[Montreal] Jona Rapoport to Represent Celebrated American Composer Lori Laitman

"It is difficult to think of anyone before the public today who equals her exceptional gifts for embracing a poetic text and giving it new and deeper life through music." (Journal of Singing, 2007)

Canadian artist manager and publicist Jona Rapoport will be representing American composer Lori Laitman worldwide. Ms Rapoport has managed the career of several classical vocalists in the past, and is currently the producer and host of the radio program "Art & Fine Living with Jona" on CJRS 1650 in Montreal. She is listed in the international directory of Musical America.

Lori Laitman is one of America's most prolific and widely performed composers of art song. She has composed nearly 200 songs, setting the words of classical and contemporary poets to music, among them the lost voices of poets who perished in the Holocaust. The composer's first opera, "Come to Me in Dreams" premiered by Cleveland Opera in 2005, and her upcoming opera, based on Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter", to libretto by poet David Mason, will premiere at The University of Central Arkansas in the fall of 2008.

Laitman's songs have been released on Albany Records, Naxos, Channel Classics and others, showcasing the talents of some of today's top musicians. Among the many artists are: vocalists Phyllis Bryn-Julson, Jennifer Check, Patricia Green, Sari Gruber, William Sharp and Randall Scarlata; pianist Warren Jones; bassist Gary Karr; cellists Thomas Kraines and Marcy Rosen; saxophonist Gary Louie and violinist Juliette Kang.

In a review of her latest compilation, "Becoming a Redwood", the prestigious Gramophone Magazine remarked: "An extraordinarily impressive achievement… [which indicates] increasing evidence of a major talent. Lori Laitman's beautiful, sensitively crafted songs deserve to be performed widely". A review of her 2000 release, "Mystery – The Songs of Lori Laitman" by Opera News says: "Composer Lori Laitman knows how to let the voice soar and explore…spinning lyrical neo-romantic vocal lines over shifting post-modern sonorities". A Journal of Singing review of her 2003 album, "Dreaming", posits her firmly alongside another legendary composer: "This is a stunning collection of widely varied songs by one of the finest art song composers on the scene today...Lori Laitman deservedly stands shoulder to shoulder with Ned Rorem for her uncommon sensitivity to text, her loving attention to the human voice and its capabilities, and her extraordinary palette of musical colors and gestures".

Lori Laitman graduated magna cum laude from Yale College and received her Master of Music degree in flute performance from The Yale School of Music. Her recordings are available on her website, www.artsongs.com, as well as Amazon and ITunes. Sheet music can be ordered from Classical Vocal Reprints (1-800-298-7474), www.classicalvocalrep.com.

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For inquiries and interviews contact:

Jona Rapoport Artist Management

Montreal, Canada

jonarapoport@radio-shalom.ca

jonarapoport@gmail.com

Tel: 514 488 0246