From the Diary … An Evening of Songs

TACOMA, Wash. –   A peek into Virginia Woolf’s diary and a wicked song by Stephen Sondheim about “the ladies who lunch” are two of the treats for audiences at an upcoming Jacobsen Series concert at the University of Puget Sound.

Dawn Padula, mezzo-soprano, and Tanya Stambuk, piano, have chosen a selection of songs that express some of the emotional entanglements and reflections that each, in its own way, express some of the emotional entanglements and reflections you might find in a woman’s diary.

From the Diary … An Evening of Songs will be held at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 4, in Schneebeck Concert Hall on campus. The concert hall is a short walk from the parking lot at Union Avenue and N. 14th Street in Tacoma. Directions to campus and ticket information are below.

The cornerstone of the recital will be the song cycle From the Diary of Virginia Woolf, the 1975 Pulitzer Prize-winning composition from American composer Dominick Argento. Argento derived the text for the songs from the book, A Writer’s Diary: Being Extracts from the Diary of Virginia Woolf, published in 1954 and edited by Leonard Woolf, Virginia’s husband. The songs about the influential English writer were written for Dame Janet Baker, mezzo-soprano.

“This is a set that I’ve never performed publicly in its entirety but has always admired greatly,” Padula said. “This year, I plan to record it with my School of Music colleague Tanya Stambuk, pianist.

“The song cycle style is similar to Woolf’s writings, full of ellipses and descriptive observations that follow her stream of consciousness on a particular subject. Argento’s use of rhythmic material and harmonization really capture the essence of this woman, who was clearly pensive, playful, and nostalgic.”

The second work on the program will be the American premiere of the piano version of a three-song cycle composed for Padula by Robert Hutchinson, her husband, and colleague at the School of Music. Titled The House of Life, the song cycle uses Dante Gabriel Rossetti's poetry that traces the physical and spiritual development of an intimate relationship. These sonnets, too, could be seen as diary entries about a beloved, and also will later be recorded by Padula and Stambuk.

“Tanya and I thought it would be an excellent idea to ‘battle test’ the songs that we will be recording this winter by performing them live in this concert, allowing us to work on nuance and comfort level with the pieces and with each other as a collaborative team,” Padula explained.

The concert will conclude with four contemporary musical theater selections. The lyrics of each song explore a woman’s feelings about friendships and romantic relationships. The set includes: “The Ladies Who Lunch,” from Company, by Stephen Sondheim; “Stars and the Moon” and “Just One Step,” from Songs for a New World, by Jason Robert Brown; and “Maybe This Time,” from Cabaret, by John Kander and Fred Ebb. 

The Jacobsen Series, named in honor of Leonard Jacobsen, former chair of the piano department at Puget Sound, has been running since 1984. The Jacobsen Series Scholarship Fund awards annual music scholarships to outstanding student performers and scholars. The fund is sustained entirely by season subscribers and ticket sales.

Dawn Padula received her Master of Music degree from the Manhattan School of Music and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Houston’s Moores School of Music. She has performed many of the major mezzo-soprano operatic roles, including Carmen in Carmen, Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro, Suzuki in Madama Butterfly, Erika in Vanessa, and Isabella in L’Italiana Algeri. She has also performed extensively as a soloist in oratorios, such as Handel’s Messiah and Israel in Egypt, and several orchestral pieces, including Mozart's requiems Duruflé. Padula has sung with the Houston Grand Opera, Tacoma Opera, Kitsap Opera, Houston Symphony Orchestra, Amarillo Opera, Alamo City Men’s Chorale, Opera in Houston's Heights, and Living Opera Company of Dallas, among others.

Tanya Stambuk, piano, has appeared internationally as a guest soloist with orchestras including Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, France; Virginia Symphony Orchestra; Civic Orchestra of Chicago; Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, in Norway; and the Seattle Symphony. She has performed on radio in New York City, Moscow, and Croatia, and she appeared in the television program In Praise of Women Pianists. She has performed at venues including Merkin Concert Hall in New York City, Academy of Music in Philadelphia, The Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., and the Chicago Cultural Center. Stambuk recorded Norman Dello Joio and won the international piano competition at the Auditório Nacional Carlos Alberto in Portugal. She is a graduate of The Juilliard School and Rutgers University. 

FOR TICKETS: Tickets are available online at tickets.pugetsound.edu or Wheelock Information Center, 253.879.3100. Admission is $15 for the general public; $10 for seniors (55+), students, military, and Puget Sound faculty and staff. The concert is free for current Puget Sound students. Group ticket rates are available for parties of 10 or more by calling 253.879.3555 in advance. Any remaining tickets will be available at the door.

For directions and a map of the campus: pugetsound.edu/directions 
For accessibility information, please contact accessibility@pugetsound.edu or 253.879.3931, or visit pugetsound.edu/accessibility.

Dawn Padula and Tanya Stambuk can be downloaded from pugetsound.edu/pressphotosPhotos on page: From top right: Virginia Woolf, circa 1927 (Harvard University); Dawn Padula; Tanya Stambuk.

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