AN OCTOBER NEWSLETTER
When I was a child, I used to get swept up in September’s back-to-school fervor, amassing new school supplies (a trip to a place like Office Depot or Staples fills me with untold joy to this day), and preparing to reunite with friends after summers away with annual sojourns both at Interlochen Arts Camp and with cousins in Greece. In those pre-internet days, the weeks away were truly transformational: With no endless scroll to distract, family time in Greece meant I was able to immerse myself in book after book on the beach and navigate a foreign culture and language, all allowing my imagination and creativity to flourish. With no screens to hide behind, weeks at arts camp meant focused musical practice, intensive rehearsals in the theatre, and learning how to push through the boundaries of my naturally introverted tendencies to navigate the hyperstimulating social scene of brilliant, ambitious, and preternaturally talented teenagers drawn from all over the world to this set of cabins, art studios, rehearsal rooms, and concert stages built in the middle of the woods in the remote north of Michigan.
As the final weeks of August faded into the first days of September, I always found myself thrilled at the new beginnings each school year represented, eager to show friends and teachers how much I had changed and grown over the course of each summer.
Even in this age of smartphones, artificial intelligence, and adulthood, this summer proved to be a transformative one as well, and this past month, I’ve felt twinges of that same excitement I used to experience in my younger days. I used the first couple of weeks of September to rest and recover from the marathon of the past four months, and relished having the time to prepare for the season ahead, seeking to carry the lessons of a summer of festival-hopping—including new perspectives on the impossible and perhaps pointless quest for “perfection,” increased awareness about the ways my insecurities can block me artistically, and more efficient practice techniques—into the weeks and months ahead.
performing at the 2026 Collaborative Works Festival
The season began, as it has for the past decade and a half, with Art Song Chicago’s annual Collaborative Works Festival, a set of concerts that I curate each season to explore a single theme through song. This year’s theme, Songs of the Earth, meditated on humanity’s continually evolving relationship with the environment. I am always so grateful to the artists who join Art Song Chicago each season for the festival, genuinely blown away by the generosity and commitment with which they devote themselves to bringing these complex programs to life. This year was no exception, and in the wake of last weekend’s proceedings, I find myself inspired to dive into the daily work of the new season.
The festival’s environmental theme this year naturally raised a series of questions: What happens when art intersects with activism? Should art and artists be political? What role do art and artists play in the public discourse about the issues of our day? In what ways does the work we create and engage in as performing artists actually serve? I believe that work does indeed serve, and is perhaps more important than ever before in our increasingly disconnected digital era. However, it is intrinsic to the artist’s nature to question belief, and thus the season ahead will continue to pose those queries for me with more performances of the Fellow Citizens program this month, as well as in January and March; operatic programs that delve into the nature of political leadership (Dido and Aeneas, Jephte, and La clemenza di Tito); and many performances of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, which, despite seeming a purely religious story, is also a parable of the struggle against political persecution and state oppression.
As always, I hope to see you in person at one of the performances this season or, failing that, online. In the meantime, I hope that the beginning of autumn is treating you beautifully and wish you all the best for the month ahead.
UPCOMING APPEARANCES
OCTOBER 2 STONINGTON, CT
Recital with Matthew Aucoin
Songs by Matthew AUCOIN, Benjamin BRITTEN, & Franz SCHUBERT
OCTOBER 11 & 12 GRAND RAPIDS, MI
Grand Valley Piano Chamber Series
Franz SCHUBERT: Die schöne Müllerin
OCTOBER 22 SAN FRANCISCO, CA
Recital with Myra Huang
Fellow Citizens