Mine Be the Lips - a concert of songs by women composers past and present

Mine Be the Lips - a concert of songs by women composers performed by contralto Vira Slywotzky and pianist David Sytkowski.

This carefully curated program celebrates freedom of expression and the diverse output of female composers of the past who have been overlooked and under programmed because of their gender and the works of innovative female composers of the present. The songs have been selected both for their beauty and also for their power to transport listeners.

Presented by Vira + Friends and supported in part by a grant from the Lexington Council for the Arts, a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.

Questions? Email [email protected].

About the performers:Contralto has performed principal roles with Seattle Opera, Chautauqua Opera, Chelsea Opera, Center for Contemporary Opera, Sarasota Opera and Boston Midsummer Opera. She has sung concerts, recitals and cabarets in New York City venues from The Duplex to Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall and on tour all over the United States. Internationally Slywotzky has been heard in Canada, France, Hungary, Sweden and Wales.

A champion of new music, she has workshopped and premiered more than 30 works including songs, full scale opera and narration with orchestra.

Since February 2022 Slywotzky has been serving as a cultural ambassador and fundraising for Razom for Ukraine and other organizations providing aid to and supporting Ukraine. Her performances have collected over $250,000.

Participant in numerous competitions and winner of awards, most significantly Slywotzky was the sole representative of the USA at the 2009 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition. “Vira Slywotzky is an immensely talented, charismatic performer who transforms herself, and captivates her audience with her songs and tales.” - The Village View

www.viraslywotzky.com

Pianist David Sytkowski is a Visiting Artist in Residence at Bard College and the Bard College Conservatory of Music, where he is Director of Music for Opera Workshop, leads the Musical Theatre Performance Workshop, coaches singers and teaches private piano.

VOWEL MOVEMENTS, a subversive classical/cabaret/drag collaboration with Pretty Lamé, with support of the New York State Council on the Arts, premiered at Hudson Hall in June 2023 and was remounted for ICA Miami in February 2024.

In September 2019, he made his Joe’s Pub debut in Under The Influence with legendary cabaret artist Justin Vivian Bond. This led to Auntie Glam’s Happy Hour, a weekly livestream during the initial COVID-19 shut down that New York Times critic Zachary Woolf proclaimed one of “The Best of the Year’s At-Home Divas” in December 2020. Recent appearances with Vivian include Feinstein’s at the Nikko San Francisco and Little Island in NYC Summer 2024.

He frequently performs as a symphony pianist and collaborator at venues such as Carnegie Hall, Weill Recital Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Joe’s Pub, The Duplex, the Fisher Center for the Performing Arts, and Hudson Hall.

Host or Publisher Vira & Friends