Metier Records is proud to present “Infrastructure: The Songs of David Sisco” from the award-winning US composer, featuring over 25 years of his output of art song, performed by pianist David Fung, singers Laura Strickling, Elizabeth Mondragon, Michael Kelly, and David Sisco himself. The album mixes beautiful and thought-provoking settings of both contemporary and historic poetry with entertaining and often touching song cycles based on online posts and reviews, unusual inspirations for art song.

David Sisco believes one way the genre can continue to thrive and engage with today's audiences is through the use of contemporary texts, whether by living poets such as the three he has collaborated with here, or from the myriad virtual town halls one encounters on a daily basis.

Song cycle Italianate captures the wit and tenderness of his friend Linda Dini Jenkins’ poetry about her travels in Italy, and is performed by the “mesmerizing” baritone Michael Kelly, who premiered the cycle in 2014 at Carnegie Hall. Infrastructure by Barbara Worton is performed by the composer himself and was set as a gift for a birthday celebration, perfectly encapsulating a typical New Yorker’s scepticism and even a touch of neuroticism. Also performed by David Sisco is Where Memories Go to Die, the final piece in Sisco’s song cycle Six Dennis Rhodes Poems, and like the poet himself, is a delightful, vulnerable, and joy-filled piece. Turning to writings of past centuries, mezzo-soprano Elizabeth Mondragon gives a powerful performance of the stunning setting of Amy Lowell’s epic poem Patterns about a woman’s loss during the First World War. Michael Kelly returns in My Best Beloved. Sisco was struck by the raw passion of the work of metaphysical poet Francis Quarles and has brought it forward in this gorgeous and sensuous art song.

Missed Connections was written for Sisco’s longtime muse, Elizabeth Mondragon, and won the 2010 NATS Composition Award. Set to anonymous posts from classified ad website craigslist.com, these musical vignettes reflect the human desire to find (or avoid) one another and are surprisingly affecting. The Wrong Kind of Fountain Enthusiast is a song cycle set to colourful online reviews across the United States, often savage and hilarious, and, as with Missed Connections, uses a variety of musical idioms. Dear God, a cycle of children’s prayers, tenderly captures the delicious mix of simplicity and complexity in these miniature compositions. Both feature the “powerful and expressive voice” (Classical Scene) of soprano Laura Strickling.

Throughout the album, the superb voices are supported by the “poetic” (Washington Post) performances of pianist David Fung.

David Sisco is an award-winning composer whose vocal and theatrical works have been performed at major venues such as Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center. He has received commissions from choirs and ensembles across the US. An alumnus of the esteemed BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop and the New Dramatists Composer-Librettist Studio, he currently serves on the adjunct voice faculty at NYU Steinhardt and maintains an international presence as a voice teacher and pedagogue.

Pianist David Fung has performed as a soloist and with leading orchestras throughout Europe and Asia, collaborating with artists such as Gustavo Dudamel, Marin Alsop, and Yuja Wang. Soprano Laura Strickling is a two-time Grammy award nominee for Best Classical Vocal Solo Album and is celebrated for her work in opera, oratorio, concert, and chamber music. Mezzo-soprano Elizabeth Mondragon’s performances range from opera and art song to musical theatre and oratorio, often in new music. American baritone, librettist, and poet, Michael Kelly, is an avid interpreter of new music, and much of his focus is on the queer experience and LGBTQ+ advocacy.