Wednesday 29 April 2026
6pm
Milton Court Concert Hall
Songs at Six: Copland/Boulanger
led by Dr Bretton Brown
Niraali Patel | soprano
Yixu Zhao | soprano
Miranda Kettlewell | mezzo-soprano
Tokio Ueno | baritone
Junyan Cai | piano
Zixin Chen | piano
Xiaoman Zhong | piano
Edison Zhou | piano
Welcome
Nadia Boulanger (1887–1979) was perhaps the most influential music teacher of the twentieth century. From her home in Paris she taught an extraordinary cohort of musicians, ranging from Philip Glass to Daniel Barenboim, from Quincy Jones to Burt Bacharach. Her pupils numbered in the hundreds, maybe even the thousands, and they shared her ideas across the globe. One of her American pupils, Aaron Copland (1900–1990), himself became an important pedagogue and is sometimes referred to as ‘the Dean of American music’. Tonight’s concert celebrates the music of both composers and pays tribute to their long legacy as teachers.
Please hold any applause until the end of the programme.
Programme
I.
Traditional (arranged by Aaron Copland) ‘The Boatmen’s Dance’
No 1 from Old American Songs I
Nadia Boulanger ‘Chanson’
Copland ‘Pastorale’
Boulanger ‘O schwöre nicht’
Boulanger ‘Allons voir sur le Lac d’argent’
Copland ‘A Summer Vacation’
Boulanger ‘La Mer’
Miranda Kettlewell | mezzo-soprano
Niraali Patel | soprano
Yixu Zhao | soprano
Tokio Ueno | baritone
Edison Zhou | piano
Zixin Chen | piano
II.
Traditional (arranged by Copland) ‘The Dodger’
No 2 from Old American Songs I
Copland ‘Old Poem’
Boulanger ‘Versailles’
Boulanger ‘Ach die Augen sind es wieder’
Boulanger ‘Le Couteau’
Copland ‘Alone’
Traditional (arranged by Copland) ‘Long time ago’
No 3 from Old American Songs I
Tokio Ueno | baritone
Yixu Zhao | soprano
Miranda Kettlewell | mezzo-soprano
Zixin Chen | piano
Junyan Cai | piano
III.
Copland ‘The Chariot’
No 12 from Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson
Traditional (arranged by Copland) ‘Simple Gifts’
No 4 from Old American Songs I
Copland ‘I’ve heard an organ talk sometimes’
No 10 from Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson
Boulanger ‘Extase’
Copland ‘The Little Horses’
No 1 from Old American Songs II
Boulanger ‘Cantique’
Yixu Zhao | soprano
Miranda Kettlewell | mezzo-soprano
Tokio Ueno | baritone
Niraali Patel | soprano
Xiaoman Zhong | piano
Forthcoming Events
6 May 2026
Milton Court Concert Hall
Directed by Jonathan Lakeland and Rebecca Meltzer, Vocal students present a selection of semi-staged scenes with piano accompaniment, including extracts of works by Beethoven, Mozart, Offenbach and Smetana.
Introduction to Opera
11 & 13 May 2026
Silk Street Music Hall
A semi-staged performance of Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites, in an arrangement by Linnhe Robertson. Led by Linnhe Robertson and John Ramster, and performed in French.
Voiceworks at Six: Old, New, Borrowed and Blue Song Project with Iain Burnside
15 May 2026
Milton Court Concert Hall
Iain Burnside leads a project exploring song written over the past half century in an intimate programme for voice and piano.
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Guildhall School of Music & Drama
Founded in 1880 by the City of London Corporation
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The Hon. Emily Benn
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Armin Zanner FGS
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