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 Steven Blier's program notes for the concert.
(Hint: look toward the end of the list. We are just beginning to add these notes.)
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.
Evening of Ballads, An
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"
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.
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
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
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
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
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
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
Paul Bowles' 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 Liebes Lieder, 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
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
5/2/1993
Greenwich House Music School
Vanderlinde, Debra, soprano
Pidgeon, Belinda, soprano
Murray, John Horton, tenor
Trakas, Christopher, baritone
Nestor, Kathleen, fute
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, 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
Repeat cast of 9/11/1993
Repeat of concert on 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, 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, Copeland
Music of Leonard Bernstein
11/8/1993
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Repeat cast of 9/11/1993
Repeat of 9/11/1993 concerts
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, John Musto
12/12/1993
Greenwich House Music School
McGuire, Linda, mezzo-soprano
Seiden, Cyndia, soprano,
Trakas, Christopher, barittone
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
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
Repest of cast of 2/31/1994
Repeat of program of 2/23/1994
4/17/1994
Greenwich House Music School
Gondek, Juliana, soprano
Lundy, Nancy Allen
Zhou Zeng, baritone
Peter, Kazaris, tenor
Pakman, Mark, piano
Blier, Steven, piano
Music of Glinka, Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev, and contemporary Russian composers
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), James Sellars
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
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
11/12/1994
92nd Street Y
Parrish, Cheryl, soprano
Mentzer, Suzanne, mezzo-soprano
Sharp, William, baritone
Barrett, Michael, ppiano
Blier, Steven, piano
Music from the two decades surrounding 1900, by Mahler, Strauss, Schonberg, Pfitzner, and others
1/19/1995
Weill Recital Hall
Lundy, Nancy, soprano
Tucker, Laura, mezzo-soprano
Villars, Jon, tenor
Trakas, Christopher, baritoneBarrett, 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
Peter Kazaras, tenor
Ollmann, Kurt, baritone
Watson, Nathaniel, baritone
Aubert, Christian, narrator
Chambord, Jacquelione, 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
6/3/1995
Weill Recital Hall
Fink, Bernarda, mezzo-soprano
Trakas, Christopher, baritone
Blier, Steven, piano
Songs from Brazil and Argebtina featuring the music of Guastavino, Villa-Lobos, Ginastera, Braga, Piazzolla, Nazareth, and others
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 Weinerand others.
12/12/1995
Weill Recital Hall
Barrett, Brent, tenor
Fowler, Beth, mezzo-soprano
Grifasi, Joe
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
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.
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
3/25/1996
Vocal Arts Society, Washington, D.C.
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.
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
4/16/1996
Weill Recital Hall
Harman, Risa Renae, soprano
Krull, Marguerite, mezzo-soprano
Villars, Jon, tenor
Blier, Steven, piano
Repeat of program of 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' 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
A repeat of the program of 5/11/1996
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.
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
Repeat of program of 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 throuh 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
3/26/1997
The Barns, Wolftrap, VA
Mannhart, Emily, mezzo-soprano
Hendricks, Scott, baritone
Blier, Steven, piano
Fauré's song cycle Le jardin clos, songs by Massenet, Debussy, Satie, Chabrier, Paladilhe
4/23/1997
Weill Recital Hall
Sheri Greenawald, soprano
Kazaras, Peter, tenor
Zhou Zeng, baritone
Blier, Steven, piano
Music of Glinka, Borodin, Medtner, Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev, and contemporary Russian composers
6/4/1997
92nd Street Y
von Stade, Frederica,