Open Classical

+ Click here for video of the premiere performance  

+ Donate $25 for the password for the video of the premiere

+ Donate $100 to attend in person (Ended)

+ Help bring this work to a wide audience - the first ever that brings the meaning of Frost’s iconic poetry to life in music.

+ Individual songs will be dedicated to top supporters of this campaign in the published sheet music and recordings.

PREMIERE PERFORMANCE (Ended - watch the video for $25)

Aug 8, 2021 at 7pm in Dallas, TX or via private livestream video

Nina Polachek, soprano & Misha Berestnev, piano

At Leila Bakery 6041 Oram St., Dallas

Drinks and hors d'oeuvres will be served

HOW TO ATTEND

Live attendance with a donation of $100+ (30 spots filled, a few added seats available)

Livestream provided for donations of $25+

GIFTS for SUPPORTERS

$10+ Download the premiere recording made of this work

$25+ Receive a booklet with lyrics and inside insight into the work, livestream of the premiere

$30+ Receive a digital score of the work

$50+ Receive a signed physical score of the work

$100+ Attend the premiere (ended)

$300+ Certified 24x20 gallery quality photograph from world renown photographer Nikola Olic, as seen in the NY Times, Washington Post, Wired, and many other publications (http://www.structurephotography.org/OpenClassical/)

$1000+ Top 7 donors above this level will have one of the songs dedicated to them or to their choice of dedicatee.

$1200+ Certified 40x50 gallery quality photograph from world renown photographer Nikola Olic (see above).

My name is Mark Landson, and I’m a composer of beautiful, vibrant classical music that takes the listener on a journey of emotions. I have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars in private contributions on the strength of my compositions and events surrounding them over 20+ years. I recently composed a new set of songs which will be a significant addition to my body of work and should be a staple of contemporary art songs for years to come.

ABOUT THE PROJECT

Robert Frost is probably America’s greatest and most beloved poet. His verses are taught as an integral part of the canon of American poetry.

During his lifetime Frost allowed only one composer to set his poetry to music, fellow New Englander Randall Thompson. Frost hated the work so much that he declared he would never allow his poetry to be set to music again. Frost died in 1963 at the age of 88, but the heirs of his estate have abided by his wishes, even refusing famed composer Eric Whitaker after a work had been written and premiered in the year 2000.

In the last few years, however, most of Frost’s most famous works have finally entered into the public domain. And that means that art songs can finally be legally created using his incredible text.

Seeing this opportunity, a couple of years ago I began researching the Frost catalogue, searching for poems that I could combine into a fully integrated major work. The result is a new song cycle, completed during the Covid pandemic, called “Nothing Gold Can Stay”, a set of seven songs for voice and piano with text by Robert Frost.

I consider it to be one of the finest works I’ve ever written.

This work will be premiered in Dallas TX on August 8, 2021 at 7PM by the wonderful soprano Nina Polachek with Misha Berestnev on piano.

This campaign will raise money for concerts of the work, promotion of the work, and recordings of the work, which will be accomplished through my organization Open Classical, which produces about 150 events per year.

The top 30 donors to this campaign who are able will be invited to attend the premiere in person. If you donate $100, you can lock in your attendance and not have to wait to find out if you’re one of the top 30. The premiere will be live-streamed to all others donating over $25.

It was over 20 years ago, at the premiere of my violin sonata Troubled Souls, that a woman came up to me after the concert, and said How can I help? That woman became my first patron, donating $10K to my next project.

Since then, my philosophy has been to do good work, put on memorable events, and be grateful to those who will help me make the world a more beautiful place with music that moves them. I’ve been fortunate to have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars in private donations on the strength of my compositions, ideas and the events built around them.

I invite you to be an important financial backer of this special project. I’ve taken special care to choose poems where the meaning of Robert Frost’s poetry can be illuminated and brought to visceral life through a musical setting.

Donations to this campaign are administered by Open Classical, which is the non-profit organization I founded and direct, and are tax-deductible to the amount allowable by law.

Thank you,

Mark Landson