As 2018 approaches, Henry Dehlinger is back at work on a brand-new extended choral work for soprano, bass-baritone, mixed choir, and orchestra for a Washington, DC choral group. Looking back at 2017, Dehlinger’s creative output included: The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, a sweeping rhapsody for voice and orchestra with text by T. S. Eliot; A Dream, set to a poem by Edgar Allan Poe, which Dehlinger composed for his friend and celebrated United States Army Chorus bass-baritone, MSG Kerry Wilkerson; Fragrance, with lyrics by Mark Riddles; and Requiescat: A “Wilde" Stride for Soprano and Piano, a classical-blues crossover set to a poem by Oscar Wilde.
After the new year, Dehlinger joins Metropolitan Opera soprano Danielle Talamantes in El Paso, Texas and Las Cruces, New Mexico for a recital series hosted by El Paso Pro Musica. Dedicated to promoting the art of chamber music in the communities it serves, El Paso Pro Musica is led by artistic director and GRAMMY winner, Zuill Bailey, widely celebrated as one of the premier cellists in the world. They will perform works by Enrique Granados, Joaquin Turina, Duke Ellington, and Henry Dehlinger.
Nothing could be more appropriate than to conclude this year with a new year's toast made by T. S. Eliot, famed Anglo-American poet and playwright who created the words of The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock:
For last year's words belong to last year's language. And next year's words await another voice. And to make an end is to make a beginning.
-- T. S. Eliot