Music From Home
Ellaina Lewis | June 5th
with pianists Calder Failla and Joe Williams
3 pm - 5 pm
"Inner Songs"
(program details below)
And special guest & composer Richard Thompson
Florence Price (1887-1953)
Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906)
"The Shadow of Dawn" (2000)
I. Dawn
IV. One Life
Richard Thompson (b. 1954)
Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906)
Prelude No. 5
Prelude 2
Richard Thompson (b. 1954)
How Much Longer?*
*In memoriam of Mouhamed Cisse, Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, Elijah McCain, and Breonna Taylor
Soprano, Ellaina Lewis, demonstrates an extensive range of vocal and dramatic ability. Originally from Washington, D.C., she now makes her home in Seattle. She is a popular artist on Northwest stages. In addition to Seattle Opera, where Ms. Lewis performed the roles of Girlfriend II in Blue, and Strawberry Woman in Porgy and Bess, she has performed with Puget Sound Opera, Tacoma Opera, Seattle Choral Company, Everett Symphony, Sammamish Symphony, SD Prism Dance Company, ArtsWest, Northwest New Works Festival, Northwest Opera in Schools, Etc. Greg Thompson Productions, The Eastside Performance Group, The Ladies Musical Club, Classic Cascade Symphony, and The Pacific Northwest Ballet School. Ms. Lewis has sung principal roles such as Violetta in Verdi’s La Traviata, Amina in Bellini’s La Sonnambula, Monica in Menotti’s The Medium, Treemonisha in Scott Joplin’s Treemonisha, Erzulie in Flaherty’s Once on this Island, Pamina in The Magic Flute, and Gertrude in Hansel and Gretel.
Concert engagements include classical repertoire ranging from Haydn's Creation and Mozart's Exsultate Jubilate to Villa Lobos’ Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 and Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess. Ms. Lewis has had the pleasure on many occasions to blend her love of singing and her passion for dance. She has collaborated with S.D. Prism Dance Theater, contributing vocal improvisations as the dancers interpret the choreography of the company’s founder, Sonia Dawkins. Silk Road, was a multimedia production by A.C. Petersen, inspired by the lives of immigrant women working in sweatshops. It featured contemporary dance, music, with Ellaina as vocal soloist, video, and field-recorded voices. Among her premiere performances is the title role in Sally Hemings, an opera and film production by Garrett Fisher, and the role of Simona in Night Flight, the operatic adaptation of the Saint-Exupery novel with Book-It Repertory Theatre.
Since early 2020, when all scheduled rehearsals and public performances were suddenly canceled, Ellaina has maintained and even deepened the focus on music in her life. Because she started singing at an early age, in a family filled with musicians, she knows no better way to be together, to connect, and to share joy. This brought her to sing on her front porch for her neighbors throughout the spring and summer months, inviting them to gather, at a safe distance from her and each other outside. This helped soothe and connect hearts in a time of isolation. She has worked to adapt to the virtual world as a vocalist by performing for online concerts as a guest artist and collaborating online as well.
Calder Failla, 15, is a sophomore at Tacoma School of the Arts where he has the opportunity to focus on piano performance along with his high school education. Calder has been a student of Paul Twedt for 4 years and most recently began studying under Dr. Tayna Stambuck. In that time, he has had the opportunity to perform with the Tacoma ORS with their Orchestra, and in several small ensembles. Calder recently he won third place in a sonatina competition and won second place in the International Sister Cities Arts competition in musical interpretation.