"A triumph! This baritone has the vocal wherewithal to do just about anything he wants."The Boston Globe
by Joyce DiDonato
by Noah Stewart
by Nicole Cabell
by Michael Slattery
by Monica Yunus
by Sharon Stone
by Matthew Polenzani
by Jamie Barton
by Anthony Dean Griffey
by Susanna Phillips
by Lester Lynch
by Ansel Elgort
by Monica Yunus
by Daniel Okulitch
by Isabel Leonard
by Sean Panikkar
by Sasha Cooke
by Sharon Stone
by Melody Moore
by Keith Phares
by Adrienne Danrich
by Randall Scarlata
by Camille Zamora
An all-star cast of renowned singers and instrumentalists comes together on one CD to sing for hope and in the cause of supporting AIDS research: Joyce DiDonato, Yo-Yo Ma, Jamie Barton, Noah Stewart, Susanna Phillips, Sean Panikkar, Matthew Polenzani, Anthony Dean Griffey, Monica Yunus, Camille Zamora, Isabel Leonard, Randall Scarlata and many more. Actors Sharon Stone ("Casino", "Basic Instinct") and Ansel Elgort ("The Fault In Our Stars") contribute readings of poetry. All profits from the sale of this album will go to amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research. This CD features new songs by established and emerging American composers, many specially commissioned to create a global musical portrait of AIDS today.
"Powerful moments include mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke and pianist John Musto voicing Musto's now-iconic anthem "Litany," on a short poem by Langston Hughes ("Gather up, In the arms of your pity, The sick, the depraved, the desperate, the tired, All the scum of our weary city") and Jamie Barton's stupendous yet easy-going delivery of Eric Reda's 2008 "Atripla!" Ken Merrill is the superb pianist for this virtuosic setting of a pharmaceutical pamphlet and Barton's rich voice, wondrous high notes and immaculate diction detail a hilarious - and at the same time horrifying - list of the drug's side effects."-Judith Malafronte, Opera News, April 2015