Juilliard and New York Festival of Song Present "Latin Lovers," An Evening of Songs from Argentina, Brazil, and Cuba, on Wednesday, January 14, 2009 at 8 PM in Juilliard's Peter Jay Sharp Theater
Evening features music by Carlos Guastavino, Astor Piazzolla, Heitor Villa-Lobos, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Pixinguinha, and others
FREE tickets are required for Latin Lovers and are available beginning January 5, 2009 at the Janet and Leonard Kramer Box Office at Juilliard, located in the lobby of Juilliard at 155 West 65th Street. Box Office hours are Monday through Friday from 11 AM to 6 PM. For further information, call (212) 769-7406 or visit Juilliard's Web site at www.juilliard.edu.
The program is the School's fourth co-presentation with New York Festival of Song. After the free-wheeling energy of last year's successful program, A Modern Person's Guide to Hooking Up and Breaking Up, Steven Blier decided that very night to do a Latin American song program, and remarks: "I have long believed that Latin American song has something unique to teach classical singers. It's got the beautiful cantilena of Italian music and plenty of high climaxes to exercise the singers' money notes. But Brazilian, Argentinean, and Cuban music is easier-going than Italian opera. Its strong rhythmic groove allows the vocalist to phrase on a wide continuum, ranging from free-flowing rubato to strict adherence to the printed note values. Permeated with the cadences of folk songs, often touched by African and Indian influences, this program's tangos and milongas invite the singers to let go, to make music with an unguarded spontaneity."
Now celebrating its 20th anniversary season, the 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 unforgettable evenings of compelling theater, entertaining, educating, and creating community among performers and audiences, in a spirit of shared adventure. Pianists Michael Barrett and Steven Blier founded the New York Festival of Song in 1988 to produce this series of unique song programs, each unified by a theme, drawing together rarely-heard songs of all kinds, overriding traditional distinctions between "high" and "low" performance genres, exploring the character and language of other cultures and personal voices of song composers and lyricists. Since its founding, NYFOS has particularly celebrated American song, featuring premieres and commissions of new American works, including this season's Bastianello and Lucrezia, two short comic operas by John Musto and William Bolcom, both with libretti by Mark Campbell. In addition to its new 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 on New World Records. NYFOS' concert series, touring programs, radio broadcasts, recordings, and educational activities have inspired a new interest in the creative possibilities of the song program, and have inspired the creation of thematic vocal series around the world.
New York Festival of Song's artistic director Steve Blier also enjoys an eminent career as an accompanist and vocal coach. Among the many artists he has partnered with in recital are Samuel Ramey, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, Susan Graham, Frederica von Stade, Jessye Norman, Wolfgang Holzmair, Susanne Mentzer, Sylvia McNair, and Arlene Augér. In concert with Renée Fleming, he has performed throughout North America and Europe, including recitals at Carnegie Hall, La Scala, Milan, and a Live From Lincoln Center telecast. His collaboration with Cecilia Bartoli began in 1994, and has included an appearance at Carnegie Hall where he played both piano and harpsichord. A faculty member at Juilliard, Mr. Blier has been active in encouraging young recitalists at summer programs, including Wolf Trap Opera Company and the San Francisco Opera Center. As a broadcaster and writer, he has appeared both as an essayist and quizmaster on the Metropolitan Opera broadcast intermissions. His writings on opera have appeared in Opera News and the Yale Review.
One of America's most prestigious programs for educating singers, The Juilliard School's Department of Vocal Arts offers young artists programs tailored to their talents and needs. From bachelor and master of music degrees to advanced artist diploma programs in voice and opera studies, Juilliard provides frequent performance opportunities, featuring singers in its own recital halls, on Lincoln Center's stages, and around New York City. In its nearly 77 year-history, Juilliard's opera department has presented numerous premieres of new operas as well as works from the standard repertoire. Upcoming will be the premiere of a joint commission from Sir Peter Maxwell Davies by Juilliard and the Royal Academy of Music entitled Kommilitonen!. Juilliard graduates may be heard in opera houses and concert halls throughout the world; diverse alumni artists include well-known performers such as John Aler, Jan DeGaetani, Faith Esham, Simon Estes, Lauren Flanigan, Renée Fleming, Anthony Dean Griffey, Barbara Hendricks, Hei-Kyung Hong, Gwendolyn Killebrew, Michael Maniaci, Audra McDonald, Susanne Mentzer, Leona Mitchell, Leontyne Price, Florence Quivar, Neil Rosenshein, Risë Stevens, Tatiana Troyanos, Shirley Verrett, Veronica Villarroel, and Robert White, among others. In February 2008, Juilliard and the Metropolitan Opera announced a joint training program to identify and educate the finest young opera singers and accompanists, preparing them for careers in the world's great opera houses. The newly-named Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Young Artist Development Program in Partnership with The Juilliard School was announced last Spring. Met Music Director James Levine will serve as the program's Artistic Director, and Brian Zeger, Artistic Director of Juilliard Vocal Arts, serves as Executive Director. The program begins with the 2010-2011 season.
FOR LISTINGS:
LATIN LOVERS
Wednesday, January 14, 2009, 8 PM
The Peter Jay Sharp Theater at Juilliard
155 West 65th Street
ARGENTINA
Pueblito, mi pueblo by Carlos Guastavino
Pampamapaaire de Huella by Guastavino
Vidala by Carlos López Buchardo
Canción al árbol del olvido by Alberto Ginastera
Los pájaros perdidos by Astor Piazzolla
Nenê by Ernesto Nazareth
Quando te vi pela primeira vez by Mozart Camargo Guarnieri
Melodia sentimental by Heitor Villa-Lobos
Samba clássico by Villa-Lobos
CUBA
La volanta by Eduardo Sánchez de Fuentes
Tú no sabe inglé by Emilio Grenet
Quiero ser hombre by Ernesto Lecuona
Juego santo by Alejandro García Caturla
ZARZUELA
Aria de Matilde, from La Esclava by José Mauri
María La O, from María La O by Lecuona
Milonga de María, from Maria de Buenos Aires by Astor Piazzolla
Entrada de Cecilia, from Cecilia Valdés by Gonzalo Roig
POSTRE
Corcorvado by Antonio Carlos Jobim
Como el arrullo de palmas by Lecuona
Palmira by Moisés Simons
Alfonsina y el mar by Ariel Ramírez
Por una cabeza by Carlos Gardel
Carinhoso by Pixinguinha
Milonga de Fidela from Marta Gruni by Jaurés Lamarque Pons
FREE tickets available beginning January 5, 2009 at the Janet and Leonard Kramer Box Office at Juilliard
located in the lobby of Juilliard at 155 West 65th Street. Box Office hours are Monday through Friday from 11 AM - 6 PM.
For further information, call the Juilliard Box Office at (212) 769-7406 or visit the Juilliard Web site at www.juilliard.edu.
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