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Art Songs for a New Era comprises a variety of languages and genres, although classically-based. True to their definition, these songs are written for one singer and piano, although the Spanish tracks have 4-5 voices (all Jessica) and two pieces include the flute. Some selections are in the German Romantic style, and some more reminiscent of contempory folk music. The song texts derive from bible verses, Goethe, Blake, and other poets, as well as Jessica's own lyrics. . . Translations are listed in the CD jacket. This album makes for great night-time relaxation; one second-grader loves to listen before she goes to bed every night!
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Jessica Liedich , a.k.a. Jessica Lydic Stowe, was born to third and fourth generation German Americans. She began learning about piano and voice from her Lutheran church choir director Sandy Anderson James - who transcribed Jessica's first composition. Following in her footsteps, Ms. Liedich left Phoenix for St. Olaf College to study Music and finished her Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude, in 1994 at California Lutheran University (CLU). She earned her Masters in Education at Arizona State University in 1998, after which she began her career teaching K – 12 Choral and General Music.
Ms. Liedich spent two years as a soprano with the Phoenix Bach Choir, during which the choir performanced with the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra and the Boston Pops Orchestra. She has performed for dignitaries of the American Embassy of the Dominican Republic, and led singers in a concert for the Kieler Woche Festival of 1999 in Kiel, Germany. Her composition “To Mrs. Anna Flaxman” with text by Robert Blake, won the CLU Alumni Composition Competition of 2001. She is currently a mentor teacher in Fairfax, Virginia and served two years as a board member of Fairfax General Music Educators Association. Her current choir has been invited to perform at the Virginia Music Educators Association Conference. Ms. Liedich has adopted the old German spelling of her maiden name in honor of her father, Edward O. Lydic (1943-2003).
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