In an interview with KCAW Radio's Brooke Shafer, Henry talked about his latest chamber work, To An Alaskan Glacier, which premieres at the Sitka Music Festival on June 20, 2025. The performance will feature soloists Met soprano Danielle Talamantes and cellist Guang Wang of the Vega String Quartet.

Joining Henry at KCAW Radio were Danielle and bass-baritone Kerry Wilkerson, who will be performing operatic arias and art songs composed by Henry for their voices at the Harrigan Centennial Performing Arts Center in Sitka, Alaska.

Commissioned in celebration of Alaska’s natural wonders, To An Alaskan Glacier is inspired by the sweeping vistas and ancient ice fields that define the Last Frontier. Scored for a dynamic ensemble of soprano, cello and piano, the work explores the intersection of raw natural beauty and emotional depth.

“I was struck by the sheer power and silence of Alaska’s glaciers,” says Dehlinger. “This piece is my response to that sublime stillness—the sense that time itself slows in the presence of something so vast and eternal.”

Talamantes, Wilkerson, and Dehlinger will also present Dehlinger's Amore e'l cor gentil sono una cosa. A pièce d’occasion written for the Florence, Italy nuptials of two of the composer's close friends, Amore is a setting of a beautiful love sonnet from Dante’s La vita nuova. Opera News calls it, “a loving and clever duet, and a true gem of a song.”

The Sitka Music Festival, Alaska’s premier chamber music festival, has long been a champion of new music and living composers. Led by artistic director and Grammy-award winning cellist Zuill Bailey, this is the festival's 54th summer season.

For tickets, click here.