Issue link: http://saihq.uberflip.com/i/1472957
sai-national.org • Summer 2022 11 Music Notes An SAI's 100th A cis presents The Ocean of Eternity — The Songs of Lori Laitman. Themes of life, longing, and legacy permeate this new recording of songs by the celebrated American composer Lori Laitman (an SAI Honorary Member). Laitman has composed multiple operas, choral works, and over 300 art songs. Gramophone praised her most recent release as "eminently singable" with "wide appeal...[and] humour aplenty" and musicologist John Michael Cooper wrote "Laitman provides some of the most ravishingly beautiful music that I know in the repertoire." The album features renowned artists in several world premiere recordings. The centerpiece is The Ocean of Eternity, scored for the unusual combination of soprano, soprano saxophone, and piano. This cycle about mortality sets a poem by Anne Ranasinghe, a German Jew who escaped the Holocaust and eventually settled in Sri Lanka. New arrangements of Vedem Songs tell the story of the boys imprisoned in the Terezin Concentration Camp, while excerpts from Ludlow, Laitman's opera with librettist David Mason, showcase America's tragic treatment of immigrants. Throughout the album, with her signature gift for melody, Laitman illuminates the classic poetry of Emily Dickinson, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and William Butler Yeats; Holocaust poetry by Petr Ginz, Hanuš Hachenburg and Zdeněk Ornest; and contemporary works by Annie Finch, Dana Gioia, Jennifer Reeser, A. E. Stallings, and Diane Thiel. T H E O C E A N O F E T E R N I T Y On Sunday, June 5, friends and family of Judy Strubhar Ross gathered in Knoxville, Tennessee, to celebrate her 100th birthday! SAI Executive Director, Ruth Sieber Johnson was in attendance and presented a dozen red roses to this special SAI member. A recognition certificate included these words: "is honor is bestowed on Judy Strubhar Ross in honor of her 100th birthday, June 5, 2022. Initiated by SAI on March 28, 1942, and receiving the Sword of Honor in 1966, Judy has demonstrated a lifelong commitment to the ideals of SAI in furthering music in America. She has been an affiliate of both the Miami, Florida Alumnae Chapter and the Knoxville, Tennessee Alumnae Chapter. Also, a member of the SAI Philanthropies, Inc. Composers Bureau, her works have been featured in the Annual Composers Update since 1947. Her compositions are both sacred and secular — choral, orchestral, chamber music, vocal solos, and instrumental ensembles. Her "Fanfare for ree Trumpets" has opened five National SAI Conventions. Judy truly exemplifies the mission statement of Sigma Alpha Iota: To encourage, nurture, and support the Art of Music." As her two daughters can attest, Judy was in great spirits and enjoyed seeing old friends and telling stories about her life. A moving slide show, with one of her compositions accompanying the photos, was shared with the attendees. She especially reveled in the tales of her involvement in social justice issues, as she was known to stage sit-ins and be arrested for good causes. Usually accompanied by an appropriate song, too! Cake and ice cream and blowing out candles ended a full, happy day! Happy 100th, Judy! Judy Strubhar Ross celebrated her 100th birthday in June.