Bryant Kong and Elender Wall transform quotes by United States Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld’s Pentagon briefings into entertaining classical songs at a concert performance on Thursday, October 21, at 7:30 p.m. in Balch Auditorium at Scripps College. Rumsfeld is famous for his unusual way with words. Through this performance, Rumsfeld’s language gains a musical cadence. The concert will also feature American art songs including nursery rhymes and Lewis Carroll poetry. This concert is free and open to the public. A reception will follow the performance in the Hampton Room at the Malott Commons. Please call Malott Commons Office, (909) 607-9372 for more information.
The October 21 concert will feature classically trained duo Bryant Kong and Elender Wall performing from their debut album, The Poetry of Donald Rumsfeld and Other Fresh American Art Songs. The Scripps College performance is part of the artists’ “Weapons of Mass Distraction” concert tour.
The Poetry of Donald Rumsfeld is an artfully composed set of songs whose lyrics are direct quotes from Rumsfeld’s Pentagon briefings and interviews. Rumsfeld’s comments were originally arranged into poems by columnist Hart Seely and published in the book, Pieces of Intelligence: The Existential Poetry of Donald Rumsfeld. Composer Bryant Kong then set these poems to music in an arrangement that has attracted worldwide attention.
In connection with the Poetry of Donald Rumsfeld and Other Fresh American Art Songs album, Kong has appeared on television and radio programs including “Morning Edition” on National Public Radio, and “The World Today” on the BBC.
Wall is a well-versed soprano and champion of the music of living composers. She performs art songs, chamber music, and operas, and has appeared throughout the Unites States in a variety of performance roles. Before beginning the tour to promote The Poetry of Donald Rumsfeld and Other Fresh American Art Songs, Wall toured the United States with the Sonos Handbell Ensemble. She has performed in many new operas, most recently creating the role of Fatso the Dog in Cindy Lou with the Contemporary Opera of Los Angeles.
Wall has also sung the roles of Mistress Quickly in Plump Jack and the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella in Extremis. She holds a degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and a physics degree from San Francisco State University.