Brooklyn Art Song Society (BASS) has announced its 2026–27 season centered around “Passions,” a six-concert exploration of love and longing through some of the most compelling works in the art song repertoire.

The season also includes the seventh annual New Voices Festival, a three-part contemporary art song series themed Seasons,

The season opens with “Passions I: Fin-de-Siècle,” a program devoted to the fin de siècle, the final years of the nineteenth century and the last great surge of Romantic passion before the upheavals of the twentieth century. Songs by Richard Strauss, Alexander Zemlinsky, Hans Pfitzner, and Joseph Marx rwill performed by soprano Kristina Bachrach, soprano Aviva Fortunata, mezzo-soprano Katherine Lerner, tenor Dylan Morrongiello, baritone Brandon Bell, and pianists Michael Brofman, Brent Funderburk, and Miori Sugiyama.

Performance Date: Oct. 11, 2026

“Passions II: Chausson and Duparc” will explore the world of French mélodie through the music of Ernest Chausson and Henri Duparc. The program features soprano Sarah Brailey, mezzo-soprano Anna Laurenzo, tenor Daniel McGrew, baritones Tyler Duncan and Jorell Williams, pianists Michael Brofman and Erika Switzer, and members of PhiloSonia.

Performance Date: Nov. 8, 2026

“Passions III: Rachmaninoff” will be devoted to Sergei Rachmaninoff and will feature sopranos Ashley Emerson and Lucy Fitz Gibbon, tenor Dominic Armstrong, baritone Brian James Myer, and pianists Ryan McCullough and Joel Harder.

Performance Date: Dec. 13, 2026

“Passions IV: American Romantics” will feature music by Samuel Barber and Ned Rorem. The program features selections from across Rorem’s prolific song output alongside Barber’s beloved Hermit Songs and the poignant late cycle Despite and Still. Performers include sopranos Elisabeth Marshall and Jennifer Zetlan, mezzo-soprano Erin Wagner, baritones Brian Mextorf and Nathaniel Sullivan, and pianists Michael Brofman and Lyndsi Maus.

Performance Date: Jan. 10, 2027

“Passions V: Cabaret Night” will celebrate the cabaret tradition through songs by William Bolcom, Benjamin Britten, Francis Poulenc, Erik Satie, Arnold Schoenberg, Germaine Tailleferre, Tōru Takemitsu, and Kurt Weill. Performers include soprano Mireille Asselin, mezzo-sopranos Sarah Nelson Craft, Kristin Gornstein, Abi Levis, and Kate Maroney, and pianists Michael Brofman, Mila Henry, and Jeremy Chan.

Performance Date: Feb. 14, 2027

“Passions VI: Amar” will be an all-Spanish program featuring Manuel de Falla’s Siete canciones populares españolas, Enrique Granados’ Canciones amatorias, Joaquín Turina’s Tríptico, and additional works by Isaac Albéniz, Frederic Mompou, Joaquín Nin, and Fernando Obradors. Performers include sopranos Alex Nowakowski and Amy Owens and pianists Michael Brofman and Spencer Myer.

Performance Date: March 14, 2027

The New Voices Festival

The festival opens with a program celebrating the creative partnerships between composers and performers that help bring new music to life. Anchored by the world premiere of a new BASS commission by Guggenheim Fellow Anthony Cheung, the concert also features works by Missy Mazzoli, Jessica Meyer, Harold Meltzer, Matthew Ricketts, and Huang Ruo, including the world premiere of Meyer’s Le Jour en vent. Performers include mezzo-soprano Devony Smith, tenor Paul Appleby, baritone Jesse Blumberg, and pianists Conor Hanick and Danny Zelibor.

Performance Date: April 18, 2027

The following concert features the world premiere of a new BASS commission by composer and baritone Will Liverman, recipient of the 2027 Van Koolbergen Art Song Commission Award. The evening will also include music by Matthew Aucoin, Jonathan Dove, Cecilia Livingston, and Kevin Puts. Performers include soprano Sara LeMesh, baritones Greg Feldmann and Will Liverman, and pianists Michael Brofman, Dimitri Dover, and Nathaniel LaNasa.

Performance Date: May 9, 2027

The festival and season concludes with the world premiere of a new BASS commission by composer Juhi Bansal and will also include music by Selina Fisher, James Matheson, David Sisco, Samy Moussa, Nico Muhly, Ana Sokolović, and Augusta Read Thomas. Performers include sopranos Laura Strickling and Maggie Finnegan, mezzo-soprano Elisa Sutherland, baritone Michael Kelly, pianists Michael Brofman and Nana Shi, and clarinetist Pascal Archer.

Performance Date: June 13, 2026