NEW YORK FESTIVAL OF SONG (NYFOS) opens 2011-12 season with "IN THE MEMORY PALACE"
Featuring Gabriel Kahane's song cycle The Memory Palace (watch a video preview below) and music by Heitor Villa-Lobos, William Sterndale Bennett, Frank Bridge, Manuel Oltra, Enrique Granados, Stephen Sondheim, Smokey Robinson.All sung by beloved NYFOS favorites: soprano MICHELLE AREYZAGA / mezzo-soprano REBECCA JO LOEB tenor PAUL APPLEBY / baritone ANDREW GARLANDSteven Blier & Michael Barrett, pianistsTuesday, October 25 at 8:00PM Thursday, October 27 at 8:00PM No intermission Post-concert meet-the-artists wine reception open to allMerkin Concert Hall (129 West 67th St.)$40-$55 for single tickets; student tickets $15 New this year: Real Deal Tickets - $25 Advance Purchase/"Pot Luck" SeatingNYFOS takes this program to the Dorothy Betts Marvin Theatre in Washington, D.C. Saturday, October 22, 7:30PM under the auspices of Vocal Arts D.C.
Steven Blier talks about In the Memory Palace: "Memory Palace reunites us with one of today's greatest songwriters, Gabriel Kahane, who combines a refreshingly modern sensibility with the refinement and compositional skill of his greatest forbears: Elvis Costello mated with Gabriel Fauré.
We'll also be exploring several other composers whose music has fascinated us over the past years: the rarely-heard Frank Bridge, who was Benjamin Britten's teacher and an alluringly sensual, multi-faceted songwriter in his own right; Enrique Granados, whose classic song cycle Tonadillas combines high-voltage charm with startling emotional depths; and Heitor Villa-Lobos, whose Forest of the Amazon songs are like an instant immersion (eco-friendly, of course) into the exotic, passionate sounds of the Brazilian jungle."NEW YORK FESTIVAL OF SONG-the group that "charms audiences with programs that combine meticulous research with an infectious strain of vocal hedonism" (The New York Times)-opens its 2011-12 season with IN THE MEMORY PALACE on Tuesday and Thursday, October 25 and 27 at 8:00PM at Merkin Concert Hall. On the heels of Gabriel Kahane's acclaimed new album Where are the Arms, NYFOS showcases the young songwriter's The Memory Palace. In this song cycle, Kahane's haunting music and mordant lyrics guide the listener along his own private East Coast route-a quirky and touching roadtrip dotted with personal landmarks. Assembled from five of Kahane's previously self-performed works, the composer has fashioned his songs into a new cycle for the concert stage. Baritone Andrew Garland, whose 2010 NYFOS performance, which included Kahane's "playfully outrageous" Craigslistlieder, earned him high praise for his "robust voice, lively dramatic skills" and "commanding intensity" (The New York Times), performs Kahane's newest cycle.
Kahane's delicately remembered scenes of love and longing culminate a series of cycles and quartets by other composers, following the theme of desire. Joining Garland in this task are three other exceptional singers. Tenor Paul Appleby, a National Winner of the 2009 Met Opera National Council Auditions and the co-star of last season's opening NYFOS concert Beginner's Luck, performs songs by Frank Bridge, while mezzo-soprano Rebecca Jo Loeb sings the music of Enrique Granados. Soprano Michelle Areyzaga showcases a rare cycle by Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos and rounds out the ensemble in quartets by William Sterndale Bennett, Stephen Sondheim, Manuel Oltra, and Smokey Robinson.NYFOS has earned critical acclaim for its outside-the-box programming, high artistry and warm, informal atmosphere. Led by founders Steven Blier and Michael Barrett, armed with just two pianos, gorgeous voices, a sense of humor, and a love of words and music-not to mention a deep knowledge of musical culture savvy enough to find the 19th-century gem that speaks to today's sensibilities-NYFOS plunders music's most remote precincts to create evenings of the deepest pleasure.
Program for IN THE MEMORY PALACE
The Company Heitor Villa-Lobos: Canção da folha mortaMichelle Areyzaga, soprano Heitor Villa-Lobos: from The Forest of the Amazon: Canção de amor Cair da tarde Melodia sentimental
The Company William SternDALE BENNETT: Come live with me
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Tuesday, April 24, 2012, at 7:00PM NYFOS Next: Russell Platt & Friends Mary Flagler Cary Hall at the DiMenna Center for Classical Music 450 West 37th Street betw 9th and 10th Avenues FREE