by Steven Blier | Aug 27, 2023 | Program Notes
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,...
by Steven Blier | Mar 14, 2023 | Program Notes
Note: Due to illness, this program’s song list has changed since the notes were written. It will be annotated from the stage at tonight’s performance. When I hear the word “Mediterranean,” I immediately think of the Cannes Film Festival, Barcelona’s...
by Steven Blier | Feb 14, 2023 | Program Notes
I remember being at Tower Records in 1980, where I came across a fancy boxed set of LPs called Régine Crespin: 30 ans sur scène. Thirty years of performances, from Fiordiligi to Fidelio—what a dazzling pinnacle! At age 28, I could barely grasp the idea of such a long...
by Steven Blier | Nov 15, 2022 | Program Notes
Mention the words “Berlin cabaret” and most people will imagine the sleazy M.C. and decadent all-girl band from the Kander and Ebb musical Cabaret. Film buffs will conjure up the image of Marlene Dietrich tormenting a mild-mannered elderly gentleman with her sexually...
by Steven Blier | Sep 27, 2022 | Program Notes
Tonight’s program, Heroes, had a unique birth. It began with my desire to work with with the four musicians sharing the stage with me tonight, a quartet of artists who are frequent collaborators and close friends. While baritone John Brancy and violinist Charles Yang...
by Steven Blier | Apr 12, 2022 | Program Notes
Like many pianists in my field, I’ve had the Anthology of Art Songs by Black American Composers on my shelf for decades. NYFOS has made good use of it over the years, often programming those concert pieces alongside popular songs by Eubie Blake and Fats Waller. It was...
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