Dreams of a New Day: Songs by Black Composers Will Liverman & Paul Sánchez

• Damien Sneed:
• 1 Sneed: I Dream a World 02:39
• Harry Burleigh (1866 - 1949): 5 Songs of Laurence Hope:
• 2 Burleigh: 5 Songs of Laurence Hope: No. 1, Worth While 02:00
• 3 Burleigh: 5 Songs of Laurence Hope: No. 2, The Jungle Flower 03:16
• 4 Burleigh: 5 Songs of Laurence Hope: No. 3, Kashmiri Song 03:26
• 5 Burleigh: 5 Songs of Laurence Hope: No. 4, Among the Fuchsias 02:57
• 6 Burleigh: 5 Songs of Laurence Hope: No. 5, Till I Wake 03:57
• Leslie Adams (b. 1932):
• 7 Adams: Amazing Grace 03:19
• Margaret Bonds (1913 - 1972): 3 Dream Portraits:
• 8 Bonds: 3 Dream Portraits: No. 1, Minstrel Man 02:01
• 9 Bonds: 3 Dream Portraits: No. 2, Dream Variation 02:07
• 10 Bonds: 3 Dream Portraits: No. 3, I, Too 01:39
• Thomas Kerr (1915 - 1988):
• 11 Kerr: Riding to Town 03:09
• Shawn E. Okpebholo (b. 1981): Two Black Churches:
• 12 Okpebholo: Two Black Churches: No. 1, Ballad of Birmingham 09:19
• 13 Okpebholo: Two Black Churches: No. 2, The Rain 06:01
• Robert Owens (1925 - 2017): Mortal Storm, Op. 29:
• 14 Owens: Mortal Storm, Op. 29: No. 1, A House in Taos 03:21
• 15 Owens: Mortal Storm, Op. 29: No. 2, Little Song 02:19
• 16 Owens: Mortal Storm, Op. 29: No. 3, Jaime 00:37
• 17 Owens: Mortal Storm, Op. 29: No. 4, Faithful One 01:42
• 18 Owens: Mortal Storm, Op. 29: No. 5, Genius Child 02:08
• Richard Fariña (1937 - 1966):
• 19 Fariña: Birmingham Sunday (Arr. for Voice & Piano) 03:50
• Total Runtime 59:47

Info for Dreams of a New Day: Songs by Black Composers

Fast-rising American operatic baritone Will Liverman, tapped for major roles at principal opera houses across the country, makes his Cedille Records debut as a featured artist with Dreams of a New Day, an intimate, heartfelt recital he calls “a passion project . . . years in the making.”

Praised for his “unique combination of eloquence and unpretentiousness” (Opera News), Liverman has assembled a program of songs that portray the trials, tribulations, and triumphs of the African American experience through poignant texts and expressive musical settings.

His new album, with pianist Paul Sánchez, highlights Black composers across generations, from early 20th-century pioneers Henry Burleigh, Margaret Bonds, and Thomas Kerr to Robert Owens, Leslie Adams, and contemporary composers Damien Sneed and Shawn E. Okpebholo.

Liverman commissioned Okpebholo’s Two Black Churches, which he recently performed to great acclaim at his Kennedy Center recital in conjunction with his winning the 2020 Marian Anderson Vocal Award. The Washington Post review called the set “absolutely devastating, and one of the most beautiful pieces of music I’ve heard all year.” This is its world-premiere recording.

“One of the most versatile singing artists performing today” (Bachtrack), Liverman concludes the album with his own powerful arrangement of American folk singer-songwriter Richard Fariña’s “Birmingham Sunday.”

Will Liverman, baritone
Paul T. Sánchez, piano

Will Liverman
Called “one of the most versatile singing artists performing today” (Bachtrack), baritone Will Liverman continues to bring his compelling performances to audiences nationwide. He will star in the Metropolitan Opera’s re-opening production of Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up In My Bones in fall 2021, in addition to reprising his roles in Akhnaten (Horemhab) and The Magic Flute (Papageno) during the Met’s 21-22 season.

In the 2020-2021 season, Liverman is scheduled to make his debut at LA Opera as Leporello in Don Giovanni and appear in a solo recital at The Kennedy Center. Additionally, he will appear in Opera Theatre of St. Louis’ production of Highway 1 U.S.A as Bob, and will curate OTSL’s Juneteenth Concert together with soprano Nicole Cabell. Will’s new opera, The Factotum, written together with DJ/recording artist K. Rico, will also be developed in partnership with Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Ryan Opera Center this season.

Will is the recipient of the 2020 Marian Anderson Vocal Award, and recently received a 2019 Richard Tucker Career Grant and Sphinx Medal of Excellence. Liverman’s recent engagements include the Met Opera’s holiday production of The Magic Flute, in addition to its premiere of Philip Glass’ Akhnaten and Malcolm Fleet in Nico Muhly’s Marnie. He also recently appeared as Pantalone in The Love of Three Oranges at Opera Philadelphia, as Silvio in Pagliacci at Opera Colorado, as Schaunard in La bohème with Santa Fe Opera, Dallas Opera and Opera Philadelphia; and as The Pilot in The Little Prince with Tulsa Opera.

Liverman has performed the leading role of Figaro in Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia with Seattle Opera, Virginia Opera, Kentucky Opera, Madison Opera and Utah Opera. He originated the role of Dizzy Gillespie in Charlie Parker’s Yardbird with Opera Philadelphia, in addition to performing the role with English National Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Madison Opera, and at the Apollo Theater. Other highlights include the role of Tommy McIntyre in the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s production of Fellow Travelers for its Lyric Unlimited initiative; Papageno in The Magic Flute with Florentine Opera and Central City Opera; his role debut as Marcello in La bohème with Portland Opera; his debut with Seattle Opera as Raimbaud in Le Comte Ory; Tarquinius in The Rape of Lucretia and Beaumarchais in The Ghosts of Versailles with Wolf Trap Opera; Andrew Hanley in the world premiere of Kevin Puts’ The Manchurian Candidate with Minnesota Opera; Sam in The Pirates of Penzance with Atlanta Opera; the Foreman at the Mill in Jenůfa and the Protestant Minister in Menotti’s The Last Savage with Santa Fe Opera.

Expanding into the concert repertoire, Liverman performed the title role in a concert version of the Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess with the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, and was a featured soloist in Brahms’ Requiem with the Las Vegas Philharmonic, in Handel’s Messiah with the Seattle Symphony, in Carmina Burana with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, and in Mozart’s Mass in C Minor with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. He was also recently featured in the Sphinx Virtuosi concert at Carnegie Hall, in addition to appearing in Schubert’s Die Winterreise at The Barns at Wolf Trap Opera.

Liverman has received a 2017 3Arts Award, a George London Award, and was recognized as a classical division Luminarts Fellow by the Luminarts Cultural Foundation. In 2015, he won the Stella Maris International Vocal Competition, received the Gerda Lissner Charitable Fund Award, and received a top prize from Opera Index. He was a grand finalist in the 2012 Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions, and additionally was a first prize winner in the Gerda Lissner International Vocal Competition, a grand prize winner of the Bel Canto Foundation Competition, and a recipient of a Sara Tucker Study Grant from the Richard Tucker Music Foundation.

Liverman concluded his tenure at the prestigious Ryan Opera Center at the Lyric Opera of Chicago in 2015. He previously was a Young Artist at the Glimmerglass Festival. He holds his Master of Music degree from The Juilliard School, and a Bachelor of Music degree from Wheaton College in Illinois.

This album contains no booklet.