New York Festival Of Song Set to ‘Protest’ This February

By David Salazar

The New York Festival of Song will present “Protest” on Feb. 27, 2018.

The program will feature such singers as soprano Mikaela Bennett, soprano Christine Taylor Price, mezzo Rihab Chaieb, tenor Joshua Blue, baritone Dimitri Katotakis, baritone Jacob Scharfman, and bass Andrew Munn.

Also on the program will be guitarist Jack Gulielmetti, and pianists Steven Blier and Chris Reynolds.

The program kicks off at 8 p.m. at the Merkin Concert Hall at Kaufman Music Center on 128 West 67th Street.

The event was conceived by NYFOS Artistic Director Steven Blier who noted, “A few days after the election last November I was having lunch with stage director Mary Birnbaum. We were meeting to map out our March show at Juilliard, but the recent turn of events had temporarily knocked the wind out of us. After a long silence Mary looked at me and said, ‘We have to respond.’ A pause. ‘How about a program of protest songs?’ I heard myself saying. Within half an hour I had sketched out the lion’s share of the songs, and we’d chosen a cast.”

The program will feature songs by Stevie Wonder, María Elena Walsh, Fats Waller, Carlos Gustavino, Leonard Bernstein, Marc Blitzstein, Woody Guthrie, and Joni Mitchell, among others.

 

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