The New York Festival of Song (NYFOS) presents an annual series of concerts in New York City dedicated to the art of song, classical, modern and popular. In addition, this organization commissions new works and recordings, including the

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

-winning recording of

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was the first America ...

's '' Arias and Barcarolles'' (Koch), and the Grammy-nominated recording of

Ned Rorem Ned Rorem (October 23, 1923 – November 18, 2022) was an American composer of contemporary classical music and writer. Best known for his art songs, which number over 500, Rorem was the leading American of his time writing in the genre. Althou ...

's ''Evidence of Things Not Seen'' (1997, New World Records).

History

The festival was founded in 1988 by Steven Blier and Michael Barrett. For the 100th anniversary of the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most el ...

in January 2006, NYFOS collaborated on a program featuring "100 Years of Juilliard Composers in Song". In 2007, NYFOS released a live-recording CD entitled ''Spanish Love Songs'' (

Bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

), featuring

Lorraine Hunt Lieberson Lorraine Hunt Lieberson (March 1, 1954 – July 3, 2006) was an American mezzo-soprano. She was noted for her performances of both Baroque era and contemporary works. Her career path to becoming a singer was unconventional – formerly a pro ...

and

Joseph Kaiser Joseph Kaiser (born October 14, 1977 in Montreal) is a Canadian operatic tenor and theatre actor, known for appearing in Kenneth Branagh's English-language film version of ''The Magic Flute.'' Career In 2005, Kaiser won second prize in Pláci ...

, performing with Blier and Barrett at Caramoor. The program was recorded live just before Lieberson's death in 2006. In December 2008, Bridge Records released an original cast recording of ''Bastianello'' / ''Lucrezia'', featuring soprano Lisa Vroman, mezzo-soprano

Sasha Cooke Sasha Cooke is an American mezzo-soprano. Cooke was born in Riverside, California, and grew up in College Station, Texas, where her parents are professors of Russian at Texas A&M University. She earned a bachelor's degree from Rice University and ...

, tenor Paul Appleby, baritone Patrick Mason and bass Matt Boehler, with pianists Steven Blier and Michael Barrett. With a score by

John Musto John Musto (born 1954) is an American composer and pianist. As a composer, he is active in opera, orchestral and chamber music, song, vocal ensemble, and solo piano works. As a pianist, he performs frequently as a soloist, alone and with orchest ...

and a libretto by Mark Campbell, ''Bastianello'' is a family fable of love and folly based on a poignant Italian folk tale. In March 2008, it had its World Premiere, along with

William Bolcom William Elden Bolcom (born May 26, 1938) is an American composer and pianist. He has received the Pulitzer Prize, the National Medal of Arts, a Grammy Award, the Detroit Music Award and was named 2007 Composer of the Year by Musical America. He ...

's comic piece ''Lucrezia'' (a version of '' Machiavelli''′s ''

La Mandragola ''The Mandrake'' (Italian: ''La Mandragola'' ) is a satirical play by Italian Renaissance philosopher Niccolò Machiavelli. Although the five-act comedy was published in 1524 and first performed in the carnival season of 1526, Machiavelli likel ...

'', libretto also by Mark Campbell) at Weill Recital Hall at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

, commissioned and presented by the New York Festival of Song.NYFOS Program History - 25 Years of Song.
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Notable programs

NYFOS has created and premiered over a hundred unique programs, many of which have toured the United States. Some that have been favorably reviewed and/or frequently reprised: ''At Harlem's Height'', premiered in 2001, explores the music of the

Harlem Renaissance The Harlem Renaissance was an intellectual and cultural revival of African American music, dance, art, fashion, literature, theater, politics and scholarship centered in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, spanning the 1920s and 1930s. At the t ...

, with songs by

Eubie Blake James Hubert "Eubie" Blake (February 7, 1887 – February 12, 1983) was an American pianist and composer of ragtime, jazz, and popular music. In 1921, he and his long-time collaborator Noble Sissle wrote ''Shuffle Along'', one of the first Bro ...

Fats Waller Thomas Wright "Fats" Waller (May 21, 1904 – December 15, 1943) was an American jazz pianist, organist, composer, violinist, singer, and comedic entertainer. His innovations in the Harlem stride style laid much of the basis for modern jazz pi ...

William Grant Still William Grant Still Jr. (May 11, 1895 – December 3, 1978) was an American composer of nearly two hundred works, including five symphonies, four ballets, nine operas, over thirty choral works, plus art songs, chamber music and works fo ...

Florence Price Florence Beatrice Price (née Smith; April 9, 1887 – June 3, 1953) was an American classical music, classical composer, pianist, organist and music teacher. Born in Little Rock, Arkansas, Price was educated at the New England Conservatory of Mus ...

and others. ''Songs of Peace and War'', premiered in 2001, shortly after the World Trade Center attack. ''Dvořák and the American Soul'', premiered in 2002, juxtaposes songs by Czech composer

Antonín Dvořák Antonín Leopold Dvořák ( ; ; 8 September 1841 – 1 May 1904) was a Czechs, Czech composer. Dvořák frequently employed rhythms and other aspects of the folk music of Moravian traditional music, Moravia and his native Bohemia, following t ...

and those of his African-American students from the period in the 1890s when he was teaching at the National Conservatory in New York, showing how each influenced the other. ''Blok and Akhmatova: Poets Without Heroes'', premiered in 2005, explores music composed around the work of these Russian poets.

Notes

References

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External links

New York Festival of Song website
{{authority control Music festivals in New York City Music festivals established in 1988 1988 establishments in New York City