The New York Festival of Song and Juilliard Present THE LAND WHERE THE GOOD SONGS GO, 1/15

The New York Festival of Song marks its ninth annual co-presentation with Juilliard's Ellen and James S. Marcus Institute for Vocal Arts with a program celebrating the longtime partnership between P.G. Wodehouse and composer Jerome Kern: THE LAND WHERE THE GOOD SONGS GO, to be performed on Wednesday, January 15, 2014 at 8:00PM in the Peter Jay Sharp Theater at The Juilliard School.

Joining NYFOS artistic director and pianist Steven Blier is Juilliard faculty member Mary Birnbaum, who will direct the show, and musician Greg Utzig, who will play guitar, mandolin, ukelele, and banjo.

The evening features seven singers from Juilliard, including sopranos Mary Feminear and Raquel Gonzáles, mezzo-soprano Hannah McDermott, tenors James Knight and Alexander McKissick, and baritones Joseph Eletto and Benjamin Lund.

Joining the creative team is Hal Cazalet, a Juilliard alumnus and former student of Mr. Blier. Cazalet is a great-grandson of P. G. Wodehouse, and first introduced Blier to this material in 2001. He went on to star in the original version of this show, which played in London (Wigmore Hall), Washington DC (The Library of Congress) and New York (Kaye Playhouse); with Blier and Sylvia McNair, he recorded a CD of these songs on Harbinger Records. Cazalet will coach the singers and join forces with Mary Birnbaum as director.

"This is a show I did in 2001-02, in London, New York, and Washington, D.C. I love the elegance of Kern's music and the wit of Wodehouse's lyrics-old-fashioned in style, yes, but eternal in their depiction of courtship. Just today one of the singers got done with one of her pieces and said, 'Oh my, I totally get this-this is exactly like my life!'

I thought the students would enjoy the music-hall feel of the songs, the flavor of vaudeville, the open invitation to comic invention. Kern's music lies well for classically trained voices, a bit higher and less belty than popular song would get in the 1930s and '40s. And the way the material straddles America (Kern) and England (Wodehouse) is a continual source of allure. I am blessed with a beautiful cast of singers, most of whom are new to NYFOS."