Brooklyn Art Song Society to Present CIRCLES VI: THE FEBRUARY HOUSE in March

Brooklyn Art Song Societ will continue its season and present the culmination of its Circles series with Circles VI: The February House on Friday, March 1, 2024, at 7:30PM at First Unitarian Church of Brooklyn. From 1940-1941, an experiment in communal living occurred at a broken-down brownstone in the heart of Brooklyn Heights. Amidst the backdrop of a frenetic pre-World War II New York City, Harper's Bazaar editor George Davis conceived a bohemian haven and invited a motley crew of creatives to reside at 7 Middagh Street. Among the figures that occupied the space were Paul Bowles, Gypsy Rose Lee, Salvador Dalí, Anaïs Nin, Benjamin Britten, W.H. Auden, Peter Pears, Kurt Weill, and Lotte Lenya. Although short-lived, the time spent together at this brownstone, later called "the February House," was pivotal for these artists.

Circles V: The February House examines work that resulted from collaborations between two groups of artists that occupied the February House: Benjamin Britten and W.H. Auden, and Kurt Weill and Lotte Lenya. The first half of the program highlights two works by Benjamin Britten, set to texts by W.H. Auden: On This Island and Cabaret Songs. Britten and Auden met in 1935 and enjoyed an intense period of collaboration. As two of the most gifted creators in 20th-century English culture, the pair seemed like an obvious creative match. The two, however, had profoundly opposed personalities, and unfortunately, living in the same house put an irrevocable strain on their relationship. When Britten left the February House, not only did the two men never work together again, they never even spoke.

The second half of the program features Kurt Weill's 4 Whitman Songs and a collection of six songs that Lotte Lenya recorded in 1943. George Davis also played a pivotal role in the intertwined lives of Weill and Lotte, aiding their move from war-torn Germany to the USA. After Weill died in 1950, Lenya turned to Davis for both financial and emotional support. Davis was integral in forming the Kurt Weill Foundation and Davis and Lenya married in 1953. The marriage was platonic in nature (Davis was openly gay) and marred by Davis' alcoholism.

Artistic Director Michael Brofman writes "This final concert of Circles perfectly captures the underlying spirit of the whole series: the complex tapestry of personal relationships that lays beneath the surface of this incredible, timeless music."

Soprano Ashley Emerson, mezzo-sopranos Abi Levis and Kristin Gornstein, tenor Dominic Armstrong, and pianists Michael Brofman, Jeremy Chan, and Mila Henry perform, and Author Sherill Tippins, who explores this period in the primary source-based book, February House, presents a pre-concert lecture at 7PM.

BASS continues its season on Sunday, March 17 at 7PM at Brooklyn Conservatory of Music with The Dichter Project: Paul Heyse when soprano Kristina Bachrach, mezzo-soprano Devony Smith, tenor Dylan Morrongiello, baritone Sidney Outlaw, and pianists Michael Brofman, Danny Zelibor perform selections from Hugo Wolf's Italienische and Spanisches Liederbuches. Later in March, BASS's celebrated New Voices Festival kicks off with Departures I on Thursday, March 28 at 7:30PM at First Unitarian Church of Brooklyn. The first of three contemporary programs features tenor Paul Appleby, mezzo-soprano Fleur Barron, baritone Joshua Conyers, and pianists Michael Brofman and Myra Huang performing Iain Bell's Somerton Moor (World Premiere, BASS Commission), Kai-Young Chan's Hard it is to Meet and Part, Fang Man's Patridge Song (New York Premiere), Shawn E. Okpebholo's 2 Black Churches, Russell Platt's After Apple Picking (World Premiere), Huang Ruo's Song of Everlasting Regret (BASS commission), and Raymond Yiu's Bright Fear.

BASS will once again offer its Digital Concert Hall Subscription, which reaches audiences all over the world. The subscription includes free admission and automatic RSVP for all in person concerts (excluding the Dichter Project), unlimited on demand viewing of BASS's entire season, complete programs, notes, texts and trans,lations before each concert, access to BASS' performance archive, and more. Individual tickets are also available with a "Pay What You Choose" option. In addition to the ten-concert season, BASS partners with Heights and Hills Senior Services to bring monthly concerts to their Park Slope Center for Successful Aging.

Brooklyn Art Song Society's programs are supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. The New Voices Festival is made possible in part by support from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Event information:

Circles VI: The February House
Friday ,March 1 2024, at 7:30PM
First Unitarian Church of Brooklyn
119 Pierrepont Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201
Link: https://brooklynartsongsociety.org/circles-vi-the-february-house/

Program:
Benjamin Britten
On This Island, Op. 11
Cabaret Songs

Kurt Weill
4 Walt Whitman Songs
6 Songs:
Lost in the Stars
Lover Man
J'attends un navire
Complainte de la Seine
Surabaya Johnny
Denn wie mach sich bettet

Artists:
Ashley Emerson, soprano
Abi Levis and Kristin Gornstein, mezzo-sopranos
Dominic Armstrong, tenor
Michael Brofman, Jeremy Chan, and Mila Henry, pianists

Ticket information:

In Person Concerts: Individual tickets are "Pay What You Wish" with a minimum of $10 and a suggested general admission price of $35.* Please note: All tickets purchased at the suggested price or higher include a month-long pass to the digital concert hall. Digital Concert Hall subscribers receive free admission to all performances*.

Digital Concert Hall: Annual Subscriptions: $111.99/year or $10.99/month. Includes free Admission to In Person Concerts*unlimited on demand viewing of BASS's entire season, complete programs, notes, texts and translations, and a bonus listening guide made available before each concert, exclusive access to full episodes of Song and Wine, BASS's hit web series.

Individual tickets and Digital Subscriptions available at www.brooklynartsongsociety.org​​​​​​​

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