The 92nd Street Y, New York to Present Freddie Ballentine, Tenor & Kunal Lahiry, Piano: OUR PEOPLE

The 92nd Street Y, New York will present Freddie Ballentine, tenor & Kunal Lahiry, piano: Our People at Buttenwieser Hall at The Arnhold Center on Tuesday, February 3, 2026 at 7:30 PM.

Grammy Award-winning tenor Freddie Ballentine has captivated audiences at the Metropolitan Opera, English National Opera, Washington National Opera and beyond with his powerful voice. Pianist Kunal Lahiry has earned acclaim for his performances at Wigmore Hall, Elbphilharmonie, the Kennedy Center, and more. These artists share a commitment to amplifying queer voices and stories, exploring Black and LGBTQ experiences through song. Arranged in pillars representing isolation, damnation, remembrance, and finally, revolution, and featuring music ranging from spirituals to songs by Copland, Ricky Ian Gordon, Schubert, Gershwin, Nina Simone and others, the concert takes listeners on a formidable journey, leaving them at their destination: hope. Arranged in pillars representing isolation, damnation, remembrance, and finally, revolution, and featuring music ranging from spirituals to songs by Copland, Ricky Ian Gordon, Schubert, Gershwin, Nina Simone and others, the concert takes listeners on a formidable journey, leaving them at their destination: hope.

Program

OUR PEOPLE

Shut Me Out (Isolation)

Traditional Spiritual "Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child"

Aaron Copland Selections from Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson

Nature! The Gentlest Mother

Why do They Shut Me Out of Heaven?

William Bolcom "George," from Cabaret Songs

Franz Schubert "Memnon," D. 541

Margaret Bonds "Minstrel Man," from Three Dream Portraits

"Lord, I Just Can't Keep From Cryin," from Five Creek-Freedman Spirituals

Going Up in Smoke (Damnation)

David Krakauer "The '80s Miracle Diet" from The AIDS Quilt Songbook

Ricky Ian Gordon "I Never Knew" from The AIDS Quilt Songbook

Abel Meeropol (Lewis Allan) "Strange Fruit" (arr. P. Campos)

Requiem (Remembrance)

George Gershwin "The Man I Love" (arr. E. Wild)

John Musto "Litany," from Shadow of the Blues

Henry Purcell "Dido's Lament," from Dido and Aeneas

So Loud, So Proud (Revolution)

Gordon "My People," from Genius Child

Sergei Rachmaninoff "Spring Waters," Op. 14, No. 11

Nina Simone "Backlash Blues" (arr. P. Campos)