‘Were I With Thee’ : a new album by Michelle Areyzaga and Dana Brown

Photo by Elliot Mandel

Chicago Soprano Michelle Areyzaga and pianist Dana Brown are thrilled to present their new 4Tay Records release, Were I With Thee, showcasing a crystalline voice, masterful piano, and words penned by women and set by American composers.

“Were I With Thee” is a line from the Emily Dickinson poem “Wild Nights – Wild Nights,” and this album contains three settings of that poem. The album continues to celebrate Dickinson, featuring cover art by Emily’s living relative Kandice Dickinson.

Produced by Atlas Arts’ Aaron Gottl, this album comes together as an intelligently curated and performed body of work; a gorgeous piano and voice record that presents a unique vision, fusing women’s words from around the world to American song.

Areyzaga and Brown add, “This album will serve to introduce these works to young artists with the hope that they will be programmed on future recitals or albums. This is a female-uplifting project in all possible ways.

Composers include Gwyneth Walker, Patrice Michaels, Richard Pearson Thomas, Lee Hoiby, Wayland Rogers, John Duke, Edouard Lippé, and Leonard Bernstein.

World premiere recordings are Walker’s Emily (complete cycle); Rogers’ Tres Poemas de Gabriela Mistral (two of which were composed for Areyzaga); Walker’s La Luz (from La Ternura, also composed for Michelle), and Duke’s standalone art song “What Lips My Lips Have Kissed”.

These songs are all based on texts written by women authors from a variety of English and Spanish speaking  countries, including:

  • USA: Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Emily Dickinson, Dorothy Parker, Edna St. Vincent Millay
  • England: Anne Bradstreet, Elizabeth Barrett Browning
  • Chile: Gabriela Mistral
  • Puerto Rico: Julia de Burgos

Visit wereiwiththee.com for more information or to order CDs which are $20 (standard) or $30 (autographed) — both feature a free digital download link. (Buying directly from the artists ensures that 100% of the fees will go to the artists.)

For more about Michelle Areyzaga, visit michelleareyzaga.com
And for more about Dana Brown, visit danabrownmusic.com

This project is partially funded by
Roosevelt University Professional Development Fund

and by the Musicians Club of Women.