Special Concert Announcement: Even the Trees Weep

The Santa Ynez Valley Concert Series in collaboration with the Julian Autrey Song Foundation and the Presser Foundation, announces a special, free concert to be held at St. Mark’s in-the-Valley Church on Saturday, March 22, 2025, at 7pm.

The concert is entitled “Even the Trees Weep.” This compelling and consequential program created by Kellan Dunlap, acclaimed tenor, with Lyndsi Maus, collaborative pianist, and the composer Victor Cui, focuses on the tragedy of school shootings.

The hourlong offering of all American songs features classic including composers such as Aaron Copland and Florence Price as well as newly composed songs by including composers such as Lori Laitman and John Musto. The performance also includes spoken word pieces based on testimonials from teachers, students, and parents, bringing attention to this critical issue.

This program is intended for mature audiences only.

Kellan Dunlap is a lyric tenor from Grand Rapids, Michigan who aims for dramatic and poignant text expression and ease in lyrical lines. A former Apprentice Artist with OPERA San Antonio, Dunlap was an Apprentice Artist at Des Moines Metro Opera in the summer of 2024. He was recently awarded first place in the National Student Auditions with the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) and named a Semifinalist in the James Toland Vocal Arts Competition. Recent roles include Male Chorus in The Rape of Lucretia, Acis in Acis and Galatea, Triquet in Eugene Onegin, Ferrando in Così fan tutte, and Duke in Patience; or, Bunthorne’s Bride. A lover of contemporary music and art song, Dunlap has enjoyed collaborations with Tom Trenney, Victor Cui, and Seth Miller on their commissioned works and performed in the world premiere of the opera American Apollo by Damien Geter in the summer of 2024. As a recitalist, he, and collaborative pianist Lyndsi Maus performed in the Wigmore Hall/Bollinger International Song Competition in September of 2024. Dunlap received his Bachelor of Music from Oakland University and is a Master of Music in Vocal Performance student at the Shepherd School of Music of Rice University where he studies voice with Dr. Robin Rice.

Lyndsi Maus is an award-winning collaborative pianist who specializes in Lieder and working with singers. She holds a master’s degree in Piano Performance from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music as well as a master’s degree in Klavier Vokalbegleitung from the Kunst Universität Graz in Austria. After her studies, she worked as a répétiteur in Germany at the Nuremberg State Opera and Regensburg Theater. In August 2022, she returned to the states to join the faculty at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music. Alongside opera coaching, she continues to concertize and assist in meaningful programming for students’ recitals. She is committed to performing works that can spark important conversations. For example, she played for the world premiere of Anton Lubchenko’s opera “Mui,” which tells the story of a dystopian society where government controls all aspects of life and individuals lose all sense of identity. Most recently, she played the SongFest premiere of Shawn Okpebholo’s “Songs in Flight,” a song cycle inspired by the database “Freedom on the Move” which has compiled over 30,000 ads that ran in the 1800’s to track down runaway slaves.

Chinese American composer Victor Cui finds inspiration from literature, histories, linguistics, zoologies, and sounds in nature, while seeking to balance freedom and control, poetics, and logic. Praised as “fundamentally musical” by the Olga and Paul Menn Foundation at the University of Chicago, Victor’s music has been performed in both America and Europe. Victor’s piece Poltergeist of Kayaköy for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, and piano, premiered at the 2023 soundSCAPE Festival in Blonay Switzerland. Excerpts of Victor’s chamber opera, Shadow Stretches Long and White, based on the story of Otto Warmbier,  premiered during the Opera Etude workshop at the Peabody Institute in 2023. Victor has studied composition with Ashkan Behzadi, Augusta Read Thomas, Hans Thomalla, Courtney Bryan, Felipe Lara, and Sky Macklay, and he has taken courses in computer music with Sam Pluta and Bryan Jacobs. Victor is pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) student at the Shepherd School of Music of Rice University. He holds a Master of Music (MM) in composition from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, and a BA/MA joint degree in Music and Humanities from University of Chicago.

About St. Mark’s-in-the-Valley Episcopal Church: Formed in 1926 and serving the Santa Ynez Valley at its present location in downtown Los Olivos since 1979, St. Mark’s practices a spacious Christianity and welcomes people of all faiths or none. St. Mark’s is a no-fee community center for non-profit groups and community meetings, an arts venue for musical and cultural events, a welcome center for residents and area visitors, and home to a vibrant, inclusive faith community. St. Mark’s top-flight, non-sectarian professional preschool serves Santa Ynez Valley families with quality early childhood education. The County-permitted SYV Community Kitchen at St. Mark’s serves as a regional food hub. St. Mark’s is also grateful to be home to the area’s Jewish community and a local Zen sangha (part of Santa Barbara Zen Center). Open doors, restrooms, free Wi-Fi, a shady courtyard, gardens, a labyrinth, and water for pets are available for visitors and area residents all day, every day. For more information, please visit St. Mark’s in the Valley Episcopal Church in Los Olivos, CA – News (smitv.org)