Alan Louis Smith's vignettes: Ellis Island: The history, evolution and performance of a modern American song cycle

Vignettes: Ellis Island is a twenty-six piece song cycle by American composer Alan Louis Smith. Crafted as a genuine portrayal of the human spirit, it was initially meant to be a single song written as a birthday gift for mezzo-soprano and friend, Stephanie Blythe. The composer, however, was so compelled by this topic that he set a musical backdrop that chronicled American immigration in the early 20th century, through the stories of twenty-one refugees. A fortuitous meeting between Alan Smith and Paul Sigrist, Jr. (former director of the Ellis Island Oral History Project), resulted in a collaboration that became the catalyst for this song cycle. Mr. Sigrist supplied over 100 pages of quotations, taken from interviews he conducted with the Ellis Island Oral History Project, which then were carefully abridged by the composer to create Vignettes: Ellis Island. This document chronicles the development of this cycle, discussing its origins, influences, historical relevance, and performances. It also provides a biography on the composer, and details interviews conducted from July-October 2008 with Alan Louis Smith, Paul Sigrist, Jr. and Stephanie Blythe. Finally, it serves as a performer's study on the musical and dramatic interpretation of the work, as coached by the composer.