Baritones with String Quartet in San Francisco and New York explore grief and loss

Nathan Gunn & Jesse Blumberg

Fans of vocal music accompanied by string quartet are in luck on both coasts. At New York's Zankel Hall, on February 19th Nathan the indefatigable Nathan Gunn will perform the world-premiere of Jennifer Higdon's chamber version of "Barnyard Bloom."

Based on Walt Whitman's "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd" the piece explores a wide range of grief and loss. Gunn will also perform Samuel Barber's famous “Dover Beach" which is also accompanied by string quartet. Gunn will also be joined by his wife Julie Gunn for a selection of songs in English by Butterworth, Quilter, Ives, Bowles, and Ben Moore.

Nathan Gunn can next be seen in Rossini's Le Comte d'Ory at the Metropolitan Opera opening February 2nd. 

Across the country on the same date, Jesse Blumberg will also explore the topic of grief and loss in Ricky Ian Gordon's masterful 80-minute mini-opera "Green Sneakers." The work was written as a way for Gordon to find solace from the grief of losing his partner, Jeffrey Grossi, to AIDS, and following their last few months together. Blumberg, who created the piece, joins San Francisco's exciting Del Sol Quartet in this performance. 

 

Jesse Blumberg performs the epilogue to Green Sneakers:

 

 

The work will be performed at the Southside Theater at Fort Mason in San Francisco on February 19th. Seating is limited, so purchase tickets today. The performance will be directed by the talented young director John De Los Santos.

 

Fans of Blumberg in New York are in luck, as Green Sneakers will be featured as part of Lincoln Center Presents on April 6th at the Kaplan Penthouse. Tickets are available online. , who we named the top opera director in 2010. If you can't wait that long, check him out at the New York Festival of Song, where he'll join soprano Stacey Tappan in music by Ricky Ian Gordon, Kevin Puts, Christopher Theofanidis and others.