Trinity UP Church, DAR present ‘Songs for America’
Trinity United Presbyterian Church, Uniontown, and the Fort Necessity Chapter of Daughters of the American Revolution co-sponsored an America250 event, Uniontown 250th Celebration, on Sunday, July 12.
The presentation featured a lecture on the history of Uniontown by local historian Frank Kurtik and a recital by soprano, Dr. Julianne Laird, and composer/pianist R.J. Nestor. The recital, entitled “Songs for America,” showcased vocal music that honors America250 through the words and music of diverse composers and authors recalling the foundations, dreams, and stories of the American experience.
The program included the premiere of Nestor’s song cycle, “Songs for America,” with texts by early Americans Abigail Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Phillis Wheatley, Thomas Paine, and George Washington. Nestor’s compositions on this recital also included his 2019 song cycle, “Five Appalachian Songs.” Additionally, Laird and Nestor performed a Lakota lament by 20th C Native American composer, Louis Wayne Ballard (1931-2007). Ballard is notably the most important early composer who combined Native American heritage and culture with traditional western music composition.
To conclude the program, the duo performed three traditional Spirituals arranged by African American female composers Florence Price (1887-1953) and Undine Smith Moore (1904-1989).
Following the program, the NSDAR provided a reception and former Regent Gail Matus presented NSDAR certificates to Kurtik, Laird, and Nestor for Excellence in Historic Preservation.
Laird served for three decades as a choral and string music educator in the Pennsylvania public schools, primarily in the Indiana Area School District. She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in voice performance from West Virginia University. Throughout her career, she has championed the work of women composers, including doctoral research on the music of Appalachian composer and song collector, Jean Ritchie. Her recent appearances include recitals in Kill Devil Hills, N.C., Orchard Hill, MI, and at the 2024 College Music Society national conference. She also appeared in concert with the orchestras of North Carolina School of Science and Math, including reprising her 1990s recordings with speed-metal band, Believer. Locally, she has sung the soprano role in the Bruderhof communities’ productions of Handel’s Messiah.
Laird performs regularly on the Outer Banks of North Carolina as a singer and “cellofiddler” in the folk duo, J.R. Shanty Co. with her husband, Richard Workman, presenting sea shanties, stories, and songs of the sea.
Nestor holds degrees in music composition and orchestral conducting from West Virginia University.
Music is his lifelong passion and profession, and he has directed hundreds of musical theatre productions. His compositions have been performed across America and Europe, including commissions for Scriptures for Spain for choir and orchestra and the incidental music for the Chicago premiere of Ken Ludwig’s “Moon Over Buffalo.”
-
- Former Regent Gail Matus presented a certificate local historian Frank Kurtik for Excellence in Historic Preservation.
-
- From left, Dr. Julianne Laird, Gail Matus, and R.J. Nestor with their certificates presented by the Daughters of the American Revolution.
-
- R.J. Nestor and Dr. Julianne Laird perform “Songs for America.”