El Taller Latino Americano is proud to present Marvelous, True Tales of Love and War: Hungarian Folk Songs of Bartók and Kodály. Soprano Laura Ingram Semilian resonates shared realms of magic realism from Eurasia through her interpretations of Hungarian folk songs collected and arranged by composers and pioneering ethnomusicologists Béla Bartók and Zoltán Kodály. Gathered in villages and from soldiers of the First World War, transported on Edison's phonograph cylinders, these incantatory melodies of courtship and battle yield echoes of universal experience and imagination.  

Collaborating in this unplugged acoustic szalon are pianist Martin Wallace and flutist Barbara Frankel, who will also perform instrumental works of Bartók. 

Laura Ingram Semilian's solo orchestral and operatic performances have ranged in repertorie from Orff to Verdi to Wagner. A first place winner of the southeastern region's Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions, her musical training included study with Virginia Zeani, and she holds graduate degrees in both history and opera performance. Recently published writings include her new translations into English of Hungarian folk songs from the program, as well as collaborative translations with her husband Julian of Romanian Surrealist literature. She has composed soundscapes for several experimental films. 

Barbara Frankel, a classically trained flutist and pianist with eclectic tastes, enjoys sharing her love of music through teaching and performing. She is delighted to be participating in tonight's concert after a 12-year hiatus from flute-playing. As a flutist, Barbara has performed classical, jazz, world and improvisational music. As a piano teacher, Barbara guides non-career oriented students, ages 5 to 95, to explore and expand their own musical tastes and loves. Please visit - www.barbarasmusic.com for more information about Barbara. 

Martin Wallace is a pianist/composer who has been composing and performing for mediums as varied as movie soundtracks, jazz combos, latin boogaloo bands, marching bands and string and wind ensembles. Current experiments emphasize the interplay between sampled sounds from various environments and acoustic ensembles with an ear towards unusual tunings. Keep an eye out for his latest work with Off The Walrus Productions on www.martianwalrus.com.