New York Festival of Song To Present BEGINNER'S LUCK – THE ARTIST'S JOURNEY at Kaufman Music Center

New York Festival of Song (NYFOS), led by Artistic Director Steven Blier, highlights the talents of Caramoor's 2025 Schwab Vocal Rising Stars program in Beginner's Luck: The Artist's Journey on Thursday, March 20, 2025 at 8:00 p.m. at Merkin Hall at Kaufman Music Center. He is joined by the program's Co-Director, pianist Bénédicte Jourdois. 

Featuring a wide-ranging playlist from German Lieder to Bob Dylan, the program explores the chaotic decade between adolescence and adulthood, filled with seemingly endless possibility and endless peril. A cast of five brilliant young artists, all in their 20s – soprano Chea Kang, mezzo-soprano Kate Morton, tenor Reed Gnepper, baritone Jamal El Titi, and pianist Zoë Zhou – will collaborate with co-directors Bénédicte Jourdois and Steven Blier in this intriguing musical journey.

A preview performance takes place on Sunday, March 16, 2025 at 3:00 p.m. at the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts.

Now in its 17th year, the annual weeklong Schwab Vocal Rising Stars residency program at Caramoor includes daily coaching, rehearsals, and workshops with Steven Blier and guest teaching artists. Notable alumni of the program include soprano Julia Bullock, tenor Paul Appleby, soprano Corinne Winters, baritone John Brancy, soprano Joélle Harvey, baritone Theo Hoffman, and many more.

All NYFOS programming is funded, in part, by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature.

The NYFOS Mainstage and the NYFOS Next series are supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

Concert Information

Beginner's Luck: The Artist's Journey - Preview Performance
Sunday, March 16, 2025 at 3:00 p.m.
Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts | 149 Girdle Ridge Road | Katonah, NY 10536
Tickets: $15 - $49
Link: https://caramoor.org/event/schwab-vocal-rising-stars-spring-2025/ 

New York Festival of Song: Beginner's Luck: The Artist's Journey
Thursday, March 20, 2025 at 8:00 p.m.
Merkin Hall at Kaufman Music Center | 129 W 67th St | New York, NY 10023
Tickets: $20 - $79; Students $10; also available as part of NYFOS Spring 2025 Season 3-Concert Subscription package
Link: https://www.kaufmanmusiccenter.org/mch/event/new-york-festival-of-song-beginners-luck-the-artists-journey/ 

*Tickets include access to a complimentary reception with the artists in the upper lobby after the show

Program (subject to change):

Works by Fauré, Busoni, Schubert, Brahms, Schumann, Grieg, Wolf, Berg, Ned Rorem, Stephen Sondheim, Charles Ives, Paul Moravec, William Bolcom, Marc Blitzstein, George Gershwin, Jason Robert Brown, Thad Jones, and Bob Dylan

Artists: