans (Opus Vocal Ensemble, LA-ACDA), as well as performances and recordings in Moscow (Moscow Metropolitan Orchestra), Cincinnati (CCM), Cambridge (Longy School of Music), and Syracuse (Setnor School of Music).

Dylan recently composed and directed the film score for Chú đi biển (Uncle, at Sea) — a documentary by Marion Hill, produced by TAAF and Hulu— while simultaneously visiting Cincinnati, OH, to step into the studio with M° Brett Scott and Coro Volante to record his piece A Soldier’s Grave which will be featured on ABLAZE Records’ upcoming album, “New Choral Voices Vol. 6”.

Dylan is a member of the American Composers Forum, the Millennium Composers Initiative, and ASCAP.

The War Prayer for Baritone and Piano

Steven Mark Kohn has worn several different creative hats. As a composer, he has written music for a number of award-winning children’s films for ABC, PBS and the Disney Channel, including the Emmy-nominated ABC Weekend Special Runaway Ralph starring Fred Savage and Ray Walston. He has composed and arranged commercial music for Wheaties, Arby’s, Volvo, Hickory Farms, Stanley Steemer, Matrix and many others.

He created the music for over 60 titles in the audio book series Health Journeys, which has sold over two million copies worldwide. His Hymn for String Orchestra (publ. by Carl Fischer) has been recorded by the San Jose Chamber Orchestra and E. C. Schirmer publishes his art song catalogue. His three volumes of American Folk Song arrangements were premiered in Carnegie Hall and have since been performed around the world by hundreds of artists. Andrew Garland and Donna Loewy recorded the entire set on Azica records.

Steven is also a writer for the theater, and has created lyrics for the musicals The Quiltmaker’s Gift (Dramatic Publishing), Unstoppable Me, Little Mozart and A Beautiful Place, as well as the libretto for the opera Riders of the Purple Sage, all to the music of his long-time friend, composer Craig Bohmler. He has written two historical song cycles, Mary Chesnut; a Civil War Diary for soprano Jennifer Larmore and The Trial of Susan B. Anthony (American Prize) for mezzo soprano Adriana Zabala. For the Cleveland Institute of Music, he designed and built the Electronic Music Studio, wrote the course textbook and served on the composition faculty for 21 years.