Barihunk Theo Hoffman will be one of four singers joining the talented accompanist Steven Blier in the New York Festival of Song's Emerging Artists series. The program is entitles "Craigslistlieder & Other Love Songs" and includes music by Granados, Grieg, Frank Bridge, Sondheim, Stenhammar, and Gabriel Kahane.
Kahane's "Craigslistlieder," which is a song cycle based on actual Craigslist personal ads headlines the program. The cycle includes 1. You Looked Sexy 2. II. I'm Sorry 3. III. Half A Box of Condoms 4. IV.
Neurotic and Lonely 5. Today I Met 6. For Trade 7. If Anyone Knows 8.
Opera Scene.
Theo Hoffman sings the Count's Aria from the Marriage of Figaro:
The Festival is taking their program out to Long Island for two performances on Long Island this month! There will be a preview concert on August 23 at Christ Episcopal Church in Bellport followed the next day by a performance at in Orient. Hoffman will be joined by soprano Chelsea Morris, mezzo-soprano Lauren Eberwein and tenor William Goforth. The singers will perform solos as well as vocal quartets.
In November, Hoffman will play Bob in Menotti's The Old Maid and the Thief at Juilliard in a
triple-bill directed by Edward Berkeley, which also includes Samuel
Barber's A Hand of Bridge and Kurt Weill's Down in the Valley.. On March 8, 2015, he debuts with the Portland Symphony Orchestra as The Jailer in Poulenc's The Dialogues of the Carmelites. Tickets are available online. Make sure to read our interview with Theo Hoffman that appeared on our site in February.
We recently featured Andrew Garland in the Cincinnati Opera's announcement of their new season. We've now learned that he's appearing in the new season of the New York Festival of Song under the auspices of the beloved Steven Blier.
He will be joined by the amazing mezzo-soprano Kate Lindsey in a musical birthday
tribute to the great American composer Ned Rorem. Although Rorem wrote opera, the concert will present highlights from his successful
career as a songwriter. Rorem has been dubbed "America's Schubert" because of the 500 songs that he has written in his 90 years, many of which regularly appear on recital programs. Lindsey and Garland will also perform works by Rorem's friends and
inspirations, Samuel Barber, Leonard Bernstein, Paul Bowles, Benjamin
Britten, Theodore Chanler, Aaron Copland, Noël Coward, Francis Poulenc,
and Virgil Thomson.
Ned Rorem
Ned Rorem, who was born on October 23, 1923 in Richmond, Indiana, is expected to be in attendance. Steven Blier and Michael Barrett will perform on the piano. The concert is November 5th at 8 PM. You can purchase tickets online or by calling 212-501-3330.
The remainder of the NY Festival of Song season includes "Cubans in Paris, Cubans at Home" on December 5 featuring soprano Corinne Winters, tenor Jeffrey Picón and baritone Ricardo Herrera, as well as "Warsaw Serenade" on February 18 with the talented tenor Joseph Kaiser, who will be joined by soprano Dina Kuznetsova.
We're unabashedly huge fans of Steven Blier's "New York Festival of Song" which is a guaranteed evening of great music and intellectual enlightenment. After his hugely successful "Manning the Gay Canon," Blier had turned his attention to women with a program aptly titled "Women."
The program features songs from John Musto, Ned Rorem, Benjamin Britten, Arnold Schoenberg, Thea Musgrave, Judy Collins and new works from Mark Adamo, Mohammed Fairouz, and Harold Meltzer. The songs explore the lives of women in their own words, as well as through the eyes of men.
Barihunk Andrew Garland will return to the Festival of Song and will be joined by mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke and soprano Corinne Winters. Garland will perform Carla Kihlstedt's new piece "A Woman’s Body," which was inspired by Susan Sontag’s matter-‐of-‐fact list of observations about her own body. Kihlstedt asked some favorite women for their own lists, which make up the lyrics to the piece.
The performance will be at Merkin Concert Hall on December 4th at 8 PM. Tickets are available online.
After the Festival, Garland will perform Handel's Messiah with the Boston Baroque on December 7 and 8, and then with the Colorado Bach Ensemble on December 21 and 22.
Buy your 2013 Barihunks Charity Calendar before the holiday rush:
We mentioned the New York Festival of Song's A Goyishe Christmas to You! Yuletide Classics by Jewish Songwriters back in July, but figured it was time for a reminder. There will be two performances at Merkin Concert Hall at Kaufman Center on Tuesday, November 29 and Thursday, December 1. The program includes not one, but two barihunks who have been featured on this site, John Brancy and Joshua Jeremiah. They will joined by international opera star Stephanie Blythe, Lauren Worsham, Mary Testa, Josh Breitzer and the inimitable Steven Blier.
The evening will be filled by Yuletide songs from Jewish songwriters including Frank Loesser, Jule Styne, Sammy Cahn, Johnny Marks, Irving Berlin, Jay Livingston and many others. Rumor has it that the holiday classic "Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer" will be sung in Yiddish, Klezmer-style. And you wonder why we love New York?
There will also be a complimentary wine reception after the show and we'd love for our readers to send us your iPhone pictures with the singers. Send them to Barihunks@gmail.com. Call 212.501.3330 for tickets or visit the NY Festival of Song website.
Blythe and Blier together already guarantee an evening of fun of non-stop entertainment, so the two barihunks are icing on the Yule log. Here's a little teaser for the show.
If you want to enjoy barihunks everyday for an entire year, order our charity calendar today. Click HERE and help support the young artists who make our musical experiences so enjoyable.
If you missed Steven Blier's insightful and entertaining "Manning the Canon: Songs of Gay Life" last year, you're in luck because they are reprising the show in Maryland and New York City. The first performance will be at the Joseph & Alma Gildenhorn Recital Hall at the University of Maryland in College Park on November 15th. On November 17, the show returns to Merkin Concert Hall in New York City. The show includes two barihunks who have appeared regularly on this site, Tim McDevitt and fan favorite Jesse Blumberg (whose posts often shows up in our top ten site visits). Not only are these guys eye candy, but they are amazing singers and worth hearing. They will be joined by Scott Murphree and Matt Boehler.
Jesse Blumberg
The program includes a number of songs that might be familiar to you, as well as some that you'll want to experience. They include Marc Blitzstein’s “Purest Kind of a Guy," Christopher Berg’s "Is It Dirty?," Lutvak and Campbell's "Exit Right," Schubert's quartet for four male voices “Auflösung," Tchaikovsky’s “At the Ball," Poulenc’s “Montparnasse," Griffes’s “Evening Song,” John Wallowich’s “Bruce.” Bolcom’s “Piano Walk” and “I’ll Be By,” Camille Saint Saëns’s “Si vous n’avez rien à me dire,” Benjamin Britten’s “Night covers up the rigid land,” Manuel de Falla’s “Polo," Cy Coleman's "Tennis Duet," Chris DeBlasio’s “Walt Whitman in 1989,”Bernstein's “To What You Said,” and Cole Porter's "You're the Top."
Don't be fooled by the title, as this show isn't just for gay audiences. Like all of Steven Blier's shows they are an entertaining and thoughtful exploration of a canon of work. Anthony Tommasini wrote in The New York Times: "Such programs can easily fall into the trap of social politics and turn maudin, agenda driven and campy. This one was insightful and imaginative, touching and funny."
For tickets to either show, please visit the New York Festival of Song website.
Jesse Blumberg and Martin Katz working on Schubert last year:
We also want to remind fans of Jesse Blumberg on the West Coast that he will be performing Handel's "Messiah" with the American Bach Soloists on December 15, 16 and 18.
Contact us at Barihunks@gmail.com
Don't forget to order your 2012 Barihunks calendar. Click HERE to order. All proceeds go to support young artists and young artist programs. It's a great gift and an easy way to support our next generation of baritones. You can read more about our calendar at this previous post.
American barihunk John Brancy just wrapped up a six week intensive training program at the Internationale Meistersinger Akademie in Neumarkt run by soprano Edith Wiens. The program offers emerging artists an opportunity to work with leading coaches and singers in developing their skills in opera, oratorio and Lied/Mélodie. European agents, promoters, opera directors and festival managers are invited to give seminars and to take part in roundtable discussions with the young artists, providing the networking and professional contacts important to the profession.
Brancy has appeared twice on this site, once upon his graduation from Julliard and more recently for a feature on the upcoming New York Festival of Song. We're big fans of this emerging talent and are eager to follow his career, which undoubtedly will be successful.
Brancy can next be seen on August 27th at Poquatuck Hall in Orient, New York with Steven Blier accompanying him in a program of classical art songs, duets, arias and American popular song. They will be joined by soprano Corinne Winters, mezzo-soprano Kara Sainz and Perlman Music Program Fellow Peter Dugan. Contact Jane Smith for reservations: 631-323-1378 or jansmith@optonline.net.
