Now in its 28
th 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. Founded by pianists
Michael Barrett and
Steven Blier in 1988, NYFOS continues to produce
NYFOS MAINSTAGE, its flagship series of thematic song programs, drawing together rarely-heard songs of all kinds, overriding traditional distinctions between classical and popular performance genres, and exploring the character and language of other cultures. Since its founding NYFOS has particularly celebrated the wide spectrum of American music. Among many highlights is the double bill of one-act comic operas,
Bastianello by John Musto and
Lucrezia by William Bolcom, both with libretti by Mark Campbell, commissioned and premiered by NYFOS in 2008 and recorded on Bridge Records.
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. NYFOS’s discography also includes
Spanish Love Songs with Joseph Kaiser and the late Lorraine Hunt Lieberson on Bridge Records. Its recently released CD on the GPR label,
Canción amorosa, also focuses on Spanish song—Basque, Catalan, Castilian, and Sephardic—with soprano Corinne Winters accompanied by Steven Blier.
In 2010, NYFOS launched
NYFOS NEXT, a series for new songs, hosted by guest composers in intimate venues. This season the series returns as a mini-festival during the month of February 2016 with all concerts presented at OPERA America’s National Opera Center. In the fall of 2014, NYFOS officially introduced its unamplified cabaret series
NYFOS AFTER HOURS at HENRY's Restaurant on the Upper West Side, drawing full houses and superlative voices accompanied by Blier at the piano.
NYFOS is passionate about nurturing the artistry and careers of young singers and through its
NYFOS EMERGING ARTISTS program has developed professional training residencies around the country, including The Juilliard School’s Ellen and James S. Marcus Institute for Vocal Arts (now in its 11
th year); Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts (its 8
th year in March 2016); San Francisco Opera Center (over 15 years as of March 2014); Glimmerglass Opera (2008–2010); and its newest project, NYFOS@North Fork in Orient, NY (3 years).
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.
