Song Cycle Letters From The Front a Tribute to Service Members, to be Performed at Fisher Center November 11
Graphic by Dan Kwarcinski
This November, the Sosnoff Theater at Bard College’s Fisher Center will host a performance of Letters From The Front. Composed by Patrick Zimmerli with libretto by Mirabelle Ordinaire, the new song cycle sets to music the wartime letters of American military service members and their families.
The concert takes place on Wednesday, November 11, 2026, at 7 p.m. It will last approximately 95 minutes, including one 15-minute intermission. Standard single tickets are $35; the program is free for veterans and their families, and for all Bard students.
The musical project was spearheaded by executive producer Ian Gindes, a classical pianist and major in the Illinois Army National Guard. Zimmerli and Ordinaire transformed the project into a song cycle scored for four singers and piano. The performers bring to life the voices of the original letter writers, who experienced wars ranging from the American Revolution to the Gulf War. “Through these private letters, poetic in their own way, we experience the direct, heartfelt emotions of service members who didn’t know if they would live to see another day and family members who prayed for their safe return,” says Gindes.
Letters From The Front was first released as a recording by Lexicon Classics on July 3, 2026, coinciding with the semiquincentennial of the United States. In his liner notes for the album, classical music critic John von Rhein describes Letters From The Front as “a grand musical tapestry of American history, hope, faith, aspiration, despair, and optimism in time of war.”
Alongside Gindes on piano, the recording featured soprano Desirée Hassler, mezzo-soprano Angela Born, tenor John Riesen, and bass-baritone David Govertsen. The November 11 performance at Bard features Hassler and Born along with tenor Tyler Lee and bass-baritone Aaron Wardell.
The concert at the Fisher Center is one in a number of performances across the country in the coming months. The live adaptation includes narration written by Jeffrey Ernstoff, formerly of Radio City Music Hall Productions in New York, and is staged and directed by George Cederquist of Chicago’s North Park University.
Post Date: 10-20-2026
The concert takes place on Wednesday, November 11, 2026, at 7 p.m. It will last approximately 95 minutes, including one 15-minute intermission. Standard single tickets are $35; the program is free for veterans and their families, and for all Bard students.
The musical project was spearheaded by executive producer Ian Gindes, a classical pianist and major in the Illinois Army National Guard. Zimmerli and Ordinaire transformed the project into a song cycle scored for four singers and piano. The performers bring to life the voices of the original letter writers, who experienced wars ranging from the American Revolution to the Gulf War. “Through these private letters, poetic in their own way, we experience the direct, heartfelt emotions of service members who didn’t know if they would live to see another day and family members who prayed for their safe return,” says Gindes.
Letters From The Front was first released as a recording by Lexicon Classics on July 3, 2026, coinciding with the semiquincentennial of the United States. In his liner notes for the album, classical music critic John von Rhein describes Letters From The Front as “a grand musical tapestry of American history, hope, faith, aspiration, despair, and optimism in time of war.”
Alongside Gindes on piano, the recording featured soprano Desirée Hassler, mezzo-soprano Angela Born, tenor John Riesen, and bass-baritone David Govertsen. The November 11 performance at Bard features Hassler and Born along with tenor Tyler Lee and bass-baritone Aaron Wardell.
The concert at the Fisher Center is one in a number of performances across the country in the coming months. The live adaptation includes narration written by Jeffrey Ernstoff, formerly of Radio City Music Hall Productions in New York, and is staged and directed by George Cederquist of Chicago’s North Park University.
Post Date: 10-20-2026