Legends: Rebellion

"Legends: Rebellion" is the latest installment in a series of recordings that honor women as storytellers and bearers of cultural memory. The Grammy-nominated, long-time collaborating duo – soprano Laura Strickling and pianist Joy Schreier – return with this project, which includes several world premiere recordings, to enrich the ever-evolving genre of the modern art song. The album explores rebellion in its many forms: political, emotional, erotic, maternal, and spiritual. From the Landay poetry of Afghan women, written in defiance of oppression, to mythical heroines reclaiming their own narratives, to an unflinching portrayal of new motherhood and a powerful meditation on love as resistance. This album defies conventional expectations of what art song "should be," offering a kaleidoscopic variety of harmonic and rhythmic expressions alongside captivating, deeply human lyrics; a program that fascinates, challenges, illuminates, and delights – inviting both die-hard art song lovers and those less familiar with the genre into an expressive sound world that celebrates the contemporary song as a space for courage, vulnerability, testimony, and transformation.