Get ready for this gold mine as we welcome the Dr. Louise Toppin to the pod. She shares her experiences and wisdom with a beautiful sense of purpose, including the importance of mentorship, how we can all engage with Spirituals and art song by Black composers more widely, and that one time she sang five different sets of ornaments for Joan Sutherland and felt very thankful for being extra prepared. As Director of both the George Shirley Vocal Competition and Singing Down the Barriers workshop at the University of Michigan, she knows firsthand how to walk the walk, not just talk the talk. Dive in and get ready to learn!

Listen to Louise's latest album, Dear Friends and Gentle Hearts
Order Black Song: A Manifesto for Music and Justice
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Have a question you want answered by Laura and Sam on a future episode? Share your thoughts with a voice memo or written note through our new #TeamArtSong Mailbag!

Nominate a phenomenal artist in your local community for a shoutout in our Songsters in Your Neighborhood segment!
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Song Cycle is a production of Cincinnati Song Initiative. You can learn more about its network of podcasts at cincinnatisonginitiative.org/podcasts.

Ever wonder what the composer-librettist relationship is like? We do, too, and that's why we asked our good friend, composer Lori Laitman, and the star librettist Caitlin Vincent to join us and discuss their collaboration. It's a really interesting discussion that provides a glimpse into the process of how song and opera texts come to life when both the author and composer are around to work together.

Purchase Caitlin's book Opera Wars here!

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Have a question you want answered by Laura and Sam on a future episode? Share your thoughts with a voice memo or written note through our new #TeamArtSong Mailbag!

Nominate a phenomenal artist in your local community for a shoutout in our Songsters in Your Neighborhood segment!
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Song Cycle is a production of Cincinnati Song Initiative. You can learn more about its network of podcasts at cincinnatisonginitiative.org/podcasts.

You know him as Robert Bosworth, Trained Musician™️ on Instagram and TikTok, but now it's time to get to know the real pianist behind the curtain! Hear directly from the lovable social media personality that's taking off like a rocket on what his journey has been like, what advice he has for the up-and-coming generation of classical artists, and why it's so important that we all develop our own musical thoughts without following the legacies before us blindly. Come for the giggles, stay for some serious truths!
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Have a question you want answered by Laura and Sam on a future episode? Share your thoughts with a voice memo or written note through our new #TeamArtSong Mailbag!

Nominate a phenomenal artist in your local community for a shoutout in our Songsters in Your Neighborhood segment!
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Song Cycle is a production of Cincinnati Song Initiative. You can learn more about its network of podcasts at cincinnatisonginitiative.org/podcasts.

We're wrapping up 2025 by bringing Cincinnati Song Initiative's podcast hosts together for our annual Holiday Party! Join us in looking back on a wonderful year with peaks and pits from all of our hosts, then test your knowledge with games like "Guess that Song" and "Two Truths and a Lie: Composer Edition." Which composer walked the streets of Paris with a hammer in his suit pocket? Which composers did - and didn't - study with Nadia Boulanger? (Spoiler: even our hosts get stumped plenty of times!)

Thanks for a great year of song, and here's to a musically rewarding 2026!

Follow Follow the Lieder with Mandee Madrid-Sikich here.
Follow So Lit Song Lit with Ellen Rissinger and Toni Marie Palmertree here.

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Have a question you want answered by Laura and Sam on a future episode? Share your thoughts with a voice memo or written note through our new #TeamArtSong Mailbag!

Nominate a phenomenal artist in your local community for a shoutout in our Songsters in Your Neighborhood segment!
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Song Cycle is a production of Cincinnati Song Initiative. You can learn more about its network of podcasts at cincinnatisonginitiative.org/podcasts.

After inviting a direct deposit from a Nigerian prince to help fund their greatest song commissioning desires, Laura and Sam had the pleasure to speak with Darryl Taylor, countertenor, teacher, founder of the African American Art Song Alliance, and an all-around people connector. Through his advocacy, research, teachings, and recording projects, America has taken significant steps towards celebrating and programming songs beyond the contents of the iconic Willis C. Patterson Anthology of Art Songs by Black American Composers.

Settle in to hear Darryl's origin story, his professional trajectory, how he transitioned from being a tenor to countertenor, and how far he's come since his founding of the Alliance in 1997. And stream his and Louise Toppin's new two-disc album, Dear Friends & Gentle Hearts: African American Art Song Essentials, on Apple and Spotify!
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Have a question you want answered by Laura and Sam on a future episode? Share your thoughts with a voice memo or written note through our new #TeamArtSong Mailbag!

Nominate a phenomenal artist in your local community for a shoutout in our Songsters in Your Neighborhood segment!
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Song Cycle is a production of Cincinnati Song Initiative. You can learn more about its network of podcasts at cincinnatisonginitiative.org/podcasts.

Please hold for tech... Is this thing on? Oh, there you are, Jamie Barton! One of the most iconic artists of our generation stops by the pod to chat all things song, share her incredible musical origin story from rural Georgia, and impart invaluable advice for finding one's true, authentic voice that puts you front and center in this crazy industry. (Hint: it involves healthy boundaries.)

Happy opening to the cast of the 25th anniversary run of Jake Heggie's opera Dead Man Walking at San Francisco Opera! Oh, and we're now accepting applications for an on-site manager for Jamie's Cat Café.

Stream one of Jamie's favorite songs, "You Have Become a Forest" from Four Poems of Nikita Gill by Melissa Dunphy on Apple Music or Spotify.
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Have a question you want answered by Laura and Sam on a future episode? Share your thoughts with a voice memo or written note through our new #TeamArtSong Mailbag!

Nominate a phenomenal artist in your local community for a shoutout in our Songsters in Your Neighborhood segment!
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Song Cycle is a production of Cincinnati Song Initiative. You can learn more about its network of podcasts at cincinnatisonginitiative.org/podcasts.

Our guest celebrity this month, the astounding B.E. Boykin, may seem like an old friend. That's because she's the co-conspirator with last month's guest, Sidney Outlaw, having composed the amazing new cycle 26 Ways of Looking at a Black Man, found on Sidney and Warren Jones' new album, Black Pierrot. We were inspired by her unique story and can-do attitude in her pursuit of composing, despite numerous rejections along the way. But with cheerleaders like Dorothy Rudd Moore telling her to keep going for the love of it, how could she possibly have given up? Thank the #TeamArtSong gods she never did - we're all for the better having her songs in our world.

Stick around for a great conversation between Laura and Sam on how to advocate for the continued celebration of new music, including bringing audiences along. Thanks for the question, Edson!
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Have a question you want answered by Laura and Sam on a future episode? Share your thoughts with a voice memo or written note through our new #TeamArtSong Mailbag!

Nominate a phenomenal artist in your local community for a shoutout in our Songsters in Your Neighborhood segment!
***
Song Cycle is a production of Cincinnati Song Initiative. You can learn more about its network of podcasts at cincinnatisonginitiative.org/podcasts.

Coming to us from balmy Brevard, North Carolina, the fame-ish Sidney Outlaw joins the pod, where the stories just keep flowing one after another! From the value of mentorship in shaping one's educational and professional journey, to the importance of creating quality recordings to provide the next generation with stylistic models, to believing that we're right where we're meant to be - all woven together by Star Wars metaphors - the conversation has nuggets for everyone. Hop on The Magic School Bus, it's class time with Sidney Outlaw!

Stream Sidney's newest album with Warren Jones, Black Pierrot, featuring music by William Grant Still and B.E. Boykin.

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Have a question you want answered by Laura and Sam on a future episode? Share your thoughts with a voice memo or written note through our new #TeamArtSong Mailbag! This episode, we answer a very interesting question submitted by Kelly in Cincinnati.
Nominate a phenomenal artist in your local community for a shoutout in our Songsters in Your Neighborhood segment!
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Song Cycle is a production of Cincinnati Song Initiative. You can learn more about its network of podcasts at cincinnatisonginitiative.org/podcasts.