Folk songs capture the essence of the human experience: love and loss, joy and sorrow, birth and death. They tell us about who came before us, and they reflect who we are today. On this intimate occasion, five composers across time share the native voices, melodies, stories and spirit of their homelands, keeping alive the culture and traditions of the people who lived these stories.

Brahms' Zigeunerlieder ("Gypsy Songs") dances with Hungarian melodies and tales, while Copland's Old American Songs captures the soul of a time long forgotten in our country. Forgotten People's Cycle is a collection of ancient folk songs passed down aurally for generations by the Balto-Finnic peoples and forever memoralized by one of the world's most prolific modern composers, Veljo Tormis. Celebrate the wondrous diversity and awe-inspiring oneness of humankind.