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Tchaikovsky: Ja vas lyublu
Dobriy den…(Good day in RU & UA) to you, lovely people. Today, I want to invite you to live with me in the sound and soul of one of my all time favorite artists, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, as well as one of my all time favorite composers, Pyotr the Great, Mr. Tchaikovsky!
Edwin Hawkins Singers: Oh, happy day
“Oh, happy day” performed by the Edwin Hawkins Singers is my Song of the Day, everyday! I love this song and I live it. It just makes me so so happy! It illuminates me with energy, ‘yes-ness’, and makes me dance away throughout the day because yes, oh happy day, I got another day to DO LIFE!
John Corigliano: May You Be Forever Young
The 2017-2018 season was (is) our 30th at the New York Festival of Song. We’ve managed to cover quite a bit of ground. There were early celebrations of Leonard Bernstein’s 100th birthday in the fall and the winter (the Lenny celebrations officially began on his 99th birthday), and one of NY’s only acknowledgement’s of William Bolcom and John Corigliano 80th birthdays.
Tom Waits: I Can’t Wait to Get Off Work
On April 24 we are celebrating the NYFOS 30th Anniversary with a concert at Merkin Hall at 8:00. Tenor Paul Appleby, a NYFOS regular over the past decade will be with us singing Schubert, Lennon and McCartney, and several other things. Paul has an enviable international career by now, and we don’t get to see him very often, so this this will be a treat for Steve Blier and myself.
Leonard Bernstein: Somewhere
I’ve been trying to absorb the fact that NYFOS is approaching the end of our 30th season. It’s a little beyond me, I admit. I’m the kind of person who might take a half day off after a big project, but after that, it’s on to the next. But celebrating a 30th anniversary is maybe a good time for some reflection.
Milton Nascimento: Maria Maria
Along with our April 24th 30th Anniversary concert, NYFOS will end our season (I don’t think our season really ends, but maybe it does on paper) with the last installment of NYFOS Next featuring Clarice Assad.
Rachmaninov: Spring Waters
At NYFOS we are coming into the home stretch of our 30th anniversary season. Up next on April 24 at Merkin Hall will be our 30th Anniversary Concert with a bevy of marvelous singers. These guys all have burgeoning careers. Soprano Julia Bullock has a solo recital at Carnegie hall next week. Paul Appleby is our leading young American tenor and sings the world over. Mary Testa is a bona fide Broadway star; Theo Hoffman is rocking it at the L.A. Opera; Lauren Worsham is a star in everything she touches and already has an Emmy nomination; and baritone John Brancy just delivered a spectacular recital at Alice Tully Hall a few nights ago.
Steven Blier and Michael Barrett
I have always been drawn to intimate musical communion, the concentrated communion of listeners and sounds. Likewise the heat generated by words and music heard in tandem—a lifelong obsession. Rhymes obsess me. Verbal elegance is a kind of religion for me. And obviously the piano-and-voice combination gives me a way to participate in this almost holy transmission of music and words to a listening audience.
Lynn Ahrens & Stephen Flaherty: In My Dreams
I have been trying to get out and go see more shows. I feel like I spend a lot...
Lin-Manuel Miranda: Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story
Given how much I love Lin-Manuel Miranda, I had to include another one of his amazing shows. Many people have heard about the musical Hamilton. Winning award after award, it’s an international phenomenon.
Kander and Ebb: I’ll be Here
As I grew I continued to explore musicals and contemporary music. When I was 13 I was introduced to classical music and auditioned for Juilliard Pre-College. Now in a completely new genre I tried to grasp the differences and I wanted to learn from someone who was a crossover artist. This is how I happened upon Audra McDonald.
Lin-Manuel Miranda: When You’re Home
I saw In the Heights about 5 times when it was on Broadway. I love this duet and the role of Nina. At a young age I always felt connected to Nina. I was born in the Bronx and I moved to New Jersey when I was young but as I grew up I wondered how different things would have been if we never moved. Would I be more connected to my Latin heritage? Would I have gone to performing arts school? Would I be where I am today?
Lebo M. and Hans Zimmer: Shadowland
Anyone who creates art remembers the pivotal moments in their life that led them down this path or maybe that’s just me. I remember each stepping stone that launched me to the next stage and helped me become a better performer. I want to go through some songs, that helped shape the performer I am today. Many of them which I still listen to.
La Marelu: Si mi novio no me quiere
I would not want to be the guy who tells Magdalena Montañéz Salazar, ‘La Marelu’, that he doesn’t love her anymore; even her heartbroken desperation sounds like there might be a dagger hidden in her decolletage. Or maybe I would want to be that guy (or girl), because then, before I died, she would sing to me like she does here.
La Lupe sings “Qué te pedí”
It is hard for me to think of a performer whose life and art covered more ground in a shorter time than Lupe Victoria Yolí Raymond, La yiyiyí, La Lupe, the Queen of Latin Soul. Let’s put it this way: when they retire a fairly common Hispanic name like Lupe in the world of Latin American popular music, it’s like retiring a player’s number in the NBA. You get my point.