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from Steven Blier: Joan Sutherland was my childhood passion. In junior high I used to go into classrooms and scribble “Joan is supreme” in the corner of the blackboard, probably some botched attempt to be transgressive. In the 1970s and 80s I cooled a bit on...
from Steven Blier: A prayer for our country, in the wake of last week’s horrific killings in Charleston: “Oh Glory,” sung by Shirley Verrett in the early years of her career. The pundits are busy spinning this story, some of them in the most appalling, self-serving...
from Steven Blier: I have three summer concerts to give, and I’ve just started to think about the last of them: NYFOS@North Fork, Latin Lovers (August 22 and 23). This will be a labor of love for me since South American and Cuban canción might be my greatest musical...
from Steven Blier: The first professional singer I ever accompanied was English soprano Valerie Masterson. I met her through Matthew Epstein, who went to high school with me. Even at age 17 Matthew was the master of going backstage, honing his skills during the D’Oyly...
It takes a lot of courage to give your first performance of a song in front of the New York audience and critics—but that’s what we have done for decades at NYFOS. Of course, every singer lives in fear of forgetting his lyrics. Therefore it is comforting to know that...
from Steven Blier: I went out to Brooklyn last week and saw the Fiasco Theater’s production of Two Gentlemen of Verona. It was a magical night on every front: gorgeous weather, beautiful theater space (the magical Theater for a New Audience), and one of the freshest,...