Esurientes implevit bonis from Magnificat, BWV 243 EMI 2021.12.19

Agnus Dei by Georges Bizet

Johannes Passion

Von den Stricken from St. John Passion by Johann Sebastian Bach

The Fire-Rider

Do you see at the window
there again, that red cap?
Something must be the matter
for it is going up and down.
And what a sudden mob
is now by the bridge near the field!
Hark! the fire-bell is shrilling:
beyond the hill,
beyond the hill,
there's a fire in the mill!

Look, there he goes, galloping furiously
through the gate - it's the fire-rider
on his horse, a bony nag
like a fire-ladder!
Across the fields, through the smoke and heat
he plunges, and he's already reached his goal!
Over there the bells are pealing,
beyond the hill,
beyond the hill,
there's a fire in the mill!

You who so often smelled fire
from a mile off,
and with a fragment of the holy cross
maliciously conjured the blaze -
woe! from the rafters there grins
the Enemy of Man in hellish light.
May God have mercy on your soul!
Beyond the hill,
beyond the hill,
he is raging in the mill!

Not an hour had passed
before the mill was reduced to rubble;
but the bold rider
from that hour was never seen again.
People and wagons in crowds
turn toward home away from all the horror;
and the bell stops ringing:
beyond the hill,
beyond the hill,
it's burning!

Later a miller found
a skeleton together with the cap
upright against the wall of the cellar
sitting on the mare of bone:
Fire-rider, how coolly
you ride now to your grave!
Hush! there it falls to ashes.
Rest well,
rest well,
down there in the mill!

Der Feuerreiter by Hugo Wolf, arr. by Stefan Heucke (August 2016)

Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival

Der Musensohn, D. 764, Franz Schubert

Music of the Spirit(s) - 10/30/2016

Könnt ihr so verwegen handeln? from Die erste Walpurgisnacht, Op 60, by Felix Mendelssohn

Hymns from St. Cecilia's

O Sacred Heart, All Blissful Light of Heaven

Princeton Pro Musica closes its 2015-’16 season with “American Voices” — an all American composer concert featuring, in the words of artistic director and conductor Ryan Brandau, “one of the most beautiful settings that exists of a 20th century text.”
Brandau is talking about the scoring of Dylan Thomas’ vivid poem “Fern Hill.” And while the poet is Welsh, the musical work’s Pulitzer Prize-winning composer, John Corigliano, is New York-born (in 1938).

American Voices

Fern Hill, John Corigliano (excerpt) Princeton Pro Musica

Mezzo-soprano, Margaret Lias, has been celebrated for her “warm,” “arresting,” and “rich-toned” singing. Since her Boston Symphony Hall debut in 2011 with Handel and Haydn Society (Handel, Israel in Egypt), Margaret has been a frequent soloist under the baton of Harry Christophers. In 2015, Margaret received praise for her Lincoln Center solo debut singing Mozart’s Requiem. Select solo appearances in 2018 and 2019 include Boston Baroque (Monteverdi, L’incoronazione di Poppea), Handel and Haydn Society (Bach, Mass in B Minor), Masterworks Chorale (works by Handel and Purcell), the Rhode Island Philharmonic (Handel, Messiah), Coro Allegro (Vivaldi, Gloria and Magnificat), Seraphic Fire (Vivaldi, Nisi Dominus), and Emmanuel Music (Harbison, The Supper at Emmaus).

A passionate supporter of Anglican liturgical music, Margaret has been a sought-after cantor for events such as bishop consecrations, priest ordinations, and Holy Week services in major cathedrals and churches in the US (St. John the Divine, New York, NY, Trinity Church in the City of Boston, MA, and Cathedral of St. Philip, Atlanta, GA) and abroad (Westminster Abbey (The Collegiate Church of St. Peter), London, England, and Coventry Cathedral (St. Michael’s Cathedral), Coventry, England.). Presently, Margaret is a core member of Emmanuel Music, ensemble-in-residence at Emmanuel Church, Boston, MA.

Margaret’s versatility as a singer allows her the opportunity to collaborate with other soloists to perform master choral works at a very high level easily transitioning from medieval and baroque music to classical, romantic, and contemporary repertoire. Margaret was a founding member of The Skylark Vocal Ensemble under Matthew Guard. She has performed frequently with Seraphic Fire under Patrick Dupré Quigley, Boston Baroque under Martin Pearlman, Voices of Ascension under Dennis Keene, Sacred Music in a Sacred Space under K. Scott Warren, Emmanuel Music under Ryan Turner, and Musica Sacra New York under Kent Tritle.  

Sought after for her administrative talents, Margaret was named chorus representative for Handel and Haydn Society in 2009 and served on the Board of Directors for Lorelei Ensemble. Additionally, Margaret is deeply honored to serve as Development Director for Emmanuel Music.

Margaret began vocal studies at the age of 13 but had already been a student of the Royal School of Church Music curriculum from age 7. As a teenager, Margaret participated in community education studies at Eastman School of Music and eventually went on to collegiate coursework there as well. Presently, Margaret studies with Rebecca Folsom.

Margaret Lias, mezzo

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