Grammy Award-winning baritone Lucas Meachem releases his first ever solo album, Shall We Gather, on Rubicon Classics. Performed with his wife, pianist Irina Meachem, Shall We Gather is an emotional and heartfelt plea for a better, more tolerant world, through 15 art songs that offer a vision of America’s truly rich national character...

Talking about the project, Lucas Meachem says: "With these songs, I hope to offer a bit of hope for what truly makes us come together: our belief in the good of humanity and love for our neighbour."

Works on the album include Gene Scheer’s 'American Anthem'; 'Song of the Deathless Voice' from Arthur Farwell’s Three Indian Songs; William Grant Still’s Grief; 'Beat! Beat! Drums!' from Kurt Weill’s Four Walt Whitman Songs; 'Litany' from John Musto’s Shadow of the Blues with text by Langston Hughes; Richard Hageman’s 'The Rich Man'; Florence Price’s 'Night'; 'That Moment On' from Jake Heggie’s Pieces of 9/11, as we near the 20th anniversary of the attacks; Irina Meachem and Steve White’s arrangement of Carrie Jacob-Bonds’ 'A Perfect Day'; traditional American folk song 'Oh, Shenandoah'; Charles Ives’ arrangement of 'In The Mornin’'; Ricky Ian Gordon’s 'We Will Always Walk Together'; Stephen Foster’s 'Hard Times Come Again No More'; and 'The Boatman’s Dance' and 'At The River' from Aaron Copland’s Old American Songs.

The diversity on offer here really helps to showcase Lucas' vocals. Irina's subtle playing also ensures that this is an album you're unlikely to forget. In fact it's a pretty safe bet to say you'll be drawn back to it time and time again.

And if you need another reason to pick this up: All of the proceeds from Shall We Gather will go to the Meachems’ Perfect Day Music Foundation, a non-profit promoting diversity in classical music, to fund projects such as the Perfect Day Competition, which encourages young musicians to share through social media works by composers and poets who have been historically excluded.

A treat for classical music lovers.

Track listing:

01. Gene Scheer (arr. Lee Musiker) – American Anthem [4:11]
02. Arthur Farwell – “Song of the Deathless Voice” from Three Indian Songs [2:08]
03. William Grant Still (text by Leroy V. Brant) – Grief [3:37]
04. Kurt Weill – “Beat! Beat! Drums!” from Four Walt Whitman Songs [3:31]
05. John Musto (text by Langston Hughes) – “Litany” from Shadow of the Blues [3:37]
06. Richard Hageman (text by Franklin P. Adams) – The Rich Man [1:50]
07. Florence Price (text by Louise C. Wallace) – Night [2:20]
08. Jake Heggie (text by Gene Scheer) – “That Moment On” from Pieces of 9/11 [6:20]
09. Carrie Jacob-Bonds (arr. Irina Meachem/Steve White) – A Perfect Day [2:56]
10. Traditional (arr. Steve White) – Oh, Shenandoah [2:55]
11. Traditional (arr. Charles Ives) – In The Mornin’ [2:55]
12. Ricky Ian Gordon – We Will Always Walk Together [5:54]
13. Stephen Foster – Hard Times Come Again No More [4:21]
14. Aaron Copland – “The Boatman’s Dance” from Old American Songs [3:09]
15. Aaron Copland (text by Robert Lowry) – “At The River” from Old American Songs [3:21]

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Darren Rea