For her time with the Artist Propulsion Lab, mezzo Briana Hunter wanted to focus on highlighting Black women. As part of that, she commissioned a new song cycle At Ease, by composer Jasmine Barnes. At Ease sets three poems by poet Rio Cortez from her collection Golden Ax, "Black Annie Hall," "Black Mary Wilkie," and "Black Lead in a Nancy Meyers Film," focusing on Black women at leisure. In this podcast, Briana, Jasmine, and Rio take us inside At Ease, and then we will hear the complete song cycle.

Program:

At Ease by Jasmine Barnes, poems by Rio Cortez
-Briana Hunter, mezzo; Eric Sedgwick, piano

Golden Ax  by Rio Cortez is published by Penguin Books. Copyright © 2022 by Rio Cortez