Brooklyn Art Song Society Announces 2023–24 Season

Brooklyn Art Song Society (BASS) announced its 2023-24 season, which features Circles, a six-part series following friendships between composers throughout history, as well as the return of the Dichter Project and New Voices Festival. Led by Artistic Director Michael Brofman, the organization, which plays a vital role in keeping the tradition of art song alive, presents ten full-length concerts highlighting 37 composers and 56 performers.

In keeping with the its dedication to furthering the development of art song as a genre, BASS's 14th season includes the world premieres of five BASS commissions by Iain Bell, Daniel Feslenfeld, Jessica Meyer, Matthew Ricketts, and Aida Shirazi, as well as the world premiere of a new work by Russell Platt.

All programs except for The Dichter Project will be held at the First Unitarian Church of Brooklyn in Brooklyn Heights. The Dichter Project will be held at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music in Park Slope.

The season opens on Friday, October 6, 2023 at 7:30PM with Circles I: Clara, Robert, and Johannes, a portrait of one of music's most famous love triangles. The program explores the relationship between Clara Schumann, Robert Schumann, and Johannes Brahms, whose lives were entwined by marriage, friendship, and loss. Soprano Elisabeth Marshall, mezzo soprano Katherine Lerner, baritones Gregory Feldmann and Brian Mextorf, and pianist Joel Harder join Artistic Director Michael Brofman at the piano. The concert follows a lecture by Dean Whiteside, Goethe-Institut New York's Library and Information Project Manager.

The season continues with Circles II: The Wagnarians on Friday, November 3, 2023 at 7:30PM. The program pairs Richard Wagner's only song cycle, Wesendonck-Lieder, with works by Ernest Chausson, Henri Duparc, and Hugo Wolf, all of whom he deeply influenced. Soprano Tami Petty, mezzo soprano Blythe Gaissert, baritones Mario Diaz-Moresco, Brian James Myer, and pianists Dimitri Dover and Spencer Myer perform, preceded by a lecture given by NYU history professor Larry Wolff.

On Friday, December 3, 2023 at 7:30PM Circles III: The Second Viennese School examines the composers who revolutionized Western music at the beginning of the 20th century with their use of atonality and serialism. Their path to changing the course of music history, however, was accompanied by complex relationships, which were fueled by admiration, jealousy, and betrayal. Sopranos Maggie Finnegan and Jennifer Zetlan, mezzo soprano Kate Maroney, and pianists Michael Brofman, Eric Huebner (New York Philharmonic) and Nana Shi perform works by Alban Berg, Arnold Schoenberg, and Anton Webern following a pre-concert lecture by Columbia University's Marilyn McCoy.

Circles IV: Le Six, on Friday, January 5, 2024, at 7:30PM, is set in Paris in the 1920s. Poet and playwright Jean Cocteau had introduced six young composers to one another with the intention to catapult French music into the Modern Era. Known as "les six," Georges Auric, Louis Durey, Arthur Honegger, Darius Milhaud, Francis Poulenc, and Germaine Taillefairre reacted to the Romanticism and Impressionism of the 19th and early 20th centuries by embracing a more neoclassic style influenced by jazz, altering the development of 20th-century music. Sopranos Mireille Asselin (BASS Debut) and Amy Owens, mezzo soprano Anna Laurenzo, baritone Michael Kelly, and pianist Miori Sugiyama perform alongside pianist Michael Brofman, who also provides the pre-concert lecture.

On Friday, February 2, 2024, at 7:30PM Circles V: The Minnesota Connection takes audiences to the unofficial capital of American Song, thanks to the pioneering work of Dominick Argento. This program pairs one of his most ambitious works, The Andrée Expedition, with three composers who share connections to both Minnesota and BASS. Soprano Maria Valdes, baritones Jesse Blumberg and Randall Scarlata, and pianists Laura Ward and Michael Brofman perform works by Argento, Michael Djupstrom, Reinaldo Moya, and Libby Larsen, who will be in attendance and giving the pre-concert lecture.

The final installment of Circles is set in BASS' home of Brooklyn Heights. On Friday, March 1, 2024, at 7:30PM Circles VI: The February House centers around music written at a local brownstone which was converted to an artist commune during World War II. The residence housed Benjamin Britten, Peter Pears, and W.H. Auden, who were brought together by George Davis, a close friend of Kurt Weill and the second husband to Lotte Lenya. The program pairs works written by Benjamin Britten during this time with songs by Kurt Weill - performed by soprano Ashley Emerson, mezzo soprano Abigail Levis (BASS Debut) and Kristin Gornstein, tenor Dominic Armstrong, and pianists Michael Brofman, Jeremy Chan, and Mila Henry. Sherill Tippins, author of the novel, The February House, joins BASS for the pre-concert lecture.

On Sunday, March 17, 2024, at 7PM, BASS's annual Dichter Project returns to Brooklyn Conservatory of Music with the Dichter Project: Paul Heyse. Since 2017, the series has been exploring musical settings of the greatest German poets set by the greatest lieder composers. This year's installment centers around Paul Heyse, an early Nobel Prize winner for Literature. Soprano Kristina Bachrach, mezzo soprano Devony Smith, tenor Dylan Morrongiello, baritone Sidney Outlaw, and pianists Danny Zelibor and Michael Brofman perform selections from Hugo Wolf's Italienische and Spanisches Liederbuches.

BASS's critically acclaimed New Voices Festival returns for its fourth year on Thursday, March 28, 2024, at 7:30PM. New Voices Festival 2024: Departures explores the multi-faceted meaning of the word "Departures" - leaving home, leaving love, and leaving our time on this Earth. The first program features three of today's most sought after interpreters of song singing new works, many of which were written specifically for them. Tenor Paul Appleby (BASS Debut), and baritone Joshua Conyers perform works by Kai-Young Chan, Shawn E. Okpebholo, Fang Man, Raymond Yiu, world premieres by Iain Bell (BASS commission) and Russell Platt, and a BASS-commissioned work by Huang Ruo.

On Thursday, May 2, 2024, at 7:30PM: Departures II examines the meaning of loss with a poignant reimagining of Schumann's Dichterliebe by Katherine Balch, a reflection on identity by Iranian-born composer Aida Shirazi, and new works by Matthew Ricketts and Charlotte Bray. The program features two BASS-commissioned world premieres by Ricketts and Shirazi. Sopranos Lucy Fitz-Gibbon and Charlotte Mundy, alto Emily Triebold, baritone Dominik Belavy (BASS Debut), and pianists Nathaniel LaNasa, Brent Funderburk, and Ryan McCollough perform following a pre-concert lecture by Shirazi.

The season and festival concludes on Thursday, June 6, 2024 at 7:30PM with Departures III. Lembit Beecher's masterful Looking at Spring reflects on the passage of time and aging, alongside two BASS-commissioned world premieres by Daniel Felsenfeld and Jessica Meyer, and Pandemic-era songs by Caroline Shaw and Alex Weiser round out the program. The concert feature the largest group of performers of the season, with soprano Mary Bonhag, mezzo-soprano Sarah Nelson Craft, tenor Andrew Fuchs, violinist Stanichka Dimitrova, violist Jessica Meyer, cellist Karen Ouzounian, bassist Evan Premo, performing with Lembit Beecher and Michael Brofman at the piano. The performance is followed by a pre-concert lecture by Felsenfeld.

About the new season artistic director Mike Brofman says "to me song is a unique way of exploring our humanity, and that's what this season is all about. In putting together Circles I was reminded how the composers we know and love aren't just notes on a page, but were real flesh and blood people.They had deep, complex relationships that made them who they were. In many cases their music is perfect, but they were passionate, flawed, intricate people. Departures, on the other hand, takes a look at some of the most difficult parts of the human experience - loss, moving on, mortality - and finds an almost unbearable amount of beauty in them. The amount of grace, honesty, and wisdom in each of these works, many world premieres and all written in the last 10 years, is really a testament to how vital and urgently relevant song is today."

BASS is pleased to once again offer its Digital Concert Hall Subscription, which reaches audiences all over the world. The subscription includes free admission and automatic RSVP for all in person concerts (excluding the Dichter Project), unlimited on demand viewing of BASS's entire season, complete programs, notes, texts and translations before each concert, access to BASS' performance archive, and more. Individual tickets are also available with a "Pay What You Choose" option. In addition to the ten-concert season, BASS partners with Heights and Hills Senior Services to bring monthly concerts to their Park Slope Center for Successful Aging.

Brooklyn Art Song Society's programs are supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.The New Voices Festival is made possible in part by support from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Event information:
Circles I: Clara, Robert, and Johannes
Friday, October 6, 2023 at 7:30PM
119 Pierrepont Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201
Link: https://brooklynartsongsociety.org/circles-i-clara-robert-and-johannes/

Program:
Johannes Brahms, selected songs
Clara Schumann, selected songs
Robert Schumann, Dichterliebe Op. 48

Artists:
Elisabeth Marshall, soprano
Katherine Lerner, mezzo soprano
Gregory Feldmann, baritone
Brian Mextorf, baritone
Michael Brofman, piano
Joel Harder, piano

Circles II: The Wagnerians
Friday, November 3, 2023, at 7:30PM
119 Pierrepont Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201
Link: https://brooklynartsongsociety.org/circles-ii-the-wagnerians/

Program:
Ernest Chausson, Les Temps de Lilas, la Caravane Op. 14
Henri Duparc, selected songs
Richard Wagner, Wesendonck-Lieder
Hugo Wolf, selected Mörike-Lieder

Artists:
Tami Petty, soprano
Blythe Gaissert, mezzo soprano
Mario Diaz-Moresco, baritone
Brian James Myer, baritone
Dimitri Dover, piano
Spencer Myer, piano

Circles III: The Second Viennese School
Friday, December 3, 2023, at 7:30PM
119 Pierrepont Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201
Link: https://brooklynartsongsociety.org/circles-iii-the-second-viennese-school/

Program:
Alban Berg, Piano Sonata Op. 1 and 7 Frühe Lieder
Arnold Schoenberg, 3 Klavierstücke Op. 11 and Das Buch der Hängenden Gärten Op. 15
Anton Webern, 3 Lieder Op. 25 and Piano Variations Op. 27

Artists:
Maggie Finnegan, soprano
Jennifer Zetlan, soprano
Kate Maroney, mezzo soprano
Michael Brofman, piano
Eric Huebner, piano
Nana Shi, piano

Circles IV: Les Six
Friday, January 5, 2024, at 7:30PM
119 Pierrepont Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201
Link: https://brooklynartsongsociety.org/circles-iv-les-six/

Program:
Georges Auric, Alphabet
Louis Durey, Trois Poèmes de Pétrone
Arthur Honegger, 3 Chansons de 'La Petite Sirène'
Darius Milhaud, Chansons de Ronsard
Francis Poulenc, Fiançailles pour rirem Tel Jour, and Telle Nuit
Germaine Tailleferre, 6 Chansons Française

Artists:
Mireille Asselin, soprano
Amy Owens, soprano
Anna Laurenzo, mezzo soprano
Michael Kelly, baritone
Michael Brofman, piano
Miori Sugiyama, piano

Circles V: The Minnesota Connection
Friday, February 2, 2024, at 7:30PM
119 Pierrepont Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201
Link: https://brooklynartsongsociety.org/circles-v-the-minnesota-connection/

Program:
Dominick Argento, The Andrée Expedition
Michael Djupstrom, 3 Teasdale Songs
Libby Larsen, The Other Side of Silence (BASS Commission)
Reinaldo Moya, Nocturno (BASS Commission)

Artists:
Maria Valdes, soprano
Jesse Blumberg, baritone
Randall Scarlata, baritone
Laura Ward, piano
Michael Brofman, piano

Circles VI: The February House
Friday, March 1, 2024, at 7:30PM
119 Pierrepont Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201
Link: https://brooklynartsongsociety.org/circles-vi-the-february-house/

Program:
Benjamin Britten: On This Island, Op. 11 and Cabaret Songs
Kurt Weill: 4 Walt Whitman Songs and 6 Songs

Artists:
Maria Valdes, soprano
Jesse Blumberg, baritone
Randall Scarlata, baritone
Laura Ward, piano
Michael Brofman, piano

The Dichter Project: Paul Heyse
Sunday, March 17, 2024, at 7PM
58 7th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11217
Link: https://brooklynartsongsociety.org/dichter-project

Program:
Hugo Wolf, Selections from the Italienische and Spanisches Liederbuches

Artists:
Kristina Bachrach, soprano
Devony Smith, mezzo soprano
Dylan Morrongiello, tenor
Sidney Outlaw, baritone
Michael Brofman, piano
Danny Zelibor, piano

New Voices Festival 2024: Departures I
Thursday, March 28, 2024, at 7:30PM
119 Pierrepont Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201
Link: https://brooklynartsongsociety.org/new-voices-festival-departures-i/

Program:
Iain Bell, Somerton Moor (World Premiere, BASS Commission)
Fang Man, Partridge Song
Shawn E. Okpebholo, 2 Black Churches
Russell Platt, After Apple Picking (World Premiere)
Huang Ruo, Song of Everlasting Regret (BASS commission)
Raymond Yiu, Bright Fear

Artists:
TBD, mezzo soprano
Paul Appleby, tenor
Joshua Conyers, baritone
Mike Brofman, piano
Myra Huang, piano

New Voices Festival 2024: Departures II
Thursday, May 2, 2024, at 7:30PM
119 Pierrepont Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201
Link: https://brooklynartsongsociety.org/new-voices-festival-departures-ii/

Program:
Katherine Balch, Estrangement (BASS Commission)
Charlotte Bray, The Earth Cried out to the Sky (American Premiere)
Matthew Ricketts, The Threefold Terror of Love (World Premiere, BASS Commission)
Aida Shirazi, New Work (World Premiere, BASS Commission)

Artists:
Lucy Fitz-Gibbon, soprano
Charlotte Mundy, soprano
Emily Triebold, alto
Dominik Belavy, baritone
Nathaniel LaNasa, piano
Brent Funderburk, piano
Ryan McCullough, piano

New Voices Festival 2024: Departures III
Thursday, June 6, 2024, at 7:30PM
119 Pierrepont Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201
Link: https://brooklynartsongsociety.org/new-voices-festival-departures-iii/

Program:
Lembit Beecher, Looking at Spring
Daniel Feslenfeld, Visiting San Francisco (BASS Commission, World Premiere)
Jessica Meyer, with a gift for burning (BASS Commission, World Premiere)
Caroline Shaw, How Do I Find You
Alex Weiser, Let It Be Forgotten

Artists:
Mary Bonhag, soprano
Sarah Nelson Craft, mezzo soprano
Andrew Fuchs, tenor
Stanichka Dimitrova, violin
Jessica Meyer, viola
Karen Ouzounian, cello
Evan Premo; bass
Lembit Beecher, piano
Michael Brofman, piano

Ticket information:
In Person Concerts: Individual tickets are "Pay What You Wish" with a minimum of $10 and a suggested general admission price of $35.* Please note: All tickets purchased at the suggested price or higher include a month-long pass to the digital concert hall. Digital Concert Hall subscribers receive free admission to all performances*.
*Excluding The Dichter Project

The Dichter Project: Individual Tickets: $50 (not included in Digital Subscription Package)

Digital Concert Hall: Annual Subscriptions: $111.99/year or $10.99/month. Includes free Admission to In Person Concerts*unlimited on demand viewing of BASS's entire season, complete programs, notes, texts and translations, and a bonus listening guide made available before each concert, exclusive access to full episodes of Song and Wine, BASS's hit web series.

Individual tickets and Digital Subscriptions available at www.brooklynartsongsociety.org

About Brooklyn Art Song Society
Brooklyn Art Song Society (BASS) reputation as one of the preeminent organizations dedicated to the vast repertoire of poetry set to music. Its mission is to preserve art song's direct expressiveness and emotional honesty for today's audience and future generations.

BASS has been called "a company well worth watching" by The New York Times and "superb" by New York Classical Review. Opera News wrote, "Brooklyn Art Song Society keeps the intimate recital alive with innovative programming," and "BASS delivered a triumph of a program, as they have throughout their distinguished history, skillfully reminding us of the great vitality and power of Art Song." The New Yorker praised BASS as "invaluable" and "uncompromisingly dedicated to continuing the traditions of classical art song, both old and new." BASS was named the "Most Innovative" Classical Music organization of 2019 by Classical Post. Seen and Heard International wrote "BASS has not only made Brooklyn its home over the past decade, but also one of the most exciting venues for song anywhere."

BASS's innovative and ambitious programming has reached thousands of audience members- lifelong classical music and first-time concert-goers alike. Since 2010 BASS has presented thousands of songs- nearly the entire canon. Highlights include presentations of the complete songs of Charles Ives and Hugo Wolf and annual themed festivals that range from surveys of the lieder of Franz Schubert, British song, French Melodie, and songs from the two World Wars. BASS is dedicated to creating the next generation of great song composers. In fact, it is the single largest commissioner of new art song working today. BASS has commissioned over 25 composers, including Katherine Balch, The Balliett Brothers, Lembit Beecher, Eve Beglarian, Daniel Felsenfeld, Daron Hagen, Mikhail Johnson, Libby Larsen, James Matheson, Harold Meltzer, Reinaldo Moya, Kurt Rohde, Huang Ruo, Carlos Simon and Scott Wheeler.

Highlights from the 2023-2024 season include the six-concert festival Circles and the fourth annual New Voices Festival, a three-concert series focused on art song in the 21st-century, featuring commissioned world premieres by Iain Bell, Jessica Meyer, and Aida Shirazi. In addition to monthly concerts in Brooklyn, BASS has traveled to Philadelphia, Kansas City, Portland, ME, Raleigh, San Francisco, and Seattle and has held residencies at Cornell University, University of Notre Dame, University of California-Davis, University of Chicago, Ithaca College and University of South Carolina. BASS also reaches music lovers around the country and globe with its innovative Digital Concert Hall and partners with Heights and Hills Senior Services to bring monthly concerts to their Park Slope Center for Successful Aging. BASS's artist roster features over 50 of the finest young interpreters of art song. For more information visit www.brooklynartsongsociety.org.

About Michael Brofman

Pianist Michael Brofman has earned a reputation as one of the finest vocal accompanists of his generation. He has performed hundreds of songs, from Schubert's earliest lieder to premieres of new songs by today's most-recognized composers. He was hailed by The New York Times as an "excellent pianist" and Feast of Music recently praised his "elegant and refined playing ... exhibiting excellent touch and clean technique." Parterre Box Blog called Mr. Brofman a "master communicator at the piano," and Voix des Arts praised his "finesse and flexibility." Seen and Heard International recently wrote "Brofman got to the core of each song...delving into their emotional depths." Opera News stated "Michael Brofman provided exquisite piano accompaniment."

Highlights from Mr. Brofman's 2023-2024 season include performances of Arnold Schoenberg's Das Buch der Hängenden Gärten with Kate Maroney, Poulenc's Tel Jour, Telle Nuit with Michael Kelly, and repeat or premiere performances of works written for him by Daniel Felseld, Libby Larsen, Jessica Meyer, and Reinaldo Moya. Mr. Brofman also performs works by Benjamin Britten, Johannes Brahms, Michael Djupstrom, Shawn E. Okempolo, Caroline Shaw, Clara Schumann, Anton Webern, Kurt Weill, and Hugo Wolf.

Mr. Brofman has championed new works and has fostered relationships with many living composers, including Katherine Balch, Lembit Beecher, Tom Cipullo, Michael Djupstrom, Daniel Felsenfeld, Herschel Garfein, Mikhail Johnson, Daron Hagen, Jake Heggie, James Kallembach, Libby Larsen, Lowell Liebermann, David Ludwig, James Matheson, Reinaldo Moya, Harold Meltzer, Russell Platt, Kurt Rohde, Glen Roven, Andrew Staniland, Carlos Simon, and Scott Wheeler. In all, he has premiered over 100 songs, many of them dedicated to him.

Mr. Brofman is the founder and Artistic Director of the Brooklyn Art Song Society, an organization dedicated to the vast repertoire of poetry set to music now in its 14th season. His first CD New Voices on Roven Records includes four world-premiere recordings and was number one on Amazon's new releases for Opera/Vocal and debuted in the top 10 of the Traditional Classical Billboard Chart. Since then he has recorded world premiere recordings of Kurt Rohde on Albany Records and Herschel Garfein for Acis Records.

An eloquent and passionate advocate for art song, Mr. Brofman has been interviewed by Russell Platt for Opera News, for Caught In the Act on Brooklyn Public Television, on the WQXR radio show Soundcheck, on Seattle KING FM 98.1, and for the Linked Music blog. He also hosts his own internet show Song and Wine. Mr. Brofman has a reputation as a gifted educator and has presented masterclasses at the University of Chicago, Cornell, Ithaca College, the University of Notre Dame and University of South Carolina. Mr. Brofman holds a bachelor of Music from Northwestern University where he studied with James Giles. There he was awarded the Frida A. Pick Award for Piano and featured on Chicago's classical radio station. Mr. Brofman spent several summers at the Aspen Music Festival as a student of Rita Sloan and continues his studies with Robert Durso. He resides in Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn with his wife, violinist Stanichka Dimitrova and his two daughters, Julia and Lillian.