The Baltimore-based Ann Street Trio is devoted to performing chamber music from the classical era to the 21st century. Comprised of several of Baltimore’s finest musicians, the Ann Street Trio believes in engaging their audience through creative programming and conversation, and strives to give them an up-close look at the creativity and excitement of chamber music. The Ann Street Trio reaches audiences through chamber music series in the region, university engagements, and private salon concerts.
See more information about When All Falls Silent (2020)
A work for clarinet choir that responds to feelings of isolation and loneliness exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Medium: Instrumental Music
Year: 2020
Details: 4'
See more information about Weavers: Mother // Spider (2020)
This is a short art song composed in 2020, using two Haiku written by former Baltimore City Resident, Alma Wickenden. The first describes a mother sewing a garment with love; the second admires a spider weaving her web.
Medium: Art Song
Year: 2020
Details: 3'
See more information about Verses for Children (2020)
2nd-place winner, NATS Art Song Composition Competition 2021
Music by Erik Franklin (b. 1989)
based on selected poems from
Verses for Children by Amy Lowell (1874–1925)
I. The Crescent Moon
II. Wind
III. Sea Shell
IV. Climbing
V. The Trout
From nursery rhymes to lullabies, children’s songs are a universal part of our lives. The melodies and lyrics continue to play in our minds well into adulthood, serving to transport our grown selves directly to the realm of youthful imagination. In Verses for Children, we hear a child’s voice narrate with playfulness and wonderment as they observe the world around them. This interaction with nature is a crucial thread woven through each of the songs—each poem conveying the deep sense of connection we feel as children to the rest of the world, imbuing celestial and terrestrial objects alike with an essence of humanity by means of the imagination.
In the songs, I try to capture the innocence of the child-speaker by composing melodies reminiscent of the children’s songs we know and love. A four-note pentatonic motive is present throughout each of the songs, representing the powerful imagination of the child.
Music by Erik Franklin (b. 1989)
based on selected poems from
Verses for Children by Amy Lowell (1874–1925)
I. The Crescent Moon
II. Wind
III. Sea Shell
IV. Climbing
V. The Trout
From nursery rhymes to lullabies, children’s songs are a universal part of our lives. The melodies and lyrics continue to play in our minds well into adulthood, serving to transport our grown selves directly to the realm of youthful imagination. In Verses for Children, we hear a child’s voice narrate with playfulness and wonderment as they observe the world around them. This interaction with nature is a crucial thread woven through each of the songs—each poem conveying the deep sense of connection we feel as children to the rest of the world, imbuing celestial and terrestrial objects alike with an essence of humanity by means of the imagination.
In the songs, I try to capture the innocence of the child-speaker by composing melodies reminiscent of the children’s songs we know and love. A four-note pentatonic motive is present throughout each of the songs, representing the powerful imagination of the child.
Medium: Art Song
Year: 2020
Details: 14'
Award-winning composer and clarinetist Erik Franklin balances a vibrant, varied career on and off the stage. A consummate performer, his lyrical, expressive playing has garnered acclaim and earned him a coveted position in the U.S. Army Field Band of Washington, D.C. He has given concerts in nearly all fifty states and throughout Europe, performing for audiences large and small in venues from veterans’ homes to Carnegie Hall.
See more information about Anyone Can See, 2019
Anyone Can See, the 6th album from Baltimore Roots-duo The Honey Dewdrops, is a testament to the decade of touring and performing that Laura and Kagey have undergone since their humble beginnings in a small-town Virginia coffeeshop. This album sees the duo returning to its origins in putting together a sonic space of their live performances with two voices and two instruments, similar to 2009’s If the Sun Will Shine and 2010’s These Old Roots. At the helm as co-producer, engineer and mixer is Nicholas Sjostrom (who also worked on 2015’s Tangled Country), capturing in detail, the lush vocals and instrumental play that has come to define The Honey Dewdrops’ sound. At its core, Anyone Can See is a snapshot of living in a time and place that is patterned with disconnection, but also reveals humanity, vulnerability, and the existence of grace.
Year: 2019
Iron Crow Theatre 19/20 Annual Report
See more information about Iron Crow Theatre 19/20 Annual ReportYear: 2019-2020
Laura Wortman and Kagey Parrish, together known as the experimental folk duo The Honey Dewdrops, have released six albums and toured internationally since 2009, with over a thousand shows under their belts on stages such as A Prairie Home Companion, Merlefest, Celtic Connections (Glasgow, SCO) and the Bluegrass Jamboree (Germany). Artistically, Wortman and Parrish are inspired by American folk and traditional music and their sound expands on that style and showcases the dynamism and intimacy of musical duos.