Songs From the F Train
Songs From the F Train
voice and piano
Premiere: Fort Greene, Brooklyn, NYC / Make Music New York / American Opera Projects, Fort Greene Park Conservancy and The Walt Whitman Project. / Nicole Mitchell, mezzo soprano; Tom Bagwell, pianist
Instrumentation: voice and piano
Duration: 7'
Text: poems by children from Brooklyn
Program Note
Songs from the F Train is a compilation of poems written by three Brooklyn school children. The students were participants in a poetry workshop led by Brooklyn writer Angeli Rasbury in Fort Greene. This composition is the first commissioned work of American Opera Projects' program I Hear America Singing. Inspired by the poem by Walt Whitman, I Hear America Singing is a new music initiative that commissions composers to create operatic songs based on the poetry and prose of Americans of all ages and all walks of life. Created by American Opera Projects and the Walt Whitman Project in 2009, I Hear America Singing seeks to express the varied thoughts, feelings, and stories of the people of our nation into a communal voice that will resonate for all.
“I’m Smart” from Lyons’ “Songs from the F Train” / text by Alexis Cummings, age 12 / July 17, 2009 / Opera Grows in Brooklyn / Nicole Mitchell, voice; Christopher Berg, piano / Galapagos Art Space, Brooklyn, NY
Text
I'm Smart
I'm smart but timid,
I worry I will never break
out of my fear.
I hear the
harmony when
people sing.
I see the
violence in my
community.
I want to indulge
my talents to the
world, I'm smart
but timid.
- Alexis Cummings, age 12
"I'm From the Ghetto Brooklyn" from Lyons’ “Songs from the F Train” / text by Najaya Royal, age 12 / December 29, 2009 / Kwanzaa Celebration / Nicole Mitchell, voice; Christopher Berg, piano / Brooklyn Public Library, Brooklyn, NY
I am From The Ghetto "Brooklyn"
I am from the streets of Brooklyn.
Where Graffiti Art is our museum.
Where that park on the corner with
broken bottles and needles from
the crack heads is our Disney World.
Where gang fights are our get together,
and funerals are our family reunions.
I am from the streets of Brooklyn
where we use jumper cables to play
double dutch because, jump ropes keep
the crooks near so they could sell it for crack.
I am from the streets of Brooklyn
where the ghetto is something
I can runaway from
though can not forget.
- Najaya Royal, age 12
When Randa wears red
“When Randa Wears Red” from Lyons’ "Songs from the F Train" / text by Samori Covington, age 9 / Nicole Mitchell, voice; Mila Henry, piano / The Phoenix Concerts in partnership with American Opera Projects, NYC
When Randa wears red
She looks like a strawberry
When Randa wears red
She looks beautiful
When Randa wears red
She is happy
When Randa wears red
She gets new things
When Randa wears red
She remembers everything
When Randa wears red
She has her watch
When Randa wears red
She reads a book
When Randa wears red
She matches with Valentines Day
- Samori Covington, age 9