Guest artists Amanda Jacobs, Shelley Waite and Elizabeth Dolan will perform “The Song Cycles of Beachy Head” at 3 p.m. Sept. 16 in the Westbrook Music Building. The performance is free and open to the public.
“The Song Cycles of Beachy Head” is a 26-piece song cycle based off of the epic 731-line poem by British author Charlotte Smith. Smith’s poem was written in 1807 during England’s long war with France. It poignantly articulates themes of separation and continuity in the very spot the British expected an invasion.
Jacobs is an accomplished composer and pianist specializing in art song and musical theater. Her art song projects include award-winning musical settings of Shakespeare’s sonnets, Emily Dickinson’s poems, and Jane Austen’s prayers.
Waite earned her bachelor of music in voice performance from Eastman School of Music. Her career spans the United States and abroad, showcasing talents in all musical genres from opera to jazz. Performing numerous times at the Kennedy Center with noted conductors, critics have called her “positively incandescent.”
Dolan, associate professor of British literature at Lehigh University, specializes in Romantic-era women writers.
