Beloved poet Walt Whitman (1819–1892) invented a new poetic language to express himself “…freely, fully and truly.” Musical visionary Cris Forster (b. 1948) invented new musical instruments for the same reason. Written for Chrysalis I, Harmonic/Melodic Canon, and voice, Song of Myself: Intoned Poems of Walt Whitman is a setting of eleven poems from Whitman’s masterwork, Leaves of Grass. Forster performed his work at the prestigious Berlin Music Festival, then returned home to create this memorable recording in 1980. In perfect concord with Whitman’s poetry, Forster infused his music with personal energy, passionate spirit, and free-thinking individuality. 

Forster - Song of Myself | The spotted hawk swoops by

GRAMMY® winning & triple nominee producer John Schneider and GRAMMY® nominated pianist Aron Kallay, themselves critically acclaimed performers of ‘microtonal’ music, created MicroFest Records to share their love of exciting repertoire that is simply unavailable anywhere else. Releases include world premiere studio recordings, as well as live performances from two decades of California’s celebrated MicroFest:

“World Class…” – Alan Rich, LA Weekly

“Performers were of a caliber that kept this listener in a state of continual astonishment.” – Mark Swed, LA Times

“After prolonged exposure to the rich, kaleidoscopic world of microtones, returning to equal-tempered music was like going back to black and white after spending a weekend immersed in color…” – Wall Street Journal