NYFOS @ North Fork Showcases Songs from Latin America in Orient & Bellport This Weekend

New York Festival of Song returns to the peace and natural beauty of the North Fork of Long Island to launch the 2015-16 NYFOS Emerging Artists series with a residency and pair of performances: tomorrow, August 23, 2015, 5:00 p.m. at Poquatuck Hall in Orient, NY and tonight, August 22, 2015, 5:00 p.m. at Christ Episcopal Church in Bellport, NY.

From NYFOS Artistic Director Steven Blier: "Playing Latin American music is one of my greatest pleasures, and I am thrilled to introduce these songs to a new group of gifted artists. Latin Lovers is the perfect way to start the NYFOS season, especially when surrounded by the late-summer beauties of the North Fork. This music combines sensuality with rhythmic flair; these four beautiful singers, aided by ace percussionist Danny Villanueva, bring a special opulence and brio to these gorgeous songs-and to the audiences in Bellport and Orient. This residency is a powerfully sweet way to get ready for the stresses of the season ahead, and all of our past singers have enlarged their artistry in significant ways."

Latin Lovers is the title of this summer's program. NYFOS artistic director and pianist Steven Blier has come up with a fascinating collection of songs, arias, and popular music from Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, and Puerto Rico that showcase the passion, melody, and rhythm of Astor Piazzolla, Carlos Guastavino, Ernesto Lecuona, and many others. The sensational quartet of rising vocalists includes soprano Anna Dugan, mezzo-soprano Amanda Bottoms, tenor Alexander McKissick, and baritone Dimitri Katotakis-as well as percussionist Danny Villanueva and Blier on piano.

This marks NYFOS's third year in residence in Orient, the easternmost town on the North Fork. The four young singers rehearse daily while living half a block from Peconic Bay and eating food from a local farm. NYFOS@North Fork is one of NYFOS's three truly unique professional training opportunities-an intense and fulfilling time that brings all the artists to a new kind of depth.

The concerts are presented by Oysterponds Community Activities and South Country Concerts. Ticket information is available online at: www.nyfos.org/Orient.

Through its NYFOS Emerging Artists series, NYFOS continues its tradition of cultivating budding talent with residencies and performances. During each residency, NYFOS Emerging Artists trains young vocalists in programming and translation, presentation and production, research and musical style. In deep artistic collaboration with NYFOS's artistic directors Steven Blier and Michael Barrett, the singers are encouraged to engage audiences with directness, subtlety, and passion.

A hallmark of NYFOS, Emerging Artists has become one of NYFOS's greatest sources of energy. Some of the program's distinguished alumni include Julia Bullock, Corinne Winters, Joélle Harvey, Paul Appleby, John Brancy, Andrew Owens, Jennifer Zetlan, Jane Archibald, Elizabeth Caballero, and Elza van den Heever.

This season's Emerging Artists features NYFOS's 11th annual concert in collaboration with The Juilliard School Vocal Department with a program entitled Harry, Hoagy, and Harold on January 13, 2016. Emerging Artists also returns for its 8th residency with Caramoor's Terrance W. Schwab Vocal Rising Stars program March 7-12, 2016 with a show called At Home, which NYFOS then introduces to its Mainstage series on March 13, 2016.

PROGRAM

Anna Dugan, soprano; Amanda Bottoms, mezzo-soprano;
Alexander McKissick, tenor; Dimitri Katotakis, baritone

with
Danny Villanueva, percussion; Steven Blier, pianist/arranger

ARGENTINEAN
Pueblito, mi pueblo (Carlos Guastavino)
Desdichas de mi pasión (Carlos López Buchardo)
Canción de ausencia (López Buchardo)
Los pájaros perdidos (Astor Piazzolla)

BRAZILIAN
Quando te vi pela primeira vez (Mozart Camargo Guarneri)
Melodia sentimental (Heitor Villa-Lobos)
Samba classico (Heitor Villa-Lobos)

CUBA
Flor de Yumurí (Jorge Anckermann)
Lamento esclavo (Eliseo Grenet )
Como el arrullo de palmas (Ernesto Lecuona)

PARTY TIME
Dime (Armando Oréfiche)
Mi viña de Chapanay (Carlos Guastavino)
Abismo de sed (Carlos Guastavino)
Cita (Carlos Guastavino)
Palmira (Moisés Simons)
Por una cabeza (Carlos Gardel)
Frenesí (Alberto Domínguez)
María la O (Lecuona)
Milonga de Fidela (Jaurés Lamarque Pons)

ABOUT THE PERFORMERS:

ANNA DUGAN - Soprano Anna Dugan is a second year Masters Student at the Manhattan School of Music under the tutelage of Ruth Golden. She recently completed her Bachelors of Arts in European History and Music at Columbia University and was a participant of its joint exchange with the Juilliard School. Recent performance highlights include scenes from Don Giovanni (Donna Elvira) and Così fan tutte (Fiordiligi) with the St. Louis Orchestra, and scenes from Arabella (Arabella), Rigoletto (Gilda), and Die lustige Witwe (Hanna). This past season, she sang the role of First Sorceress in Bloch's Macbeth at Manhattan School of Music and covered the Soprano Solo in Verdi's Messa da Requiem with Kent Tritle. She participated in the Gerdine Young Artist Program at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis this summer, covering the role of Magda in Puccini's La rondine and singing two featured roles in La rondine and Emmeline, under the batons of Stephen Lord and George Manahan, respectively.

AMANDA BOTTOMS - Mezzo-soprano Amanda Lynn Bottoms is a Master of Music student at Juilliard, studying with Marlena Malas. Winner of the 2013 Fredonia Concerto Competition, Ms. Bottoms has been hailed as "commanding with captivating texture" and simply "wonderful" (The New York Times). While at SUNY Fredonia as a student of Laurie Tramuta, she had a celebrated run with the Hillman Opera Company from 2010-2013 performing the roles of Angelina/Cenerentola in La Cenerentola, Frau Reich in Die Lustigen Weiber Von Windsor, and La Principessa in Suor Angelica. With Western New York Chamber Orchestra and SOTA Opera Scenes, she appeared as the Secretary in The Consul, Mum in Albert Herring, Sorceress in Dido and Aeneas, and Dryad in Ariadne auf Naxos. Her master class credits include work with Patricia Racette, Suzanne Mentzer, Dawn Upshaw, Stefania Donzelli, Barbara Hocher, Jay Lesenger and Victoria Vargas. Praised by The New York Times and Opera News, she performed the role of Bianca in Juilliard's production of Britten's The Rape of Lucretia conducted by Mark Shapiro. This March she participated in a recital and masterclass series in Aiken, South Carolina as part of the Juilliard in Aiken Festival. She most recently performed the title role in Handel's Ariodante this summer at Chautauqua Institute, furthering her studies with Marlena Malas and John Giampietro. She will join the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in June 2016 filling the role of Herodias' Page for their concert performance of Salome. A native of Cheektowaga, NY, Ms. Bottoms is a current recipient of the Toulmin Foundation Scholarship at the Juilliard School. Ms. Bottoms holds a Bachelors of Music Performance degree from SUNY Fredonia.

ALEXANDER McKISSICK - Tenor Alexander McKissick recently completed his BM in Classical Vocal Performance at the Juilliard School. Mr. McKissick spent the summer at the Aspen Music Festival where he performed the role of Benvolio and understudied the role of Romeo in "Romeo et Juliette" by Gounod. Recently, Mr. McKissick notably performed with Mr. Steven Blier in New York Festival of Song's "Great American Songwriting Teams," in the opera "Down in the Valley" by Kurt Weil as Brack Weaver, and in the Juilliard Cabaret. Alexander will return to the Juilliard School in the fall for his Master's degree under the tutelage of Marlena Malas and as a recipient of the Toulmin Scholarship.

DIMITRI KATOTAKIS - Baritone Described as having a "beautiful voice and elegant singing style" (Opera Canada), Dimitri Katotakis is an up-and-coming operatic baritone. He completed his Bachelors in Voice Performance at University of Toronto where he performed the roles of Belcore (L'Elisir d'Amore) and Guglielmo (Cosi Fan Tutte) and his Masters in Opera at McGill, with performances as Il Conte (Le Nozze di Figaro), Demetrius (A Midsummer Night's Dream) and the title role in Gianni Schicchi. At various summer programs and festivals Dimitri has performed Harlekin (Opera NUOVA 2012), Escamillo (Carmen, Opera NUOVA 2014), Masetto (Don Giovanni, COSI 2011), Le Podestat and Ramiro (Le Docteur Miracle and L'Heure Espagnole, Jess & Stu Opera 2014/15). In 2014, Dimitri won 2nd prize in the Canadian Opera Company 'Centre Stage' competition. Dimitri was a 2015 Tanglewood fellow, performing as a soloist and ensemble member in the Boston POPS 'Simply Sondheim' concert, staged in Boston and at Tanglewood. This fall, Dimitri will be studying with Prof. Sanford Sylvan as he pursues a Graduate Diploma in Voice at Juilliard.

ABOUT NYFOS - Now in its 28th season, New York Festival of Song (NYFOS) is dedicated to creating intimate song concerts of great beauty and originality. Weaving music, poetry, history and humor into evenings of compelling theater, NYFOS fosters community among artists and audiences. Each program entertains and educates in equal measure.

Founded by pianists Michael Barrett and Steven Blier in 1988, NYFOS continues to produce its series of thematic song programs, drawing together rarely-heard songs of all kinds, overriding traditional distinctions between musical genres, exploring the character and language of other cultures, and the personal voices of song composers and lyricists.

Since its founding, NYFOS has particularly celebrated American song. Among the many highlights is the double bill of one-act comic operas, Bastianello and Lucrezia, by John Musto and William Bolcom, both with libretti by Mark Campbell, commissioned and premiered by NYFOS in 2008 and recorded on Bridge Records. In addition to Bastianello and Lucrezia and the 2008 Bridge Records release of Spanish Love Songs with Joseph Kaiser and the late Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, NYFOS has produced five recordings on the Koch label, including a Grammy Award-winning disc of Bernstein's Arias and Barcarolles, and the Grammy-nominated recording of Ned Rorem's Evidence of Things Not Seen (also a NYFOS commission) on New World Records. This past season saw the release of Canción Amorosa, a CD of Spanish song-Basque, Catalan, Castilian, and Sephardic-on the GPR label, with soprano Corinne Winters accompanied by Steven Blier.

In November 2010, NYFOS debuted NYFOS Next, a mini-series for new songs, hosted by guest composers in intimate venues. The series is currently held at Opera America's National Opera Center in the month of February.

NYFOS is passionate about nurturing the artistry and careers of young singers, and has developed training residencies around the country, including with The Juilliard School's Ellen and James S. Marcus Institute for Vocal Arts (now in its 11th year); Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts (its 8th year in March 2016); San Francisco Opera Center (over 15 years as of April 2013); Glimmerglass Opera (2008-2010); and its newest project, NYFOS@North Fork in Orient, NY.

NYFOS's concert series, touring programs, radio broadcasts, recordings, and educational activities continue to spark new interest in the creative possibilities of the song program, and have inspired the creation of thematic vocal series around the world.