• “I Have a Rendezvous with Death” was commissioned by the Juilliard School, and the acclaimed premiere performance by Grammy winning baritone John Brancy and pianist (and host of NPR’s From the Top) Peter Dugan was part of the program Armistice: The Journey Home. The text for “I Have a Rendezvous with Death” was written by Alan Seeger, who was killed in action in World War I.

• “In Flanders Fields” (text by John McCrae) was commissioned by the General Delegation of the Government of Flanders to the U.S. to commemorate the centennial of the armistice that ended World War I. It was premiered at the Kennedy Center, again by the duo of John Brancy and Peter Dugan.

The premiere recording of the set has been released as part of John Brancy and Peter Dugan’s album The Journey Home: Live from the Kennedy Center.