92NY to Present HOME(land): Fleur Barron, Mezzo-soprano And Myra Huang, Piano

The 92nd Street Y, New York (92NY), one of New York's leading cultural venues, presents HOME(land): Fleur Barron, mezzo-soprano and Myra Huang, piano on Saturday, April 27, 2024 at 7:30 pm at Buttenwieser Hall at The Arnhold Center. Online streaming also available for 72 hours following the performance. Tickets start at $30 and are available at https://www.92ny.org/event/fleur-barron.

British-Singaporean mezzo-soprano Fleur Barron returns to 92NY with HOME(Land) - her personal reflection and exploration of the in-betweenness of identity and belonging, juxtaposing works by Eastern and Western creators including Brahms, Chen Yi, Berg, Ives, Takemitsu, Mussorgsky, Huang Ruo, Alex Ho, and Charles Trenet. Barron captured hearts all over the world in her New York recital debut on our stage in March 2020, performing just days into the pandemic shutdown in our empty hall via livestream-a mesmerizing concert viewed in more than 125 countries. She brings her captivating artistry to this thoughtful program and long-awaited live concert.

Performance Details: 

Huang Ruo, Fisherman's Sonnet

Brahms, Heimweh I: Wie traulich war das Fleckchen, Op. 63, No. 7

Chen Yi, Know You How Many Petals Falling

Brahms, Heimweh II: O Wüsst ich doch den Weg zurück, Op. 63, No. 8

Chen Yi, Monologue

Chinese folksong: Northeast Lullaby

Alex Ho, Four miniatures for our littler selves (US premiere)

Mussorgsky, The Nursery

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Ives, Down East

Ives, My Native Land

Zubaida Azezi & Edo Frenkel, Ananurhan

Berg, Four Songs, Op. 2

Takemitsu, Will tomorrow, I wonder, be cloudy or clear?

Trenet, Si vous aimiez

Takemitsu, Yesterday's Spot

Trenet, Le Soleil et la Lune

Takemitsu, La Neige

Trenet, Boum!

Join them in the hall's lounge following the performance and meet the artists.

Hailed as "a knockout performer" by The Times, Singaporean-British mezzo Fleur Barron recently triumphed at the San Francisco Symphony in the title role of Kaija Saariaho's opera Adriana Mater in a production helmed by Peter Sellars and Esa-Pekka Salonen, and at the Aix-en-Provence Festival as Ottavia in Monterverdi's L'Incoronazione di Poppea. She is a current Rising Star of Amsterdam's Concertgebouw and an Artistic Partner of the Orquesta Sinfonica del Principado de Asturias in Oviedo, for which she will curate/perform multiple projects across several seasons. A passionate interpreter of opera, chamber music, and concert works ranging from the baroque to the contemporary, Fleur is mentored by Barbara Hannigan.

Fleur launched the 2023-24 season with a return to the London Symphony Orchestra, where she was the soloist in their Season Opening Concert at the Barbican, performing Claude Vivier's Wo bist du Licht, and in performances of Stravinsky's Pulcinella the following week, both under the baton of Barbara Hannigan. The autumn of 2023 saw the release on Pentatone Records of her performance in the title role in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas with La Nuova Musica, and she also began a multi-season partnership with the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra and conductor Ludovic Morlot, joining them to record Ravel's Shéhérazade and Trois Poèmes de Mallarmé, and for performances of Shéhérazade and Montsalvatge's Cinco Canciones Negras at L'Auditori Barcelona, and on tour to Hamburg and Stockholm. Further orchestral engagements include Mahler's Symphony no.3 with the Czech Philharmonic and Semyon Bychkov at the Baden Baden Festival, both Das Lied von der Erde and Mahler Symphony no.2 with Orquesta Sinfónica del Principado de Asturias under Nuno Coehlo, and Freya Waley-Cohen's Spell Book with the Manchester Collective at the Barbican.

In 2023-24 Fleur debuts three opera roles: Penelope in Monteverdi's Il Ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria with baroque ensemble I Gemelli, which tours to major venues including Teatro Real Madrid, Opéra de Bordeaux and Théâtre du Capitole Toulouse; multiple roles in George Benjamin's two-person opera Into the Little Hill with the Staatskapelle Berlin under Finnegan Downie Dear; and the title role of John the Baptist in the modern premiere of Maria Margherita Grimani's La Decollazione di San Giovanni Battista with Haymarket Opera in Chicago. On the recital platform, Fleur joins regular collaborator Julius Drake for concerts in London, Copenhagen, Santa Fe, Padua, Ireland and Oviedo. She debuts at the Wiener Konzerthaus in multiple chamber music concerts for their Gemischter Satz Festival, returns to the 92 Street Y in New York with Myra Huang, and joins Swedish ensemble O/Modernt at Wigmore Hall and Queen Silvia Concert Hall, Stockholm. Fleur is also the curator of OSPA's EAST-WEST FEST in April 2024, featuring symphonic programs, chamber music, late-night concerts and community engagement over two weekends in Oviedo and Gijon.

Fleur is committed to exploring the many ways music can facilitate cross-cultural dialogue and healing. She is passionate about curating inclusive chamber music programming that amplifies the voices of diverse communities. An active mentor and educator, Fleur has led vocal masterclasses and seminars at Manhattan School of Music, Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia, Royal Academy of Music, the Malaysian Philharmonic, Temple University, and King's College London, and has also mentored young musicians privately. Born to a British father and Singaporean mother in Northern Ireland, Fleur grew up in the Far East and has also spent considerable time in New York and the U.K. She is currently based in London.

Grammy Award-nominated pianist Myra Huang is highly sought after for her interpretation of lieder and art song as well as her depth of musicianship and impeccable technique. Huang is invited regularly to perform around the world, with tours including regular appearances at Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, The Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center, The Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, The Kennedy Center, and The 92nd Street Y.

Huang was chosen as the recipient of The Samuel Sanders Collaborative Artist Award for 2019 by The Classical Recording Foundation for her consummate artistry. Regular collaborations include recitals with Fleur Barron, J'Nai Bridges, Lawrence Brownlee, Sasha Cooke, Ying Fang, Joshua Hopkins, Will Liverman, Angela Meade, John Matthew Myers, Eric Owens, Nicholas Phan, Susanna Phillips, Roderick Williams, and clarinetist Anthony McGill.

Huang holds the positions of the Head of Music for the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program at The Metropolitan Opera, The Director of Musical Administration and Head Coach at The Aspen Music Festival, and faculty of the Collaborative Piano Department at The Manhattan School of Music, where she mentors and supports young opera singers and pianists of the next generation.

Huang is an avid recitalist and recording artist. She is a two-time Grammy nominee for her albums Gods and Monsters and Clairières with tenor Nicholas Phan on the Avie label. Huang is a Steinway Artist.