SONGS OF THE SEA

Florida Orchestra

"The newest piece, The Work at Hand, brings mezzo soprano Jamie Barton to the Tampa Bay area with a thrilling performance. [Barton and Williams] have worked on this piece for more than 18 months and seemed fused together, whether vocalizing phrases or pausing between them. From her first entrance, Barton seized the audience with marvelous warmth and power, like the sudden introduction of a spine-stiffening rod. With able backing from the orchestra, the singer and cellist mastered the sudden shifts in the score, alternating rapture and a sense of deep cuts. The performance might be what American philosopher Alfred North Whitehead was getting at when he defined beauty as "contrasts held in tension without breaking.""
–Andrew Meacham, Tampa Bay Times