Critters, Creatures, & Cryptids

Paradox Opera is bringing a program of animal-focused art songs to the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Raleigh on Saturday, October 17. The evening is called Critters, Creatures, & Cryptids, and it gathers a handful of fauna-focused songs, mostly in English, for a chamber-sized audience. Soprano Alissa Roca and baritone Gwen Hyland take the vocals, with pianist Daniel Seyfried on accompaniment.

The repertoire runs from whimsical settings of Lewis Carroll poems to a bestiary song cycle by Jeffery Beam and Steven Serpa. Mixed in are selected songs by Ned Rorem, John Duke, and Darius Milhaud, so the program pulls from a few different eras and styles rather than sticking to one corner of the art song tradition. Most of the pieces are in English, which keeps the focus on the lyrics and the animals they're about.

The night also gives its world premiere to Everything What's Wrong of Possums, a song cycle with text by Daniel Lavery and music by Patricia Wallinga. Paradox Opera describes it as "unhinged," which sets it apart from the more whimsical Carroll settings and the bestiary cycle. Between the established names and the new work, the program covers a fair bit of ground within one theme.

The show runs from 7 PM to 8:30 PM at the Fellowship, 3313 Wade Ave. in West Raleigh. Tickets are $25 for preorders, with an optional $15 for a custom sticker set; they're $35 at the door.