“Heinrich Heine Far and Near,” the first concert in a series of four spanning the remainder of 2025, features sixteen recently-composed songs by thirteen composers who hail from as far away as Germany and as close at hand as the Pioneer Valley. Organized by long-time Valley vocalist Peter W. Shea, who is also the principal performer, the series presents a wide variety of songs, ranging in style from cabaret to classical, in mood from witty to tragic, and in tonality from Baroque to twelve-tone. All of the songs are musical settings of the great 19th-century German-Jewish poet Heinrich Heine, whose verses have been set to music more than any other poet, and all are works that Peter has in some way helped to bring into the world, either by suggestion, commission, or premiere, as part of his thirty-year project on Heine and the music he continues to inspire. Nearly all of the songs display some aspect of the poet's characteristic irony, and several will be sung in English translation. Peter will be joined by mezzo-soprano and guitarist Justina Golden, pianist Brenda Moore Miller, pianist and guitarist Clifton J. Noble, Jr., and soprano Junko Watanabe. Further programs are scheduled for July 6, September 13 and December 13 (Heine's 228th birthday).