Khaleem Ali, PhD '14, countertenor and Academic Coach, Academic Resource Center, performs "Songs to the Sun and Moon," a selection of songs and arias spanning 300 years.

Alessandro Scarlatti (1660-1725)
"Già il sole dal Gange" from L'Honestà negli amori (1680)

A page boy sings this cheerful aria about the sparkling sun as he admires the sunrise. While the opera has been long forgotten, this aria is a popularly anthologized work known to many students of classical voice.

Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835)
"Vaga luna, che inargenti" from Tre ariette inedite (1838)

The speaker asks the moon, which covers nature in its silvery light, to tell his far-away beloved that he longs for her and hopes to be with her again. Meanwhile, he is comforted by that hope.

Reynaldo Hahn (1874-1947)
"L'heure exquise" from 7 Chansons grises (1890)

In this sublime setting of an 1870 poem by Paul Verlaine, you can almost "hear" the soft moonlight in the woods as the speaker captures a tender moment of romantic bliss.

Philip Glass (b. 1937)
"Hymn to the Sun" from Akhnaten (1981)

This aria is the sole English piece in Glass's monumental opera about the Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaten, who changed his name to reflect his connection to the Aten, a sun god. A musical setting of translated excerpts from  "Great Hymn to the Aten," a poem attributed to the ancient ruler, the aria praises the Aten as the "sole god" and identifies the speaker as his son.

Read Khaleem's professional bio and connect with him on LinkedIn.

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