FOR YOUR GRAMMY® CONSIDERATION
Best Classical Solo Vocal Album
Watching Glass, I Hear You
Leandra Ramm, mezzo-soprano • Michael Delfín, piano
Best Engineered Album – Classical
Best Contemporary Classical Composition
- Centuries in the Hours by Lisa Bielawa
- Eleven Fragments for the Book of Dreams by David T. Little
- Watching Glass, I Hear You by Douglas Knehans
Watching Glass, I Hear You is a multi-composer project curated to bring together diverse contemporary voices in a unified artistic statement. The album features five multi-movement song cycles by living composers Lisa Bielawa, David T. Little, Douglas Knehans, Cyril Deaconoff, and Daron Hagen. Four of these works are world-premiere recordings, while the fifth is presented in a newly conceived interpretive context. With texts drawn largely from female poets and lyricists, these works form a landmark program that broadens and redefines the contemporary song repertoire and contributes vital new compositions to the field.
Brought to life by mezzo-soprano Leandra Ramm and pianist Michael Delfín, the performances are both fearless and nuanced. They highlight the individuality of each composer while creating a unified artistic statement. Centering women’s voices through text and interpretation, the album embraces cross-genre influences and delivers a fresh, compelling reimagining of classical song today. Captured with exceptional clarity and balance, the recording presents both the artistry and the sound world in vivid detail.
Released February 28, 2025 on Ablaze Records
“The vocal dynamic range is impressive, as is the emotional range. The pianist, Michael Delfin, is an exceptional partner for the very impressive Leandra Ramm. This compilation of songs has been chosen with great care and reveals a very fine mezzo soprano, and a pianist that I would regard as exceptional. The works present composers that are all unique but effective and there is not a weak one amongst them. If you like a disc of songs that you won’t have heard before, with exceptional artists, then this is one for you” – Classical Music Daily
“Deeply personal and emotionally rich, the album brings together compositions inspired by female- penned poetry and intimate narratives, exploring the multifaceted nature of femininity. Created in close collaboration with composers Lisa Bielawa, Douglas Knehans, David T. Little, Cyril Deaconoff, and Daron Hagen during the height of the pandemic, the project highlights Ramm’s exceptional vocal range and dramatic depth” – Babylon Radio
Centuries in the Hours – settings of diary excerpts by American women whose lives were historically overlooked, giving voice to stories that resonate with urgency and poignancy today.
Watching Glass, I Hear You – exploring both the cruelest and most tender aspects of love and loss.
Eleven Fragments for the Book of Dreams – a surreal dream labyrinth of sand, mirrors, and scorpions, where shifting rhythms and textures suggest glimpses of the afterlife.
Transformations – settings of women poets whose words brim with emotional color and vivid imagery, each poem transforming mood, perspective, and voice.
Four Songs for mezzo-soprano – showcasing composer Daron Hagen’s brilliance, including a luminous arrangement of the beloved Peruvian anthem La Flor de la Canela.
Poets and lyricists include: Emily French, Betsey Stockton, Angeles Monrayo Raymundo, Sallie McNeill, Sarah Wister, Katarina Knehans, Sonja Krefting, Susan Noyes Anderson, Leslie Haight, Emma Wicks, Rainer Maria Rilke, Charles Baudelaire, Chabuca Granda, and Paul Verlaine.
Production credits: Michael Hughes, recording, editing, mixing, and mastering. Recorded at Cohen Studio, University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.
Leandra Ramm, mezzo-soprano
Michael Delfin, piano
Michael Hughes, audio engineer
Douglas Knehans, producer
Josephine McLachlan, artwork/layout
Press and PR: WildKat PR