Kaufman Music Center And New York Festival Of Song to Present PERENNIALS - SONGS FOR EVERY SEASON

New York Festival of Song, led by Artistic Director Steven Blier, will kick off its 2023-24 Mainstage season with Perennials - Songs For Every Season on Thursday, September 28, 2023 at 8:00 p.m. at Merkin Hall at Kaufman Music Center. Co-created and co-hosted by pianists Steven Blier and Peter Dugan, Perennials celebrates the steadying power of music to guide us through the year with works by Fauré, Strauss, Toldrà, Sondheim, Carole King, and others.

The program cycles through all four seasons, each one represented by a different country (France, Spain, Germany, and the United States). Featured artists include baritone Samuel Kidd, soprano Raquel González, mezzo-soprano Lucia Bradford, and bass Wm. Clay Thompson with Steven Blier and Peter Dugan on piano.

"After the narcoleptic haze of summer, the fall season-with its deadlines and obligations-always hits me like a ton of bricks," said NYFOS Artistic Director Steven Blier. "Perennials is a philosophical look at the joys and challenges of the four seasons, each one represented in a different language: French for autumn, German for winter, Spanish for spring, and English for summer. The music covers the waterfront from Fauré and Strauss to Guridi and Carole King. I've had a blast preparing Perennials with pianist Peter Dugan, a wonderful colleague who is rapidly becoming a star in today's music world. I'm also thrilled with the cast, two of whom are making their Mainstage debuts, Samuel Kidd and Wm. Clay Thompson, and two of whom are returning after giving beautiful performances in recent seasons, Raquel González and Lucia Bradford. They are a tremendous quartet of artists."

NYFOS' Mainstage season continues on Tuesday, December 5, 2023 at 8:00 p.m. with Gracias a la vida, a musical tour of South America, with songs from Brazil, Bolivia, Argentina, Ecuador, Peru, and Chile. The program features Ecuadorian tenor César Andrés Parreño and Bolivian soprano Shelén Hughes, with Steven Blier as pianist and host.

All NYFOS programming is funded, in part, by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature.

NYFOS Mainstage is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

Concert Information

Perennials: songs for every season
Thursday, September 28, 2023 at 8:00 p.m.
Merkin Hall at Kaufman Music Center
Link: https://www.kaufmanmusiccenter.org/mch/event/new-york-festival-of-song-perennials-songs-for-every-season/

Program:
AUTUMN
Featuring Wm. Clay Thompson
Fauré - "Berceuse"
Piano duet featuring Steven Blier and Peter Dugan
Fauré - "Automne"
Fauré - "Dans la forêt de Septembre"
René Rouzaud and Louis Ferrari - "Moisson"
Mendelssohn - "Herbstlied"
Duet featuring Clay Thompson and Samuel Kidd

WINTER
Featuring Samuel Kidd
Strauß - "Winternacht"
Strauß - "Winterweihe:
Wolf - "Schlafendes Jesuskind"
Wolf - "Zum neuen Jahr"

SPRING:
Featuring Raquel González
Piazzolla - "Primavera porteña"
Piano duet featuring Steven Blier and Peter Dugan
Lamote de Grignon - "Larirà-abril"
Toldrà - "Maig"
Rodrigo - "Romancillo" ("Por mayo, era por mayo")
Guridi - "Mañanita de San Juan"
Ruíz - "Mares y arenas"
Duet featuring Raquel Gonzáles and Lucia Bradford

SUMMER:
Featuring Lucia Bradford
James Taylor - "Summer's Here"
Stephen Sondheim - "The Girls of Summer"
Carole King - "Up on the Roof"
Stevie Wonder - "Summer Soft"

Artists:
Steven Blier, piano
Peter Dugan, piano
Samuel Kidd, baritone
Wm. Clay Thompson, bass
Raquel González, soprano
Lucia Bradford, mezzo-soprano

About New York Festival of Song

Now in its 36th 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 compelling theater, NYFOS fosters community among artists and audiences. Each program entertains and educates in equal measure.

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 musical genres, exploring the character and language of other cultures, and the personal voices of song composers and lyricists.

Since its founding, NYFOS has particularly celebrated American song. Among the many highlights is the double bill of one-act comic operas, Bastianello and Lucrezia, by John Musto and William Bolcom, both with libretti by Mark Campbell, commissioned and premiered by NYFOS in 2008 and recorded on Bridge Records. In addition to Bastianello and Lucrezia and the 2008 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 (also a NYFOS commission) on New World Records. In 2014, Canción Amorosa, a CD of Spanish song-Basque, Catalan, Castilian, and Sephardic-was released on the GPR label, with soprano Corinne Winters accompanied by Steven Blier.

Their latest endeavor is NYFOS Records, which released its first album (From Rags to Riches, with Stephanie Blythe and William Burden) in January of 2022. They also issue a monthly single, with archival performances by artists such as Lorraine Hunt Lieberson and Bernarda Fink, and newly recorded songs by Joshua Blue and Sasha Cooke. NYFOS Records has reached rapidly growing audiences in over 100 countries, with well over 750,000 streams since the beginning of the year.

In November 2010, NYFOS debuted NYFOS Next, a mini-series for new songs, hosted by guest composers in intimate venues, including OPERA America's National Opera Center, National Sawdust, the DiMenna Center for Classical Music, the Ann Goodman Recital Hall at Kaufman Music Center, and now the Rubin Museum in Chelsea.

NYFOS is passionate about nurturing the artistry and careers of young singers, and has developed training residencies around the country, including with The Juilliard School's Ellen and James S. Marcus Institute for Vocal Arts (now in its 16th year); Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts (its 14th year in March 2022); San Francisco Opera Center (over 20 years as of February 2018); Glimmerglass Opera (2008-2010); and its newest project, NYFOS@North Fork in Orient, NY.

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.

About Steven Blier

Steven Blier is the Artistic Director of the New York Festival of Song (NYFOS), which he co-founded in 1988 with Michael Barrett. Since the Festival's inception, he has programmed, performed, translated and annotated more than 150 vocal recitals with repertoire spanning the entire range of American song, art song from Schubert to Szymanowski, and popular song from early vaudeville to Lennon-McCartney. NYFOS has also made in-depth explorations of music from Spain, Latin America, Scandinavia and Russia. New York Magazine gave NYFOS its award for Best Classical Programming, while Opera News proclaimed Blier "the coolest dude in town" and in December 2014, Musical America included him as one of 30 top industry professionals in their feature article, "Profiles in Courage."

Mr. Blier enjoys an eminent career as an accompanist and vocal coach. His recital partners have included Michael Spyres, Julia Bullock, Renée Fleming, Cecilia Bartoli, Samuel Ramey, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, Susan Graham, Jessye Norman, and José van Dam, in venues ranging from Carnegie Hall to La Scala. He has also been on the faculty of The Juilliard School for three decades, and has been active in encouraging young recitalists at summer programs, including the Wolf Trap Opera Company, the Steans Institute at Ravinia, Santa Fe Opera, and the San Francisco Opera Center. Many of his former students, including Stephanie Blythe, Sasha Cooke, Paul Appleby, Corinne Winters, and Kate Lindsey, have gone on to be valued recital colleagues and sought-after stars on the opera and concert stage. In keeping the traditions of American music alive, he has brought back to the stage many of the rarely heard songs of George Gershwin, Harold Arlen, Kurt Weill and Cole Porter. He has also played ragtime, blues and stride piano evenings with John Musto. A champion of American art song, he has premiered works of John Corigliano, Paul Moravec, Ned Rorem, William Bolcom, Mark Adamo, John Musto, Richard Danielpour, Tobias Picker, Robert Beaser, Lowell Liebermann, Harold Meltzer, and Lee Hoiby, many of which were commissioned by NYFOS.

Mr. Blier's extensive discography includes the premiere recording of Leonard Bernstein's Arias and Barcarolles (Koch International), which won a Grammy Award; Spanish Love Songs (Bridge Records), recorded live at the Caramoor International Music Festival with Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, Joseph Kaiser, and Michael Barrett; the world premiere recording of Bastianello (John Musto) and Lucrezia (William Bolcom), a double bill of one-act comic operas set to librettos by Mark Campbell; and Quiet Please, an album of jazz standards with vocalist Darius de Haas. On the NYFOS Records label, he has released From Rags to Riches, a journey through the 20th century in American song, featuring Stephanie Blythe and William Burden; Paul Bowles' surprising masterpiece A Picnic Cantata; and Black & Blue, with tenor Joshua Blue. September of 2023 will see the release of his next recording, Mi país: Songs of Argentina, with bass-baritone Federico De Michelis. His writings on opera have been featured in Opera News and the Yale Review. A native New Yorker, he received a Bachelor's Degree with Honors in English Literature at Yale University, where he studied piano with Alexander Farkas. He completed his musical studies in New York with Martin Isepp and Paul Jacobs.

About Lucia Bradford

Mezzo-soprano, Lucia Bradford is a native of Brooklyn, New York. Ms. Bradford has performed a number of operatic roles including Carmen in Bizet's La Tragedie de Carmen, Zita in Puccini's Gianni Schicchi, La Principessa in Puccini's Suor Angelica, The Mother in Ravel's L'Enfant des Sortileges, Mercedes in Bizet's Carmen, Mrs. Quickly in Verdi's Falstaff, The Sorceress in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, Gertrude in Gounod's Romeo and Juliet, Hippolyta in Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream, Miss Todd in Menotti's Old Maid and the Thief, the Duchess of Plaza Toro in Gilbert and Sullivan's The Gondoliers, Azelia Dessalines in the historic return of William Grant Still's opera Troubled Island with New York City Opera at the Schomburg Center, Mamie Till in the contemporary opera, Emmett Till, Maria in Gershwin's Porgy and Bess with Des Moines Opera Company and Opera Carolina North Carolina Opera, the Mother of Paul Dunbar in the premiere of The Mask in the Mirror and MLK's grandmother in the premiere of I Dream.

In addition to opera, she enjoys concert and recital settings. She has performed at the Kimmel Center with the renowned Maestro Christoph Eschenbach, and in Bach's St Matthew Passion with the Atlanta Symphony, i DeFalla ballet suite with the Greenwich Symphony orchestra, in Julia Perry's Stabat Mater with Resonance Works, in New York City Opera's VOX concert series, with the Harlem Chamber Players for their annual Bach series, with the Orchestra of St. Luke's performing a concert version of Purcell's Dido and Aeneas and with New York Festival of Song (NYFOS) at Merkin Hall and the Kennedy Center performing Leonard Bernstein's Songfest. She has been featured with the Voices of Ascension in Bach's B Minor Mass, the Durufle Requiem and St John Passion, and in Mendelssohn's Elijah, with the Oratorio Society of New York at Carnegie Hall.

Ms. Bradford has had the privilege of singing and touring in Russia with the Krasnoyarsk Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra and the Radio Orpheus Symphony Orchestra in Siberia, Dubna and Moscow. She has also toured in parts of Spain, the Caribbean and throughout the United States.

About Peter Dugan

Pianist Peter Dugan's debut performances with Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony were described by the Los Angeles Times as "stunning" and by the SF Chronicle as "fearlessly athletic." He is heard every week across America as the host of National Public Radio's beloved program From the Top. Mr. Dugan has appeared as a soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician across North America and abroad. In 2020, he joined acclaimed violinist Joshua Bell for At Home With Music, a national PBS broadcast and live album release on Sony Classical. Since then, Mr. Dugan has continued his collaboration with Bell, touring internationally with recitals at London's Wigmore Hall, Taipei's National Theater and Concert Hall, and the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.

Prizing stylistic versatility as the hallmark of a 21st century musician, Mr. Dugan is equally at home in classical, jazz, and pop idioms, and has collaborated with artists ranging from Jesse Colin Young, to Renée Fleming, to Paquito D'Rivera. Mr. Dugan performs regularly in partnership with friends and artists who share a passion for expanding the world of classical music. The Wall Street Journal described Mr. Dugan's collaboration with violinist and vocalist Charles Yang as a "classical-meets-rockstar duo." In Mr. Dugan's performances with his wife, mezzo-soprano Kara Dugan, repertoire ranges from art song, to American Songbook, to original songs and world premieres. The Dugans have appeared at Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, WQXR's Greene Space, and on PBS Great Performances' Now Hear This.

Mr. Dugan's latest album with baritone John Brancy - The Journey Home: Live from the Kennedy Center - was released on Avie Records in 2021 along with an accompanying documentary film from WNET's AllArts. Brancy and Dugan have given recitals at Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Hall, and the Kennedy Center, and together won first prize at the 2018 Montreal International Music Competition. Mr. Dugan's latest project with violinist Sean Lee was PaganiniXSchumann, a digital EP release that accompanied a live performance at Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center of all 24 Paganini Caprices with piano parts written by Robert Schumann. Mr. Dugan appeared as the piano soloist in Charles Ives' 4th Symphony with the Houston Symphony, the San Francisco Symphony, and on an album with Michael Tilson Thomas and the SFS.

Mr. Dugan advocates for a classical music culture that is inclusive and welcoming to all, from a community's concert halls and theaters, to its schools and hospitals. As a founding creator of Operation Superpower, a superhero opera for children, he has traveled to dozens of schools in the greater New York area, performing for students and encouraging them to use their talents - their superpowers - for good. He is head of the Artist in Residence program at pianoSonoma and a founding faculty member of the Resonance and Soundboard Institutes at Honeywell Arts Academy.

Mr. Dugan holds Bachelor's and Master's degrees from The Juilliard School, where he studied under Matti Raekallio.He resides in New York City and is a Yamaha Artist.

About Raquel González

Hailed as a "true artist" (Opera News), Soprano Raquel González is a winner of the prestigious Sphinx Organization's Medal of Excellence Award. 23/24 season highlights include debuts with Houston Grand Opera for the title role in Madama Butterfly, Austin Opera for Carmen (Micaëla), and Berkshire Opera Festival for Faust (Marguerite), and a return to the roster of The Metropolitan Opera for the company premiere of Catan's Florencia en el Amazonas. Additional performances include a return to the New York Festival of Song for a concert of Latin music.

Last season Raquel made house debuts at Inland Opera Northwest in La traviata (Violetta) and Sarasota Opera in Madama Butterfly (Cio-Cio-San) in addition to joining the roster of The Metropolitan Opera for La bohème. On the concert stage, she debuted with the St. Louis Symphony and Music Director Stéphane Denève singing "Vissi d'arte" from Tosca and the Bach Festival Society of Winter Park for the Verdi Requiem.

Last season Raquel debuted with Opera San Antonio in Don Giovanni (Donna Anna) and Virginia Opera in La bohème (Mimì), and returned to Opera Theatre of Saint Louis for Harvey Milk (Dianne Feinstein). Additional appearances included Queen City Opera in a concert of scenes from Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin and Iolanta, New York Festival of Song for Buenos Aires, Then and Now, and a solo recital at the University of Lynchburg.

Recently engagements include a role/house debut at Chicago Opera Theater in Rimsky-Korsakov's Kashchej the Immortal (Princess) conducted by Lidiya Yankovskaya. Additionally, Raquel returned to Lyric Opera of Kansas City for La bohème (Mimì), joined the roster of the Lyric Opera of Chicago for Madama Butterfly, made her role/house debut at New Orleans Opera in Turandot (Liù), and returned to WNO for a role debut in Silent Night (Anna Sørensen). She debuted at North Carolina Opera in Carmen (Micaëla), Atlanta Opera to reprise the Zvulun production of Eugene Onegin (Tatyana), Opera Tampa in La bohème (Mimì), Opera on the James in La traviata (Violetta), and Central City Opera in Madama Butterfly (Cio-Cio-San).

Raquel made her hometown debut with Lyric Opera of Kansas City in a new production of Eugene Onegin (Tatyana) directed by Tomer Zvulun, performed with the National Symphony Orchestra in Bernstein's Songfest, and returned to WNO for The Little Prince (Water). She sang her first Verdi Requiem with the West Virginia Symphony and Syracuse Symphoria. Ms. González debuted with Syracuse Opera in Eugene Onegin in 2016 - 2017 and returned the following season for La traviata. She sang her first Iolanta at Queen City Opera in Cincinnati and Carmen with the Washington Chorus at the Kennedy Center.

Ms. González debuted at The Glimmerglass Festival in their production of The Magic Flute (First Lady) before returning as a guest artist for La bohème. Ms. González recently completed three seasons as a Young Artist with the Washington National Opera where she appeared in Madama Butterfly (Cio-Cio-San), Le nozze di Figaro (Contessa Almaviva), Don Giovanni (Donna Anna), Carmen (Micaëla), and La bohème (Mimì). Additional assignments as a Young Artist at WNO included Hansel and Gretel (Sandman) and Dialogues of the Carmelites (Blanche cover). She also debuted with the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra in Otello (Desdemona).

About Samuel Kidd

A native of Ann Arbor, Michigan, baritone Samuel Kidd is quickly establishing himself as a young singer of note. A recent graduate of The Yale School of Music under the tutelage of Gerald Martin Moore, his recent highlights include singing Tarquinius in Britten's The Rape of Lucretia with the Merola Opera Program, Belcore from Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore and Onegin from Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin at Music Academy of the West.

While at home on the opera stage, Samuel's first love and passion is for art song and recital singing, in particular German Lieder. His recent performance in the Merola Opera Program's Metamorphasis recital was praised for its "cohesive blend of caressing phrases and dynamic intensity" (Classical Voice San Francisco). Last November, he appeared with the Cincinnati Song Initiative performing Mahler's Kindertotenlieder. ​In April 2021 he participated in the Caramoor Rising Star program, directed and curated by Steven Blier. He was also featured in the New York Festival of Song's online season in September 2020. At The University of Michigan, he gave two performances of Schubert's Winterreise, as well as Mahler's Kindertotenlieder with the University Symphony Orchestra.

Last summer, Samuel returned to Music Academy of the West to sing the title role of Eugene Onegin. In summer 2021 he was a Wolf Trap Opera Studio Artist, covering the roles of Anthony in Sweeney Todd and Ophémon in L'Amant Anonyme. He was also a Studio Artist with WTO in 2020, performing in the scenes program. In 2018 and 2019 Samuel was a vocal fellow at the Music Academy of the West. In 2019, he performed the roles of Ethan/Owens in Cold Mountain by Jennifer Higdon, as well as the bass solos in Pulcinella by Stravinsky under the baton of Thomas Adès. In 2018, he performed the role of Jazz Trio in Bernstein's Trouble in Tahiti, as well as in the chorus of Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro.

Samuel enjoys oratorio and choral singing, having performed the baritone solos in Vaughn Williams' Dona Nobis Pacem with the University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra, Haydn's Creation and Mozart's Requiem with the Plymouth Oratorio society, and bass solos in Bach's Mass in B minor and Montiverdi's 1610 Vespers with Audivi and the Michigan Bach Collective.

About Wm. Clay Thompson

American Bass Wm. Clay Thompson has been praised for his "mahogany-timbred" voice and "imposing presence" (Opera News) and is gaining recognition in major festivals, opera houses, and competitions, both nationally and internationally. He is a two-time Winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council District Auditions as well as a Semi-Finalist in the 2020 Fort Worth Opera McCammon Voice Competition.

A member of the Ryan Opera Center Ensemble, Mr. Thompson is set to make his Lyric Opera of Chicago debut this season as Zuniga in Carmen. He will also perform as Chevalier deux and covered the role of Le Gouverneur in Le Comte Ory, Il Moine in Don Carlos, Jago in Ernani, and Arnie Duncan in the world premiere of Proximity. This summer, he makes his highly anticipated debut as Méphistophélès in Gounod's Faust and a special recital titled "Night and Day, USA" with Steven Blier, returning to Wolf Trap Opera.

Recently, Mr. Thompson made his Arizona Operadebut as Zuniga in Carmen and joined the roster of The Metropolitan Opera to cover the role of Master of Ceremonies in the special holiday production of Cinderella, as well as perform as the Octet Singer in Brett Dean's Hamlet.

He has also appeared as an Apprentice Artist with Santa Fe Opera, covering the role of Peter Quince in A Midsummer Night's Dream, and as a Filene Artist with Wolf Trap Opera, participating in virtual performances of arias and scenes from Eugene Onegin (Prince Gremin) and The Rake's Progress (Nick Shadow) during the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

From 2017 to 2019, Mr. Thompson served as a Resident Artist at Minnesota Opera, covering leading roles and performing as Dottore Grenvil in La traviata, Crébillon in La rondine, Antonio in Le nozze di Figaro, Second Prison Guard in Jake Heggie's Dead Man Walking, Count Ceprano in Rigoletto, Palémon in Thaïs, Charles Comiskey in the world premiere of Joel Puckett's The Fix, and a live recording in Kevin Puts' Silent Night as French General.

He appeared in a number of roles at The Glimmerglass Festival including Harašta, The Poacher in E. Loren Meeker's production of The Cunning Little Vixen, Father Palmer in Silent Night, and Gladhand in Francesca Zambello's production of West Side Story in the 2018 season. He returned to The Glimmerglass Festival in 2019 where he performed in all new productions as the title role in Britten's Noye's Fludde, Suleyman Pasha in John Corigliano's The Ghosts of Versailles, and Dottore Grenvil in La traviata.

Mr. Thompson later made his European debut at the Château de Versailles Spectacles (2019) in the role of Suleyman Pasha, a role which he premiered in addition to Benoit and Alcindoro in La bohème, and Yakuside in Madama Butterfly as a Studio Artist with Wolf Trap Opera for their 2016 and 2017 seasons. Other career highlights include Zuniga in Carmen with Fort Worth Opera, Colline in La bohème with SOO Opera Theatre, Raymond Buck in the world premiere of JFK with Fort Worth Opera, and Billy Jackrabbit in La fanciulla del West with Kentucky Opera. As a Young Artist at the Seagle Music Colony he performed the roles of Olin Blitch in Susannah, Mordred in Camelot, and the Superintendent Budd in Albert Herring.

Mr. Thompson attended the University of North Texas where he performed the title role in Le nozze di Figaro, Daniel Webster in Virgil Thomson's The Mother of Us All, and Il Commendatore in Don Giovanni. With the University of Kentucky Opera Theatre his roles included Leporello in Don Giovanni, Don Bartolo in Le nozze di Figaro, and Police Sergeant in The Pirates of Penzance.

Image of Steven Blier by Faye Fox; image of Peter Dugan by Jacob Blickenstaff; image of Wm. Clay Thompson by Daniel Welch

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