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We’ve had a bit of drama over the past few days. Trevor Haumschilt, the baritone in the cast, had been belting out his songs like a champ, seemingly tireless day after day. He’s a very tall guy, with a football player’s build, and he looks indestructible. Imagine my...
I am always looking for the element that will lift a song from the memorized-and-well-executed to the owned-and-embodied. There are many ways to board that magic carpet, assuming the singers have the capacity for levitation. (Everyone in this cast does.) But it isn’t...
I have had a lot of good times doing my annual Juilliard concerts, a tradition since 2006. But I had not anticipated how much fun I would have with this year’s show, Ned at 100: A Rorem Celebration. It is a revamped revival of a concert we did ten years ago,...
Four decades ago I found myself at a week-long residency on the Princeton campus, studying song repertoire with a roster of legendary recitalists. At one of those master classes I heard my first Argentinean art song—“La rosa y el sauce,” by Carlos Guastavino. After...
After working with Peter Dugan on last year’s opening night concert, Heroes, I was eager to collaborate with him again. But on what, exactly? We met for lunch and batted ideas around for a while. As we got to the last pieces of sushi, Peter asked, “Tell me, is there...
I chose this year’s theme, 100 Years of Broadway Love, for two reasons. First, because I thought it would have an inviting, end-of-summer appeal, offering a breather from the horrors of the daily news reports; second, because I assumed it would be a snap to program,...