Three Songs and a Piano (EP)
(2026 – Lymehouse Records)
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Sheet music for all voice types available at Sea Circle Music!
Morgan Paige, Soprano
Mitchell Brownell, Piano
Recorded January 13, 2026
PPI Recording,
New York, NY
Recording Engineer: Chip Fabrizi
Cover Painting: Vor dem Café, by Lesser Ury
While I mostly compose very traditional classical music–works steeped in the traditions of Classical form and harmony, I actually started my life as a composer writing songs. My first songs were three comic cabaret numbers, inspired by and under the mentorship of Jess Korman, author of unforgettable classics such as “Let’s Rob a Liquor Store.” My own songs were clever and melodically inventive…for a middle schooler. I then wrote my own musical (book, music, lyrics) in high school, and thought my path lay in musical theater, before going to college and pursuing classical music instead. Since then, I returned to the genre by contributing a handful of songs for “My History of Marriage” (book by my father Lee Kalcheim, most of the score by David Shire), and later wrote a full musical, “American Gothic”, with my father.
All this was over a decade ago, so these songs, written for the fabulously talented Morgan Paige, represent a return to musical theater as a much more settled, maturely self-aware, and confident composer (and person, I hope!). Morgan is a true crossover soprano, with serious classical chops that she brings to her musical theater performances, and these songs were written with specifically that in mind. “Dream of the Nightingale” is a Classical/Broadway hybrid number, and the lyrics are a “light” snapshot of “Ode to a Nightingale” — though considerably less morbid. My apologies to John Keats for any gross simplifications that took place. “I’m So Glad We Failed” is a return to my comic-cabaret-number past: the lyrics reflect a real-life romance that is still ongoing (and I can confidently say will remain that way). “The Piano at the Party” reflects very real experiences of finding in a piano an escape from dull or awkward socializing. In a live setting, the performer should if possible play the Debussy excerpt themselves — the excerpt was chosen after having heard Morgan play the piece herself.