Russell Platt Hosts and Curates NYFOS Next Tonight

Tonight, April 24 at 7:00pm, New York Festival of Song (NYFOS) presents the final offering of this season's two-part contemporary music mini-series NYFOS Next with RUSSELL PLATT & FRIENDS at Mary Flagler Cary Hall in the DiMenna Center for Classical Music. Award-winning composer and writer Platt hosts and curates an hour of music showcasing the work of multi-dimensional artists and composers, including Harold Meltzer, Lisa Bielawa, Carla Kihlstedt, Gilda Lyons, and Colin Jacobsen, as well as his own.

Performers include soprano Sarah Wolfson, mezzo-soprano Blythe Gaissert, and tenor Brenton Ryan; composer Carla Kihlstedt, who is also a celebrated vocalist and violinist (Tin Hat Trio, 2 Foot Yard); Matthias Bossi on keyboard and drums; and pianists Thomas Sauer and NYFOS associate artistic director Michael Barrett.

The program explores both experimental and traditional inspired contemporary art song and is bookended by Russell Platt's own music, featuring excerpts from Paul Muldoon Songs and a setting of a Christina Rossetti poem, entitled "What Are Heavy?" The program also presents songs from Harold Meltzer's cycle Beautiful Ohio, which was premiered by NYFOS in last season's The Newest Deal.

Composer and vocalist Lisa Bielawa has selections from her Kafka Songs performed by fellow composer and violinist-vocalist Carla Kihlstedt, while Kihlstedt also performs her own work "Silverfish." Rounding out the program is a world-premiere composition by violinist Colin Jacobsen, entitled To the Roaring Wind, and an a cappella piece for soprano and mezzo-soprano, Rapid Transit, by composer, vocalist, and visual artist Gilda Lyons, whose music combines elements of Renaissance, neo-Baroque, spectral, folk, and agitprop Music Theater.

The 2011-12 NYFOS Next mini-series, now in its second season, featured the musical theater work of Joseph Thalken last November, and in 2010-11 was hosted by composers Gabriel Kahane and Phil Kline. NYFOS Next looks to the future, opening a forum for the next generation of song composers and interpreters. Audiences enjoy an up-close encounter with the creative process, and freshly-minted songs are shared among creative companions-some for the first time. With an emphasis on spontaneity, novelty, and collaboration, NYFOS Next pioneers an experimental venue for song, paralleling the New York Festival of Song's celebrated concert series in Merkin Concert Hall at Kaufman Center.

Admission to NYFOS Next is free of charge. Reservations are required and may be made after April 17 by calling 646-230-8380 or emailing info@nyfos.net.

Tickets are available on a first-come-first-served basis. There is a four-ticket limit per customer.