New York Festival of Song
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New York Festival of Song Program History

Includes:  Title, Date, Venue, Artists, Program

                                                       

This page is dedicated in loving memory to Jean Trotzky,

our wonderful volunteer, whose dedicated efforts

created and maintained this list for many years.

 

Click on a highlighted program title to see an excerpt from program notes for the concert.

The concerts are listed in chronological order.


New! If the program note excerpts have piqued your interest, now you can purchase the complete program notes for just $5 per program. Visit the NYFOS Store to learn more.


Lyrics by Shakespeare  

10/9/1988         

Greenwich House Music School

Harris, Brenda, soprano

Harris, Braden, bass-baritone,

Danner, Blythe, narrator

Blier, Steven, piano  

Shakespeare's words set to music -- including a rare performance of Kabalevsky's Shakespeare's Sonnets sung in Russian. Other works by Hector Berlioz, Roger Quilter, Thomas Arne, William Schuman, Dick Hyman, and John Dankworth, all setting Shakespeare's poetry to music

                                                       

Americans on America 

10/23/1988       

Greenwich House Music School

Holvik, Karen, soprano

Sharp, William, baritone

Blier, Steven, piano

Songs about people and places in our country. Composers include Charles Ives, Leonard Bernstein, William Bolcom, Virgil Thomson, Samuel Barber and John Musto.

                                                       

Obbligato 

11/13/1988 

Greenwich House Music School

Pelton, Carmen, soprano

Kazaras, Peter, tenor

Barrett, Michael, keyboards

Tomkins, Leslie, viola

Robison, Paula, flut

A concert of vocal chamber music, featuring works of J. S. Bach, Franz Schubert, Aaron Jay Kernis, and the world premiere of Bright Sheng's Chinese Folk Songs

                                                       

Rodgers and Hart's Boys From Syracuse

12/18/1988 

Greenwich House Music School 

Holvik, Karen, soprano

Trakas, Christopher, baritone

Yahr, Carol, mezzo-soprano

A 50th anniversary concert performance of the 1938 smash hit with full  cast

                                                       

From Rio to Buenos Aires

4/9/1989

Greenwich House Music School

Fink, Bernarda, mezzo-soprano

Trakas, Christopher, baritone

Blier, Steven, piano

Tangos, ballads, love songs---the rhythm and melody of South America. Works by Heitor Villa-Lobos, Francisco Braga, Ernesto Nazareth, Alberto Ginastera, and Carlos Guastavino

                                                       

Night Songs

4/23/1989

Greenwich House Music School 

Yahr, Carol, mezzo-soprano

Kazaras, Peter, tenor

Sharp, William, baritone

Blier, Steven, piano

A musical journey through the night: romance, incantations, dreams, seductions, people together and people alone. Works by Hugo Wolf, Charles Griffes, Camille Saint-Saens, Robert Schumann, Marc Blitzstein, John Musto, and others.

                                                       

Red, White and Blues

5/7/1989

Greenwich House Music School 

Ollmann, Kurt, baritone

Barrett, Michael, piano

Blier, Steven, piano

French and American Music before and after the Jazz Age. Francis Poulenc's Bal Masqué. The program also includes Darius Milhaud's Scaramouce for two pianos and songs by George Gershwin, Henri Duparc and Charles Ives.

                                                       

An Evening of Ballads

3/18/1990

Greenwich House Music School

Burton, Amy, soprano

Trakas, Christopher, baritone

Blier, Steven, piano

Love stories, ghost stories, stories with morals and stories with no morals by Hugo Wolf, Franz Schubert, Karl Loewe, Lee Hoiby, Benjamin Britten, Cole Porter, and others         

                                                                     

George Gershwin's Girl Crazy 

2/24/1990

Greenwich House Music School 

Bean, Gwenneth (Frisco Kate)

Criswell, Kim (Molly Gray)

Wray, Margaret Jane (Patsy West)

Sharp, William (Danny Churchill)

Hume, Michael (Slick)

Sloman, John (Gieber Goldfarb)

Goldstein Steven; Holmes, Richard; Hume, Michael; Keuther, John (Foursome)

Stoltz, Eric (Narrator)

Barrett, Michael, piano

Blier, Steven, piano

A concert version of Gershwin's musical theater play.         

George Gershwin's Girl Crazy 

2/25/1990

Greenwich House Music School 

Repeat cast of 2/24/1990   

Repeat of program of 2/24/1990           

                                                                     

Total Eclipse

4/22/1990

Greenwich House Music School

Landry, Rosemarie, soprano

Ollman, Kurt, baritone

Epstein, Alvin, narrator

Blier, Steven, piano

Tomkins, Leslie, viola

The poetry of Verlaine and Rimbaud set to music by Debussy, Fauré, Reynaldo Hahn, Lee Hoiby, and Benjamin Britten        

                                                                     

New American Works

5/20/1990

Greenwich House Music School

Burton, Amy, soprano

Charleston, Rondi, soprano

Hume, Michael, tenor

Lessner, Joanne, mezzo-soprano

Mayo, Don, bass

Barrett, Michael, piano

Blier, Steven, piano

A program of songs by Aaron Jay Kernis, Michael John LaChiusa, Ricky Ian Gordon, James Sellars, Jamie Bernstein, and Scott Frankel  

                                                                     

Music, Marriage and Madness 

10/21/1990 

Greenwich House Music School 

Hunt, Lorraine, mezzo-soprano

Ollmann, Kurt, baritone

Barrett, Michael, piano

Lieder by Robert Schumann, nearly all written in 1940.          

                                                                     

Ticket to Ride

11/8/1990

Greenwich House Music School

Hunter, Marsha, soprano

Kent, Brian, baritone

Stewart, Mark, cello

Blier, Steven, piano

A concert of the songs on Lennon and McCartney in unusual arrangements    

                                                                     

Ticket to Ride

11/11/1990

Greenwich House Music School

Repeat cast of 11/8/1990   

Repeat of program of 11/8/1990          

                                                                     

Promised Lands

11/30/1990

Greenwich House Music School 

Pelton, Carmen, soprano

Smith, Pamela, contralto

Trakas, Christopher, baritone

Barrett, Michael, piano

Folk music from many countries, running from art songs through rough "street" songs      

                                                                     

Promised Lands

12/2/1990

Greenwich House Music School 

Same cast as program of 11/30/1990

Repeat of program of 11/30/1990

                                                       

Unquiet Peace: The Lied Between the Wars

2/10/1991

Greenwich House Music School

Sieden, Cynthia, soprano

Sharp, William, baritone

Blier, Steven, piano

A program of early 20th century German composers, including Hans Eisler, Kurt Weill, Richard Strauss, Alexander Zemlinsky, and others

                                                       

Theater and Cabaret Music of William Bolcom

3/25/1991

Alice Tully Hall

Buffaloe, Katherine, mezzo-soprano

Burton, Amy, soprano

Groenndaal, Chris, tenor

Korbich, Eddie, tenor

Bolcom, William, SPECIAL GUEST

Morris, Joan, SPECIAL GUEST

Blier, Steven, piano

Barrett, Michael, conductor

Songs composed by William Bolcom and Darius Milhaud with selections from The Beggar's Opera by John Gay, arranged by Bolcom and Milhaud

                                                       

Leonard Bernstein, A Concert Tribute 

4/6/1991

Church of Holy Trinity, Philadelphia, PA 

Buffaloe, Katherine, soprano

Edeiken, Louise, soprano

Bogardus, Stephen, tenor

Sharp, William, baritone

Barrett, Michael, piano

Blier, Steven, piano

Thomas, Jamie Bernstein, narrator

Arias and Barcarolles, and selections from West Side Story, On the Town, Candide, Wonderful Town, Trouble in Tahiti, Mass, and Peter Pan

                                                       

Leonard Bernstein: From Concert Stage to Broadway 

4/7/1991

Brooklyn College

Brooklyn, NY

Repeat cast of 4/6/1991

Repeat of concert of 4/6/1991

                                                       

From Rio to Buenos Aires

4/14/1991

Greenwich House Music School

Fink, Bernarda, mezzo-soprano

Trakas, Christopher, baritone

Blier, Steven, piano

Songs from Brazil and Argentina featuring the music of Guastavino, Villa-Lobos, Ginastera, Braga, Piazzolla, Nazareth, and others

                                                       

New American Works

5/12/1991

Greenwich House Music School

Holvik, Karen, soprano

Morgan, Beverly, soprano

Bybee, Luretta, mezzo-soprano

Schopick, Frances, mezzo-soprano

Musto, John, piano

Blier, Steven, piano

Songs by Chris DeBlasio, Eric Klein, David Leisner, Deniz Ulben, Ricky Ian Gordon, Tobias Picker, Hayes Biggs, with premiere performances of songs by Stewart Wallace, John Musto, and Aaron Jay Kernis

                                                       

Arias and Barcarolles

8/17/1991

The Jewish Center of the Hamptons, East Hampton, NY

Buffaloe, Katherine, soprano

Brandstetter, John, baritone

Barrett, Michael, piano

Blier, Steven, piano

Music of Leonard Bernstein, Marc Blitzstein, William Bolcom, Cole Porter and others

                                                       

Americans on America

10/1/1991

Luther College, Decorah, IA

Bunnell, Jane, mezzo-soprano

Sharp, William, baritone

Barrett, Michael, piano

Blier, Steven, piano

Leonard Bernstein's last work, Arias and Barcarolles, along with selections from On the Town, Trouble in Tahiti, and songs by Marc Blitstein

                                                       

Americans on America 

10/6/1991

Hudson River Museum, Yonkers, NY

Same cast as program of 10/1/1991

Repeat of the program of 10/1/1991

                                                       

American Passions

10/13/1991

Greenwich House Music School

Bunnell, Jane, mezzo-soprano

Sharp, William, baritone

Barrett, Michael, piano

Blier, Steven, piano

Bernstein's Arias and Barcarolles, songs by Ives, Ellington, Blitzstein, and Porter

                                                       

Spanish Song, Wine, & Food 

11/22/1991

Hunt, Lorraine, mezzo-soprano

Trakas, Christopher, baritone

Barrett, Michael, piano

Blier, Steven, piano

Benefit hosted by Jamie Bernstein

                                                       

Spanish Love Songs

11/24/1991

Greenwich House Music School

Hunt, Lorraine, mezzo-soprano

Trakas, Christopher, baritone

Barrett, Michael, piano

Blier, Steven, piano

Selections from Wolf's Spanisches Liederbuch, Schumann's Spanische Liebes Lieder, songs by Granados, Fauré, Turina, Mompou, Saint-Saens, Obrador, etc.

                                                       

The Diary of One Who Vanished     

1/26/1992

Greenwich House Music School

Holvik, Karen, soprano

Bunnell, Jane, mezzo-soprano

Schopick, Frances, mezzo-soprano

Berruete, Deborah, mezzo-soprano

Kazaras, Peter, tenor

Blier, Steven, piano

A complete performance of the Janacek work, plus songs by Dvorák, Chabrier, Brahms, and Wolf

                                                       

Scenes from Childhood

2/23/1992

Greenwich House Music School

Means, Edrie, soprano

Lessner,Joanne, soprano

Finckel, Adrien Reju, girl soprano

Conrad, Parker, boy soprano

Barrett, Michael, piano

Arioso snd Scene from Foss' Griffelkin, songs by Ives, Bernstein, Barab, Copland, Debussy, and Poulenc

                                                       

New American Works

3/22/1992

Greenwich House Music School

Burton, Amy, soprano

Mason, Patrick, baritone

Hunt, Lorraine, mezzo-soprano

Boutté, Tony, tenor

Barrett, Michael, piano

Blier, Steven, piano

Musto, John, piano

Woodiel, Paul, violin

Hahnemann, Hanne-Berit, violin

Lawson, Dorothy, violoncello

Wagner, Roger, contrabass

Robert Maggio's Love and Travel, songs by Robert Baksa, Joelle Wallach, John Musto, Danna Kelly Eastman, Ned Rorem, James Sellars

                                                       

Total Eclipse

4/4/1992 

Bowdoin College, Brunswick, ME

Hunt, Lorraine, mezzo-soprano

Ohllmann, Kurt, baritone

Chapline, Robert, baritone

Blier, Steven, piano

The poetry of Verlaine and Rimbaud set to music by Debussy, Fauré, Reynaldo Hahn, Lee Hoiby, and Benjamin Britten

                                                       

Guilty Pleasures and Confessions

4/26/1992

Greenwich House Music School

Seiden, Cyndia, soprano

Sharp, William, baritone

Blier, Steven, piano

Wagner, Roger, double bass

Songs by Brahms, Wolf, Beethoven, Berlin, Schonberg, Britten, Rebecca Clarke, and the Bobs

                                                       

Guilty Pleasures and Confesions

4/27/1992

Walter Reade Theater, New York, NY

Same cast as program of 4/26/1992

Repeat of program of 4/26/1992

                                                       

Picnic Cantata / L'amour Masqué

5/31/1992

Greenwich House Music School

Burton, Amy, soprano

Holvik, Karen, soprano

Mercer-White, Rebecca, mezzo-soprano

Pelton, Carmen, soprano

Rose, Cynthia, contralto

Sapolsky, Robert, baritone

Watson, Nathaniel, baritone

Chambord, Jacqueline, narrator

Aubert, Christian, narrator

Barrett, Michael, piano

Blier, Steven, piano

Saporito, James, percussion

A concert double bill of the works by Paul Bowles and Andre Messager

Backer's Audition                                             

9/20/1992

Greenwich House Music School

Fowler, Beth, mezzo-soprano

Grifasi, Joe, baritone

Hanchard, Dana, soprano

McGillin, Howard, baritone

Blier, Steven, piano

Selections from the Gershwin's Pardon My English, La La Lucille, and Strike Up the Band; Porter's Wake up and Dream, Anything Goes; Weill's One Touch of Venus, Lady in the Dark; Arlen's Hooray for What

                                                       

Words Without Songs

10/25/1992

Greenwich House Music School

Goldstein, Steven, tenor

Deak, John, instrumentalist

Black, Robert, instrumentalist

Lawson, Dorothy, cello

Marx, Karen, violin

Radcliffe, Susan, cornet

Saporito, James, percussion

Stulpen, Glenn, soprano saxophone

Aubert, Christian, narrator

Barrett, Michael, piano

Blier, Steven, piano

Works scored for narrator and chamber ensembles: Poulenc's The Story of the Barber, the world premieres of James Sellars' Beulah in Chicago, and Aaron Jay Kernis' Le Quattro Stagioni dalla Cucina Futurismo

                                                       

Ticket to Ride

11/2/1992

Walter Reade Theater

Same castas program of 11/8/1990

Repeat of program of 11/8/1990

                                                       

Picnic Cantata 

11/13/1992

Weill Recital Hall

Holvik, Karen,soprano

Burton, Amy, soprano

Merger-White, Rebecca, mezzo-soprano

Pelton. Carmen, soprano

Lane, Jennifer, mezzo-soprano

Sharp, William, baritone

Saporito, James, percussion

Barrett, Michael, piano

Blier, Steven, piano

Songs by Copland, Blitzstein, Rorem, Musto, Wallach, Bernstein, Bolcom plus Paul Bowles's Picnic Cantata

                                                       

Die Schöne Magelone

12/6/1992

Greenwich House Music School

Sharp, William, baritone

Dixon, Beth, narrator

Blier, Steven, piano

Johannes Brahms' 1868 song cycle performed with original narration

                                                       

The Ages of Bel Canto

1/7/1993

Greenwich House Music School

Villars, Jon, tenor

Matthews, Andrea, soprano

Maguire, Linda, mezzo-soprano

Barrett, Michael, piano

Songs by Donizetti, Mascagni, Puccini, and Dallapiccola

                                                       

Romance in the Belle Epoque

2/14/1993

Greenwich House Music School

Hunt, Lorraine, mezzo-soprano

Ollmann, Kurt, baritone

Blier, Steven, piano

Fauré's song cycle Le jardin clod, songs by Massenet, Debussy, Satie, Chabrier, Pladilhe

                                                       

Spanish Love Songs

3/8/1993

Walter Reade Theater

Hunt, Lorraine, mezzo-soprano

Trakas, Christopher, baritone

Barrett, Michael, piano

Blier, Steven, piano

Selections from Wolf's Spanisches Liederbuch, Schumann's Spanische Liebeslieder, songs by Granados, Fauré, Turina, Mompou, Saint-Saens, Obrador, etc.

                                                       

Songs of the Irish Poets

4/4/1993

Greenwich House Music School

Burton, Amy, soprano

Siebert, Glenn, tenor

Woodiel, Paul, violin

Lawson, Dorothy, cello

Barrett, Michael, piano

Blier, Steven, piano

The words of Yeats, Wilde, Moore, and Joyce, in settings by Britten, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Ricky Ian Gordon, and Barber.

                                                       

Red, White and Blues

4/12/1993

Walter Reade Theater

Vargas, Milagro, mezzo-soprano

Ollmann, Kurt, baritone

Butler, Marcia, oboe

Hineman, Sue, bassoon

Sternberg, Jo-Ann, clarinet

Baker, James, percussion

Marx, Karen, violin

Lawson, Dorothy, cello

Barrett, Michael, piano

Blier, Steven, piano

Poulenc's L'Amour Masqué, the music of Milhaud, Gershwin, Duparc, and Ives.

                                                       

New American Works

5/2/1993 

Greenwich House Music School

Vanderlinde, Debra, soprano

Pidgeon, Belinda, soprano

Murray, John Horton, tenor

Trakas, Christopher, baritone

Nestor, Kathleen, flute

Gythfeldt, Marianne, clarinet

Coid, Marshall, violin

Tomkins, Leslie, viola

Barrett, Michael, piano

Blier, Steven, piano

Tom Cipullo's The Husbands; Robert Maggio's Four Men at the Door; selections from Jeffrey Stock's The Voice of Temperance and William Bolcom's McTeague; songs by Ricky Ian Gordon, John Musto, Daron Hagen, and Steven Sametz.

                                                       

Music of Leonard Bernstein

9/11/1993

Moab Music Festival, Moab, UT

Schaufer, Lucy, mezzo-soprano

Ollmann, Kurt, baritone

Villars, Jon, tenor

Barrett, Michael, piano

Blier, Steven, piano

Arias and Barcarolles, selections from On the Town, Wonderful Town, Candide, Mass, etc.

                                                       

A Tribute to Leonard Bernstein

9/28/1993

Emory University, Atlanta, GA

Same cast as 9/11/1993

Same program as 9/11/1993

                                                       

Women's Work

10/17/1993

Greenwich House Music School

Trakas, Christopher, baritone

Holvik, Karen, soprano

Lane, Jennifer, soprano

Barrett, Michael, piano

Music of Clara Schumann, Fanny Mendelssohn, Alma Mahler, Josephine Lang, Joelle Wallach, Nadia Boulanger, Lili Boulanger, and Pauline Viardot.

                                                       

Republic of Verse: A marathon of 19th Century American Poetry and Song

10/24/1993

92nd Street Y, New York, NY

Trakas, Christopher, baritone

Burton, Amy, soprano

Musto, John, piano

Works by Arthur Farwell, John Duke, Ives, Bernstein, Bolcom, and Copeland.

                                                       

Music of Leonard Bernstein

11/8/1993

Library of Congress, Washington, DC

Same cast as 9/11/1993

Same program as 9/11/1993

                                                       

The Afterlife

11/13/1993

Greenwich House Music School

Hunt, Lorraine, mezzo-soprano

Harris, Brenda, soprano

Blier, Steven, piano

The music of Vaughan Williams, Argento, Thomson, Bolcom, Handel, Wolf, Barber, Ricky Ian Gordon, Foss, Schumann, and John Musto.

                                                       

Unsung Strauss

12/12/1993

Greenwich House Music School

McGuire, Linda, mezzo-soprano

Seiden, Cyndia, soprano,

Trakas,  Christopher, baritone

Blier, Steven, piano

Rarely-heard music of Richard Strauss, including the original version of Zerbinetta's aria from Ariadne auf Naxos and Krämmerspiegel, Op. 67.

                                                       

A Ned Rorem Birthday Tribute

1/23/1994

Greenwich House Music School

Ollmann, Kurt, baritone

Beer, Lucille, mezzo-soprano

NYFOS String Quartet

Barrett, Michael, piano

Blier, Steven, piano

Songs and vocal chamber music of Rorem, including Santa Fe Songs and selections from Nantucket Songs.

                                                       

Modern Scenes from American Life

2/23/1994

Greenwich House Music School

Labelle, Dominique, soprano

Barber, Kimberly, mezzo-soprano

Sharp, William, baritone

Barrett, Michael, piano

Blier, Steven, piano

Music of John Musto, Arlen, William Bolcom, Aaron Kipnis, Copland, and others.

                                                       

Modern Scenes from American Life

3/6/1994

Wigmore Hall, London, UK

Same cast as 2/31/1994

Same program as 2/23/1994

                                                       

The Russian Masters

4/17/1994

Greenwich House Music School

Gondek, Juliana, soprano

Lundy, Nancy Allen, mezzo-soprano

Zeng, Zhou, baritone

Peter, Kazaris, tenor

Pakman, Mark, piano

Blier, Steven, piano

Music of Glinka, Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev, and contemporary Russian composers.

                                                       

New American Works

5/8/1994

Greenwich House Music School

Burton, Amy, soprano

McFaddon, Claron, soprano

Schaufer, Lucy, mezzo-soprano

Ossenfort, David, tenor

Sharp, William, baritone

Henze, Sheryl, flute

Parkins, Margaret, cello

Barrett, Michael, piano

Blier, Steven, piano

Musto, John, piano

Music by Bolcom, Davide Zannoni, Nancy Gunn, Donald St. Pierre, Dan Wechler, Ricky Ian Gordon, Jeffrey Stock (commission), and James Sellars.

                                                       

Red, White, and Blues

9/9/1994

Moab Music Festival, Moab, UT

Haumann, Constance, soprano

Ollmann, Kurt, baritone

Blier, Steven, piano

A collection of French and American songs by Hahn, Ravel, Duparc, Gershwin, Ives, Copland, and others.

                                                       

American Dreams

10/8/1994

92nd Street Y

Flanigan, Lauren, soprano

Burton, Amy, soprano

Barber, Kimberly, mezzo-soprano

Morris, Joan, mezzo-soprano

Goldstein, Steven, tenor

Offenbach, Jamie, baritone

Barrett, Michael, piano

Blier, Steven, piano

Bolcom, William, piano

A gala program of songs about love, family, and freedom in American life, featuring the music of Bernstein, Blitzstein, Griffes, Gershwin, Arlen and others.

                                                       

Vienna: Turn of the Centuries

11/12/1994

92nd Street Y

Parrish, Cheryl, soprano

Mentzer, Suzanne, mezzo-soprano

Sharp, William, baritone

Barrett, Michael, piano

Blier, Steven, piano

Music from the two decades surrounding 1900 by Mahler, Strauss, Schonberg, Pfitzner, and others.

                                                       

New American Works

1/19/1995

Weill Recital Hall

Lundy, Nancy, soprano

Tucker, Laura, mezzo-soprano

Villars, Jon, tenor

Trakas, Christopher, baritone

Barrett, Michael, piano

Blier, Steven, piano

NYFOS Chamber Players

Annual program of contemporary American composers with works by Ricky Ian Gordon, Aaron, Kempnis, Chris DeBlasio, Rob Maggio, Christopher Berg, and James Sellars.

                                                       

Les Années Folles

2/11/1995

92nd Street Y

Burton, Amy, soprano

Holvik, Karen, soprano

Scimone, Carolyn, soprano

Hunt, Lorraine, mezzo-soprano

Kazaras, Peter, tenor

Ollmann, Kurt, baritone

Watson, Nathaniel, baritone

Aubert, Christian, narrator

Chambord, Jacqueline, narrator

NYFOS Chamber Ensemble

A double bill of Andre Messager's 1924 hit L'Amour Masqué and French chamber pieces; Delage: Chansons Hindoues; Ravel: Chansons madécasses; Poulenc and others.

                                                       

Sisters, Mothers, and Daughters

4/28/1995

Weill Recital Hall

Flanigan, Lauren, soprano

Barber, Kimberly, mezzo-soprano

Barrett, Michael, piano

Blier, Steven, piano

Explores the relationship between women in families through the music of Richard Strauss, Shostakovich, Britten, Brahms, and others.

                                                                     

Bernstein and Friends

5/20/1995

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

Barber, Kimberly, mezzo-soprano

Sharp, William, baritone

Blier, Steven, piano

A tribute to the late American composer and conductor           

                                                                     

From Rio to Buenos Aires

6/3/1995

Weill Recital Hall

Fink, Bernarda, mezzo-soprano

Trakas, Christopher, baritone

Blier, Steven, piano

Songs from Brazil and Argentina featuring the music of Guastavino, Villa-Lobos, Ginastera, Braga, Piazzolla, Nazareth, and others.

                                                                     

Romance in the Belle Epoque

6/29/1995

Wigmore Hall, London, UK

Hunt, Lorraine, mezzo-spprano

Ollmann, Kurt, baritone

Blier, Steven, piano

Fauré's song cycle Le jardin clos, songs by Massenet, Debussy, Satie, Chabrier, Paladilhe     

                                                                     

Rivers and Rainbows

9/9/1995

Moab Music Festival, Moab, UT

Seiden, Cyndia, soprano

Mason, Patrick, baritone

Blier, Steven, piano

Songs about nature by Rorem, Ives, Schubert, Richard Strauss, Harold Arlen, Weill and others.           

                                                                     

Guilty Pleasures and Confessions 

9/10/1995

Moab Music Festival, Moab, UT

Seiden, Cyndia, soprano

Mason, Patrick, baritone

Blier, Steven, piano

A survey of venial and deadly sins in songs by Conrad Susa, Brahms, Schubert, Christopher Berg, Johann Strauss and others.         

                                                                     

Songs from the Diaspora

10/28/1995

92nd Street Y

Feldshuh, Tovah, soprano

Hunt, Lorraine, mezzo-soprano

Kazaras, Peter, baritone

Abelson, Robert, baritone

Barrett, Michael, piano

Blier, Steven, piano

Music of Ravel, Milhaud, Mahler; songs from the Yiddish theater; traditional Sephardic songs; and contemporary American Jewish art songs by Bernstein, Lazar Weiner and others.        

                                                                     

Broadway Orphans

12/12/1995

Weill Recital Hall

Barrett, Brent, tenor

Fowler, Beth, mezzo-soprano

Grifasi, Joe, baritone

Holvik, Karen, soprano

Blier, Steven, piano

Showstoppers and unpublished gems from the vintage Broadway musicals of Cole Porter, George Gershwin, Harold Arlen, Kurt Weill, Richard Rogers, and Irving Berlin.

                                                                     

A Langston Hughes Celebration

1/16/1996

Weill Recital Hall

Blackwell, Harolyn, soprano

Johnson, Camellia, soprano

Woodley, Arthur, bass

Rampersad, Arnold, narrator

Blier, Steven, piano

Lawson, Dorothy, cello

Songs and poems in celebration of the writer's centennial; music of Ricky Ian Gordon, John Musto, Arnold Zemlinsky, Kurt Weill, and many others.

                                                       

Total Eclipse: The Poetry of Verlaine and Rimbaud

2/12/1996

92nd Street Y

Labelle, Dominique, soprano

Ollmann, Kurt, baritone

Blier, Steven, piano

The poets' works heard in classic settings by Gabriel Fauré, Claude Debussy, Benjamin Britten, Reynaldo Hahn, and Frederick Delius, with excerpts from Total Eclipse, Christopher Hampton's drama about the lives of Verlaine and Rimbaud.

                                                       

Teatros Espanoles

3/9/1996

92nd Street Y

Gonzales, Yvonne, soprano

Herrera, Nancy, soprano

Barasorda, Antonio, tenor

Trakas, Christopher, baritone

Barrett, Michael, piano

Blier, Steven, piano

Zinger, Pablo, program consultant

A celebration of theater music from Spain, Argentina, Brazil, and Cuba; tangos and zarzuela arias by Villa-Lobos, Chapi, Carlos Lopez-Buchardo, and others.

                                                       

Spanish Love Songs

3/25/1996

Vocal Arts Society, Washington, DC

Hunt, Lorraine, soprano

Trakas, Christopher, baritone

Barrett, Michael, piano

Blier, Steven, piano

Works by Granados, Turina, Obradors, Luna, Fauré, Chabrier, as well as excerpts from Schumann's Spanisches Liebeslieder and Wolf's Spanisches Liederbuch.

                                                       

The Unsung Strauss    

4/14/1996

Greenwich Chamber Music Society, Greenwich, CT

Harman, Risa Renae, soprano

Graham, Susan, mezzo-soprano

Villars, Jon, tenor

Blier, Steven, piano

Rarely heard songs by Richard Strauss, including excerpts from his 1918 cycle Krämerspeigel and Zerbinetta's aria from the original version of Ariadne auf Naxos.

                                                       

The Unsung Strauss     

4/16/1996         

Weill Recital Hall

Harman, Risa Renae, soprano

Krull, Marguerite, mezzo-soprano

Villars, Jon, tenor

Blier, Steven, piano

Same program as 4/14/1996

                                                       

American Love Songs/Brahms Liebeslieder

5/11/1996

92nd Street Y

Blythe, Stephanie, mezzo-soprano

Cutlip, Philip, bass-baritone

Lundy, Nancy Allen, soprano

Tharp, Steven, tenor

Barrett, Michael, piano

Blier, Steven, piano

Brahms's classic 1869 suite of waltzes for four voices and piano four-hands is a curtain raiser to a newly-commissioned companion piece, a collection of love songs by over a dozen contemporary composers.

                                                       

American Love Songs/Brahms Liebeslieder

9/6 & 9/7/1996

Moab Music Festival, Moab, UT

Harman, Risa Renae, soprano

Schaufer, Lucy, mezzo-soprano

Cutlip, Philip, bass-baritone

Picon, Jeffrey, tenor

Barrett, Michael, piano

Blier, Steven, piano

Same program as 5/11/1996

                                                       

Dove Sta Amore

10/2/1996

Weill Recital Hall

Sieden, Cyndia, soprano

Gilfry, Rodney, baritone

Blier, Steven, piano

A concert featuring the New York premiere of John Musto's most recent vocal work Dove Sta Amore, along with song cycles about the progress of love by Poulenc, Lopez-Buchardo, and Strauss.

                                                       

An Ira Gershwin Celebration

11/20/1996

92nd Street Y

Daly, Tyne, mezzo-soprano

Fratanoni, Diane, soprano

Garrison, David, baritone

Sharp, William, baritone

Barrett, Michael, piano

Blier, Steven, piano

A concert of classics and rarely heard songs in honor of the great lyricist's 100th birthday. The program includes his collaborations with Harold Arlen, Jerome Kern, Kurt Weill, Vernon Duke, as well as his brother George.

                                                       

Modern Scenes from American Life

1/15/1997

Weill Recital Hall

Goerke, Christine, soprano

Barber, Kimberly, mezzo-soprano

Picon, Jeffrey, tenor

Sharp, William, baritone

Barrett, Michael, piano

Blier, Steven, piano

An updated revival of the critically-acclaimed program that introduced NYFOS to London in 1994, including the premiere of a new commission by Lowell Liebermann, as well as songs by Bolcom, Musto, Kernis, Gordon and others.

                                                       

Modern Scenes from American Life

2/10/1997

The Barns, Wolftrap, VA

Goerke, Christine, soprano

Lattimore, Margaret, mezzo-soprano

Sharp, William, baritone

Barrett, Michael, piano

Blier, Steven, piano

Same program as 1/15/1997

                                                       

The English Landscape and Façade    

2/26/1997

92nd Street Y

Evans, Rebecca, soprano

McMillan, Kevin, baritone

Conroy, Francis, narrator

Murray, Brian, narrator

Barrett, Michael, piano

Blier, Steven, piano

NYFOS's first journey through England's seascapes, stately mansions and dens of iniquity in a century of British song, from Vaughan Williams to Elgar to Britten to Coward; coupled with a performance of William Walton's Façade on poems of Edith Sitwell, performed with the NYFOS chamber ensemble.