Soprano Solo in Gorecki Symphony No. 3

 

"Megan Stetson sang with luminosity and poise, the trenchant ache of her lines no less tear-inducing for being backed by Bernard Gann’s fuzzy black-metal guitar tremors and Greg Fox’s double-pedaled kick-drum thunder."

 

Steve Smith, The New York Times

 

"(Megan Stetson's) singing is physical, she inhabits the ensemble, articulating the words rather than soaring above them... (Her) singing breaks it wide open; her voice transforms the entire swell into a spiritually resonant, redemptive acceptance of, and answer to, inconsolable grief."

 

Thom Jurek, AllMusic Review

 

"Through the diaphragm depths of feeling, the cantor cadence of Megan Stetson adds to the cultural qualities of the orchestra behind her...Megan’s vocals cry out for help, a prayer...the bass saxophone, a tragic boweling sound of despair below the disemboweling emotions of the vocals."

 

Liza Jill Meyers, Indie Band Guru

 

"In the second movement, Megan Stetson finds her time to shine. Her multi-octave voice is a modern astonishment... Suffice it to say that the singing Stetson possesses a rare purity, like an unblemished mirror."

 

by Richard Allen, A Closer Listen

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"...Megan ably took charge of the Upshaw role with her dramatic but nuanced arioso vocal stylings."

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by Delarue, New York Music Daily

 

"Much of this (sorrowful feeling) is communicated through mezzo-soprano, Megan Stetson’s vivid vocal performance."

 

Bekki Bemrose, Drowned In Sound

 

"Most startling is the introduction of drums which, along with electric guitars, add thunder to grief’s natural power expressed by the mezzo-soprano (voice) of Megan."

 

Matthew Horton, The Gaurdian

 

"...Stunning vocal performance of mezzo-soprano Megan Stetson."

 

Mark Anthony Brennan, Exclaim!

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"Like Henry Gorecki's "Symphony #3," on which it's modeled, "Sorrow" was done in three movements with superb mezzo soprano vocals, and a stellar ensemble.  I couldn't figure out what text was used, but it sounded as beautifully dolorous as Gorecki's original piece — and that's saying something."

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Byron Coley, Exclaim!

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"Megan Stetson, a mezzo-soprano, has been able to raise the melancholy of the spectacle that was offered to us from her first notes on stage."

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Sophie Dufour-Beausejour, Chyz 94.3

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"...there were some beautiful sections, especially when mezzo-soprano Megan Stetson gave the melodies an operatic grandeur with her powerful projection and warm intonation."

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Thomas DeLio, Avant Music News

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 "...“Sorrow,” a meditative and moving “re-imagining” of Henryk Górecki’s ravishingly melancholic Third Symphony, for a chamber ensemble including...poetic and potent mezzo-soprano Megan Stetson."

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Josef Woodard, DownBeat News

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As Jenny in Company by Stephen Sondheim

 

"Speaking of vocals, a special mention goes to Megan Stetson ... Listening to her vibrato when she sings a solo piece is enchanting."

 

Sophie Braccini, Lamorinda Weekly

 

 

As Lady Sangazure in The Sorcerer by Gilbert & Sullivan

 

Gilbert often pokes fun at the contralto role, but Stetson made the character both sympathetic and believable. (Her) duet, “Welcome, joy! adieu to sadness” stole the show with the alternation of the dignified, staid public appearance of the would be lovers and the agitated heat of their internal emotions so brilliantly set by Sullivan."

 

Jeff DeMarco, Pensinsula Reviews