Album Notes

Cabaret…
That tight-rope edge where high-brow meets low-brow; Art song’s darker cousin – a place some won’t admit exists. A place where edges are blurred and conversation takes on a tone and language that isn’t necessarily polite; where intimacy lurks in the darker corners of after-thought and the boundaries seem endless and the possibilities are limited only by the imagination.

THE ARTISTS...

Susan Eichhorn-Young, voice

Embodies both the performer and the teacher. As a pianist, her vast repertoire includes solo piano works from baroque through romantic and contemporary composers as well as orchestral reductions for piano and voice. As a vocalist, her repertoire covers numerous eras in five languages and several dialects.

She has performed internationally on stage in multiple genres. Her sensitivity to language, technical facility, and emotional commitment create performances which are as compelling as they are unique. Roles she has created move from The Sorceress in Purcell’s “Dido and Aeneas” to Musetta in Puccini’s “La Boheme” to Jenny in Weill’s “Threepenny Opera”. Her concert and recital repertoire weave through Scarlatti’s “Aries con tromba” and Vivald’s “Gloria”, Mozart’s “Solemn Vespers K. 339”, Faure’s “Requiem Opus 48”, Barber’s “Knoxville: Summer of 1915”, Cantaloube’s “Songs of the Auvergne” and Harbison’s “Mirabai Songs”. She carries a deep attachment to the song literature of the cabaret world and contemporary art song, and she has seen critical and public acclaim in both.

Her love of the stage has taken her into the directorial world. Some credits include Mozart’s “Magic Flute”, Strauss’s “Die Fledermaus”, Barab’s “Little Red Riding Hood” and Kander & Ebb’s “Cabaret”.

Susan continues to teach voice internationally and has been in demand as an adjudicator and clinician for some twenty years. She holds three Associate Degrees with Honors in piano performance, voice performance and vocal pedagogy from the Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto, a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance with Great Distinction from the University of Saskatchewan and a Master of Music in Vocal Performance and Vocal Literature with Honors from the University of Western Ontario. Currently she has a thriving studio in New York City and is on faculty at New York University, Tisch School of the Arts. Her website is www.susaneichhornstudio.com

Alan Johnson, piano

Active in New York City since 1986 as a vocal coach and pianist, Alan has prepared and collaborated with singers holding national and international engagements. As a soloist and collaborative pianist, he has performed at major venues in New York. He has led numerous opera, music theatre, concert, and dance works by today’s most innovative composers including Anthony Davis, Leroy Jenkins, David Lang, Polly Pen and others.

His long association with Philip Glass has included music direction of many premieres and a Joseph Jefferson Award for Outstanding Music Direction of “The Sound of a Voice”. His musical direction has garnered Bessie, Drama Desk, Jefferson, and Obie awards, including an Obie Award for Sustained Excellence in Music Direction.

Alan holds a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from the University of Miami and a Master of Music in vocal coaching/accompanying from the University of Illinois. He is currently on faculty at the University of Miami, Frost School of Music where he is Co-Director of the Frost Opera Theatre and Vocal Coach in the Department of Vocal Performance.

His full biography can be seen on www.susaneichhornstudio.com