Alex McKissick with the Song of the Day for August 27th: As the Orient residency tenor soloist, I feel it is my duty to introduce, or for the more well-informed out there, to further explore the life of a fabulous Spanish tenor, Miguel Fleta. Mr. Fleta was an operatic superstar back in the early 20th […]
Read MoreAugust 26th’s Song of the Day, coming from NYFOS@NorthFork soprano Anna Dugan. Thanks, Anna! ‘Dugan’ doesn’t exactly scream Spanish, so people rarely guess that I hail from Spain (half of me, at least). Performing on the “Latin Lovers” concert was a special gift for me, as it is rare that I get to sing music […]
Read MoreThis week’s Songs-of-the-Day are being written by the cast of our NYFOS@North Fork project. Today’s entry is from our ace percussionist Josh Vonderheide. He describes how he got ready for the concert: To get prepared for the “Latin Lovers” concerts that NYFOS presented last weekend in Long Island, I had to immerse myself in the […]
Read MoreThere were a lot of blessings this weekend. In spite of some nasty-looking icons on my iPhone weather app earlier in the week, the weather held up Saturday and Sunday. The Orient concert was sold out. And the Latin/Caribbean music worked its wiles on both audiences in a powerful way. The Saturday show in Bellport, courtesy of South Country Concert (run by […]
Read MoreThursday’s big event was the arrival of Josh Vonderheide, our percussionist (pictured below). Clearly he doesn’t look Latin, but he’s one of those guys who can play anything from Brahms, Stravinsky, and Varèse to Cuban dance tunes. He is a calm, organized presence who makes music with the kind of command that would be staggering in […]
Read MoreDAY 4: August 20, 2015 In a short rehearsal period like this, Wednesday is the last day I can really work on the music in a substantive way. After that I can feel the ice forming, and soon everyone turns into Ethel Merman, who described herself before an opening night: “Miss Birdseye–my performance is frozen.” […]
Read MoreDAY 3: August 19, 2015 The process is always the same, but the details make the difference. It’s true of producing wine, cheese–and the North Fork residency. To wit: since we’re starting a week earlier, the singers are mostly coming directly from their last summer programs. I think that going from dorm life to a […]
Read MoreDAY 2: August 18, 2015 The first day of rehearsal is always an eye-opener. One person shows up with everything in a tabbed notebook, another has a wad of loose, double-sided, folded Xeroxes. Someone nails one song with emotional depth and convincing Argentinean Spanish, then proceeds to deliver another in what sounds like Esperanto. One […]
Read MoreDAY 1: August 17, 2015 There is a lot of drama surrounding the beginning of any project, and today–the official day one of NYFOS@North Fork–is no exception. Three of the singers arrived yesterday. and two of them (Anna Dugan and Alex McKissick) jumped gamely into rehearsal, clearly too cowed to say “I don’t want to […]
Read MoreChristopher Reynolds‘ final pick of the week for August 14. If there’s anything Jessye Norman is known for, it’s taking things slow. The breath control this woman has could probably supply power to a small village for a week. While sometimes it can be overbearing, at can also elevate trivial moments in music to something […]
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