TRANSCENDING
Three Songs for Michael Dash in memoriam
for baritone and piano 1995. Texts by Yeats, Emerson, and Dunbar. Commissioned by Musicians’ Accord. Premiere: Weill Recital Hall, 1995, Kevin Deas, baritone. Publisher: Argenta Music.
The following performed by Sidney Outlaw, baritone, and Warren Jones, piano, From Albany Records “Beauty Intolerable: The Songs of Sheila Silver”
My good friend Michael Dash performed extensively as both a countertenor and a baritone. In the late 1980’s he performed and recorded (Mode Records) my “CANTO – A Setting of Ezra Pound’s Canto XXXIX,” a virtuosic baritone theatre piece that includes an ensemble of 9. He sang with many opera companies including the Metropolitan Opera, Glimmerglass, the Chautauqua and Virginia Operas and was a much sought-after performer of contemporary music. He recorded the boy soprano part in George Crumb’s “Ancient Voices of Children,” a Nonesuch recording for which he received two Grammy nominations. Born in New Orleans, he attended the Julliard School of Music. Michael Dash was a phenomenal performer with a spectacular range. He died at the young age of 36. He is forever missed.