Leslie Holmes Sings Cabaret
Cabaret was spawned on the right bank of Paris with the opening of Le Chat Noir in 1881. Artists, writers, musicians and political activists gathered together to exchange ideas and share their creativity. Gradually the public had its way and was allowed to be an active witness to these goings on. At the turn of the century, cabarets sprang up in Germany as well. They were even more political and desperate than those in France.
Cabaret is more than entertainment. It is an outpouring of the heart and soul. It is a look at life as it really is...at oppression...at joy...at pain...at sadness. Cabaret uncovers what is beneath the surface. It is a window on the soul and it moves us.
Soprano Leslie Holmes has sung many programs of Cabaret, both classical and popular, throughout New England and in Europe. Her classical Cabaret recitals include music by Erik Satie, Arnold Schoenberg, Friedrich Hollaender, Claude Debussy, Kurt Weill, Francis Poulenc, Edith Piaf and Jacques Brel. For the lighter Cabaret programs she adds music by various composers, selecting from Jerome Kern, Cole Porter, Harold Arlen, Michel Legrand and others. Leslie also gives lectures and seminars on the origins of cabaret.
Leslie Holmes, a graduate of Wellesley College, is well-known in the area for her numerous solo appearances as well as for her radio program of eleven years on Classical Radio Boston, WCRB, 102.5 FM. She has been soloist with the Boston Symphony, the Boston Pops, the Opera Company of Boston, the Chorus Pro Musica, the M.I.T. Choral Society, the Wellesley Choral Society, the Wellesley College Choir, the Wellesley Symphony, at Castle Hill and Hammond Castle.
Ms. Holmes has performed solo recitals at the Gardner Museum, Great Woods, the Boston Public Library, the French Library, the Longy School of Music, the Boston Conservatory, Wellesley College, Northeastern University, throughout the East, Europe and in Cuba, as well as on National Public Radio. Currently she is presenting recitals of music by women composers, French composers, classic American Popular composers and classical Cabaret.
Leslie Holmes is the New England Regional Governor of the National Association of Teachers of Singing.
