Nora Suggs flute
John Arnold classical guitar
Letters, Lyrics, and Love Songs
Letters, Lyrics, and Love Songs
Two Part Invention
John Arnold, guitar
Nora Suggs, flute
&
Patricia Koch Budlong, soprano
Mark McKenna, Narrator
Letters, Lyrics, and Love Songs is an interdisciplinary performance blending theater and music. In readings, monologues, and character sketches, Narrator Mark McKenna introduces music — ranging from 17th century songs for lute to settings of contemporary American poetry — performed by flutist Nora Suggs, guitarist John Arnold, and soprano Patricia Koch Budlong.
Explore life, love, and loss in the words and music of Appalachian storytelling, modern poetry, and Elizabethan England; in a musical tribute to the memory of a friend; and in the internal music of a madhouse. Hear the sorrows of the American Civil War, and follow a joyous series of modern pets, misbehaving badly, and loving every minute of it!
Intertwining theater and music, Letters, Lyrics, and Love Songs brings a new dimension to a concert performance, setting each musical selection firmly on a very personal and human stage.
 Patricia Koch Budlong |
Soprano Patricia Koch joined the music faculty at Bethlehem's Moravian College in the fall of 2004, where she teaches voice, vocal literature, and vocal pedagogy. Patricia received her Bachelor of Science in Music Education at West Chester University, her Master of Music in Vocal Performance, and a Performance Certificate in Opera from DePaul University in Chicago. She has studied at the Centro Studi Italiani in Urbania, Italy, and sang for five seasons with Chicago's famed Lyric Opera. She has been active as a soloist in opera, chamber music, symphonic choral music, and recitals, where she enjoys sharing her particular fondness for art songs with her audience. |
 Mark McKenna |
Actor Mark McKenna is a graduate of the Lecoq International School of Theatre in Paris, majored in theatre at the University of New Hampshire, and trained in theatres in New York and Philadelphia. He was an ensemble member at Bethlehem's Touchstone Theatre from 1986 - 2008, and also served as Artistic and Producing Director there, developing and acting in over 40 original Touchstone productions and collaborations. In 1990 he was the recipient of a PA Council on the Arts Individual Artistic Development Grant to study the process of the actor-creator in Europe. |
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Supported by the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. |
Contact us to arrange a live performance, or check our schedule page for scheduled performances.