Songs by Saint-Saëns, Granados, Cole Porter, Sam Cooke, and many others refract the chaos and the delight of Cupid’s arrow. Featuring Caramoor’s 2024 Schwab Vocal Rising Stars: soprano Hai Shan; mezzo-soprano Sophia Baete; tenor Scott Rubén La Marca; baritone Michael Hawk; and pianist Amber Scherer. Residency artistic directors Steven Blier and Bénédicte Jourdois will join them as pianists and hosts.  

Steven Blier on the program: “It all began when the pianist and coach Bénédicte Jourdois, my collaborator for NYFOS’s annual residency at Caramoor, sent me a rather salacious song by the French chansonnier Serge Gainsbourg. “Why don’t we base a whole program around this song?” I fired back. “We can call it Eros & Co. There must be a ton of material about the god of love. “And his mom, Venus,” she answered. Well, of course there is—fabulous art songs by Granados, Strauss, and Milhaud, lighter fare by Sam Cooke and Cole Porter, theater songs and jazz tunes. Obviously, we would need a quartet of singers who could run the gamut from bold to sensual, and a dextrous, versatile pianist. Our prayers were granted (what a superb group of musicians we found) and we’re all looking forward to our precious week with the Schwab Vocal Rising Stars Program. As for that Gainsbourg song… actually, we cut it early on, after thanking it for inspiring what promises to be a barn-burner of a concert.”

Peek backstage at the residency with Blier’s blog, updated regularly during the program.