NYFOS to Launch 'After Hours' Cabaret Series at Henry's with AUTUMN IN NEW YORK, 9/23

NYFOS launches its first season of NYFOS After Hours cabaret concerts at HENRY's restaurant on Monday, September 23, at 10:00pm with AUTUMN IN NEW YORK.

The inaugural evening is a tribute to the season and a city full of opera, art song, musical theater and cabaret. The sextet of singers includes sopranos Corinne Winters and Lauren Worsham, tenors Kyle Bielfield and Ben Bliss, baritonesJohn Brancy and Tobias Greenhalgh, with NYFOS Artistic Director Steven Blier, who hosts the evening on piano.

What does autumn bring? For Corinne Winters and Steven Blier, it means making a recording of Spanish songs, which has been in the works for almost two years; for Kyle Bielfield, it's the release of a new CD the day after this concert; for Ben Bliss, it's moving to the city to join the Metropolitan Opera; for Lauren Worsham, it's starting work on a Broadway musical; for Tobias Greenhalgh and John Brancy, it's a return to the city after summer triumphs, and their first season in New York when they are not students.

Blier says, "Autumn means coming back to a life you've put on hold since Memorial Day. During the summer you gather your forces, look for new perspective, get a tan, reassemble your scrambled brains, and gently arm yourself for the bracing battle of New York City life in full swing. Autumn means getting back to work-or looking for work; for musicians, the beginning of the opera and concert season; it's also the reunion of old friends, welcoming newcomers to the city; and taking on the projects we've been preparing all summer. It's time to wear our shoes again."

"Autumn In New York"
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 10:00PM

featuring

Lauren Worsham, soprano
CORINNE WINTERS, soprano
KYLE BIELFIELD, tenor
BEN BLISS, tenor
JOHN BRANCY, baritone
TOBIAS GREENHALGH, baritone

It all takes place at HENRY's Restaurant, 2745 Broadway at 105th St. $10 Cover; Reservations Required: 212-866-0600; Walk-ins are always welcome at the bar.

The basis for After Hours is an informal series of concerts that began in February 2010, springing out of a close personal friendship between Blier and restaurant owner Henry Rinehart.

The new series of late night Monday cabarets blends past classic NYFOS programs with freshly created shows. Wrapped in the warm Arts & Crafts mahogany and unamplified intimacy of HENRY's restaurant on the Upper West Side, After Hours unites the best of the new crop of rising talent with some of New York's most beloved singers and actors, accompanied by Steven Blier at the piano.

The series presents two additional evenings: A Goyishe Christmas to You! onDecember 16; and The Land Where The Good Songs Go on May 5.

NYFOS After Hours is presented as part of the restaurant's ongoing series, Sing for Your Supper @ HENRY's. Owner Henry Rinehart says: "All of us at HENRY's are thrilled to host this series with Steven Blier and NYFOS. NYFOS is one of New York's great cultural institutions and Steven is a dear friend. Together we will continue to present Broadway's most intimate night of song to packed houses."

UPCOMING NYFOS AFTER HOURS:

A GOYISHE CHRISTMAS TO YOU!

Monday, December 16, 10:00pm
Program details and performers, TBA

THE LAND WHERE THE GOOD SONGS GO

Monday, May 5, 10:00pm
Program details and performers, TBA

Now in its 26th season, 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 evenings of seamless theater, each program engages and fosters community among artists and audiences.

Founded by pianists Michael Barrett and Steven Blier in 1988, NYFOS continues to produce its series of thematic song programs, drawing together rarely-heard songs of all kinds, overriding traditional distinctions between classical and popular performance genres, exploring the character and language of other cultures, and the personal voices of song composers and lyricists. NYFOS also nurtures the artistry and careers of young singers in training residencies with The Juilliard School (in its 9th year), Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts (in its 6th year), San Francisco Opera (in its 16th year) and Glimmerglass Opera (2008 - 2010).

Since its founding, NYFOS has particularly celebrated American song, featuring premieres and commissions of new American works, including a double bill of one-act comic operas, Bastianello and Lucrezia, by John Musto and William Bolcom with libretti by Mark Campbell. Commissioned and premiered by NYFOS in 2008, they were released on Bridge Records in 2011. NYFOS's other recordings include the 2008 Bridge Records release of Spanish Love Songs with Joseph Kaiser and the late Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, and five recordings on the Koch label, including the Grammy Award-winning disc of Bernstein's Arias and Barcarolles. Their Grammy-nominated recording of Ned Rorem's Evidence of Things Not Seen (also a NYFOS commission) is on New World Records.

In 2011, NYFOS's 13-segment, nationally syndicated radio show, hosted by Frederica von Stade, debuted on WFMT, producer of radio programs for the New York Philharmonic, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Wigmore Hall and many others. 2011 also saw the debut of NYFOS Next, NYFOS's mini-series for new songs, hosted by guest composers in intimate venues.

NYFOS's concert series, touring programs, radio broadcasts, recordings, and educational activities continue to spark new interest in the creative possibilities of the song program, and have inspired the creation of thematic vocal series around the world. www.nyfos.org