Words Like Freedom: To Langston with Love

  • Curtis New Music Ensemble
  • Oct 17, 2026 @ 7:00 p.m.

A Musical Celebration of Langston Hughes’ Legacy

Curated by Grammy Award winner Karen Slack (’02), creative advisor for vocal studies and opera, Words Like Freedom: To Langston with Love brings the poetry of Langston Hughes to vivid life through music and staging. Curtis students illuminate Hughes’ powerful words through vocal and instrumental color, honoring his legacy as a poet, novelist, and activist. This moving tribute explores themes of identity, resilience, and hope—celebrating a singular American voice whose work continues to resonate.

Read the libretto.

Read the program book.

Please join us for a pre-show talk with Curtis faculty before the program at 6:00 p.m. in Locks Board Room, accessible from the lobby of Lenfest Hall.

Please note programs and artists are subject to change.

Program

Erik SANTOS Selections from Dreamer
"Sandman"
"Birth"
"Bound No'th Blues"

Henry Drangel, tenor
Hannah Chen, harp
Elijah Orlenko, piano
PRICE "Song to the Dark Virgin"
"Hold Fast to Dreams"

Judy Zhuo, mezzo-soprano
Reese Revak, piano
OWENS "Genius Child" from Mortal Storm

Judy Zhuo, mezzo-soprano
Reese Revak, piano
Erik SANTOS Selections from Dreamer
"To Artina"
"Down Where I Am"

Henry Drangel, tenor
Hannah Chen, harp
Elijah Orlenko, piano
SMITH Beyond the Rim of Day
"March Moon"
"Troubled Woman"
"To a Little Lover-lass, Dead"

Juliet Rand, soprano
Reese Reevak, piano
BURLEIGH "Lovely Dark and Lonely One"

Ethan Elsbernd, baritone
Reese Revak, piano
Damien SNEED "I Dream a World"

Ethan Elsbernd, baritone
Niccolo Wu, Violin
Sameer Agrawal, Violin
Haixin Wan, Viola
Carson Ling-Efird, Cello
Reese Revak, piano
PRICE Selections from Five Folksongs in Counterpoint
IV. Allegro, "Shortnin' Bread"
V. Andantino, "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot"

Niccolo Wu, violin
Sameer Agrawal, violin
Haixin Wan, viola
Carson Ling-Efird , cello
OWENS Selections from Heart on the Wall
"Heart"
"Havana Dreams"
"Girl"
"For Dead Mimes"

Maya Mor-Mitrani, soprano
Reese Revak, piano
Dominic DOUSA Selections from Six Songs on the Poetry of Langston Hughes
"Dream Keeper"
"As I Grew Older"
"Judgment Day"

Ryan Jester, bass
Theo Harrah, bass
Ásta Dóra Finnsdóttir, piano
Valerie COLEMAN Selections from Portraits of Langston
II. Danse Africaine
VI. Harlem's Summer Night

Eunah Kim, flute
Hyein Oh, clarinet
Serena Wang, piano
Shawn OKPEBHOLO Selections from Words Like Freedom
"Refugee in America"
"Wisdom"
"Dusk"
"Oppression"
"Spirituals"
"Reprise"

Jeysla Rosario Santos, soprano
Carlyle Quinn, mezzo-soprano
CharmHee Han, piano
Erik SANTOS Selections from Dreamer
"The Dream Keeper"
"Bouquet"

Henry Drangel, tenor
Hannah Chen, harp
Elijah Orlenko, piano

Artists

  • John Matsumoto Giampietro Acting Instructor, Director

    John Matsumoto Giampietro is a Brooklyn based stage director of Opera and Theatre, an educator, and writer. John has directed opera and theatre at Tanglewood, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Urban Stages, Yale Opera, Vermont Shakespeare Festival, Curtis Institute of Music, The Flea Theatre, Shenandoah Conservatory and NYU Tisch School of the Arts, among others. Learn more.

  • Curtis New Music Ensemble

    Curtis New Music Ensemble features compelling repertoire from the 20th and 21st centuries. With bold collaborations and striking productions, Curtis New Music Ensemble embraces the cutting edge of contemporary classical music through the highest level of artistry.

Special Thanks

Generous support for Curtis New Music Ensemble is provided by the Daniel W. Dietrich II Foundation.

Curtis received funding from Pennsylvania Creative Industries, powered by the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the National Endowment for the Arts.

About the Artists

Sameer Agrawal, from Chicago, studying violin with Midori, is the Herbert R. and Evelyn Axelrod Fellow and entered Curtis in 2023.

Hannah Chen, from Union City, Calif., studying harp with Elizabeth Hainen and Noël Wan, is the L. Daniel Dannenbaum Fellow and entered Curtis in 2024.

Henry Drangel, from New York City, studying voice with Jack Li Vigni, is the Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz Fellow and entered Curtis in 2025.

Ethan Elsbernd, from Waukee, Iowa, studying opera with Amanda Majeski, is the Alfred Greenberg Memorial Fellow and entered Curtis in 2026.

Ásta Dóra Finnsdóttir, from Garðabær, Iceland, studying piano with Michelle Cann, is the Harold and Helene Schonberg Fellow and entered Curtis in 2025.

CharmHee Han, from Seoul, studying piano with Robert McDonald, is the Michael and Cecilia Iacovella Capuzzi Memorial Fellow and entered Curtis in 2022.

Theo Harrah, from Louisville, Ky., studying opera with Mark Schnaible, is the Charles and Judith Freyer Fellow in Voice and entered Curtis in 2026.

Ryan Jester, from Scotia, N.Y., studying voice with Mark Schnaible, is the William Horne Fellow and entered Curtis in 2025.

Eunah Kim, from Frisco, Texas, studying flute with Jeffrey Khaner and Chelsea Knox, is the Laura and Bill Buck Fellow and entered Curtis in 2022.

Carson Ling-Efird, from Seattle, studying cello with Nicholas Canellakis, Yumi Kendall, Christine Lee, and Peter Wiley, is the Joseph Druian Fellow and entered Curtis in 2023.

Maya Mor-Mitrani (Voice ’25), from Tzur Moshe, Israel, studying opera with Amanda Majeski, is the Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher Foundation Fellow and first entered Curtis in 2021.

Hyein Oh, from Seoul, studying clarinet with Anthony McGill and YaoGuang Zhai, is the Arlene and Irving Tashlick Fellow and entered Curtis in 2025.

Elijah Orlenko, from Toronto, studying piano with Michelle Cann, is the Wike Family Fellow and entered Curtis in 2023.

Carlyle Quinn, from Portland, Ore., studying opera with Jennifer Rowley, is the Lelia A. Wike Fellow and entered Curtis in 2025.

Juliet Renée Rand (Voice ’25), from Southold, N.Y., studying opera with Elliot Madore, is the Barbara Moskow Fellow and first entered Curtis in 2021.

Jeysla Rosario Santos, from Loiza, P.R., studying opera with Amanda Majeski, is the Joseph Cairns Jr. and Ernestine Bacon Cairns Memorial Fellow and entered Curtis in 2024.

Haixin Wan, from Guangzhou, China, studying viola with Roberto Díaz, Edward Gazouleas, and Teng Li, is the Demeng Foundation Fellow and entered Curtis in 2026.

Serena Wang, from San Francisco, studying piano with Robert McDonald, is the Dr. Samuel R. and Mrs. Beatrice S. Rossman Fellow and entered Curtis in 2024.

Niccolo Wu, from Taipei, Taiwan, studying violin with Benjamin Beilman, is the John S. Price Fellow and entered Curtis in 2024.

Judy Zhuo (’26), from Nanning, China, studying voice with Amanda Majeski, is the Horace W. Goldsmith Fellow and first entered Curtis in 2023.

Reese Reevak, staff pianist

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