Welcome to

LYNX’s First Annual
Chicago Fundraiser
at Guild Row

Proudly sponsored by:

Megan and Daniel Moore

Caitleen Kahn and Zachary Kaplan

Elizabeth and Kevin Madsen

Heather and Charles Kahn

And two anonymous sponsors

Program At A Glance:

1. Introduction by Executive Director, Caitleen Kahn

2. Performance by Artistic Director, Florence Mak, and LYNX baritone, Samuel James Dewese

3. Performance by LYNX soprano, Olivia Doig, and pianist, Florence Mak

4. Presentation from Amplify Series Advisory Council member Mitchell Robins

5. Words from Composition of a City co-creators, Olivia Doig and Aasha Francis

6. Performance of beautiful small things remix by Olivia Doig, Aasha Francis, and student artist Daysia J.

7. Closing by Chair of the Board Robyn El Kay

Program will begin at 6:45 CT and last approximately 40 minutes

Introducing the 2022-23 Season:

Inspired by:

From Samuel James Dewese:

I chose these two songs specifically because they each embody much of what I love about art song as a whole. Each song is its own very particular world from the moment the piano begins, and when I join to sing that world is realized in even greater detail. Musica proibita and Funeral Blues are very different, but they both have the hallmarks of what makes song immensely fun for me: a great story told by piano and voice, exciting and colorful words, and a chance to connect on a personal level that allows the performance to be more immediate for me and for those who hear it.

Musica proibita, Op. 5

Composer: Stanislao Gastaldon
Text: “Flick-Flock”

Ogni sera di sotto al mio balcone
Sento cantar una canzone d'amore,
Più volte la ripete un bel garzone
E battere mi sento forte il core.

Oh quanto è dolce quella melodia!
Oh com' è bella, quanto m' è gradita!

Ch'io la canti non vuol la mamma mia:
Vorrei saper perché me l'ha proibita?
Ella non c'è ed io la vo' cantare
La frase che m'ha fatto palpitare:

Vorrei baciare i tuoi capelli neri,
Le labbra tue e gli occhi tuoi severi,
Vorrei morir con te, angel di Dio,
O bella innamorata tesor mio.

Qui sotto il vidi ieri a passeggiare,
E lo sentiva al solito cantar:

Vorrei baciare i tuoi capelli neri,
Le labbra tue e gli occhi tuoi severi!
Stringimi, o cara, stringimi al tuo core,
Fammi provar l'ebbrezza dell'amor.

Forbidden Music, Op. 5

Composer: Stanislao Gastaldon
Text: “Flick-Flock”

Underneath my balcony every evening
I hear a love-song,
Repeated several times by a handsome young man
And it makes my heart beat faster.

O how sweet is that melody!
O how pretty, how I love to hear it!

My mother will not let me sing it,
Though why she would forbid me, I don't know.
Now that she is out I am going to sing
The song that I found so exciting.

I'd like to kiss your raven hair,
Your lips and your solemn eyes;
I would want to die with you, O heavenly angel,
My beautiful beloved, precious jewel.

Yesterday I saw him walking by,
And heard him sing as he always does:

I'd like to kiss your raven hair,
Your lips and your solemn eyes!
Clasp me, darling, clasp me to your heart,
Let me feel the ecstasy of love!

Translations by: Antonio Giuliano

Funeral Blues

Composer: Benjamin Britten
Text: W. H. Auden

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message 'He is Dead'.
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last forever: I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now; put out every one,
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun,
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood;
For nothing now can ever come to any good.

“I want to see the world, not by the whole, but by the all too beautiful small things.” -Ryan Harris

These words by then-16-year-old Ryan Harris, a young man with autism* who is primarily nonspeaking, inspired LYNX’s Amplify Series (formerly Autism Advocacy Series).

The Amplify Series commissions composers to set the poetry and prose of autistic individuals who are primarily nonspeaking to music. Now in its fifth year, the series has commissioned work from over 40 poets and composers. Learn more about the history of the project.

Selections from the first three iterations have been published in a sheet music anthology by NewMusicShelf publishing, and the accompanying recording is available as a digital download or CD via ArtistShare!

*Some of our writers prefer person-first language while others prefer identity-first. We alternate on our website, depending on whom we are talking about and their preferences.

Selections from Amplify Series,
performed by Olivia Doig and Florence Mak

Mitchell’s bio:

My name is Mitchell and I am an autistic teen. I want to share my life with the world in hopes that I can bring awareness of what it is like to live with autism. I believe spelling as a form of communication is not well understood and I hope to bring awareness to this lifestyle and change that for autistic people everywhere. I am on the move a lot because it helps me concentrate and apply myself. I don’t think it is a problem, I just think I am different. I want the world to see different as beautiful and not scary like they do now. I know I may not act like everyone else, but that is what makes me awesome! I use a letter board to communicate and I am starting to use a keyboard on my iPad.

Mitchell’s Blog