Juilliard Duo Pay Tribute to WWI In Song
April 6, 2017
““This recital was so different – so refreshingly, marvelously different... The goal of a recital is not originality as much as making a statement as an artist. And at this, Brancy and Dugan succeeded superbly.””
Since their 2014 professional recital debut at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, baritone John Brancy and pianist Peter Dugan have crisscrossed the continent performing music inspired by and written during World War I. Hailed by The Washington Post as “refreshingly, marvelously different,” their WWI tribute program features the music of British, German, French, and American composers who lived through, fought in, and died in the Great War.
Performed for rapt audiences at Carnegie Hall, Joye in Aiken Festival, St. John’s College, University of Chicago, and the Société d’art vocal de Montréal, this acclaimed program has now been captured in the duo’s debut album, A Silent Night: A WWI Memorial in Song.
As official commemorative partners of the United States World War I Centennial Commission and its French counterpart, Mission du Centenaire, Brancy and Dugan perform at an April 6 event for foreign and American dignitaries. Commemorating the centennial of the U.S. entry into WWI, In Sacrifice for Liberty and Peace takes place at the National WWI Museum and Memorial in Kansas City, MO.
Ahead of the album’s wide release, event attendees are able to purchase advance copies of A Silent Night, with all proceeds benefiting Arts in the Armed Forces, a non-profit organization founded by Brancy and Dugan's fellow Juilliard alumnus, actor Adam Driver. In hopes of bridging the gap between artist and soldier, AITAF performs contemporary American theater free of charge at military installations around the world, for active duty military servicemembers, veterans, military caretakers, and their families.
The album’s official launch will take place at the Yamaha Piano Salon in New York City on April 28.