About

Mezzo-soprano Julia Cavallaro and composer Rodney Lister have collaborated on an eclectic and exciting range of projects—from Erik Satie's Socrate (with tenor Charley Blandy) and Brahms's Songs with Viola (with John Ziarko) to Lister's own song cycle, Only the Lemon of Desire (with Chris Teal). With equal passion for both canonical and new works, they strive to embody the essential qualities of each piece they play.

More about Julia and Rodney:

Praised for her “pure and lovely tone” (Boston Musical Intelligencer), Julia Cavallaro is a mezzo-soprano with a passion for both early and new repertoire. She has appeared in concert and stage productions with the Handel and Haydn Society, Boston Landmarks Orchestra, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, and Boston Early Music Festival, and has performed as a soloist with the New England Classical Singers, the Concord Chorus, and the Jameson Singers. Ms. Cavallaro sings with several Boston-based chamber ensembles, including Schola Cantorum, Musical Offering, and Canto Armonico. A staff singer at Trinity Church in the City of Boston, she received her master’s degree from Boston University and bachelor’s degree from Harvard College. In addition to her performing career, Ms. Cavallaro works full-time as an administrator for the Tufts University Department of Music.

Composer Rodney Lister has received commissions, grants, fellowships, and awards from the Berkshire Music Center (Tanglewood), the Fromm Foundation, the Koussevitzky Music Foundation, the Fires of London, the Poets’ Theatre, the Virgil Thomson Foundation, the MacDowell Colony, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and ASCAP. His works have been performed at Tanglewood, the Library of Congress, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and in London, among other places, by performers including Joel Smirnoff, Phyllis Curtin, Michael Finnissy, and the Boston Cecilia. As a pianist, he has been involved in world, U.S., or Boston premieres of works by Virgil Thomson, Peter Maxwell Davies, Milton Babbitt, Michael Finnissy, Lee Hyla, and Paul Bowles.

Music

Brahms: Lieder Op. 85, Op. 86 & Op. 96 (Songs with Viola)
Lister: Only the Lemon of Desire
Satie: Socrate