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"Every detail was designed to give the evening seamless coherence, and you left the hall feeling enriched, enlightened, entertained and grateful for the experience."
— Washington Post
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NEW YORK FESTIVAL OF SONG
Steven Blier, Artistic Director • Michael Barrett, Associate Artistic Director
continues its 2013-14 Mainstage series
at Merkin Concert Hall, Kaufman Music Center
with
“CUBANS IN PARIS,
CUBANS AT HOMEâ€
Cuban music's rich history in the concert halls, theaters,
and nightclubs of two continents
Songs by Caturla, Lecuona, Mauri, Grenet
plus excerpts from Moisés Simons’ masterful 1934 operetta Toi C’est Moi
featuring
Corinne Winters, soprano
Jeffrey Picón, tenor
Ricardo Herrera, baritone
Leonardo Granados, percussion
Steven Blier and Michael Barrett, pianists
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2013, 8:00PM
Merkin Concert Hall at Kaufman Music Center
129 West 67th Street, New York, NY
$40-$55 for Single Tickets; $10 for Student Tickets
$20 for Real Deal Tickets: Advance Purchase, Limited Availability and Seating
Complementary wine reception with the artists following performance
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NYFOS On Tour
The NYFOS troupe travels to the Washington, DC metropolitan area
for a preview performance of CUBANS IN PARIS, CUBANS AT HOME
(same cast, but with percussionist Danny Villanueva)
Tuesday, December 3, 8:00 pm
The Centerstage, 2013-2014 Professional Touring Artist Series
Reston Community Center
2310 Colts Neck Road, Reston, VA
Tickets $40 for the public, $20 for Reston residents
More information online |
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From NYFOS Artistic Director Steven Blier:
“How refreshing to return to the music of Cuba in all its guises—dance tunes, art song, the tangiest zarzuelas in the repertoire, and even a mixed-breed French/Cuban operetta. Many of our composers also became denizens of Paris, where they entertained Gallic audiences on a cabaret-lined street that became known as Rue des Cubains. What a joy to be reunited with my colleagues Ricardo Herrera and Jeffrey Picón—they pretty much taught me how this music goes—and the ultra-glamorous Corinne Winters, whose luscious soprano seems to know no stylistic boundaries. It will be my first time onstage with percussionist Leonardo Granados, the real deal when it comes to Latin rhythm. With these musicians on hand, the evening promises to be a musical mojito.â€
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The 2013-14 NYFOS Mainstage series at Merkin Concert Hall in NYC continues with CUBANS IN PARIS, CUBANS AT HOME on Thursday, December 5, 2013 at 8:00 pm.
A preview performance will be held in Reston, VA on Tuesday, December 3 at 8:00pm at the Reston Community Center, as part of its 2013-2014 Professional Touring Artist Series.
Cuban music took the world by storm in the 1920s and 30s, and found a special welcome in Paris. This program straddles the concert hall, the nightclub, and the theater with music by Alejandro Garcia Caturla, Ernesto Lecuona, José Mauri, and Eliseo Grenet. The show will also present songs by Moisés Simons, including excerpts from his rarely performed 1934 operetta Toi C’est Moi.
The evening stars a trio of powerfully communicative singers: Jeffrey Picón and Ricardo Herrera, who make long-awaited returns to the NYFOS stage; and Corinne Winters, who made her European debut earlier this year to countless rave reviews. BBC Music Magazine wrote: “Corinne Winters delivered a performance of white-hot intensity and consummate control.†Winters is also scheduled to release an album of Spanish song—Basque, Catalan, Castilian, and Sephardic—with NYFOS artistic director Steven Blier in 2014, on the GPR label.
These three singers will be joined by Blier and associate artistic director Michael Barrett on piano, as well as Venezuelan percussionist Leonardo Granados ( Danny Villanueva in Reston, VA).
Tickets are $40-$55 for the public, $10 for students. A limited number of advance purchase $20 Real Deal tickets are available. Purchase online at www.nyfos.org or by calling the Merkin box office at (212) 501-3330. A complementary wine reception with the artists will follow the performance.
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I: POPULAR SONG (Lecuona and others)
Canción KarabalÃ
Damisela encatadora
Lamento esclavo
II: ART SONG (Caturla)
Bito Manué
Mari-Sabel
Juego santo
III: CUBAN ZARZUELA
Rosa la China (Lecuona)
Mi vida es cantar (Grenet)
Perdida para siempre la esperanza (Mauri)
IV: Excerpts from TOI C'EST MOI by Moisés Simons
C’est ça l’amour
Toi c'est moi
Entre copains
V: AFTER HOURS
Marta (Simons)
Son de la loma (Miguel Matamoros)
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NYFOS MAINSTAGE
The original thematic song party
"New York Festival of Song is the most important nucleus of contemporary song in the world."
— Ned Rorem
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Steven Blier and Michael Barrett have hosted New York Festival of Song's signature series since founding NYFOS in 1988. Blier is a national treasure, adored for his boundless knowledge of song, smart and funny stage commentary, meticulously researched program notes, and gift for imparting his passion to the singers he coaches. Barrett—the perfect foil for Blier—is a sublime and suave musician, the mastermind of Caramoor (2003-2012) and the Moab Music Festival (1992-today). These two have pioneered and explored the art of the thematic song recital. Their programs draw from repertoire across musical genres and styles; they delight in unearthing rarely heard songs, and programming familiar works in surprising contexts. Audiences come away inspired, smiling, lighter on their feet. "An evening of transporting theatre—with music." (The New York Times)
Upcoming NYFOS Mainstage Performances:
“WARSAW SERENADEâ€
Tuesday, February 18, 8:00 pm
The haunting, ultra-romantic beauty of mid-twentieth century Poland
Music by Karol Szymanowski, Grażyna Bacewicz,
Mieczysław Weinberg and others
With Dina Kuznetsova, soprano; Joseph Kaiser, tenor
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www.nyfos.org
“People have a primal need to be sung to and communicated with through song. The essential core of truth in each song—that part where you feel ‘that's me, I've been there’—that’s what we’re always looking for.†— Steven Blier
Now in its 26th season, New York Festival of Song (NYFOS) is dedicated to creating intimate song concerts of great beauty and originality, weaving music, poetry, history and humor into unforgettable evenings of compelling theater. Each seamless program entertains, educates and fosters community among artists and audiences. Everyone has a primal need to be sung to; NYFOS was made to meet that need.
Founded by pianists Michael Barrett and Steven Blier in 1988, NYFOS continues to produce its series of thematic song programs, drawing together rarely-heard songs of all kinds, overriding traditional distinctions between high and low performance genres, exploring the character and language of other cultures, and the personal voices of song composers and lyricists.
Since its founding, NYFOS has particularly celebrated American song, featuring premieres and commissions of new American works. These include a double bill of one-act comic operas, Bastianello and Lucrezia, by John Musto and William Bolcom, both with libretti by Mark Campbell, commissioned and premiered by NYFOS in 2008 and recorded on Bridge Records. In addition to Bastianello and Lucrezia and the 2008 Bridge Records release of Spanish Love Songs with Joseph Kaiser and the late Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, NYFOS has produced five recordings on the Koch label, including a Grammy Award-winning disc of Bernstein’s Arias and Barcarolles, and the Grammy-nominated recording of Ned Rorem’s Evidence of Things Not Seen (also a NYFOS commission) on New World Records. Soon to come: a CD of Spanish song—Basque, Catalan, Castilian, and Sephardic—on the GPR label, with soprano Corinne Winters accompanied by Steven Blier.
In November 2010, NYFOS began its latest programming venture with the debut of NYFOS Next, a mini-series for new songs, hosted by guest composers in intimate venues. For the 2013-2014 season, the series moves to Opera America’s National Opera Center for all three concerts.
NYFOS also nurtures the artistry and careers of young singers in training residencies (current and past projects) with The Juilliard School’s Ellen and James S. Marcus Institute for Vocal Arts (now in its 9th year), Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts (its 6th year in March 2014), San Francisco Opera Center (over 15 years as of April 2013), Glimmerglass Opera (2008–2010), and its newest project, NYFOS@North Fork in Orient, NY, successfully completed in August 2013.
NYFOS’s concert series, touring programs, radio broadcasts, recordings, and educational activities continue to spark new interest in the creative possibilities of the song program, and have inspired the creation of thematic vocal series around the world.
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“New York Festival of Song reinvented the song recital.†— The New Yorker
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NYFOS 2013-14 Season-at-a-Glance
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Tuesday, December 3, 8:00pm
Cubans in Paris, Cubans at Home
Reston Community Center, Reston, VA
NYFOS On Tour
Thursday, December 5, 8:00 pm
Cubans in Paris, Cubans at Home
Merkin Concert Hall at Kaufman Music Center
NYFOS Mainstage
Monday, December 16, 10:00 pm
A Goyishe Christmas to You!
HENRY's Restaurant
NYFOS After Hours
Wednesday, January 15, 8:00 pm
NYFOS@Juilliard
The Land Where the Good Songs Go
Peter Jay Sharp Theater in NYC
NYFOS Emerging Artists
Tuesday, January 28, 7:30 pm
Mark Adamo & Friends
OPERA America's National Opera Center
NYFOS Next
Sunday, February 16, 1:30 pm
Warsaw Serenade
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, MA
NYFOS On Tour
Tuesday, February 18, 8:00 pm
Warsaw Serenade
Merkin Concert Hall at Kaufman Music Center
NYFOS Mainstage
Tuesday, March 4, 7:30 pm
John Musto & Friends
OPERA America's National Opera Center
NYFOS Next
Sunday, March 16, 4:00 pm
Caramoor's Vocal Rising Stars
Ports of Call: An Itinerary of Song
Caramoor Center in Katonah, NY
NYFOS Emerging Artists
Tuesday, March 18, 7:00 pm
Caramoor's Vocal Rising Stars
Ports of Call: An Itinerary of Song
OPERA America's National Opera Center
NYFOS Emerging Artists
Wednesday, March 19, 7:00 pm
Caramoor's Vocal Rising Stars
Ports of Call: An Itinerary of Song
OPERA America's National Opera Center
NYFOS Emerging Artists
Tuesday, April 1, 7:30 pm
Harold Meltzer & Friends
OPERA America's National Opera Center
NYFOS Next
Monday, April 28, 7:00 pm
Remembering Lenny
Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall
Spring Gala
Monday, May 5, 10:00 pm
The Land Where The Good Songs Go
HENRY's Restaurant
NYFOS After Hours
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All NYFOS programming is funded, in part, by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature .
NYFOS Mainstage and NYFOS Next are funded, in part, by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
"Ned is Ninety" and "Ports of Call: An Itinerary of Song" are made possible, in part, by a grant from the A.L. and Jennie L. Luria Foundation.
Caramoor's Terrance W. Schwab Vocal Rising Stars program is made possible by generous support from the Terrance W. Schwab Endowment Fund for Young Vocal Artists.
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For further information, press tickets, photos, and to arrange interviews,
please contact Aleba & Co. at 212/206-1450 or aleba@alebaco.com. |
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