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Reynaldo Hahn: L’heure exquise
In early 2016 Ben & Lachlan arranged a concert for a small audience of friends in the crypt of Church of the Intercession at 155th & Broadway. This piece, a favorite of Ben’s since college, was a highlight of the evening.
As I Went Down to the River to Pray
Co-founders Lachlan Glen and Ben Bliss (in their pre-MESS days) collaborate in an early original arrangement for their 2015 Lindemann Young Artist recital.
Johannes Brahms: Ronda alla zingarese from piano quartet No.1 in G minor Op. 25
Brahms’ ‘Ronda alla zingarese’ is a favorite of MESS co-founders Ben Bliss and Lachlan Glen. It was also performed (by Mr. Glen) at MESS’s very first Premier Event. Its expansive, romantic string setting and virtuosic, rhapsodic piano was a highlight of the night.
Sergei Prokofiev: Morning Serenade from Romeo & Juliet
This piece, performed by the Verona Quartet, opened MESS’s very first Premier Event in October of 2017. It’s playful, inviting sound world invited our audience into the fresh new classical music scene that is Mise-En-Scène Studios!
Corinne Winters
“An outstanding actress as well as a singer of extraordinary grace and finesse” (The New York Times), soprano Corinne Winters talks about self-care and favorite rep in our Artist of the Month interview. Corinne will return to NYFOS’s Mainstage series in García Lorca: Muse and Magician on April 24, 2019.
Bright Sheng: Three Chinese Love Songs
Perhaps the most famous contemporary cross-cultural composer, Bright Sheng has an original compositional dialect that combines Western traditions and Chinese traditional and folk music. His music results from both his personal cultural upbringing and his intentional study and research of the principles underlying both nations’ musical traditions. His schooling was primarily in America. However, he is constantly involved in compositional and academic endeavors that strive to blend and define international musical styles.
Igor Stravinsky: A Sermon, a Narrative and a Prayer
Igor Stravinsky became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1945. After a little over a decade of living in the United States, Stravinsky entered into what is often referred to as his Serial Period. Arnold Schoenberg and Stravinsky often butted heads in their time, arguing over the future of classical music.
Sergei Rachmaninoff: Six Songs for Voice and Piano, Op. 38
At the turn of the century, political unrest and a new desire (and ability) to travel the world led many classical composers to call America their new home. One such political event was the Russian Revolution, which forced Sergei Rachmaninoff to flee to America around 1918. Though he longed for his home country, he earned great success in front of American audiences.
Antonín Dvořák: Když mne stará matka zpívat učívala
Although the February 20th concert will feature many of today’s talented first-generation American composers, the concept of American music being redefined by immigrants is far from a modern phenomenon. Antonín Dvořák, a Czech composer, is a prime example, coming to American around 1892.
Daniel Sabzghabaei: Khaham keh bar zolfat
What makes Daniel’s music so riveting is its ability to educate and challenge the ear while also providing small fragments of classical familiarity. His vocal music is always technically challenging, melismatic, romantic, and organic. His song “Khaham keh bar zolfat” challenges our ear with Farsi, an unfamiliar language to most of us, but also provides us with strings of beautiful Persian sounds and language patterns.
Irving Berlin: White Christmas
Happy Friday everyone! It’s my last day as your tour guide, and since I’ve been in rehearsals for two separate Christmas shows, I figured I would end with a Christmas song. Not only is the song one of my favorite holiday tunes, but it’s also the best-selling single of all time. I’m, of course, referring to Irving Berlin’s “White Christmas”.
Frank Sinatra sings “The Last Dance”
It’s Throwback Thursday! Isn’t it simply marvelous when we hear a song and we’re immediately transported back to a time and place, just by hearing a few notes. Obviously, it’s better when that reminiscing happens to be a happy memory. It happens to me quite often. I’ll be sitting somewhere and hear background music at a coffee shop or in a grocery store and suddenly, be back in a memory that I have locked to that song. One of those tunes that does it for me is Frank Sinatra’s recording of Jimmy Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn’s “The Last Dance”.
Colin Hay: Waiting for My Real Life to Begin
I didn’t grow up listening to the music that my grandparents would call “what the kids are listenin’ to these days”. I never seemed drawn to tune the radio to the station with the top 100 or follow the latest band or singer. Instead, I spent my time listening to Original Broadway Cast Recordings and the great standard singers, like Tony Bennett, Bobby Darin, and Rosemary Clooney. But in college, I found a different singer that was just as good a storyteller as any cabaret luminary I had seen: Colin Hay.
Henri Duparc: La Vie antérieure / L’invitation au voyage
It’s Tuesday and for this blog entry, it’s Twos-day. That’s my way of saying I’m cheating a little and have selected two songs to focus on instead of one. They come from one of my favorite chanson composers, Henri Duparc.
Rosemary Clooney sings “Do You Miss New York?”
When you are tasked with coming up with “Songs of the day”, it’s a little like being asked
“Which child is your favorite?”. I wouldn’t have an immediate answer, but probably several clarifying questions. Which genre? What mood am I in? For the first day, I then turned to my trusty iTunes library and was completely overwhelmed. So, I turned to the one singer who has never let me down, for some guidance: Rosemary Clooney.