Songs of the Phoenix, the new song cycle from the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus that was recorded live April 10 at Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco, is released digitally by Broadway Records on all music platforms June 24.
Featuring songs by Ty Defoe, Alexandra Elle, Siedah Garrett, Joriah Kwame, Daniel Lazour, Patrick Lazour, Melissa Li, Andrew Lippa, Ingrid Michaelson, Stephen Schwartz, Stephen Sondheim, Diana Syrse, and Kit Yan, Songs of the Phoenix was curated by Lippa and addresses the challenges facing our nation during the pandemic. The recording follows Lippa's two earlier works for the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus: I Am Harvey Milk in 2013 and Unbreakable in 2018.
Songs of the Phoenix features narration written by Josh Wilder and Carson Grace Becker and performed by Rodney Earl Jackson, Jr. and Cheri Miller. Orchestrations are by Peter Seibert with arrangements by Dave Volpe and William Southerland.
The orchestra is conducted by Dr. Timothy Seelig and features Nicolas Perez on piano, Aaron Shaul on bass, Matthew Wrobel on bass, Juan Carreon on drums, Fred Morgan on percussion, Peter Seibert on keyboard, Yuri Kye on violin, Andrés Vera on cello, and Tom Regouski on reeds.
The song list follows:
1. "Prelude 1/The Life Cycle Of A Star (Adagio)" (music by Andrew Lippa, narration by Josh Wilder)
2. "We Rise" (music and lyrics by Ingrid Michaelson)
3. "Who Am I?" (music by Melissa Li, lyrics by Kit Yan and Melissa Li)
4. "We Are The Trees" (music and lyrics by Ty Defoe, speaker: Landa Lakes)
5. "Mother Dear" (music by Andrew Lippa, lyrics by Siedah Garrett)
6. "Prelude 2 / Invisible Grids" (music by Andrew Lippa, narration by Carson Grace Becker)
7. "Song of Tomorrow" (music and lyrics by Joriah Kwamé)
8. "Música y Sabores" (music and lyrics by Diana Syrse)
9. "Prayer" (music and lyrics by The Lazours)
10. "Prelude 3 / Wave" (music by Andrew Lippa, narration by Josh Wilder)
11. "Flag Song" (music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim)
12. "Bloom" (music by Stephen Schwartz, lyrics by Alexandra Elle)
13. "Prelude 4 / Fin" (music by Andrew Lippa, narration by Josh Wilder)
14. "Song of the Phoenix" (music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa)
The album is produced by Leslie Ann Jones, Seelig, and Lippa with engineering by Dann Thompson and Jones.
For additional information visit BroadwayRecords.com.
