Brooklyn Art Song Society Announces 2018-2019 Season

Brooklyn Art Song Society (BASS) is proud to announce its 2018-2019 season beginning in October of 2018. BASS's ninth season features all the innovative programming and world-class performers audiences have come to expect, plus some new surprises. By the numbers, season nine includes 250 songs by nearly 20 composers over 10 concerts, performed by 40 of today's top interpreters of song.

BASS kicks of its season with American Iconoclasts at the Brooklyn Historical Society, a 5-concert survey of America's most unique and beloved composers. Opening night on Friday, October, 5th features the eclectic and eccentric songs of Charles Ives. On Friday, November 2nd, BASS surveys the songs of Samuel Barber, including beloved masterpieces like Hermit Songs and Dover Beach. BASS kicks off the new year by celebrating living legend Ned Rorem on Friday, January 4th, 2019. In February, BASS puts Aaron Copland front-and-center with performances of his beloved 12 Poems by Emily Dickinson and Old American Songs. Finally, American Iconoclasts concludes with a night of George Gershwin's best-loved tunes.

In April 2019, BASS continues its acclaimed In Context series with Brooklyn-based composer Daniel Felsenfeld, whose music has been called "richly hued" by The New York Times and "musically gorgeous" by The Washington Post. Mr. Felsenfeld curates a program of his own music alongside works by female composers of the past and present. The program also includes the world premiere of newly commissioned set of songs by the composer.

Next, BASS presents the third installment of its newest series The Dichter Project, which focuses on musical settings of the greatest German poets. In collaboration with the 5 Boroughs Music Festival, BASS presents Hugo Wolf's landmark Morike-Lieder in its entirety over two programs. This concert features legendary pianist Martin Katz alongside an all-star cast of singers.

BASS concludes its season on Friday, June 7th 2019 with the 7th installment of its new music series New Voices. This concert features works by five composers all written after 2010: Michael Djupstrom, Herschel Garfein, Libby Larsen, David Ludwig, and the world premiere of James Matheson's Pessoa Songs, the first-ever settings of acclaimed Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa.

The 2018-2019 artist roster features several exciting debuts, as well as many of the audience favorites from BASS's regular line ups. Those making their BASS debut include: sopranos Marnie Breckenridge and Laetitia Grimaldi, mezzo soprano Naomi Louisa O'Connell, baritone Will Livermann (Met Opera), bass-baritone Dashon Burton (from Grammy-winning Room Full of Teeth), and acclaimed South-African pianist Ammiel Bushekavitz. Returning favorites include soprano Sarah Brailey (Lorelie Ensemble), tenor Timothy Fallon (Winner, Wigmore International Song Competition), baritone Sidney Outlaw (Met Opera), and pianist Spencer Myer.

Additional events include a bonus all-Leonard Bernstein concert for subscription-holders at the Old Stone House and an artist residency at Ithaca College. For a complete listing of all events and artists, please visit www.brooklynartsongsociety.org.

The Brooklyn Art Song Society (BASS) will enter its ninth season of first-rate music making in the Fall of 2018, having earned a reputation as one of the preeminent organizations dedicated to the vast repertoire of poetry set to music, preserving art song's emotional honesty and direct expressiveness for today's audience and future generations.

The New York Times called BASS "a company well worth watching" and Voce di Meche hailed, "as long as BASS is around we do not need to worry about the future of art song in the USA." Opera News writes, "Brooklyn Art Song Society keeps the intimate recital alive with innovative programming," and the New Yorker praised BASS as "invaluable" and "uncompromisingly dedicated to continuing the traditions of classical art song, both old and new."

BASS's innovative and ambitious programming has reached thousands of audience members- lifelong classical music and first-time concert goers alike. Past programs include performances of the complete songs of Charles Ives and Hugo Wolf, and multi-concert surveys of the art song canon including Britannica, Wien, and La France. Committed to keeping art song relevant in our time BASS has collaborated closely with and premiered works by important living composers such as Harrison Birtwistle, Tom Cipullo, Michael Djupstrom, Daniel Felsenfeld, Herschel Garfein, Daron Hagen, Jake Heggie, Libby Larsen, Lowell liebermann, David Ludwig, James Matheson, Harold Meltzer, Kurt Rohde, Glen Roven, Andrew Staniland, Scott Wheeler and Yehudi Wyner, In May 2015, BASS released its first album, New Voices on Roven Records, which debuted in the top 10 on the Billboard Traditional Classical charts.

Highlights from this season include the five-concert series American Iconoclasts, two world-premiere commissions by acclaimed composers Daniel Felsenfeld and James Mattheson, a presentation of Hugo Wolf's complete Morike-Lieder with legendary pianist Martin Katz, and an artist residency at Ithaca College. In addition to monthly concerts in Brooklyn, BASS has traveled to Philadelphia, Kansas City, Portland, ME, San Francisco, and Seattle and has held residencies at University of Notre Dame, University of California-Davis, and University of Chicago. Brooklyn Art Song Society is proud to make the Brooklyn Historical Society its primary venue and present a free annual concert at the Brooklyn Public Library. BASS's artist roster features over 40 of the finest young interpreters of art song. For more information visit www.brooklynartsongsociety.org.

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