written by
When you have a program with a bunch of duets, and you also have a director on duty, Day 2 is going to be Stage the Duets Day. A solo song doesn’t usually need a lot of movement, and both of the guys have already done some prep work on their material before they...
The NYFOS@North Fork concert always provokes a lot of conflicting feelings in me. It’s late summer and I’d really like to relax, spend time reading, start my cocktail hour a little earlier, and watch some movies. But the Orient program—Orient, NY, that is, at the...
Even when a project has been satisfying, there can be a certain pleasure when it’s over. The release from all that intensity is sometimes just as beneficial as the joy of the music. Still, I admit that it has been a little hard to say goodbye to Eros & Co. The...
My cell phone dings—a message from Bénédicte Jourdois, who joins me every year to mastermind NYFOS’s annual residency at Caramoor. Our texts are often a bit—what’s the word?—unbridled, and they have been known to make me laugh so hard that I attract stares on the 104...
During a five-day residency, Friday can feel a bit sad (“It’s almost over”); it can feel unsettling (“Some things just aren’t ready”); it can be anxiety-producing (“We have four hours to knock this show into shape”). This year we managed to avoid all those negative...
It has been wonderful to work as a group and to let all the singers—and Amber, our pianist—watch each other’s coachings. Bénédicte and I hope that they enjoy being privy to their colleagues’ progress, and that they relish having a front-row seat at the Steve and Béné...