No Song is Safe From Us

No Song Is Safe From Us - The NYFOS Blog
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John Danyel (1564-1626) is in the shadow of John Dowland, who is rightfully installed in the pantheon of the greatest songwriters ever.  But Danyel left us some amazing songs, and this is one of them.  It’s a mini song-cycle, whose three parts share a slightly varied refrain.  The text is anonymous, but one is tempted […]




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Librettist/lyricist Mark Campbell, originally scheduled to be our Artist of the Month, has chosen to relinquish his title to the late Terrence McNally and offers an appreciation of his colleague’s work. New York Festival of Song recently asked me to assume the mantle of their April “Artist of the Month.” I asked NYFOS if I […]




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The idea for this program came to me a few years ago over breakfast one morning. The gentle, rational voices of NPR’s morning announcers couldn’t disguise the sheer cruelty and greed detailed in the day’s news. My antipathy to the word “tweet” was ballooning and my blood pressure spiking. I needed a quick mental vacation, […]




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Composer Nora Kroll-Rosenbaum previews her upcoming NYFOS Next evening, discusses her approach to collaboration, and more as our Artist of the Month. Hear Nora’s work on NYFOS Next: Laura Karpman & Nora Kroll-Rosenbaum on March 25. You, along with Laura Karpman, are co-curating an evening of our NYFOS series this March. Can you tell us […]




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Composer Laura Karpman talks about the process of writing music for tv and her new work inspired by Susan B. Anthony & Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Hear Laura’s work on NYFOS Next: Laura Karpman & Nora Kroll-Rosenbaum on March 25. On your upcoming NYFOS Next program is a new work from you for mezzo-soprano and two […]




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Baritone Theo Hoffman, an NYFOS Emerging Artist alumnus and member of NYFOS’s Artist Council, answers our questions on growing up in Manhattan, upcoming productions, and the significance of the word ‘song’. Hear Theo perform with NYFOS on tour to Tucson, AZ in Killer B’s on January 30. While still a student at Juilliard, you helped […]




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Pianist and vocal coach Joseph Li answers our questions on his most frequent advice to young singers, how he repairs cracked nails, why you won’t find him on Facebook, and more. Hear Joseph perform with NYFOS in Tain’t Nobody’s Business If I Do: Songs of Gay Harlem on December 12. Can you tell us a […]




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Baritone John Brancy answers our questions on his connection to the music of Kurt Weill and how he created his much acclaimed recitals about WWI. John returns to NYFOS on November 19 in a concert versions of Marc Blitzstein’s No For An Answer & Kurt Weill’s Der Silbersee. We are especially thrilled to have you, […]




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Five years after his production of The Cradle Will Rock was abruptly cancelled by the Works Progress Administration, Marc Blitzstein composed the score for the 1942 anti-fascist, anti-KKK documentary film Native Land, featuring today’s selection, “American Day.” Paul Robeson, frustrated with the type-casting of black performers in Hollywood, sang in and narrated this, his final […]




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This week New York Festival of Song honors the great Jessye Norman and her legacy with a series of remembrances from those she inspired. Today’s tribute comes from soprano Harolyn Blackwell. I first heard Ms. Norman sing when I  was 18 years of age and vacationing  in Mexico City. I had never heard of her.  […]