Two CD release concerts will kick off the soon-to-be-global tour for the album, The Poetry of Donald Rumsfeld and Other Fresh American Art Songs. The tour, appropriately entitled Weapons of Mass Distraction, will feature artists Elender Wall, soprano, and Bryant Kong, piano, performing the new and rare works found on the CD.

The San Francisco CD release concert will take place Sat., Mar. 13, at 8:00 pm, at Noe Valley Ministry, 1021 Sanchez Street, San Francisco.

The Los Angeles CD release concert will be held Sun., Mar. 28, at 2:30 pm, at Edgemar Center for the Arts, 2437 Main Street, Santa Monica.

For more details or advance reservations, go to the concert information page.
 

Debut album features words of Donald Rumsfeld set to music
Feb. 26, 2004

The Poetry of Donald Rumsfeld is a disarmingly funny set of songs that use for their lyrics the exact words of the U.S. Secretary of Defense. Written by San Francisco composer Bryant Kong, the songs are based on direct quotes from Rumsfeld’s Pentagon briefings and other public statements. These texts were arranged into poems by columnist Hart Seely and published in a popular Simon & Schuster book in 2003.

The album, The Poetry of Donald Rumsfeld and Other Fresh American Art Songs, features classically trained artists Elender Wall, soprano, and Kong, on piano, in their recording debut. The CD is being released February 26 by Stuffed Penguin Music, a new record label devoted to innovative classical music. CD release concerts will take place on March 13 in San Francisco and March 28 in Los Angeles.