A New Country, with Jennifer Johnson Cano & Longleash Trio

Pulitzer winner Paul Moravec’s A New Country (2018) celebrates the aspirations of immigrants to America, using poetry by Walt Whitman and Emma Lazarus, among others. Young Metropolitan Opera mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnson Cano is joined by the dynamic Longleash Piano Trio, Laura Gilbert, flute & Jonathan Bagg, viola in a program that includes American works for voice and piano, Charles Ives’ Piano Trio, a musical portrait of his days at Yale, and songs by Aaron Copland.

A naturally gifted singer noted for her commanding stage presence and profound artistry, Jennifer Johnson Cano has garnered great critical acclaim.  Last year she made her debut as Offred in Poul Ruders’s The Handmaid’s Talewith Boston Lyric Opera, which was hailed by the Boston Globe as a “tour de force performance … seemingly a role she was born to inhabit…  This is her tale to tell, and she tells the hell out of it.” She also returned to The Metropolitan Opera as Emilia in Otelloand Meg Page in Falstaff. Ms. Cano’s orchestral engagements include Bernstein’s Jeremiah Symphonywith the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erdewith the Colorado Springs Philharmonic, and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphonywith the Pittsburgh and Cincinnati Symphonies.

Longleash Trio (violin, cello, piano) is an ensemble with a traditional instrumentation and a progressive identity. Inspired by new music with unusual sonic beauty, an inventive streak, and compelling cultural relevancy, Longleash extends a love of classical chamber musicianship to the interpretation of contemporary music, crafting performances that are both dynamic and thoughtfully refined. An “expert young trio” praised for its “subtle and meticulous musicianship” (Strad magazine) and for navigating “an incredible breadth of musical styles with technical expertise and expressive innovation” (Feast of Music), Longleash has quickly earned a reputation in the US and abroad for innovative programming, artistic excellence, and new music advocacy.

The trio takes its name from Operation Long Leash, a covert CIA operation designed to promote the work of American avant-garde artists in Europe during the Cold War. Longleash (Pala Garcia, violin; John Popham, cello; Renate Rohlfing, piano) met in New York while training at The Juilliard School and Manhattan School of Music.

“Find joy in the towering account of Offred offered here by the mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnson Cano. Restless, powerful, profound, she is as formidable as this astonishingly demanding role deserves. (“Handmaid’s Tale)— David Allen, New York Times

Through much of the opera, what we are observing — and marveling at — is the tour de force performance of mezzo soprano Jennifer Johnson Cano in the central part of Offred, seemingly a role she was born to inhabit. Offred is onstage for almost all of the opera’s roughly 150 minutes, singing for much of that time. In interactions with her oppressors, Offred’s vocal range is confined, and Cano adds poignant weight to each note when engaging with them. When the character is alone and free to escape into memory, the singer soars into a luminous, complex high range, letting her voice stretch toward freedom. This is her tale to tell, and she tells the hell out of it.

—Zoë Madonna, The Boston Globe

“And in Passing Through, Staying Put (2011) by Christopher Trapani, some lovely unison glissandos were followed by pointed pizzicatos, tumbling together in the hands of this expert young trio (Longleash)…there was no denying the meticulous and subtle musicianship on display.”

–Bruce Hodges, The Strad