Thank CCM voice prof Pat Linhart for the creation of “Voice” by Stephen Flaherty and Margaret Atwood. Linhart will perform the world premiere in a free concert at 4 p.m Sunday in College-Conservatory of Music’s Patricia Corbett Theater.
Linhart, a “huge” fan of Canadian poet/novelist Atwood (author of “The Handmaid’s Tale”) avidly read a collection of Atwood short stories from 2006, where she found “Voice.”
“As I read it, I knew it had to be set to music. It's somewhat of a monologue of a singer who describes her voice as a "hothouse plant" – it’s a vine around her neck, et cetera. Well, YES, it had to be a song!
“So I started thinking of composers I liked who would set it. And I remembered a song Steve (Flaherty, composer of “Ragtime,” “Once on This Island” and many more) had written for Audra McDonald who had commissioned seven composers to set “Seven Deadly Sins.””
At this point it should be mentioned that Linhart has known Flaherty for more than 25 years – they met when Broadway composer Flaherty was CCM student and Hot Summer Nights rehearsal pianist Flaherty back in 1980.
“Steve and (lyricist partner) Lynn Ahrens set the sin of Gluttony with a heart-breaking song called “I EAT.” I loved it and asked Steve if (accompanist) Julie (Spangler) and I could do it. He sent it right away. We performed a few years ago at CCM.
“So, this Atwood story had the "sound" of that song and I sent it to Steve to read and see what he thought. He agreed right away to set it for us. He worked on it over the summer and I got it the end of August.
“When I played through it, I cried, put it down, played throughit again and cried some more! I called Steve to tell him how much I loved it and cried some more!
“We then had to get permission from the Atwood people to have it "musicalized." I met Ms. Atwood at the Stratford Festival this past summer in Canada and she was quite kind about letting us set her story. I asked her if she was also a singer, because only a singer would have those thoughts about a voice running their lives.
“She said she wasn't a singer but knew many who always spoke of their voice in the third person, but she, as a writer, also had a “VOICE.” Gotta love it, right? Steve and I haven't worked together since Hot Summer Nights in 1980, but always had a great time in rehearsals with Worth Gardner and a cast of fabulous students.
I did go to NYC in December to coach it with him. What a gift that was. To get his feelings on things and interpretation. He saw a DVD of my last concert and had a better idea of my voice now and style and range. It's a great piece and I can't wait for all of you to hear it!”
Jackie Demaline
