Renowned mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato has announced a new album sure to delight not only listeners of opera, but listeners of jazz and tango as well.

Her new album, titled “Songplay,” will bring together musicians from numerous genres, hand-picked by DiDonato in a band led by pianist and arranger Craig Terry. Among them are bassist Chuck Isreals, drummer Jimmy Madison, Lautaro Greco on the bandoneon, and trumpeter Charlie Porter.

On the album’s process, DiDonato says: “I had one of the most exhilarating musical weeks of my life recording the album Songplay with a world-class band. Trust me: you’re going to remember each one of these guys! It’s an incredible family of musicians – bass, piano, trumpet, drums and bandoneon. We have essentially created our own sound-world, fusing together music from the Baroque era and classics from the jazz world – with a few other surprises tossed in. We’ve all let down our guard (some of us have even let down our hair) and we’ve each expanded the musical traditions that we have come from to create our own style for this album. It’s joyful, it’s exuberant, it celebrates great music, and it shines a spotlight on the timeless nature of a great song. I hope you’ll want to hear this album over and over, and will grow to appreciate the value of playing with a song!”

As a proponent of music’s healing and unifying power, DiDonato has led vocal and composition workshops in the Sing Sing prison of New York City; upon hearing her rendition of Giordani’s “Car mio ben,” one of the men incarcerated there remarked: “I feel like I’ve known this song my whole life.”

DiDonato will also be taking the songs of her new album on tour across the country from February 18 to March 10, 2019.