Program Note:

Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) was little-known during her life but has been since regarded as one of America’s most important voices. Hope, a lyrical poem in ballad meter that first appeared in Fascicle 13 (1861), is among her most well-known. “Hope is the thing with feathers,” she wrote, evoking the fact that, like a bird, it exalts, but is also fleeting. Originally composed at the request of Scott Foss for potential inclusion in the Roger Dean catalogue; after some revisions, it was completed in New York City on 14 September 1996, published by E.C. Schirmer, and first recorded by the American Repertory Singers, conducted by Leo Nestor.