War Songs
a song cycle for baritone and chamber instruments
War Songs is a song cycle for baritone and chamber instruments with poetry from Walt Whitman, Paul Laurence Dunbar, and two veterans of the Iraq War- Andrew Borene and Brian Turner.
Andrew Borene is currently a lecturer at University of Minnesota. After returning from Iraq, Borene ran for state senate in Minnesota, but dropped out of the race after a domestic dispute. In his published collection of poems, Blood, Sweat, and Fury, Borene writes about experiences in Iraq and in his personal life in struggling with alcoholism. His collection is powerful, personal, and honest.
Brian Turner, is the recipient of the 2005 Beatrice Hawley Award for his collection Here, Bullet. Other honors include the Lannan Literary Fellowship, the NEA Literature Fellowship in Poetry, and the Amy Lowell Poetry Travelling Scholarship. Turner has appeared on a number of news programs including The News Hour with Jim Lehrer and NPR. His work has been reviewed by The New Yorker and The New York Times. Turner has also written a second collection of poetry called Phantom Noise. Both collections are published by Alice James Books.
The cycle also includes an arrangement of the popular wartime song "Over There (Johnny Get Your Gun)" by George M. Cohan.
The composition of War Songs was supported by a summer research grant from the McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program.
Andrew Borene is currently a lecturer at University of Minnesota. After returning from Iraq, Borene ran for state senate in Minnesota, but dropped out of the race after a domestic dispute. In his published collection of poems, Blood, Sweat, and Fury, Borene writes about experiences in Iraq and in his personal life in struggling with alcoholism. His collection is powerful, personal, and honest.
Brian Turner, is the recipient of the 2005 Beatrice Hawley Award for his collection Here, Bullet. Other honors include the Lannan Literary Fellowship, the NEA Literature Fellowship in Poetry, and the Amy Lowell Poetry Travelling Scholarship. Turner has appeared on a number of news programs including The News Hour with Jim Lehrer and NPR. His work has been reviewed by The New Yorker and The New York Times. Turner has also written a second collection of poetry called Phantom Noise. Both collections are published by Alice James Books.
The cycle also includes an arrangement of the popular wartime song "Over There (Johnny Get Your Gun)" by George M. Cohan.
The composition of War Songs was supported by a summer research grant from the McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program.
