New York Festival Of Song Will Open 2025–2026 Mainstage Series With SOUTH AMERICA, NORTH AMERICA: A LOVE STORY
Concert featuring Joseph Parrish and Shelén Hughes will take place November 20, 2025, at Merkin Hall
By: A.A. Cristi Oct. 21, 2025
New York Festival of Song (NYFOS), led by Artistic Director Steven Blier, will open its 2025–2026 Mainstage Series with South America, North America: A Love Story on Thursday, November 20, 2025, at 8:00 p.m. at Merkin Hall at Kaufman Music Center. The four-concert Mainstage series is co-presented with Kaufman Music Center.
“North America/South America: A Love Story brings together some of the things—and people—I cherish most in my life,” said NYFOS Artistic Director Steven Blier. “South American music has held a special place in my heart ever since NYFOS’s first season, and so does the music of my own country. They form my artistic home base. Cherished, too, are the artists with whom I am sharing the stage: Bolivian soprano Shelén Hughes, Baltimore-bred baritone Joseph Parrish, and Persian-American pianist Amir Farid. The music ranges freely from folklore to blues, Bernstein to Ginastera—a feast for the ears to open our 38th season.”
Created for Parrish and Hughes—partners on and off stage—the concert will explore the music of North and South America through milongas, tangos, blues, and art songs that cross continents. Audience members are invited to meet the artists at a post-concert reception in the lobby.
The Mainstage season will continue on February 12, 2026, with Fugitives, featuring baritone Justin Austin and a guest co-star to be announced, with Steven Blier and Bénédicte Jourdois at the piano. The revival of this acclaimed 2008 program will feature works by Kurt Weill, Franz Schreker, Alexander Zemlinsky, Friedrich Hollaender, Erich Korngold, and others, tracing the journeys of composers displaced by the rise of Nazism.
All NYFOS programming is supported, in part, by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, as well as the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
SOUTH AMERICA, NORTH AMERICA: A LOVE STORY
Thursday, November 20, 2025, at 8:00 p.m.
Merkin Hall at Kaufman Music Center, 129 West 67th Street, New York, NY
Tickets available here
Program highlights include works by: Moisés Moleiro, Eduardo Caba, Hall Johnson, Heitor Villa-Lobos, Carlos Guastavino, George Gershwin, Leonard Bernstein, Alberto Ginastera, Claudio Santoro, and others.
Performers:
Shelén Hughes, soprano
Joseph Parrish, bass-baritone
Steven Blier, piano
Amir Farid, piano
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Shelén Hughes
Bolivian soprano Shelén Hughes, a graduate of The Juilliard School and Manhattan School of Music, is a prizewinner in numerous competitions including the 2025 George and Nora London Foundation Competition and the 2024 Opera Index and Gerda Lissner contests. She has appeared in leading roles with The Juilliard School, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, and the Teatro Nacional de Chile, and made her Carnegie Hall debut in 2019. Hughes is also the founder of Voices for Bolivia, a nonprofit supporting impoverished elderly communities through classical music.
Joseph Parrish
Baritone Joseph Parrish is a 2024 Sullivan Grant recipient, member of the Young Concert Artists roster, and alumnus of the Salzburg Festival’s Young Singers Project. Recent engagements include Don Giovanni at Cincinnati Opera, Bach’s St. Matthew Passion with Musica Sacra, and Messiah with the Oratorio Society of New York. A graduate of The Juilliard School and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, he is an active recitalist and advocate for arts outreach and community engagement.
Amir Farid
Iranian-Australian pianist Amir Farid has performed internationally as soloist and chamber musician, appearing at venues including Carnegie Hall, St. Martin in the Fields, and the Sidney Myer Music Bowl. A winner of the Australian National Piano Award, he is pianist of the Benaud Trio and the Exponential Ensemble in New York. Farid is also on staff at The Juilliard School’s Vocal Arts department and regularly collaborates with leading orchestras and vocalists around the world.
ABOUT NEW YORK FESTIVAL OF SONG
Now in its 38th season, New York Festival of Song (NYFOS) creates intimate, thematic concerts that combine music, poetry, and history in performances that celebrate the art of song. Founded by pianists Michael Barrett and Steven Blier in 1988, NYFOS is dedicated to showcasing diverse musical voices across genres and cultures. Its performances, residencies, and award-winning recordings—including Grammy-recognized releases of works by Leonard Bernstein and Ned Rorem—have established NYFOS as a leading presenter of vocal music in the United States.
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