Clouds in My Coffee: Music of Joni Mitchell, Carole King, and Carly Simon

Few artists have shaped the singer-songwriter era like Joni Mitchell, Carole King, and Carly Simon. Their songs defined a generation, capturing love, independence, and self-discovery with honesty and brilliance. An evening of timeless music with the Spokane Symphony featuring hits like “Both Sides Now,” “You’ve Got a Friend,” “You’re So Vain,” and more.

Joni Mitchell, Carole King, and Carly Simon do not perform live in this concert.

Ted Sperling, conductor
Morgan James, vocalist
Bryonha Marie, vocalist
Alysha Umphress, vocalist

SATURDAY DOORS 6:30PM | SHOW 7:30PM

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Ted Sperling

TED SPERLING is a New York City-based director and conductor, with a forty-year career in music and theater. He is a Tony Award winner for his work on the groundbreaking Broadway musical, The Light in the Piazza, and is celebrating ten years as Artistic Director of MasterVoices. Maestro Sperling’s Broadway and off-Broadway credits include recent productions of the classics My Fair Lady, Fiddler on the Roof, The King and I, Guys and Dolls, How to Succeed… and South Pacific, as well as the new musicals Titanic, Ragtime, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, The Full Monty, Floyd Collins and A New Brain. As director, Mr. Sperling has led four off-Broadway productions, including See What I Wanna See at the Public Theater, starring Idina Menzel. With MasterVoices, he has brought to the NYC stage such rarities as Lady in the Dark, Anyone Can Whistle and Let ‘em Eat Cake.

Maestro Sperling’s symphonic and opera career include Carmen and Orfeo with MasterVoices, as well as performances with the Houston Grand Opera, The New York City Opera, The New York Philharmonic (including directing and conducting Show Boat for PBS), Chicago Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony and San Diego Symphony. He was principal conductor of the Westchester Philharmonic for six seasons. His program about Carole King, Beyond Beautiful, can be streamed on the PBS AllArts platform. Mr. Sperling can be seen as talk show host Steve Allen in Season Two of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. For more information, visit tedsperling.net

Morgan James

Morgan James has a voice that needs to be heard; even when she was just a fifth grader belting out standards on a karaoke machine. After her grandmother heard her sing, the matriarch footed the bill for James’ voice lessons, positive that her granddaughter had the mysterious “it factor”. And, despite the sometimes treacherous terrain of the music industry, James has never tired in her quest. Whether it’s tussling with label executives, covering and owning songs by the likes of the Beatles or Prince, or creating her own brand of original soul music, James has carved out an enviable and diverse career, always on her own terms.

James has a particular taste for inserting herself into men’s spaces, twisting hyper-masculine songs to her will and changing their meanings in the process. That feminist lens is brought to the forefront in her most recent project, Soul Remains the Same, which reinterprets heavy tracks from the likes of AC/DC, the Stone Temple Pilots, and Pearl Jam. “Something I’ve always loved, and I’ve done throughout my career, is sing songs that are not just written by men, but especially made for men,” she says. “And make them my own.”

Soul Remains the Same, her sixth studio album, transforms the testosterone-soaked ‘80s and ‘90s radio classics of her youth into poignant, soulful, and deeply personal covers. As if Aretha Franklin went into the studio with AC/DC; it’s heavy rock songs through a feminine, soul lens.

James’ journey from karaoke kid to prolific singer-songwriter didn’t follow an easy path. Raised on both musical theater and Laurel Canyon bards, she applied to The Juilliard Sc...