Songs by composers and poets whose careers took them away from their homeland. The program will include selected songs by Chopin sung in Polish, as well as an array of songs from other 19th, 20th, and 21st century poets and composers, including George Enescu, Kurt Weill, and others.

$10 / 75 minutes

Erin Brittain, Rachael Basescu and Grant Mech are all members of the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd’s choir, The Shepherd Singers. Good Shepherd is a small parish on East 31st Street in New York City. The Shepherd Singers completed a tour of England in 2016 and have previously performed concerts and services at such venues as the Princeton University Chapel and St. Mary the Virgin, Times Square. The group will tour Poland and Germany in 2018.

Rachael Basescu, mezzo-soprano, is a Brooklyn based music educator and performer. She received her bachelor’s degree in music education from Messiah College and is currently pursuing a masters in arts administration from Drexel University.

Erin Brittain, soprano, recently appeared as a resident fellowship artist with Hubbard Hall Opera as Miss Pinkerton in The Old Maid and The Thief and as the Countess Ceprano in Rigoletto, receiving praise from Berkshire Fine Arts for her “clear soprano and expressive acting.”  Most recently she was seen as La Conversa/Genovieffa Cover in Suor Angelica with Chelsea Opera.

Grant Mech, baritone, is the director of music at Good Shepherd Episcopal Church and the conductor of the Down Town Glee Club in New York, as well as the choral director at Rancocas Valley Regional High School in Mount Holly, New Jersey. Grant holds degrees from Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey.

Dr. Akiko Hosaki, pianist, frequently appears with singers, instrumentalists, and conductors in the New York metropolitan area. She has served as accompanist/basso continuo player with choirs and orchestras, worked with several opera companies in the U.S. and Japan, and is an active chamber musician. She holds degrees from Musashino Academia Musicae in Japan, Westminster Choir College, and University of Minnesota.