By Marylynne Pitz
Pittsburgh — Composer Robert S. Cohen has tackled plenty of difficult themes, including eternity, homeland security and the biblical story of creation. Still, when an Eastern Pennsylvania arts group commissioned him to write a choral work about Alzheimer’s patients, the task felt daunting, even though Mr. Cohen had watched his stepmother suffer with the illness.
“I called Herschel. He’s a fantastic librettist and a fine composer,” Mr. Cohen said in a telephone interview from his home in Upper Montclair, N.J. Herschel Garfein, who often collaborates with Mr. Cohen, wrote the libretto for the opera “Elmer Gantry,” which garnered a Grammy this year for best contemporary classical composition. Mr. Garfein suggested that members of the Susquehanna Valley Chorale post stories about Alzheimer’s patients they knew on a blog that was part of the choir’s website.
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